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LibGuide to Digital Collections (Christopher Newport University)

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LibGuide to Digital Collections (Christopher Newport University)

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This is probably the most comprehensive research guide that exists, covering all time periods, countries, continents, and regions.

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Digital Collections

These resources provide access to collections of libraries around the world that would otherwise not be available for use or would require extensive travel to access.

Images and other materials may be in the public domain or under copyright.

Check the terms of use/image rights/copyright for details.

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LibGuides: Primary Sources Home: Digital Collections

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Skip to Main Content It looks like you're using Internet Explorer 11 or older. This website works best with modern browsers such as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. If you continue with this browser, you may see unexpected results.

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Southeast Asia Visions is a collection of European travel accounts of pre-modern Southeast Asia from Cornell University Library. The site provides online access to more than 350 books written in English and French.

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Note: This site includes some historical materials that may imply negative representations or stereotypes of the peoples discussed in the documents. These documents have been included as part of the historical record and should not be interpreted to mean that project staff endorse or approve of the representations or stereotypes implied.

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Princeton University has digitized a number of manuscripts, in their "Treasures of the East Asian Library" collection as well as "Treasures of the Graphic Arts," which includes Japanese and Chinese prints and drawings.

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Gutenberg's invention of typography eventually revolutionized the world of text production and distribution. But the printing craft did not produce an immediate ... explosion. The first two decades of European printing have a pace of their own, and these years contain long overlooked mysteries, which stood in the shadow of such famous monuments as the Gutenberg Bible and the 1457 Mainz Psalter.

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Major digital collections of maps of Asia, regions within Asia, and individual countries can be found at the following selected sites. This list is certainly not exhaustive, and will be updated frequently - please send your comments and suggestions of additional useful Asia map sites to us at asianarc@bu.edu.

Robert Murowchick
Associate Director, BUCSA

Comprehensive Digital Map Collections:
Old Maps Online
Originally a collaboration between Klokan Technologies GmbH, Switzerland and The Great Britain Historical GIS Project (University of Portsmouth, UK), this fantastic collection now indexes some 400,000 maps dating from 1550 to 2000 representing the collections contributed by 35 participating libraries and archives around the world. Searches can be undertaken by entering a term or by drawing a rectangle on a world map, with yields a list of relevant maps on the right side of the page. The individual maps are zoomable, although the quality of the resolution depends upon the nature of the scan provided by the source institution.
Collections with Maps | Library of Congress
The Library of Congress holds the world's most comprehensive map collection "...numbering over 5.5 million maps, 80,000 atlases, 6,000 reference works, over 500 globes and globe gores, 3,000 raised relief models, and a large number of cartographic materials in other formats, including over 19,000 cds/dvds." A small but growing subset of this collection is available online in digital form. A search for particular regions or countries yields a list and thumbnail images of relevant holdings. The "Discovery and Exploration" collection holds a number of high-resolution maps of Asia from the 15 th through 19 th c.

David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
This collection, originally the private collection of David Rumsey and now housed at Stanford University, contains more than 150,000 maps and other cartographic items from the 16 th through 21 st centuries, with more than 1000 maps in its Asia collection. Individual maps are zoomable, and are of very high resolution.

Harvard Map Collection - Harvard College Library
The Harvard Library map collection is one of the largest and oldest collections in the US. Established in 1818, it now holds 400,000 maps, 6,000 atlases, and 5,000 reference books. A subset of these are now available in digital form at http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/maps/digitalmaps/. The process for viewing a map is a bit circuitous: When you undertake a search, you will see a list of found maps; click on "full record," then click on the HGL ID (Harvard Geospatial Library ID) link. Add the map to your shopping cart; the compressed image will be sent to your e-mail account as a .zip file. When uncompressed, you are rewarded with a spectacularly detailed image in .jp2 format.

John Carter Brown Map Collection, Brown University
The John Carter Brown library at Brown University (Providence, RI USA) contains more than 13,000 items, including over 4,000 maps. The Asian collection provides high-resolution zoomable scans of over 300 maps dating between the early 16 th c. and the late 19 th c.

Asian Maps Collection, University of Southern California
This USC collection focuses on East and Southeast Asia, with a particularly interesting Sea of Korea Collection of northeast Asian maps dating from 1601 to 1895.

Historical Maps of Asia, University of Alabama
Historical Maps of East Asia, University of Alabama
Organized chronologically, these digitized maps are viewable and zoomable but only in a relatively small window.
Landkartenarchiv - Historische Landkarten, Stadtpläne und Atlanten (Map Archive: Historical Maps, City maps, and Atlases) online National Library of Australia Map Collection Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library Ryhiner collection: maps of the world - University of
Antique Atlas
Royal Geographical Society (RGS) Asia Collection
Newberry Library (Chicago) Maps, Travel, and Exploration Collection
Newberry Library (Chicago) Special Map Collections and Strengths

Osher Map Library, University of Southern Maine
Small but superb collection of world maps built around the core collections of Eleanor and Lawrence M.C. Smith, and Harold and Peggy Osher; includes about 50 high-resolution maps of Asia and individual countries from the 15 th-19 th centuries.
WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: East Asia
Antiquarian Map Vendors with substantial Asia collections

A number of antiquarian map dealers also consistently maintain rich offerings of Asia-related maps viewable as high-resolution images. These include:

Antique Atlas Online Catalogue
Paulus Swaen Map Auction and Galleries
Jonathan Potter Antique Maps
The Map House of London
Geographicus Rare Antique Maps
Bergbook Rare Antique Maps
Murray Hudson Antique Maps, Globes, and Prints - China
Brian DeMambro Rare Books and Maps
Antique Print Room - Sydney :: MAPS World
Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc.
Barry Lawrence Ruderman City Plans of Asian Cities

Notable Collections of Asian Regions and Countries:

Maps of China
Maps of China in the Perry-Casteñeda Library, University of Texas Army Map Service L500 Series maps of China, Harvard College Library Maps of China, Visual Cultures of East Asia
Shanghai Maps Database (Virtual Shanghai), Osaka City University
Straightforward collection of medium-resolution scans of nearly 800 maps of Shanghai from 1858 to 2008.
Historical Maps of China
Several interesting Chinese blog sites provide maps of varying scan quality. Many surprises are to be found, as long as the pop-up ads don't annoy you. The content is constantly changing as users upload additional materials. These blogs include:
（160图）

NationMaster - Maps of China (95 in total)

China Data Center, University of Michigan 密西根大学中国信息研究中心 provides a range of traditional and GIS maps; population, economic, and other thematic data, administrative boundary maps of China 1949-2015 (as GIS shape maps), and other resources, many of which are free. An introductory video can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxHxQftFZXA&feature=youtu.be

Maps of Southeast Asia:
WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: Southeast Asia Historical Maps of Southeast Asia, University of Alabama The Geography of East and Southeast Asia, Hofstra University Map Library Kaarten van de VOC (Maps of the Dutch East Indies Company) | GAHETNA Carte Cambodge, Angkor, histoire, documents en ligne LEXILOGOS Dutch Colonial maps in the collection of the Royal Tropical Institute, Leiden University Libraries L'Indochine Coloniale - Plan et Cartes (Maps of French Colonial Indochina)Indochina and Thailand Maps, US Army Map Service (AMS) Topographic Maps, Perry-Castañeda Map Collection, University of Texas
Maps of South Asia:
WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: South Asia WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: Indian Ocean Maps of South Asia, Columbia University Library Historical Maps of South Asia before 1825, University of Alabama Maps of India
Maps from the Imperial Gazetteer of India (volumes 1-24)
Provides high-resolution scans of the maps contained in the 24-volume Imperial Gazetteer, published in various editions between 1881 and 1931. The full text with detailed geographical, historical, ethnic, linguistic, economic, and administrative information can be found at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/
India Maps, Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas Historical Maps of India Outline Maps of India Maps and Data, Survey of India (SOI)Antique Maps of India, Map House of London Antique Maps of India and Nepal Antique Maps of India, Bergbook.com Tibet Maps - From the Collections of the American Geographical Society Library (AGSL)A Historical Atlas of South Asia, edited by Joseph E. Schwartzberg. Digital South Asia Library
Maps of Japan:

Japanese Historical Map Collection, David Rumsey Collection
The Japanese Historical Map Collection presents 1,900 digitized early maps of Japan from a collection of 2,300 early maps of Japan and the World acquired by the University of California from the Mitsui family in 1949. The collection is housed in UC-Berkeley's C.V. Starr East Asian Library.
Japan Maps in the Perry-Casteneda Library, University of Texas Historical Maps of Japan (University of Alabama)
Tokyo Archive, Tokyo Metropolitan Library 「東京都立図書館・東京アーカイブ」
The Tokyo Archive specializes in materials related to Edo and Tokyo, and includes maps of pre-modern Tokyo.
Historical, Demographic and Economic Maps of Japan (G. William Skinner collection, University of Washington Libraries)
Gaihôzu: Japanese Military and Imperial Maps | Stanford University Libraries
As its website states, "Stanford University Libraries holds a large collection of Japanese military and imperial maps, referred to as gaihozu, or "maps of outer lands." These maps were produced starting in the early Meiji (1868-1912) era and the end of World War II by the Land Survey Department of the General Staff Headquarters, the former Japanese Army. The first charge was to map specific territories beyond Japan's borders. Over time the mapping efforts grew to including "mapping of interimperial boundaries, cadastral surveys of the colonies, and detailed drawings of strategic cities and fortifications." Geographically the Stanford maps cover a broad area including Japan, China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, the Philippines, and beyond."

Maps of Central Asia:
WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: Central Asia
Maps of Southwest Asia:
WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: Southwest Asia
Some interesting thematic collections:

Gaihôzu: Japanese Military and Imperial Maps | Stanford University Libraries
As its website states, "Stanford University Libraries holds a large collection of Japanese military and imperial maps, referred to as gaihozu, or "maps of outer lands." These maps were produced starting in the early Meiji (1868-1912) era and the end of World War II by the Land Survey Department of the General Staff Headquarters, the former Japanese Army. The first charge was to map specific territories beyond Japan's borders. Over time the mapping efforts grew to including "mapping of interimperial boundaries, cadastral surveys of the colonies, and detailed drawings of strategic cities and fortifications." Geographically the Stanford maps cover a broad area including Japan, China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, the Philippines, and beyond."

Asian Cities - Late 19th- and early 20th-century maps, University of Chicago Library Map Collection
The library holds a large collection of Asian city maps, a selection of which are available online as 400 dpi scans.
Japan Earthquake and Tsunami maps in the Perry-Casteñeda Library, University of Texas Soil maps of Asia. European Commission Joint Research Centre, European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC)Historical Maps of Pacific Theatre in WWII
South China Sea territorial debate
provides an interesting array of maps of the South China Sea published by different sources in 1937, 1939, 1946, 1947, 1951 and later. If you click on each individual map, you can download a very high resolution scan.
Geo-Spatial Digital Archive Project for Southeast Asia, Bangkok
Maps of South Asia:
WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: South Asia WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: Indian Ocean Maps of South Asia, Columbia University Library Historical Maps of South Asia before 1825, University of Alabama Maps of India
Maps from the Imperial Gazetteer of India (volumes 1-24)
Provides high-resolution scans of the maps contained in the 24-volume Imperial Gazetteer, published in various editions between 1881 and 1931. The full text with detailed geographical, historical, ethnic, linguistic, economic, and administrative information can be found at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/
India Maps, Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas Historical Maps of India Outline Maps of India Maps and Data, Survey of India (SOI)Antique Maps of India, Map House of London Antique Maps of India and Nepal Antique Maps of India, Bergbook.com Tibet Maps - From the Collections of the American Geographical Society Library (AGSL)A Historical Atlas of South Asia, edited by Joseph E. Schwartzberg. Digital South Asia Library
Maps of Japan:

Japanese Historical Map Collection, David Rumsey Collection
The Japanese Historical Map Collection presents 1,900 digitized early maps of Japan from a collection of 2,300 early maps of Japan and the World acquired by the University of California from the Mitsui family in 1949. The collection is housed in UC-Berkeley's C.V. Starr East Asian Library.
Japan Maps in the Perry-Casteneda Library, University of Texas Historical Maps of Japan (University of Alabama)
Tokyo Archive, Tokyo Metropolitan Library 「東京都立図書館・東京アーカイブ」
The Tokyo Archive specializes in materials related to Edo and Tokyo, and includes maps of pre-modern Tokyo.
Historical, Demographic and Economic Maps of Japan (G. William Skinner collection, University of Washington Libraries)
Gaihôzu: Japanese Military and Imperial Maps | Stanford University Libraries
As its website states, "Stanford University Libraries holds a large collection of Japanese military and imperial maps, referred to as gaihozu, or "maps of outer lands." These maps were produced starting in the early Meiji (1868-1912) era and the end of World War II by the Land Survey Department of the General Staff Headquarters, the former Japanese Army. The first charge was to map specific territories beyond Japan's borders. Over time the mapping efforts grew to including "mapping of interimperial boundaries, cadastral surveys of the colonies, and detailed drawings of strategic cities and fortifications." Geographically the Stanford maps cover a broad area including Japan, China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, the Philippines, and beyond."

Maps of Central Asia:
WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: Central Asia
Maps of Southwest Asia:
WWW Virtual Library: History of Cartography: Images of early maps on the web: Southwest Asia
Some interesting thematic collections:

Gaihôzu: Japanese Military and Imperial Maps | Stanford University Libraries
As its website states, "Stanford University Libraries holds a large collection of Japanese military and imperial maps, referred to as gaihozu, or "maps of outer lands." These maps were produced starting in the early Meiji (1868-1912) era and the end of World War II by the Land Survey Department of the General Staff Headquarters, the former Japanese Army. The first charge was to map specific territories beyond Japan's borders. Over time the mapping efforts grew to including "mapping of interimperial boundaries, cadastral surveys of the colonies, and detailed drawings of strategic cities and fortifications." Geographically the Stanford maps cover a broad area including Japan, China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, the Philippines, and beyond."

Asian Cities - Late 19th- and early 20th-century maps, University of Chicago Library Map Collection
The library holds a large collection of Asian city maps, a selection of which are available online as 400 dpi scans.
Japan Earthquake and Tsunami maps in the Perry-Casteñeda Library, University of Texas Soil maps of Asia. European Commission Joint Research Centre, European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC)Historical Maps of Pacific Theatre in WWII
South China Sea territorial debate
provides an interesting array of maps of the South China Sea published by different sources in 1937, 1939, 1946, 1947, 1951 and later. If you click on each individual map, you can download a very high resolution scan.

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Major digital collections of maps of Asia, regions within Asia, and individual countries can be found at the following selected sites. This list is certainly not exhaustive, and will be updated frequently - please send your comments and suggestions of additional useful Asia map sites to us at asianarc@bu.edu.

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NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF JAPAN Digital Archive

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NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF JAPAN Digital Archive

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National Archives of Japan Digital Archive provides access to the descriptions and digitized images of the historical records preserved by the National Archives of Japan through the utilization of cutting-edge information technology. At anytime and at anywhere, you can search for the descriptions and view the digitized images of the records of historical value in our custody via the Internet.

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This NYU library guide includes links to digitized sources on China.

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Research Guides: Primary Source Materials in China: Digital Collections

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Researching special collections and archives in or about China? This site will describe both physical and digital repositories.

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This is a digitized searchable database of important historical documents and their English translations.

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Japan Center for Asian Historical Records

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Japan Center for Asian Historical Records

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JACAR has built and operates an online database for releasing Asian historical records, that are historical documents of Japan concerning to the modern Japanese relations with other countries, particularly those in Asia.

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Japan Center for Asian Historical Records

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JACAR has built and operates an online database for releasing Asian historical records, that are historical documents of Japan concerning to the modern Japanese relations with other countries, particularly those in Asia.

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The history of imperialism is covered extensively on the world wide web. The sites listed below have been selected to demonstrate some of the high quality resources available.

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History in Focus: Empire - Web Resources

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This BBCi History website, The British Empire, provides a number of useful essays and resources on the Britain's imperial and colonial history. The focus is on a handful of topics, namely British India, aspects of Commonwealth history, and general overviews of Britain's colonial acquisitions.

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This includes sources about Asian American activism in the 1960s and 1970s.

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Produced by Asian American Movement Project (AAMP). Presented by KQED.

Based on material from the anthology, Asian Americans: The Movement and the Moment. Excerpts and images used courtesy of the anthology's contributors.

" Audio Webcast from the May 23, 2002, event
Snapshots of Asian America:
A Look at the Movement's Spirit and Legacy
An evening exploring the rich history of the social activism of Asian Americans from the 1960s and '70s through personal accounts and a panel discussion with movement participants.
Listen to the audio webcast.

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Snapshots of the Asian American Movement, activism, and activists in the 1960s and 1970s

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Produced by Asian American Movement Project (AAMP). Presented by KQED. Based on material from the anthology, Asian Americans: The Movement and the Moment. Excerpts and images used courtesy of the anthology's contributors.

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This includes a number of collections related to Japanese and Chinese immigrants to California.

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Collections | Japanese American National Museum

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The over 150,000 objects that comprise the JANM permanent collection chronicle the Japanese American experience in its entirety from early immigration to the present. Artifacts related to early immigration to the United States at the turn of the 20th century, early life in Japanese American communit…

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The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy

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The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy

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Avalon Project - Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy