Audience Chinese Studies is part of the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literature. The department offers major options for students who pursue the study of Chinese language and literature. It also allows students to modify the major with other departments and programs. The department has been conducting the longest uninterrupted Chinese Foreign Studies Program in Beijing, People’s Republic of China. The collection supports the undergraduate instructional program and basic faculty research needs. It includes around 50,000 Chinese titles, of which 130 or so are categorized as ancient titles (Published before 1911). In general, the Chinese collection concentrate on humanities and social science, particularly rich in works on Chinese antiquity including oracle bone inscriptions, bronzes and excavated texts written on bamboo and silk. Ancient titles consist of classics, history and literature. Emphasis is on the literature, language, history, religions, environmental and development concerns, and Chinese culture.
Boundaries The majority materials are housed at The East Asian Room at the Mezzanine level of Baker Library, with the western end as the location for over-sized titles. They fall within the DS (history), PL (language and literature), B (religion and philosophy) and N (art and art history) classification of the Library of Congress. The library is planning to transfer the ancient titles from open stacks to the Dartmouth Library Depository.
Partnerships Dartmouth has been contributing to a collective guide which reflects Ivy Plus Libraries' Digital Projects on Chinese Studies.
Specific Delimitations to collecting in this subject area
Languages Chinese
Geographical Areas (if applicable) Primarily from Mainland China, also from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the United States
Types of Materials Collected Monographs, serials, reference works. Major journal articles, newspapers, dissertations are collected in electronic databases.
Format of Materials Collected Print materials, databases, audio and visual materials.