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The Newsletter No. 88 Spring 2021 29
The Focus
Online resources
for Asia scholars
Sonja Zweegers and Alessandra Barrow
During the past year not one of us has escaped the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic;
we were forced indoors, sequestered to our ‘home offices’ in order to work. Those of you
used to being out in the field, roaming the earth, looking for the next research adventure,
have now had to make do with Zoom meetings and Facebook groups and archival browsing.
Those of us more accustomed to working out of a university building, chatting to colleagues
during coffee breaks, and suffering our daily commutes, well, we too have now learned all
about online meeting etiquette, and probably failing quite splendidly. The online world has
become all too familiar to each and every one of us. And so, for this issue of The Newsletter,
not a Focus section as you know it. Something a little bit different, designed specifically
for the time in which we find ourselves: an exploration of online resources that may assist
(or at least entertain) the Asia scholar.
T
o accomplish this, I reached out Throughout the collection we have added in mind, if you know of any online resources
to IIAS alumni and fellows, and tidbits from the websites mentioned to that you would like to see added to this list,
other friends made during the past provide some enjoyable reading in addition which we will be continuing to curate on our
10 years as Editor of this publication. to the more practical information. website, then please contact me with your
Their (your) input led to the compilation of Finally, the pages of this Focus (and other ideas. You can find the ever-expanding list
useful spaces with regard to Asia presented sections in this issue) were assembled with at www.iias.asia/resources.
Key used throughout on the following pages. Whilst this list is far the outstanding help of Alessandra Barrow,
this section: from comprehensive, and some regions are IIAS intern for the past few months. Alessandra Sonja Zweegers,
CA Central Asia more widely represented than others, we is currently completing the Research Master Editor of The Newsletter
intend it to be a valuable start to a collection in Asian Studies at Leiden University. I am s.i.zweegers@iias.nl
SA South Asia
that we will continue to build upon on the IIAS extremely grateful to have received her Alessandra Barrow,
SEA Southeast Asia
website; hopefully with your help. The list is assistance for this issue, especially at Research MA Asian Studies student
EA East Asia gathered by resource type, but we have tried, a time when we all might be feeling rather at Leiden University, and intern for
MENA Middle East where possible and if relevant, to indicate disconnected. Let that be a reminder to The Newsletter. https://linkedin.com/in/
and North Africa to which region the resource most relates. reach out and work together! And with that alessandra-barrow-675297172
30 www.iias.asia/resources Online Resources
The Focus for Asia Scholars
Digital collections, databases and archives
Appraising Risk SA SEA Archnet CA SA SEA MENA scholarly activities. Artstor images come with Base Ulysse SEA
high-quality metadata from the collection
This is a historical database of climatic This website is a resource focused on catalogers, curators, institutions, and This is an online digital archive of
crisis in the Indian Ocean World. On this site, the Built environment of Muslim societies. artists themselves. the National Overseas Archives in Aix-en-
you can access articles, relevant maps, and Including architecture, urbanism, environ- Much of the site will require a subscription, Provence. It contains over 45,000 individual
visualizations. The Appraising Risk Partnership mental and landscape design, visual culture, but check to see if your institute/library can photographs, albums, postcards, posters,
is an international collaboration of scholars and conservation issues. It has a range of grant you access. In addition, Artstor’s ever- drawings and maps documenting aspects
and researchers dedicated to exploring the collections and books, city records, maps, growing Public Collections offer approximately of the French colonial empire.
critical role of climactic crisis in the past architecture plans and the like. 1.3 million freely accessible images, videos,
and future of the Indian Ocean World. The documents, and audio files from library special http://anom.archivesnationales.culture.
partnership seeks to create a comprehensive http://archnet.org collections, faculty research, and institutional gouv.fr/ulysse
spatial and temporal database of human- history materials, as well as hundreds of
environment interaction and interdependence thousands of open access images from partner
during periods of climactic change. museums. Anyone may view and download
Arsip Nasional Republik these collections; no subscription or login Bichitra: Online Tagore
https://www.appraisingrisk.com Indonesia SEA required. Variorum SA
This website offers access to thousands https://www.artstor.org This resource contains nearly all of
of unresearched documents about the history Tagore’s writings in Bengali and English,
Archive of India Music SA of the Nusantara and its connections to the from manuscript to print. The website can
world at large during the seventeenth and be navigated in English, Bengali and Hindi,
This site is a repository of gramophone eighteenth centuries. This website also gives Asia Art Archive EA SA SEA and the search engine allows you to locate
recordings of India set up in collaboration access to some older book publications of any word or phrase used in his works.
with the Manipal University’s MCPH (Manipal the former ‘Landsarchief’, beginning with the Based in Hong Kong, Asia Art Archive
Centre for Philosophy and Humanities). If you published Daily Journals of Batavia Castle is a catalyst for new ideas that enrich our http://bichitra.jdvu.ac.in/index.php
wish to listen to the clips you may need to (1624-1682). understanding of the world through the
contact the archive directly. collection, creation, and sharing of know-
https://sejarah-nusantara.anri.go.id ledge around recent art in Asia. This website
http://archiveofindianmusic.org hosts online modern Asian art and archives. Biodiversity Heritage Library
It includes a range of articles and opinion
pieces relating to modern art in East Asia, Not Asia-specific, this site is the largest
ARTstor Southeast Asia and South Asia. open access digital library for biodiversity
The Archive of the Institute literature and archives including books on
for Taiwan History The Artstor Digital Library features a wide https://aaa.org.hk/en plant taxonomy and natural history texts.
range of multidisciplinary content from some Most of the collection is public domain
(ITH, Academia Sinica) EA of the world’s top museums, artists, libraries, content but the BHL works with rights holders
scholars, and photo archives, including rare to obtain permission to make in-copyright
This website was launched in 2008. It stores collections not accessible anywhere else. Atlas of Mutual Heritage SEA materials openly available under Creative
personal papers and collections, family and New contributions are added regularly. Commons licenses. The library has texts
folk papers and institutional archives that The Artstor Digital Library provides This website hosts an incredible database from 1450s to 2000s.
have been collected by the Archives of ITH straightforward access to curated images from and atlas of information, maps, drawings,
for more than 20 years. The website can be reliable sources that have been rights-cleared prints and paintings of locations significant https://about.biodiversitylibrary.org
accessed in Chinese and English. for use in education and research. You are to the Dutch VOC (East Indies Company) and
free to use them in classroom instruction and WIC (Dutch West India Company).
https://archives.ith.sinica.edu.tw handouts, presentations, student assignments,
and other non-commercial educational and https://www.atlasofmutualheritage.nl
The Database of Religious History:
Pre-Buddhist cults
Entry by Anna Sehnalova
A
cross the large geographical space
of the Tibetan Plateau and the
Himalayas, cultures and societies of
Asia Art Archive: speakers of Tibetic and Qiangic languages
share certain religious notions and similar
‘Art’ and ‘craft’ in Sri Lanka ritual practices which do not derive from
Buddhism or Yungdrung Bön (g.Yung drung
Bon) but rather relate to local natural
environments and social structures.
Annemari de Silva addresses the marketing them as ‘designer’? Perhaps it is Being very variable and difficult to
gendered and postcolonial valuations the woman from a family of businesspeople subsume under one term, these localised
of ‘art’ and ‘craft’ in Sri Lanka. heading one of the biggest handloom religious cults have been called ‘popular’
retailers in the country? (Bell 1931), ‘nameless’ (Stein 1972), ‘folk’
T
he word ‘entrepreneur’ can mean Handicrafts, or artisanal crafts, replete (Tucci 1980), often also ‘shamanism’ or
such radically different things in with cultural significations and political uses, ‘bön’ (bon), and in specific cases ‘pagan’
a developing country. Who, for are not surprisingly a fairly nebulous public (Ramble 2008) and ‘mundane’ (Huber
instance, is the woman entrepreneur policy concern: in some countries, handicrafts 2020). They are concerned with mundane
in handicrafts in Sri Lanka? Is she the policy falls under the domain of creative aims of well-being and prosperity, fecundity
woman in the north coast, widowed by industries, while in others it remains under and progeniture, health, protection and
the tsunami with children to care for, the small industries or enterprise. Perhaps the warfare, and general worldly success; not
beneficiary of a programme to encourage only tacit assumption is that it’s not quite mass with soteriology. They most likely represent
entrepreneurialism as a poverty alleviation production, nor is it automatically counted indigenous, pre-Buddhist cults of Tibet and
strategy? Or is she the woman at the as ‘fine art’. Read full article and more at: the Himalayas. Find full entry at:
local fair, selling bags she designed and
made herself but can sell at a premium by https://tinyurl.com/AAA-HK-DeSilva https://religiondatabase.org/browse/983
The Newsletter No. 88 Spring 2021 www.iias.asia/resources Online Resources 31
for Asia Scholars The Focus
The East Asia Image Collection
From the Richard Mammana
Archive: Postcard ‘Calvary
Charge’, published by the Tokyo
Daily News Company, 1904-1907.
The ‘Historical Photographs of China’ Project
‘The Bund, Shanghai, ca 1929’, from the Teesside Archives
collection, © 2011 British Steel Archive Project
East Asian Scroll Paintings
Section of ‘Bathing Horses’,
Zhao Mengfu, late 13th century
British Empire and Digital Batavia SEA The East Asia Image Indiancine.ma SA
Commonwealth Collection Collection EA
Maintained by the National Archives of An annotated online archive of Indian film.
SA SEA EA CA Indonesia, this website includes collections An open-access archive of digitised It is intended to serve as a shared resource
of advertisements, film footage, newspaper photographs, negatives, postcards, rare books for film scholars and enthusiasts in India
This unique resource includes objects, clippings, paintings, and maps about Batavia and slides, hosted at Lafayette College. and beyond.
artworks, photographs, films, papers and (Jakarta), the chief port of the Netherlands’
sound archives. These were donated by British Asian trading empire. https://dss.lafayette.edu/collections/east- https://indiancine.ma
people who lived and worked in many parts asia-image-collection
of the former empire and Commonwealth and https://bataviadigital.perpusnas.go.id/
reflect their occupations and interests. tentang
The International Dunhuang
https://becc.bristol.gov.uk East Asian Scroll Paintings Project: The Silk Road Online
(University of Chicago) EA
Digital Himalaya SA EA
This website is devoted to digitizing East
Chinese Text Project EA The Digital Himalaya project was Asian scroll paintings. In collaboration with IDP is a ground-breaking international
designed as a strategy for archiving and a number of museums including the Tokyo collaboration to make information and images
This website is an open-access digital making available ethnographic materials national museum and the Beijing Palace of all manuscripts, paintings, textiles and
library of pre-modern Chinese texts. With from the Himalayan region. The site hosts Museum, here you can search for specific artefacts from Dunhuang and archaeological
over thirty thousand titles and more than five a large collection of maps, rare books and paintings, artists, theme, period or museum. sites of the Eastern Silk Road freely available
billion characters, the Chinese Text Project manuscripts, music and film related to on the Internet and to encourage their
is also the largest database of pre-modern the region. https://scrolls.uchicago.edu use through educational and research
Chinese texts in existence. programmes.
http://www.digitalhimalaya.com
https://ctext.org http://idp.bl.uk
Filipinas Heritage Library (SEA)
Digital South Asia Library SA As a one-stop digital research centre on
Cologne Digital Sanskrit the Philippines, its mission is to spark and The Internet Archive
Dictionaries SA This website is based on a two-year pilot stoke interest in the visual, aural, and printed
project funded by the Association of Research story of the Filipino. The website hosts a large A database of sources not covered by
This website hosts lexicographic material Libraries' Global Resources Program that collection of sources focused on the formative copyright. The Internet Archive is building
for Indologists including dictionaries and provides digital materials for reference and period of Philippine nationhood (1930-1950s). a digital library of Internet sites and other
encyclopaedias. research on South Asia to scholars. It contains cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper
a useful collection of resource links and other https://www.filipinaslibrary.org.ph library, it provides free access to researchers,
https://sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de websites to access for those with an interest in historians, scholars, the print disabled, and
modern South Asian history. the general public. Its mission is to provide
‘Universal Access to All Knowledge’. Anyone
https://dsal.uchicago.edu Hathi Trust Digital Library with a free account can access nearly 500
The Database of Religious billion web pages, 28 million books and other
History EA SA SEA CA MENA The Hathi trust is a not-for-profit texts, 14 million audio recordings, 6 million
collaborative of academic and research videos, 3.5 million images and over half a
This is an excellent resource for anyone The Documentary Film libraries, based in the USA which began in million software programmes.
studying the history of religion. The website Programme SA SEA 2008. So far, they have preserved 17+ million
hosts a large database where you can search digitized items. The library is focused on https://archive.org
by region, for specific religions or researchers. This project covers the colonial official film books, journals and long-form texts and
It also includes an interactive map, breakdown in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya, Malaysia includes a substantial collection of US-Asia
of beliefs and practises and sources. and India. The majority of the documents were and Asia related texts.
written by government officials and deal with KITLV Digital Resources SEA
https://religiondatabase.org the use of the official film in the South and https://www.hathitrust.org
South-East Asia region over the period from The Royal Institute of Southeast Asian
1945 to the 1970s. These documents reveal and Caribbean Studies (KITLV) has entrusted
the process of colonial withdrawal from the the care of its world-famous collections to
Delpher SEA region, the project of nation building and The ‘Historical Photographs Leiden University Library, which makes it an
the role played by the official film in that. As of China’ Project EA invaluable repository. The resources include,
This is a Dutch-language site that has such, they offer insight into the region at the among others, the Digital Media Library, the
digitised millions of texts from scientific, end of empire and during the first phase of The project locates, digitises, and publishes Chinese Indonesian Heritage Center project,
library and private collections. The sources independence. online photographs of China held, largely, in and the Aceh Books collection.
are books, newspapers, journals, magazines, private hands outside the country. The aim is
radio bulletins. Most relevant for this list https://digital.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/ to help make this virtual photographic archive https://www.kitlv.nl/resources
is that the site also has a large selection documentary-film/search.php of modern China publicly available, under a
of sources from the Netherlands Indies. Creative Commons licence.
https://www.delpher.nl https://www.hpcbristol.net
32 www.iias.asia/resources Online Resources
The Focus for Asia Scholars
Rare Books Society
of India: A Zebra
A Zebra, by Mansur, opaque water-
colour and gold on paper, Mughal, 1621.
Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
T
he zebra in this painting was presented
to the Mughal emperor Jahangir
(r. 1605-1627) by Mir Ja'far who
had acquired it from some Turks who had
travelled to India from Africa. Jahangir
wrote on the painting (in Persian, the court
language) that it was: “A mule which the
Turks in the company of Mir Ja'far had
brought from Abyssinia in the year 1030
[1620-21], completed by Nader al-Asri
The Public Domain Review: [Wonder of the Age], Ustad Mansur".
When Jahangir had carefully examined
Japanese Firemen’s Coats it, and ensured that it was not, as some
thought, a horse on which someone had
painted stripes, he decided to send it to
Shah Abbas of Iran, with whom he often
D
uring the Edo period in Japan Although experiments with wooden pumps and thoroughly soaked in water before the exchanged rare or exotic presents.
(1615-1868), crowded living conditions were made, limited water supply rendered this firefighters entered the scene of the blaze. The painting is part of a group known as
and wooden buildings gave rise to more modern firefighting method impractical. No doubt the men wore them this way round the Minto Album, now divided between the
frequent fires – so frequent in fact it was Each firefighter in a given brigade was to protect the dyed images from damage, V&A and the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin,
said that “fires and quarrels were the outfitted with a special reversible coat but they were probably also concerned with all of which were done for Jahangir or his
flowers of Edo”. The socially segregated (hikeshi banten), plain but for the name of protecting themselves, as they went about son, Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658).
brigades formed to combat these fires the brigade on one side and decorated with their dangerous work, through direct contact
were made up of either samurais (buke richly symbolic imagery on the other. Made with the heroes and creatures represented https://tinyurl.com/RBSI-Zebra
hikeshi) or commoners (machi hikeshi), but of several layers of quilted cotton fabric, on the insides of these beautiful garments.
whatever their class, their methods were using a process called the sashiko technique,
the same: they would destroy the buildings and resist-dyed using the tsutsugaki method, https://tinyurl.com/TPDR-JapaneseFirecoats
surrounding the fire in an effort to contain it. these coats would be worn plain-side out
The Loewentheil Photography a host of services for the scholarly community. The Panjab Digital Library SA institutions and professional organisations. The
of China Collection EA It is designed to enable people to learn and database allows users to easily locate abstracts,
prepare from best practices from all over the This digital archive holds sources relating full journal articles, and research materials.
This is the largest collection of early world and to facilitate researchers to perform to the Punjab area and Sikhs, including
photography of China in the world. These inter-linked exploration from multiple sources. manuscripts, books, magazines, newspapers, https://ejournals.ph
include a large collection of historical photographs and pamphlets. Some of the
photographs taken Beijing and Shanghai https://ndl.iitkgp.ac.in resources are limited to specific organisations
taken from the 1850s through the 1930s, and registered users, registration is free.
to access some of the collection you need PressReader.com
to contact the organization directly. http://www.panjabdigilib.org
New Silk Road (NSR) at IIAS Not Asia specific, but with a subscription
https://loewentheilcollection.com EA CA SA to this all-you-can-read service you will gain
access to thousands of newspapers and
Based at IIAS in Leiden, the New Silk The 1947 Partition Archive SA magazines from more than 120 countries.
Road project is dedicated to promoting PressReader’s proprietary technology makes it
Malay Concordance Project evidence research and education on What began as an idea in 2008 to possible to process thousands of newspapers
SEA national and international efforts to improve acknowledge and popularize the people's every single day, extracting text and images
the infrastructure and connectivity among history of Partition has been accomplished and making articles instantly translatable,
This website is a project that aims to the countries of Asia and Europe. It brings through the founding and building of ‘The searchable, and easy to read on mobile
help scholars share resources for the study together over 750 teachers and researchers 1947 Partition Archive’, which has preserved devices. Many libraries across the globe have
of classical Malay literature. It has a large from a wide range of disciplines and nearly 9,500 memories of Partition witnesses. a subscription to this site, granting library
collection of pre-modern Malay written text working in over 80 countries. Membership Through the sharing of thousands of witness members access through their connection.
and articles. is open to all. accounts millions of times over the last
The site hosts eight different e-libraries, decade, the 'people's history' of Partition https://www.pressreader.com/catalog
http://mcp.anu.edu.au/Q/mcp.html educational resources, with articles and has been established and is now a growing
news related to China’s BRI, Youtube lectures and active area of research as well as new
and podcasts. documentation efforts.
The Public Domain Review
The Museum of Material https://newsilkroads.info https://www.1947partitionarchive.org
Memory SA Not Asia specific, but this informative
and highly entertaining site includes nearly
This is a digital repository that preserves 1000 annotated collections of images, books,
a wide range of material culture, in the form The Open Heritage People’s Archive of Rural India and film from the public domain. You can
of heirlooms, collectibles and antiques, from 3D Project CA SA EA SA also browse the current articles on themes
the Indian subcontinent. The repository builds including art, film, music, philosophy, religion
on posts from contributors from all over the As 3D data capture becomes an PARI is a living journal and an archive, and and legends, and science, among others.
world, who share stories of the objects in increasingly common method for the they are currently creating a database of If you prefer print to digital, head to the site’s
their collection. By tracing histories of objects documentation of cultural heritage there published stories, reports, videos and audio ‘shop’ and order one of the ‘Selected Essays’
and family histories, the site aims to explore has emerged a growing need to assist recordings. In addition, PARI hosts video, photo, printed volumes, public domain ‘fine art
narratives of tradition, culture and society of with the distribution and open access audio and text archives on rural India. PARI’s prints’, or curated postcard packs.
the subcontinent. of this growing library of 3D data while content comes under the Creative Commons
maintaining scientific rigor, respecting and the site is free to access. PARI is also open https://publicdomainreview.org
http://www.museumofmaterialmemory.com cultural and ethical sensitivities, enhancing to new contributors to write and record.
discoverability, and addressing data
longevity and archival standards. In response https://ruralindiaonline.org/en
to these areas of need, the Open Heritage Rare Books Society of India SA
National Digital Library 3D project was developed to make primary
of India SA 3D cultural heritage data open and This site is a virtual space for rare book
accessible and remove the barriers for Philippine E-Journals SEA collectors and history buffs to read, discuss,
The NDLI is a virtual repository of learning content producers to publish their data. rediscover and download lost books, paintings,
resources which is not just a repository This is an online collection of academic photographs and other objects. Importantly,
with search/browse facilities but provides https://openheritage3d.org publications from various higher education it aims to highlight the understanding that
The Newsletter No. 88 Spring 2021 www.iias.asia/resources Online Resources 33
for Asia Scholars The Focus
there is always more than one truth in history! SEAlang projects SEA a vehicle for targeted research, and one which Wilson Center Digital Archive
Sourcing from digital libraries such as The has been intelligently structured to ensure SEA EA
Internet Archive, Google Books, Wikipedia This website hosts Southeast Asian efficient content discovery. The site is hosted
and the online collections of various museums language reference materials. The by Routledge/Taylor&Francis, and you will The Digital Archive, overseen by the
around the world, RBSI has curated these rare organization is focused on non-roman script need a subscription to access the content. Wilson Center's History and Public Policy
books and images, and presented them in a languages, though more recently they have Program, contains once-secret documents
context that gives them relevance and shows expanded their collection to include many https://www.southasiaarchive.com from governments all across the globe,
each piece as a part of a grander whole. All languages of insular Southeast Asia, including uncovering new sources and providing fresh
material posted on this site is sourced from the Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. insights into the history of international
public domain and Rare Book Society of India The website contains a number of bilingual relations and diplomacy. The collection
explicitly states that it does not hold copyrights and monolingual dictionaries, and tools for South Asia Open Archives contains newly declassified historical
on any of this material. searching and displaying complex scripts. on JStor SA materials from archives around the world—
much of it in translation and including
https://www.rarebooksocietyofindia.org http://www.sealang.net This is a free open-access resource for diplomatic cables, high level correspondence,
research and teaching on South Asia in meeting minutes and more. The website has
English and other regional languages. SAOA's a particular focus on Southeast Asia, East
collection contains a number of books, Asia, the Korean war, and the history of
Reconnecting Asia The SOAS Digital Collections journals, newspapers, census data, magazines, Nuclear proliferation.
EA SA SEA CA EA SA SEA CA and documents, with particular focus on social
and economic history, literature, women and https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org
Reconnecting Asia maps new linkages— SOAS digital collections include archives gender, and caste and social structure.
roads, railways, and other infrastructure—that and manuscripts, photographs, maps, books
are reshaping economic and geopolitical and journals, newspapers, oral histories, films https://www.jstor.org/site/south-asia-
realities across the continent. Through data and audio. Nearly all are available freely, open-archives World Digital Library
curation and objective analysis, the project twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week,
aims to fill Asia’s infrastructure-information all year round. While some of this content is The World Digital Library (WDL) was
gap, squaring lofty ambitions with facts on protected by copyright, all of it can be used launched by the U.S. Library of Congress
the ground. The project site offers analyses, with attribution under Creative Commons TANAP Databases SEA and UNESCO, with contributions from
maps and databases – and also provides licence CC BY-NC. You can browse according libraries, archives, museums, educational
masterclasses in the topics. to discipline or geographic region, and among The archives of the VOC (Dutch East Indies institutions, and international organizations
the archives and special collections. There is Company). The website is in Dutch and around the world. Its intent is to preserve
https://reconnectingasia.csis.org also a large section of language resources English and contains an exhaustive list of and share some of the world’s most important
(e.g., Swahili, Rawang, Telugu, Urdu, Pali, digitised VOC documents and descriptions. cultural objects, increasing access to cultural
Buriat, Batak, etc.) treasures and significant historical documents
http://databases.tanap.net/ead to enable discovery, scholarship, and use.
Researching Colonial History https://digital.soas.ac.uk The materials collected by the WDL make
of the Malay World like it possible to discover, study, and enjoy
cultural treasures and significant historical
a Millennial SEA Things That Talk documents including books, manuscripts,
South Asia Archive SA maps, newspapers, journals, prints and
This is a fabulous new resource and guide This platform explores the humanities photographs, sound recordings, and films.
from the Cultural Centre of the University of The South Asia Archive provides an through the life of objects. This site is funded by Material on specific topics can be found
Malaya. The focus of this resource guide is on extensive resource for students and scholars Leiden University and explores the context and by using the site’s search and filter features.
digital resources that tell us something about across the humanities and social sciences. stories of objects old and new. They are open For example, you can search by region,
the Malay Archipelago, stretching back to Focusing on South Asia, the Archive contains to new curators so if you have an object you topic and/or time period.
the 17th century. The guide also offers tips both serial and non-serial materials, including would like to discuss you can contact them!
and ideas on how to find materials online, reports, rare books, and journal runs from https://www.wdl.org
an introduction to historical thinking, as well noteworthy, rare publications. The South https://thingsthattalk.net
as a guide to various communities, projects Asia Archive is a specialist digital platform
and initiatives related to the colonial history providing global electronic access to culturally
of the Malay World. and historically significant literary material
produced from within, and about, the South
https://tinyurl.com/likeamillennial Asian region. It is not merely a repository, but
Reconnecting Asia:
Belt, Road, and Beyond
World Digital Library:
The CSIS Belt and Road Executive Course
Ethnographical Turkestan
T
he Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a $1 trillion flagship
foreign policy effort of Chinese leader Xi Jinping,
could reshape global networks of trade, transport,
and political ties within and between countries for
T
decades to come. But since its announcement, the BRI his photograph is from the
has remained shrouded in confusion and controversy, ethnographical part of Turkestan
and it now faces major challenges, including the Covid-19 Album, a comprehensive visual survey
pandemic. Drawing insights from leading experts and the of Central Asia undertaken after imperial
Reconnecting Asia Project, the most extensive effort to Russia assumed control of the region in the
map and analyze these developments to date, CSIS has 1860s. Commissioned by General Konstantin
developed a Master’s-level introduction to China’s BRI. Petrovich von Kaufman (1818–82), the first
This private, virtual course explains what the BRI is, what governor-general of Russian Turkestan,
it is not, and how it is impacting commercial and strategic the album is in four parts spanning six
realities on the ground. Check back for Fall 2021 course volumes: ‘Archaeological Part’ (two volumes);
dates, coming soon! ‘Ethnographic Part’ (two volumes);
‘Trades Part’ (one volume); and ‘Historical
https://tinyurl.com/CSIS-BRBcourse Part’ (one volume). The principal compiler
was Russian Orientalist Aleksandr L. Kun,
who was assisted by Nikolai V. Bogaevskii.
The album contains some 1,200 photographs,
along with architectural plans, watercolor
drawings, and maps. The ‘Ethnographic Part’
includes 491 individual photographs on 163
plates. The photographs show individuals
representing the different peoples of the
region (Plates 1–33); daily life and rituals
(Plates 34–91); and views of villages and
cities, street vendors, and commercial
activities (Plates 92–163).
Above: ‘Syr Darya Oblast. City of Dzhizak and the Types
https://tinyurl.com/WDL-SyrDaryaOblast of People Seen at the Market. Water Carrier’. Found by
searching on ‘place’: Uzbekistan.
34 www.iias.asia/resources Online Resources
The Focus for Asia Scholars
OXUS Society for Central
Asian Affairs CA
Institutes and organisations The Oxus Society for Central Asian
Affairs is a DC-based non-profit organization
dedicated to fostering academic exchange
between Central Asia and the rest of the
world. Oxus provides a platform for early
career researchers, practitioners and
established academics by publishing research
on the politics, economics, cultures, history
The Ancient India & Iran Trust the pilot project that was based at the more than one million printed volumes and and societies of Central Asia. Oxus compiles
SA CA MENA Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies to expand the an equivalent number of audio-visual items, original datasets and develops analytical
work of digitally documenting historical and including many posters. Users can browse tools to help advance understanding
This organisation, in Cambridge (UK), archaeological sites across the broader region the institute’s thousands of datasets, which of the latest developments in the region.
occupies a unique position as an independent of maritime Southern Asia, including new field include millions of records on demographics, Oxus organizes workshops focused on
charity concerned with the study of early survey work in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Brunei, inequality, prices, wages, national accounts, research ethics, methods, data analysis
South Asia, Iran and Central Asia, promoting and Vietnam http://maritimeasiaheritage. labour relations, etc. IISH is one of the world’s and publishing for researchers working on
both scholarly research and popular interest cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp. See the article by Michael main data hubs on socioeconomic history. Central Asia. Subscribe to their Newsletter
in the area. Its primary focus is prehistory, Feener et al. on page 46 of this issue to read to stay updated.
archaeology, art history, linguistics and more about this survey. https://iisg.amsterdam/en
ancient languages, but this often extends https://oxussociety.org
to more modern topics and other disciplines. https://en.kyoto.cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp
It has a library of over 50,000 items and
organises a range of activities including ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute
conferences, public lectures and visiting SEA Policy Forum SEA SA EA
fellowships. The Centre for Asian and
Transcultural Studies (CATS) ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute is a research This is the website of the Asia and the
https://www.indiran.org centre in Singapore, offering multiple projects, Pacific Policy Society based at the Australia
in Heidelberg SA SEA EA publications, and online resources: such as National University. The Asia and the Pacific
their commentaries at https://fulcrum.sg; Policy Society is a community of scholars,
CATS is an Asia centre of a different or their analyses of current affairs, or more policymakers, researchers, students and the
The Asia Research Institute kind. It is committed to studying Asia in a in-depth analyses of contemporary policy-engaged public. The Website hosts
(ARI) SA EA SEA global context and through interdisciplinary geopolitical and socio-economic forces in episodes of 4 podcast series and publishes
dialogue. In CATS, four institutes from the region - all to be found at: articles on topics such as national security,
ARI, at the National University of Heidelberg University, whose regional focus arts and culture and the belt and road
Singapore, engages the humanities and is Asia, are joined together. Scholars at CATS https://www.iseas.edu.sg/category/ initiative.
social sciences broadly defined and are specialized in a variety of disciplines articles-commentaries
especially interdisciplinary frontiers such as Anthropology, Geography, History, https://www.iseas.edu.sg https://www.policyforum.net
between and beyond disciplines. As a Cultural Studies, Art History, Literary
university-level institute, ARI brings together Studies, Musicology, Religious Studies,
scholars from different departments, Politics, Sociology, among others. The centre
schools and faculties across campus for maintains research projects, a media centre, The Kern Institute SA The Textile Research Centre
seminars, conferences and collaborative a ‘digital humanities unit’, various BA and
research projects. The institute hosts MA degree programmes, and has recently This organization supports and promotes Based in Leiden, the Netherlands, the basic
visiting researchers, organises events inaugurated their Newsletter: CATSarena. the study of South Asia, in particular India and aim of the TRC is to give the study of textiles,
and maintains an academic blog called Tibet. It organises lectures and excursions, clothing and accessories their proper place in
ARIscope. Its publishing department https://www.cats.uni-heidelberg.de/ provides subsidies for study trips, supports the field of the humanities and social sciences.
produces working papers, manuscripts, media/catsarena.html the expansion and public use of its library The TRC does so by providing courses and
a number of journals and a Newsletter. collections, and brings out a Newsletter and lectures, carrying out research and by the
other publications. presentation of textiles and dress from all over
https://ari.nus.edu.sg the world. The two main focal paints of the
Clingendael Institute for https://www.instituutkern.nl TRC are (a) dress and identity: what people
International Relations wear in order to say who they are and
(b) pre-industrial textile technology. The TRC
British Institute of Persian SA EA SEA CA has a large textile-based archive, much of
Studies MENA SA Clingendael experts conduct policy- LeidenAsiaCentre EA which is now available online via their website.
oriented analysis and research on strategic
The British Institute of Persian Studies international issues. They offer policy The aim of the LeidenAsiaCentre is to https://www.trc-leiden.nl
(BIPS) is the UK’s foremost learned society recommendations through our publications, generate academic knowledge on modern
dedicated to promoting and supporting events and presence in the media. East Asia that can find societal applications
scholarship and research excellence on all Clingendael Academy is one of the largest in the Netherlands. The LeidenAsiaCentre
aspects of Iran and the wider Persianate international diplomatic training centres actively aims to expand its expertise and Tracing Patterns Foundation
world, and to increasing public under- around the world. Every day, international to use this in collaboration with a growing SEA
standing and knowledge of this region. professionals experience their unique training number of diverse societal partners, in
The Persianate world includes territories philosophy. The institute organises numerous particular the business sector, the social Tracing Patterns Foundation (TPF) is a
historically associated with Persian events and publishes prolifically, including midfield, the media, governments and community of international scholars and textile
and Iranian culture and language: Iran, ‘The Clingendael Spectator’, the think tank’s academic and non-academic knowledge makers (weavers, dyers, craftspeople, textile
Afghanistan, Central Asia, Transcaucasia, magazine, which is freely accessible for centres. Visit the site to find out more designers) who contribute towards building
Iraq, the Persian Gulf littoral, and South all with an interest in current developments about their projects and publications. a body of research on both traditional and
Asia. BIPS supports humanities and social concerning world politics. contemporary textiles around the world. TPF
sciences research into this region. https://leidenasiacentre.nl/en is a collaboration of like-minded people who
BIPS supports UK-based post-doctoral https://www.clingendael.org are passionate about textiles, production
researchers and UK-based students to carry processes, weaving and dying techniques,
out humanities and social science research symbols, patterns, cultural meanings, art, and
into Iran and the Persianate world through history. TPF also provides an institutional home
the award of research and travel grants. Institute for South Asia Studies for researchers seeking to conduct original field
BIPS usually invites grant applications three UC Berkeley SA research. The foundation maintains a blog,
times a year – in January, April and October. a mentorship program, a number of museum
This site includes a large selection of online projects and also organises events.
https://www.bips.ac.uk resources, produced by the institute and
recommended by the institute, dedicated to https://tracingpatterns.org
South Asia. Including a wide range of lecture Mercator Institute for China
videos, podcasts, blog articles and interviews Studies (MERICS) (Berlin) EA
Center for Southeast Asian with well-known South Asianists.
Studies at Kyoto University MERICS has established itself as the
https://southasia.berkeley.edu go-to European think tank on China. With
(CSEAS) SEA about 20 full-time research staff from
different disciplines, MERICS is currently the
CSEAS offers a wide range of largest European research institute focusing
resources, education and events, with International Institute solely on contemporary China studies. Based
a focus on Southeast Asia. Find for of Social History in Berlin, MERICS plays an active role in TU Delft Spatial Planning
example, their tremendous Newsletter here: informing European public debates on China
https://newsletter.cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp. The IISH is a distinctive institute, serving and in providing senior decision-makers Though not Asia specific, the website of the
The Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia: science and society on a global scale. across Europe with in-depth China-related Spatial Planning & Strategy department at the
https://kyotoreview.org; and the CSEAS At an international level, its research staff insights critical to their portfolios. Visit the Delft University of Technology presents their
Online Movie Project: https://onlinemovie. generates and offers reliable information site to explore their policy briefs, briefings, international research, book updates, blog
cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/index.html. and insights about the (long-term) origins, analyses, opinion pieces, etc. posts and links to events.
Also hosted at CSEAS is The Maritime Asia effects and consequences of social inequality.
Heritage Survey (MAHS), which builds upon The institute holds nearly 5000 archives, https://merics.org/en http://www.spatialplanningtudelft.org
The Newsletter No. 88 Spring 2021 www.iias.asia/resources Online Resources 35
for Asia Scholars The Focus
Leiden University Libraries The Miguel de Cervantes
Digital Collections SA SEA EA Virtual Library
Library collections This website is the digitised and digital
born collections of Leiden University Libraries.
A number of the collections are Asia specific,
This site can be accessed in Spanish.
It is a digital archive and library and includes
a history portal where you can find documents
such as the ‘Balinese narrative drawings’, on Spanish colonialism. In addition, the site
‘Southeast Asian pop music’, ‘Colonial incorporates the archives of many Spanish
sources’, ‘Japanese agriculture in the early libraries and museums. This site is connected
19th century’ and the ‘Kong Koan papers’. with the Spanish State Archives, accessible
in both Spanish and English, which can be
Bibliothèque nationale Endangered Archives https://digitalcollections.universiteitleiden.nl accessed here http://pares.culturaydeporte.
de France Programme SA SEA gob.es/pares/en/inicio.html
The national library of France. This This project of the British Library gives http://www.cervantesvirtual.com
site gives access to a number of digitised grants to organisations to catalogue,
collections and archives. The website is preserve, and digitize archives in danger
accessible in both French and English, from across the world. Thanks to this scheme,
although the English is poorly translated in over eight million images and 25 thousand Monash Collections Online
places. The site also published a number of soundtracks have been digitized till date. SEA
articles and free access to manuscripts. Collections span South Asia, Southeast
Asia, and beyond. Monash University Library’s Special
https://tinyurl.com/Gallica-BNF-EN Collections are an integral part of the Library,
https://eap.bl.uk/search/site spanning multiple genres and mediums.
Library of Congress The largest of the Special Collections held
Chinese Rare Book Digital at the Matheson Library are the Rare Books,
Bodleian Library Music and Multimedia, and Asian collections.
Laures Kirishitan Bunko Collection EA The Slavic, Asian, Yiddish language and
SA SEA EA
Database EA Jewish studies collections are also among
This library has almost a million images This is the website of the Chinese Rare the largest in Australasia. The collections
of rare books, manuscripts, and other The materials contained in the Book Digital Collection which draws from include purchases, gifts, and donations,
treasures from the Bodleian Libraries and database are collected and managed by 5,300 titles of Chinese rare books housed and are part of ongoing activities to promote
Oxford college libraries. Specific South & Kirishitan Bunko Library of Sophia University. at the Asian Division of the Library of the University’s research outputs. We are
Southeast Asia, and East Asia collections The focus of the collection is Japanese Congress. The collection brings together selectively digitising these collections to better
are presented alongside a number of other missionary items. printed books, manuscripts, Buddhist sutras enable access to these unique and valuable
regional collections. and local gazetteers among other items. research materials. Monash Collections
https://digital-archives.sophia.ac.jp These materials encompass a wide array of Online is the new home for the discovery,
https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk disciplines and subjects in classics, history, access, and engagement with these digitised
geography, philosophy, and literature. collections. Most items are available to
download and reuse, unless otherwise stated.
https://www.loc.gov/collections/chinese-
rare-books https://repository.monash.edu
Endangered Archives Programme:
Digitising Cirebon manuscripts
C
irebon was one of the important help to reconstruct how Islam spread
Islamic Sultanates in Java, together in West Java in the period of the 15th
with Demak and Banten, and had century to the first half of the 20th century.
been a centre for Islamic learning and the According to the latest survey, Cirebon
dissemination of Islamic teachings in West manuscripts are mostly damaged because
Java. Cirebon was also considered to be of inappropriate treatment and natural
one of the cultural centres in the Indonesian causes. Others were neglected due to a
archipelago, which can be seen in its lack of knowledge about the storage and
manuscripts. handling of manuscripts. Read full text at:
These Cirebon manuscripts will contribute
towards the understanding of Islamic https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP211
intellectual and cultural heritages, and will
Monash Collections Online: Japanese Fairy Tales
E
ffectively ending their self-isolation among the Japanese, however, the series
from the western world in 1853, became hugely popular in the West. The
Japan inevitably became the object influx of 'Yatoi' or foreigners employed by the
of fascination for much of the English- Japanese government, saw Hasegawa develop
speaking world. Innovative publisher and key relationships with Western intellectuals,
book importer, Hasegawa Takejiro, took academics, and entrepreneurs.
advantage of this interest, producing the Read full description and find all items
attractive and collectable, Japanese Fairy in this collection at:
Tale Series (1885 - 1925). Initially, these
‘fukuro toji’, or, bound-pocket books were https://repository.monash.edu/collections/
produced for improving English literacy show/108
36 www.iias.asia/resources Online Resources
The Focus for Asia Scholars
Qatar Digital Library:
The use of ‘Islamic’ seals
‘Performing Authority: the ‘Islamic’
Seals of British Colonial Officers’, by
Daniel A. Lowe
C
ultural appropriation was as much
a part of empire as military force.
The use of ‘Islamic’ seals by British
colonial officials is one example of this. In
his record of nineteenth century Egyptian
society, Edward William Lane wrote that
‘[a]lmost every person who can afford
it has a seal-ring, even though he be a
servant’. The function of seals as symbols
of textual authority and ownership
National Library of Singapore BiblioAsia: is deeply rooted in the Islamic world,
especially in Arabic and Persian-speaking
‘Let there be light’ societies. Historically, seals were used for
authorising various documents, including
letters and legal contracts, and for marking
Below: Detail of a letter the ownership of books and manuscripts.
from the Regency Council Read full entry at:
(majlis al-wisāyah),
Published on BiblioAsia: ‘Let There Be joined by gas-lit lamps in the second half of dated 30 January 1938,
Light’, by Timothy Pwee, 1 January 2021. the 19th century. Even then, street lighting was bearing the seals of https://tinyurl.com/QDL-Lowe
limited to major areas in town. Streetlamps Shaikh ‘Abdullah bin ‘Isa
T
Al Khalifah (top), Shaikh
imothy Pwee enlightens us about the running on electricity were introduced in the Salman bin Hamad Al
history of street lighting in Singapore, early 20th century but there were not very Khalifah (middle) and
starting with the first flickering oil many of these back then. It was only after Charles Dalrymple
Belgrave (bottom).
lamps that were lit in 1824. World War II that the authorities came up with IOR/R/15/2/181, f. 39r.
There is something special about plans to ensure that all of Singapore’s streets
Singapore at night. The glittering skyline would be lit at night. Read full article at:
of the Central Business District and Marina
Bay is now an iconic image, while the https://tinyurl.com/BiblioAsia-Pwee
annual festive light-ups of Orchard Road,
Chinatown, Geylang Serai and Serangoon
Road never fail to draw a crowd intent on Above: Lighted torches
taking selfies and wefies. illuminating the evening
sky as coolies transport
Singapore did not always sparkle after coal to refuel a ship, c.
dark though. The first streetlights relied 1876. This illustration first
on feeble, flickering oil lamps, which were appeared in The Graphic
on 4 November 1876.
Courtesy of the National
Museum of Singapore,
National Heritage Board.
National Diet Library (NDL) National Library of Singapore
Japan EA BiblioAsia EA SEA
This library can be accessed in This site hosts the newsletter of the
Japanese or English and is predominantly National Library of Singapore’s archive.
text based but includes over 600 audio- BiblioAsia features articles on the history,
visual recordings. The archive also publishes culture and heritage of Singapore within Österreichische Smithsonian Libraries
the National Diet Library monthly bulletin the larger Asian context, and has a strong Nationalbibliothek
each month, which provides comprehensive focus on the collections and services of the The network of 21 specialized research
information about the NDL’s collection of National Library. The National Library of The Austrian National Archives can libraries that make up the Smithsonian
books and its services: digitised versions Singapore also maintains a few YouTube be accessed in German and English. The Libraries provide the Institution’s museums
of rare books, periodicals, dissertations, channels featuring a collection of lectures collection is being digitised in conjunction and research centers with resources and
gazettes, political materials, music and talks across a wide range of topics with Google and includes titles from the services that are as diverse and deep as
manuscripts, maps, and many more. including history, art, and current events. early 16th century up to the second half the collections, exhibits, and scholarship
of the 19th century. From this site you can they support. They truly span the range of
https://dl.ndl.go.jp https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg also access physical books and journals scientific and cultural pursuits of humanity
https://www.youtube.com/NationalLibrarySG that can be picked up from the associated from aerospace, anthropology, and art
Austrian libraries. history to business history and botany,
cultural history, design, philately, zoology,
https://tinyurl.com/ONB-ANA and much, much more. These websites
OAPEN - Online library include a vast collection of public domain
and publication platform books and images. The digital collections
include over 35,000 digitised books and
OAPEN promotes and supports the transition Qatar Digital Library manuscripts as well as digitised photo
to open access for academic books by providing MENA CA SA collections, ephemera, and seed catalogs.
open infrastructure services to stakeholders Many of the physical collections have not
in scholarly communication. They work This website is an archive featuring the yet been digitised, but you can browse the
with publishers to build a quality-controlled cultural and historical records of the Gulf physical inventories of those collections
collection of open access books and provide and wider region. It is hosted in partnership on the website.
services for publishers, libraries, and research with the British Library. The sources are freely
funders in the areas of hosting, deposit, available online for the first time. The archives https://library.si.edu
quality assurance, dissemination, and digital include maps, manuscripts, sound recordings,
preservation. Browse by ‘subject’, ‘publisher’, photographs and much more, complete with
‘language’, or ‘collection’ – for example: ‘Asian contextualised explanatory notes and links,
history’, which has about 250 titles included. in both English and Arabic.
https://oapen.org https://www.qdl.qa/en
The Newsletter No. 88 Spring 2021 www.iias.asia/resources Online Resources 37
for Asia Scholars The Focus
Museum digital collections
The British Museum Metropolitan Museum of Art consecutive Ming (1368-1644) and Qing
(New York) (1644-1911) dynasties. The magnificent
The British Museum’s website has a large architectural complex, also known as
array of online resources, images of over Since 2017, the Met has made all images the Forbidden City, and the vast holdings
two million records and artifacts. The site of public-domain works in its collection of paintings, calligraphy, ceramics, and
also includes a large collection of articles and available under Creative Commons Zero antiquities of the imperial collections make
explanation of artifacts (Collection Stories), (CC0), so around 406,000 images of it one of the most prestigious museums in
with around 600,000 thousand records artworks are freely available for use. China and the world. Fun item on website:
linked to Asia. download beautiful high-resolution images
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection for free to use as desktop ‘wallpaper’
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection or to print out.
https://en.dpm.org.cn
National Palace Museum
Chester Beatty Museum (Taipei) EA
More than a museum with outstanding Digital archives from the National Palace The Rijksmuseum
collections, including those from Asia, Museum in Taipei. From 2015 the National
Chester Beatty is also a research library for Palace Museum has made all images on the The National museum of the Netherlands,
scholars from all over the world. Collections site free to download (CC BY 4.0). You can featuring not only the Dutch masters, but
and exhibitions are displayed online, search by dynasty or category. Head to the a comprehensive and representative overview
alongside a range of educational resources. tab ‘Open Data’ on the site. of Dutch art and history from the Middle Ages
onwards, and of major aspects of European
https://chesterbeatty.ie https://theme.npm.edu.tw and Asian art. The museum’s website is
a playground for art lovers and for those Above: One of the two impressive temple
wanting to learn and discover. guardians of the Asian Pavilion in the
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en
(Kansas City) EA SEA SA
The Nelson-Atkins Museum has various
collections of images available online, some Shanghai Museum
of which in the public domain. This includes (Shanghai) EA
large East Asia, and South & Southeast
Asia collections. With a focus on collecting, researching,
Cleveland Museum of Art displaying and education of pre-modern
EA SA SEA CA https://art.nelson-atkins.org/collections Chinese arts, the Museum has built up
a collection of nearly 1,020,000 items.
The Cleveland museum website contains Its multimedia section includes stunning
a collection of their artifacts and records that videos introducing you to their exhibitions
have been digitised including a number that The Palace Museum and collections.
are linked to Asia. The museum particularly has (Beijing) EA
a large collection of textile and art artifacts. https://www.shanghaimuseum.net/mu/
Established in 1925, the Palace Museum frontend/pg/en/collection/index
https://www.clevelandart.org is located in the imperial palace of the
Above: Painting of a
Travelling Monk, Sourced
from The British Museum
digital collection story
‘Exploring the Silk Roads’.
Found at the Library
Cave, Mogao Caves,
Dunhuang, Gansu
province, China, about
851-900. © The Trustees
of the British Museum.
Creative Commons
license.
Above: Downloadable wallpaper image from The Palace Museum Beijing.
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