The John M. Olin Library is the general library housing collections in the humanities, social sciences, engineering, and mathematics. Departmental libraries operating in the Olin Library System are: Art and Architecture, Biology, Business, Chemistry, Earth & Planetary Sciences, East Asian, Mathematics, Music and West Campus. Other departmental and school libraries on the Danforth Campus are: Law, Physics, and Social Work. The Medical Library is located on the Medical School campus.

East Asian Library

The East Asian Library in January Hall has over 149,000 volumes of books and bound periodicals in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, plus 325 CD-ROMs, 3,350 microfiches, and 1,400 reels of microfilm materials, complemented by a broad range of electronic resources to support the programs in East Asian studies offered by the departments of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures, History, Art History and Archaeology, Anthropology; by the committees on East Asian Studies, Comparative Literature, Religious Studies, and by the School of Law in conjunction with the Committee on East Asian Studies.

Monograph and serials holdings are consistent with the emphasis within graduate East Asian programs of instruction as well as faculty research interests. The collection is mainly divided into two major geographical areas -- China and Japan; and into roughly two time periods -- classical and contemporary. The Library also acquired a considerable number of Korean materials in recent years to support a new Korean studies program. Among many multi-volume sets of primary source materials in the Chinese classical period is a 6000 volume set of collected literary works (the Bai bu cong shu ji cheng) printed originally in the 16th century and reprinted from the original in a modem edition on double leaves with volumes encased, and a 36,381 volume set of Si ku quan shu (on CD-ROMs) printed originally in 1782. Another is a 1500 volume set of Chinese local histories (Zhongguo fang zhi cong shu), also printed in the late 19th century. The Library holds the major collections of Buddhist and Taoist canonical works in Chinese. Commentaries, critiques, and other reference tools are also available to facilitate research in Chinese studies.

Contemporary Chinese literature from both China and Taiwan is also intensively gathered in order to investigate and evaluate the changing moods of the time. Our collection of modern Chinese history is particularly strong, a reflection of faculty and student research interests. The collection has extensively amassed biographies of political leaders in 20th century China, local records of political activities, archives from the Republican period (1911-1949), and materials dealing with the interaction between the West and China during the early 1930s.

The Japanese Collection, also reflecting the orientation of teaching and research projects at the University, centers on works in the areas of literature, intellectual history, philosophy and religion. Nearly half of the 52,400 volumes of Japanese materials consists of collections of works by premodern, early modern, and contemporary authors, as well as classical collectanea such as the Gunsho Ruij u a monumental collection of essays and other literary works from the ninth to the early 19th century, when the compendium was begun. These primary sources are augmented by volumes of commentaries, critiques, and other reference tools.

Other notable primary sources available to faculty and students in our Japanese programs include collections of Imperial Archives, diplomatic documents, materials on the early Meiji development of Japanese industry (Meiji zenki sangyo hattatsu shi shiryo), and the Buddhist canon (Taisho shinshu daizoko), with associated commentaries and concordances.

At the west end of the stacks on the second level in January Hall is a special collection cage where more than 200 volumes of rare and special materials in Chinese and Japanese are maintained. Most of these are printed on old and fragile rice paper and require special handling. The Robert Elegant Collection is also housed in this area. The collection, consisting of four file cabinets, was donated to the East Asian Library by Mr. Elegant, a journalist stationed in Hong Kong during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, 1967-76. It contains news releases, newspaper clippings, and broadcast memos from mainland China.

The East Asian Library has five public computers with installed CJK software, which provide access to the Library's catalog, as well as access to the Internet and other resources. Library holdings are searchable (in Chinese/Japanese/Korean and romanization) online.

East Asian Materials Outside the East Asian Library:

The stacks of Olin Library contain 33,000 volumes of books as well as over 100 periodicals in European languages relevant to the study of China and Japan. It should also be noted that a substantial collection of books on Chinese and Japanese art is maintained in the Art & Architecture Library in the Kemper Museum Building for the use of students and faculty studying East Asian art history through the Department of Art History and Archaeology, the Asian Studies Program, and peripheral courses offered through other departments, notably the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages & Literatures. The Art & Architecture Library collection has around 2600 volumes in European languages concerning East Asian art. The West Campus Library also holds bound journals, books on Chinese and Japanese art, and uncataloged gift materials.

Likewise, the Law Library holds over 9,000 volumes on Chinese and Japanese law in Asian languages in addition to their extensive collection in Western languages.

Washington University Libraries subscribe to a number of electronic databases and electronic journals in East Asian studies including Bibliography of Asian Studies, JSTORE, Project MUSE, China Academic Journals Full-text Database, Japan Knowledge, Nichigai MagazinePlus, and Nichigai WHO II.