Library Guides: Korean Studies: Getting Started

Overview

This guide provides quick access to the Korea-related resources and services of the Hesburgh Libraries and to web-based sources. It primarily focuses on information about the Republic of Korea (or South Korea), and the publications from the country.

For information about North Korea, go to Special Topic II : North Korea.

Related Subject Guides

Background Information

Annotated bibliographies, indexes, guides, handbooks & finding aids.

Comprehensive

Oxford bibliographies online This link opens in a new window
Articles include brief overviews on given topics and links to other relevant articles for further research. For example, Politics of North Korea; Politics of South Korea; Korean Cinema; Korean War
Encyclopedia Britannica online This link opens in a new window
A searchable and browseable collection of authoritative references, including Britannica's latest article database, articles not yet in the print Britannica encyclopedia, Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (tenth edition), and the Britannica book of the year. Examples of Korea-related articles: Kwangju Uprising, PSY, Korean performing arts
Gale ebooks This link opens in a new window
Provides searchable full-text e-book versions of many reference works, including multi-volume encyclopedias, biographical collections, business plan handbooks, company history compilations, consumer health references, and specialized handbooks, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. Examples of Korea-related articles: South Korea—Economic System; North Korea; South Korea—Political System; The Korean Peninsula: A Fifty-Year Struggle for Peace and Reconciliation; Korean War
Oxford Reference This link opens in a new window
Cross-searchable access to dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press. Also includes selected titles from the series of Oxford companions. Examples of Korea-related articles: Buddhism in Korea, Japan and Korea, Korean War

Culture

Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture
This searchable database in multiple languages (Korean, English, Chinese, and Spanish) is the National Folk Museum of Korea's ongoing project to provide online access to a collection of eight encyclopedia that it has published in print.

Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Beliefs, the abridged English edition of the Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Beliefs (6 volumes) published from 2010 to 2012. Subjects are shamanism, village gods worship, and household gods worship.
Encyclopedia of Korean Seasonal Customs, the abridged English edition of the Encyclopedia of Korean Seasonal Customs (5 volumes) published in 2007.
Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Literature, the abridged English edition of the Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Literature (3 volumes) published in 2014.
Encyclopedia of Korean Rites of Passage
Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Arts
Encyclopedia of Food, Clothing and Housing in Korea
Encyclopedia of Occupations and Skills in Korea
Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Society

The content can be browsed by headwords, genre-based categories, formats (photos, sound/video clips, etc.), index terms, and authors. Also featured on the website is a clickable folklore map, Folklore dictionary by region.

Film, Media & Performing Arts

Korean film database book from 2000 to 2006 (PN 1993.5 .K6 K675 2006)
Korean movie database : KMDb Korean ⏐ English
Provides information about Korean films, including crew & cast, synopses, editions, video publications, and the holdings of Korean Film Archive.

HanCinema (Korean, English)
An independent website that includes a movie & drama database, news feeds, and a blog. Linked to commercial sites where videos (DVD/Blu-ray) can be purchased. Member can customize their own pages and share information.

Bibliography of performing arts in the East (in western languages), compiled by Alex Hadary
Citations of books, journal articles, book chapters, and theses about theatre, dance, puppetry, cinema, plays, masks, martial arts of India, China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, South and Central Asia, West Asia, Oceania, and Southeast Asia.

History

Japan and Korea; an annotated bibliography of doctoral dissertations in Western languages, 1877-1969. (Hesburgh Library 10F Reading Room, Z 3306 .S54)
Accompanied with two supplementary volumes:
- Doctoral dissertations on Japan and Korea, 1969-1974 : a classified bibliographical listing of international research (Hesburgh Library 10th Floor Reading Room, Z 3306 .S54 Suppl.)
- Doctoral dissertations on Japan and on Korea, 1969-1979 : an annotated bibliography of studies in western languages (Hesburgh Library 10th Floor Reading Room, Z 3306 .S54 Suppl. 2)
The Korean War, an annotated bibliography, by Keith D. McFarland
Introduces more than 2,600 books, articles, and documents written in English. Topics include origins of the war; the political and military roles of North and South Korea, the United States, the Soviet Union, China, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Turkey, and other United Nations members; campaigns and battles; weapons and uniforms; and the military and diplomatic aspects of the war.

Literature

Brother Anthony of Taize (An Sonjae)
Hosted by Brother Anthony of Taizé (Emeritus Professor, Department of English Language and Literature, Sogang University), the website provides comprehensive information about traditional and contemporary Korean literature, and Korean literature in translation.
An annotated bibliography of Korean literature in translation, 1980-2002 (Annex, Z 3319 .L5 A56 2002)
Korean Literature Translation Institute
Provides access to translations of resources related to Korean literature and culture, information about Korean authors and international news related to Korean literature.

Digital Scholarship

Harvard-Yenching Library East Asian Digital Humanities Lab "The East Asian Digital Humanities Lab aims to serve as a starting point for scholars and students interested in digital scholarship in East Asian studies. It exhibits ongoing or completed DH projects that can be used as model and provides information about databases, tools and methods that are used in creating these projects. The rest of the site is arranged according to the usual workflow of digital humanists, starting from finding and managing data and moving subsequently to analysis and presentation."

Writing

A student's guide to writing in East Asian studies pdf The Harvard University's sophomore tutorial in East Asian Studies.

Korean Studies

Theology and Philosophy Librarian