WOMEN IN MODERN JAPAN   History 192W      Kathryn Ragsdale

Guide to Selected Library  Resources

Kay Collins Interim History Research Librarian and   U.S. Government Information Librarian kcollins@uci.edu 949-824-7290

Anne Bock Women's Studies Research Librarian abock@uci.edu 949-824-9658

Much of this guide will link to specific portions of the library Subject Guide for History or the Subject Guide to Women's Studies or the Subject Guide to Asian Studies.  This helps you to become more familiar with these resources.  It might be useful to you to search them in more detail if you do not find what you need from this guide.

How to find books

Subject Guide for History 

Women's Studies, Core Books --  There is a section devoted to Japanese Women.  Click on "Search the Collection". then click on the box for Japanese Women.  Or, you can click on "Guided Search" and enter your specific search terms.  After you identify relevant books, open up a ANTPAC or Melvyl to look for copies you can readily find or request.  If your titles are not located there, then go to ANTPAC and create an Interlibrary Loan (ILL) request.

Books can be useful for many reasons. 

• They might supply background information
  
• They may provide very detailed information on your topic. 
  
• Check for further resources in their bibliographies and footnotes.
• Some books are also primary resources.  Some helpful terms to use might be diaries, letters, resources, etc.

If you read Japanese and need assistance find books within the East Asian Collection, please contact Ying Zhang (yingz@uci.edu) for assistance.

HINTS: 

• Try a keyword search first, e.g.  Japan* and women .  As you view the full record, look for relevant LCSH (Library of Congress Subject Headings).  Try searches on those as well
• The Japanese word for woman is "onna" and it precedes many Japanese words/phrases.  So a keyword search for onna* does help identify titles, some of which are in Japanese, but not all. 
  
• Start general.  If you find too many items, then try searches with more specific terms.
  
• A search in a library catalog such as ANTPAC or MELVYL will be searching these fields:  Author, Title, Subject headings, and, if they are available, the Table of Contents.  These can often be very general.  You may need to look inside some books to find a chapter on your topic.
  
• If you find a good book on the topic, look at the bibliography and/or footnotes.  They can lead you to more resources.
  

How to Find Journal Articles

Subject Guide for History --Finding journal articles section. 

Subject Guide for Women -- Finding journal articles section.  There is some overlap with the History Subject Guide.

Subject Guide for Asian Studies --Finding journal articles section.  Note, some titles are in Japanese, Korean or Chinese.

For all of the titles listed, a quick reading of the contents will help you select the right database to search.  Look at dates, geographic coverage, etc.

Primary Resources

Historical newspapers online -- Scroll down to the bottom of this section to the  "Newspaper Indexes" section.  If you are offered a selection of sources, select the one from PROQUEST.  It is the only one that is truly historical in nature.  Very modern issuesonly might be in the others.

Gerritsen Collection, Women's History Online -- electronic copies of books, pamphlets, periodicals on the history of feminism and also civil rights.

Sample microform collections at UCI:

• Prostitution in Japan.  Langson Library, 1st floor, Microfilm M 000206, reel 961, no. 9917.
• How the social evil is regulated in Japan.   Langson Library, 1st floor, Microfilm 000206, reel 960, no. 9873
• The Japanese Wedding, a representation of the wedding ceremony.......Langson Library, 1st floor, Microfilm M 000206, reel 958, no. 9773.
• Japan in Transition.  Langson Library, 1st floor, Microfilm M 000593.

Online Archive of California -- use this database to identify special collections of papers, photographs, etc. located in various libraries and archives in California. 

Online Tutorial for Primary Resources --  You may know some of what is presented here, but it can be helpful.  Most helpful is the second section because it provides a listing of the terms useful in searching for books which are primary resources:  diaries, narratives, memoirs, letters, sources, etc.