Skip to Main Content

Library Guides

Modern Languages: Chinese

Start with Library Search

Library Search is the main way to search for resources provided by the University of Westminster.

Use the search box below to look up print and electronic resources in Library Search, or go directly to the Library Search homepage.

You will need to use Pinyin when searching for Chinese language materials.

Books

Books relevant to Chinese are are located in various sections of Cavendish library.

Some examples of shelf numbers for books relevant to Chinese
Subject Shelf number
Chinese language 495.1
Chinese literature 895.1
Chinese history 951

For locations of other shelf numbers please use Library Search, where you will also find e-books that can be read online.

Journals

Print journals and magazines are arranged alphabetically by title on the fifth floor of the library. However, the majority of our journal collection is available online via Library Search.

Some examples of e-journal titles relevant to Chinese are:

  • China Journal
  • China Rights Forum
  • Modern China
  • China Perspectives
  • Journal of Chinese Overseas

To find a journal or magazine title, use the "Books, journals & more" option in Library Search. You may find it helpful to use the "Filter my results" menu to refine your search by Resource Type → Journals.

To find journal articles on a particular topic, use the "Articles & more" option in Library Search.

Databases

Our databases cover a wide range of material, including e-journals and e-books, multimedia resources, and dictionaries. A complete list of our databases can be found in the E-resources A-Z.

Key databases for Chinese and languages are listed below:

  • Box of Broadcasts: A television and radio recording and archive service. Includes some foreign language
    channels.
  • British Humanities Index: An index of over 300 humanities journals and weekly magazines published in the UK and other English speaking countries, as well as quality UK newspapers.
  • China Academic Journals: A searchable database of e-journals, covering literature, history, philosophy, economics, law, education, social science, electronics and information science.
  • Credo Reference: Over 500 online reference books, dictionaries and encyclopedias including bilingual dictionaries, useful for background research.
  • Factiva: A searchable database of newspapers, publications and business information from around the world.
  • JSTOR: Very useful, mainly full-text archive of leading humanities and social science academic journals; usually does not include issues published in the last few years.
  • Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts: Abstracts and indexes literature in the field of languages and linguistics.
  • MLA International Bibliography: An index which is very useful for modern languages, literature and linguistics.
  • Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: A quality dictionary and language learning tool.
  • Project Muse: High quality humanities and social science journals.
  • Web of Science: An integrated database of journal articles including the Social Sciences and Arts and Humanities Indexes.

You should be able to access most resources outside the University with your username and password. Contact the Student Centre if you have any problems.

Newspapers

People's Daily is a Chinese language newspaper that can be read online via a Google Search.

Other Chinese newspapers can also be read online via the Factiva database in Library Search.

Multimedia

A collection of DVD films in various languages is available on the fifth floor of Cavendish Library. Resources such as language CDs are shelved within the book collection and can be found using the "Filter my results" menu in Library Search and refining your search by Resource Type → Audio.

For online films, videos and documentaries, use Library Search to refine your results by Resource Type → Videos or see the E-resources A-Z for a list of all our multimedia databases.

Tip: films in the Box of Broadcasts (BoB) database are not indexed in Library Search, so search within BoB itself to find what you need.

Dictionaries

Printed mono and bilingual dictionaries are available on Floor B4 of the Library in language order. Specialist dictionaries are arranged by subject.

A number of electronic dictionaries are also available via Library Search - see the dictionaries tab on this guide for more information.

Archives

The China Visual Arts Project is held in the University of Westminster Archives at Little Titchfield St on Floor B3. The Project encompasses over 800 propaganda posters from Hong Kong and mainland China, dating from the 1940s to the 1980s, alongside a wealth of books, objects and ephemera.

If you would like to view this collection, check the University Archives guide for full details of the opening hours.

Was everything okay?

Any comments regarding the use of this guide? Please let us know.