East Asian Collections at Duke University Libraries

The East Asian Collection began in the late 1920s when James A. Thomas (1862-1940), who spent more than 30 years in China managing operations for the British-American Tobacco Company, gave Duke University 1,500 volumes from his personal library. The collection grew beginning with Japanese materials in the late 1960s and Chinese and Korean materials in the 1990s. Today the East Asian Collection is a regional resource center for students and researchers.

In addition to the East Asian Collection at Duke University Libraries, students and researchers have access to Duke’s Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. The Rubenstein Library offers materials such as:

• Anpo and the Japanese student movement in the 1960s
• Diaries of businessmen, British diplomats, missionaries and travelers active in China, Japan and Korea
• General Robert L. Eichelberger's papers
• Photographs of China, Japan and Korea taken by Sidney Gamble (c. 1917-1932), by William Shockley (c. 1987-1905), Carl Mydans (c. 1941-1952) and Kusakabe Kimbei (c. 1885-1890)
• Stereographic card and postcard collections
• The Memory Project : oral histories from survivors of the Great Famine that devastated rural China between 1958 and 1961. Officially known in China as the “Three Years of Natural Disasters” or “The Difficult Three-Year Period,” the Great Famine caused the death of between 20 and 43 million people. More recently the project has also covered the Great Leap Forward of 1958-1960, the Land Reform and the Collectivization of 1949-1953, the Four Cleanups Movement in 1964, and the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976. 

Perkins Library: http://library.duke.edu/services/visitors

Faculty, staff and students from BorrowDirect member institutions can present their school ID card to obtain borrowing privileges at the Perkins, Lilly, Music, Law and Divinity Libraries as well as the Library Service Center. Privileges are issued at the Perkins Library service desk weekdays 8 AM to 7 PM. Visitors will be required to confirm their current affiliation with their institution by successfully logging into their BorrowDirect account.

Rubenstein Library: http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/about/visit
Before you arrive:

• Register as a researcher: This one-time researcher registration process is easy and also includes the creation of an online account. With this account, you'll be able to request material for use in our reading room and track the status of your requests. 
• Request the material you want to use: Most of our collections are stored at the Library Service Center, our off-site repository, and it will take us 2 full business days to bring them to our reading room. Submit your requests in advance of your visit.