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Japanese Studies: Databases

Subjects: Japan

Introduction

Databases contain large amounts of data including (but not limited to) statistics, bibliographic information, images and in some cases full-text data.

Bibliographic databases are a useful tool for finding scholarly literature in your subject area. This includes (but is not limited to) journal articles, conference proceedings and books. They are very useful to consult when carrying out your own research because:

  • they provide powerful search functionality
  • have citation tools
  • have thesauri
  • their content is selected by experts in your subject

Bibliographic databases are helpful when you want to start exploring beyond your reading list or are researching a new topic.

On this page you will find recommended databases and guidance on how to search for and access databases.

 

Definitions

Terms you may encounter in your research

Database:
A collection of structured and organised data that is stored, searched and accessed electronically.

Bibliographic database:
A searchable platform that contains descriptive records of articles, books, conference proceedings, audio-visual material, maps, newspapers, and more.

Abstracting service:
Used to refer to a bibliographic database, the service provides abstracts of publications.

Indexing service:
Used to refer to a bibliographic database, the service provides descriptors to help organise and navigate publications.

Full-text:
This means you can read the item in full from beginning to end, not just the abstract or summary.

Databases

Oxford subscribes to lots of databases you can use for free. You will likely find you need to use several databases for a thorough search of your subject area. The tabs at the top of this section take you to key databases for the Japanese studies and a link to browse all databases in the Japanese studies.

You can also search for specific databases via SOLO. Note, some key texts may be available via a database but not individually listed on SOLO.

Help with databases

For those seeking advice on accessing databases, we recommend the following guides:

Below are some of the key bibliographic and reference databases applicable to the Japanese studies at Oxford.

  • CiNii Reasearch
    Academic information search service for materials in Japanese academic libraries, especially focusing on Japanese works and English works published in Japan.
     
  • NDL Search
    Integrated search service allowing to search for print and digital materials held by the National Diet Library.
     
  • JapanKnowledge
    Online web archive that boasts the largest corpus of encyclopedia, dictionaries and references.
     
  • Cambridge History Online
    Cambridge Histories is the essential reference collection spanning 350 volumes in 10 subject areas.
     
  • Union Catalogue Database of Japanese Texts
    The largest digital reference on Pre-modern Japanese works.
     
  • Digital Humanities Japan: Resource Wiki
    Guide to digital resources related to Japan, including but not limited to online databases, datasets, tutorials, syllabi, and other digital work.

To browse a list of databases for the Japanese studies, follow the link below which takes you through to Databases A-Z.

Recommend a database

If the Bodleian Libraries don't have a database you are looking for, you can make a recommendation by completing the form below (Oxford Single-Sign On required).