Australian Research Links and places to go
Apr 15, 2016 1:39:22 GMT -5
Post by helen on Apr 15, 2016 1:39:22 GMT -5
Chinese Southern Diaspora Studies, Volume 2, 2008
南方华裔研究杂志, 第二卷, 2008
140
Chinese Heritage Databases On-Line in Australia
©2008 Sophie Couchman
In 2005 I published an introduction for researchers to the Chinese Heritage of
Australian Federation (CHAF) website in the on-line Journal of Chinese Australia.
1
This paper reprints that earlier information, updating where necessary, and then
introduces two other websites with searchable databases that should be of interest
to people researching Chinese heritage in Australia. I then conclude with some
other useful websites relevant to research or teaching on Chinese Australia.
1. The Chinese Heritage of Australian Federation Website
The Chinese Heritage of Australian Federation (CHAF) project was a joint
undertaking between La Trobe University, the Melbourne Chinese Museum and
Shanghai's East China Normal University. It was funded over several years. One of
the aims of the project was to promote Chinese–Australian studies in Australia and
to contribute to the growing field of Chinese diaspora studies. The project created a
large website with many exciting resources (http://www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au), with
materials developed by the CHAF project during its duration and others contributed
by independent researchers. The site was primarily designed for researchers but
also contains a substantial section for secondary educators. There is also much to
appeal to genealogists.2
The aim of this brief guide is to provide an overview for newer researchers in
the field and to remind those familiar with the site of the wide range of resources
available. I would now like to draw attention to some of the site's basic elements.
Resources
The 'Resources' section (http://www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au/resources.htm) contains links
to a broad range of databases or digital resources of both primary and secondary
sources. There are two ways of searching the databases. A simple 'browse' shows
all entries in the database in no particularly order. The 'search' function allows you
to search for particular records in the database. If you elect to search the
databases, you can choose either a 'simple search' which searches all fields in the
database at the same time or a complex one. Complex searches allow you to
search for information in particular fields. For example using a 'complex search' you
can find all the entries in the Tung Wah newspaper in April 1899 or all the
businesses that operated from a particular address in Little Bourke Street between
1905 and 1910.
Also on the 'Resources' page is a link to another page which holds a number of
research guides that are available to download. These guides provide information
specific to Chinese–Australian research and research materials by a number of
researchers in New South Wales and New Zealand.
Databases found in the ‘Resources’ section appear briefly below. The primary
author is noted in brackets.
chl-old.anu.edu.au/publications/csds/csds2008/140CSDS2008_4Couchman.pdf