Twentieth Century China: An Annotated Bibliography of Reference Works in Chinese, Japanese, and Western Languages: Subjects (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Twentieth Century China: An Annotated Bibliography of Reference Works in Chinese, Japanese, and Western Languages: Subjects Michael C. Brose (bio) James H. Cole, compiler. Twentieth Century China: An Annotated Bibliography of Reference Works in Chinese, Japanese, and Western Languages: Subjects. 2 volumes. Armonk and London: M. E. Sharpe, 2004. xxix, 1,427 pp. Hardcover $225.00, ISBN 0-7656-0395-0. Anyone who has tried to find a comprehensive list of reference works on any aspect of modern China knows just how piecemeal, frustrating, and time-consuming the process can be. James Cole is attempting to ease the process somewhat, for scholars and librarians, by compiling a bibliography of reference works published mainly during the thirty-year period from 1964-1994. Now that the first section, organized by subject headings, has been published, we can appreciate the utility and monumental scope of his work. This first section contains some 12 , 200 entries, arranged alphabetically by title within subject headings, ranging from "Abbreviations" to "Youth and Youth Movements" (there are approximately four hundred subject headings), that describe reference works on modern China in Chinese, Japanese, and Western languages. This is the first of an eventual three-part bibliography; section 2 will be organized by "Persons" and section 3 by "Places." Cole intends his work to supplement three earlier research tools that focus on modern China: Berton and Wu's Contemporary China: A Research Guide (Stanford: Hoover Institution, 1967), Nathan's Modern China, 1840-1972: An Introduction to Sources and Research Aids (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Center for Chinese Studies, 1973), and his own Updating Wilkinson: An Annotated Bibliography of Reference Works on Imperial China Published since 1973 (New York: [End Page 297] James H. Cole, 1991). The volume under review here was compiled specifically to pick up where Berton and Wu's research guide left off since they confined their coverage to items published through 1963. In the spirit of extending rather than replacing the earlier guides, Cole in this bibliography also advises his readers to consult all three of the previous works since he has not included any references that have been cited in these other three. Cole also acknowledges the importance of online union catalogs such as RLIN (Research Libraries Information Network) and OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) to scholars of modern China and to the completion of this bibliographic project. But these online tools also have some deficiencies, especially regarding subject searches, and I found Cole's discussion of this issue informative and most helpful. For example, he points out that online catalogs do not contain any annotation of content, their subject categories are sometimes nonintuitive, and there are usually a limited number of subject categories assigned to any given item. As anyone knows who researches and writes on China, for all of their limitations these online catalogs are indispensable. I know that I call on OCLC's WorldCat several times a day to verify publication and library-holding information for items I am using or wish to use in a given writing project. The discussion of computer-based research aids gives rise to two questions: first, how should printed bibliographies be integrated with these computer-based tools, and second, are printed bibliographies and research aids still relevant and useful? I have to admit that I have relied less and less on printed works in the last few years, opting for the more convenient and seemingly more thorough computer-based tools at my disposal, such as WorldCat. Cole's discussion answers these questions effectively, and a summary he makes toward the end of this discussion would be well worth providing to any senior undergraduate or beginning graduate student. "A well-designed printed bibliography, annotated and arranged under detailed subject headings, is the tool of choice for discovering the existence of a previously unknown item and learning what it contains. An online library union catalog, with its frequently updated holding information, is the tool of choice for locating the desired item" (pp. xviii-xix). Finally, Cole includes a short discussion on terminology that researchers will find useful and that could also be excerpted as a teaching aid for student use. For example, he tells the reader...