On the road: some user guides to libraries and archives
Over the last couple of years I have been tweeting the many notifications that I have received on users' experiences of archives and libraries. Even if an institution has its own website, readers' impressions can be very helpful. Twitter, however, has limitations so far as archiving data is concerned so I thought it could be useful to publish a list of the references I have collected so far. If readers have more uptodate information or know of additional archives and libraries, please let me know and it can be added in.
A travelling scholar monk carrrying a load of Buddhist scrolls. From Cave 17, Mogao, near Dunhuang, Gansu province, China. 10th century AD (Stein collection Ch. 00380, BM 1919,0101,0.168) © Trustees of the British Museum
Most of these reviews were published during the last two years and came from the following sources:
- Archives Made Easy. An on-line guide to archives around the globe which aims to make unrewarding research trips a thing of the past.
- Dissertation Reviews: Fresh from the Archives. Reviews of and guides to archives, libraries, databases, and other collections.
- HAZINE - a guide to researching the middle east and beyond. Focussing primarily on resources on the Ottoman Empire, HAZINE has series on both archives and libraries.
For Middle Eastern studies, Evyn Kropf, University of Michigan Library, gives an excellent general overview and further references in her Manuscript Collection Research Guides and Online collections of digitized Islamic manuscripts.
For Chinese studies, Bick-har Yeung, Former East Asian Librarian, University of Melbourne, reported on visits in 2014 to major Chinese research collections in the UK, Paris and Singapore, in East Asian Library Resources Group of Australia Newsletter 65 (2015).
The following reviews are listed here by country:
Afghanistan
Azerbaijan
Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Bosniak Institute (Bošnjački institut – Fondacija Adila Zulfikarpašića), Sarajevo
- Gazi Husrev-Begova Biblioteka, Sarajevo
- Institute for Oriental Studies in Sarajevo (Orijentalni institut u Sarajevu)
Bulgaria
Cambodia
- Bophana Audio Visual Archives, Phnom Penh
- National Archives of Cambodia, Phnom Penh
- Research Library of the Center for Khmer Studies, Siem Reap
China
- Guangdong Provincial Archives and the Guangzhou Municipal Archives
- Inner Mongolia Regional Archives, Hohhot
- Qiaopi Museum, Shantou, Guangdong
- Shandong Provincial Archives, Jinan, Shandong
- Shanghai Municipal Archives
- Suzhou (Sukun) Kunqu Company Archive
- Tianjin Municipal Archives
- Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Museum, Urumqi
- Zhangzhou Municipal Archives, Zhangzhou, Fujian Province.
Egypt
Georgia
Germany
Greece
India
- A review of Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, Chennai
- A review of the Rampur Raza Library and Archives
- ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Calcutta
- Alkazi Collection of Photography, New Delhi
- Assam State Archives, Guwahati
- Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune,
- Deccan College, Pune
- Four Archives in Mizoram, India
- Historical Archives of Goa, Panaji
- Institute Français de Pondichéry, Pondicherry
- Twenty Libraries in Delhi You've Never Visited
Indonesia
Iran
- Golestan Palace Library and Archive, Tehran
- Malek National Library and Museum (Ketābkhāna va mūza-ye melli-ye Malek), Tehran
- National Archives and Library of Iran (Sazman-e Asnad va Ketabkhaneh-ye Melli-ye Iran), Tehran
Ireland
Israel
- Archives of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Jerusalem
- Central Zionist Archive, Jerusalem
Japan
- Archive of Materials Related to the Former Colonies, Takushoku University, Hachiōji
- Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia Library, University of Tokyo
- Institute of Economic Research Library, Hitotsubashi University, Kunitachi
- Iwase Bunko Library, Nishio City
- Meiji Shinbun Zasshi Bunko,Tokyo
- National Archives of Japan, Tokyo
- National Institute for Defense Studies, Ministry of Defense, Tokyo
- School for International Studies Library, University of Osaka
- The Northern Studies Collection, Hokkaidō University, Sapporo
- Tokyo University Historiographical Institute
Jordan
Kazakhstan
- Archive of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Almaty
- Central State Archive of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Almaty
Mongolia
Morocco
Netherlands
- Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie), National Archives, The Hague
- Leiden University
Pakistan
- Ganj Bakhsh Library, Iran-Pakistan Institute of Persian Studies, Islamabad
- Sharfabad Bedil Library, Karachi
South Korea
Spain
Taiwan
- Guomindang Party Archives, Taipei
- National Taiwan Library, Taipei
- Tainan Chang Jung Senior High School, Museum of Church History, Tainan
- Taiwan Historica, Nantou
Turkey
- İslam Araştırmaları Merkezi, Istanbul
- Ottoman Archives of the Prime Minister’s Office Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi, Istanbul
- Süleymaniye Library (Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi), Istanbul
- Topkapı Palace Museum (Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi), Istanbul
- Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay, formerly Hilâl-i Ahmer), Ankara
- Turkish Republican Archive (Cumhuriyet Arşivi), Ankara
UK
- China Poster Collection, University of Westminster, London
- John Rylands Library, University of Manchester
- National Archives, London
- Persian manuscript archives in the UK
USA
- Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection, University of Nebraska, Omaha
- Tahrir Documents, Department of Special Collections at the Charles E. Young Research Library at UCLA, Los Angeles
Uzbekistan