When adding a new entry, please provide the name of the library and a link, as well as a brief annotation about its collections (as you know them, as related specifically to research on the PRC) and any additional pertinent information. If possible, include the name of a good librarian or other staff member to contact for assistance. Incomplete information can be modified at a later date and/or by other researchers based on their own experience.
Hong Kong
Universities Service Centre
Review in The China Journal The Research Value of the USC’s Library Resources (January 2016)
Access
National Library of China (Beijing)
国家图书馆
http://www.nlc.gov.cn/
Description
Access
Shanghai Municipal Library
上海市图书馆
http://www.library.sh.cn/
Description
Access
Yunnan Provincial Library
云南省图书馆
http://www.ynlib.cn/
Description "Fresh from the Archives" review on Dissertation Reviews (April 2012)
Taiwan
Harvard-Yenching Library
http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/harvard-yenching/
Description
Access
Library of Congress (LOC)- Asian Reading Room
http://www.loc.gov/rr/asian/
Description
Access
Stanford University - Green library
http://library.stanford.edu/green
Description
Access
Stanford University - Hoover Institute
http://www.hoover.org/
Description
Access
University of California Berkeley - East Asian Library
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/libraries/east-asian-library
Description
Access
Berlin State Library (Staatsbibliothek)
http://www.crossasia.org
Description This library subscribes to numerous popular databases (ChinaMaxx, Renmin ribao, CAJ, Chinese Cultural Revolution Database) and comes with a wonderful feature – it's all available remotely through a single login to the CrossAsia website. There is also a solid collection of official periodicals in Chinese and English from the 1950s and 1960s. Hard copies of materials can, however, sometimes be difficult to locate in the online catalog and the stacks are closed, so it often take a few days for a request to be fulfilled. It's best to request these materials online ahead of time. Photocopiers at the library are all relatively new and allow books to be scanned face up, with multiple options for positioning the pages and re-scanning items, and the ability to save as PDF directly to an inserted USB stick.
Access Requires an affiliation with a German university, proof of address within the city or country, and an annual payment of 30 euros. There is also a monthly pass option for a smaller fee. For short research trips it may be possible to register using a local address, though I have not confirmed this. The head East Asian librarian, Matthias Kaun, has a strong background in Chinese history and is an excellent person to contact ahead of time.
Erlangen-Nuremberg Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Collection
http://sass.uni-erlangen.de/collection.shtml
Description The collection was donated to Erlangen in 2006. From the website: “[T]he collection contains approximately 100,000 separate volumes as well as a variety of periodicals (approx. 10,000 bounded volumes) published from the late 1940s to the 1980s… It features an assortment of publications ranging from translated Marxist classics to medical textbooks, from philosophical and literary works to agriculture handbooks and propaganda pamphlets, from popular youth magazines to academic journals. The major fields this collection covers are technology and science (19,000 volumes), economics, industry, agriculture, and commerce (15,000 volumes), history and historical science (11,000 volumes) as well as literature and arts (14,000 volumes). Given the increasing academic interest in the early PRC, it is particularly worth mentioning that the collection offers a trove of primary materials from the early 1950s to the late 1970s.” More information on specific types of materials can also be found in the catalog section of the website.
Access Contact Prof. Dr. Marc Matten using information found on their contact page.
Heidelberg East Asian Library
http://www.zo.uni-heidelberg.de/boa/index_en.html
Description & Access
Leiden University East Asian Library
http://www.library.leiden.edu/humanities/chinese/
Description & Access: Requires an affiliation with Leiden University to check out materials, but one can freely use the library's reading room and reference books, which include popular yearbooks and, e.g., editions of “Who's Who in Communist China” over the years. Librarian Alice de Jong has a strong background in China studies and is an excellent person to contact ahead of time.