The ICEAACH Library

The ICEAACH Library is comprised of over 8,000 books and journals, 12,000 photos and slides, and a collection of several thousand maps of Asia. Library holdings feature an extensive and up-to-date collection of book and journal titles in Chinese archaeology, art history and ancient history, as well as important selections pertaining to other areas of East, Southeast, and Central Asia, and in the fields of anthropology, ethnography, literature, and philosophy. Although the Library is currently non-circulating, visitors are welcome to place books on personal reserve while engaged in current research and make use of the Library’s photocopying and pdf scanning services for a reasonable charge.

Scholars, researchers, students, and the interested public are all welcome to use the ICEAACH Library. Library hours are Monday - Friday, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm (summer hours may vary, please call). The library is closed on University holidays.

The Library is located at ICEAACH on the fifth floor of 650 Beacon Street, in Kenmore Square, on the Boston University Charles River Campus [see map and access directions]. Library visitors are encouraged to contact the Center by phone at (617) 358-8000 as well as search and browse the Online Library Catalog prior to their visit. Recent acquisitions and items of special interest are highlighted in the catalogue.

Collection Development

The ICEAACH Library came into being through the generous bequest of the eminent archaeologist and scholar of ancient China, the late Prof. Kwang-chih Chang 張光直 (1931-2001), former John E. Hudson Professor Emeritus at Harvard University and Vice President of the Academia Sinica, Taipei. Prof. Chang’s comprehensive and authoritative personal research library, numbering several thousand volumes, forms the core of the Library’s collection and thus continues to benefit the entire community of East Asian scholars. Significant acquisitions have also been made possible thanks to a generous donation by BU alumnus Mr. Max Ma of Hong Kong, a four-year Taiwan publications acquisitions grant by the Ministry of Education, Taipei, and the continuing support of the Henry Luce Foundation. Many other library patrons have also contributed through donations of books and financial support which ICEAACH gratefully acknowledges in the catalog records and book plates for each donated volume.

The Center warmly welcomes all inquiries regarding donations of materials and financial support to the ICEAACH Library. In the case of personal library and media collections accepted by the Library, the Center will make every effort to assist the donor with the documentation necessary to claim tax-deductible status. For further information, please contact ICEAACH by Email or phone (617) 358-8000.

Books and Journals

There are currently approximately 600 journal and 8,000 book titles in the ICEAACH Library. The depth and breadth of the Library’s holdings in the archaeology and cultural history of China and other regions of East, Southeast, North, and Cental Asia make it an invaluable resource for both the serious scholar and curious non-specialist. At the same time, the Library’s close focus on these research areas, its open stacks and WiFi/Ethernet-ready reading rooms make for easy and efficient access to all holdings.

Click here to access the ICEAACH online library catalog.

Map Collection

The library also holds a collection of about 5,000 general, topographic, geological, and thematic maps and atlases of Asia dating from the 1930s through the 21st century, at scales ranging from 1:25,000 to 1:5,000,000. The collection is especially strong for China and Japan, with significant holdings of Southeast Asia (especially Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines) and eastern and central Siberia. A major portion of the sheet map collection consists of products produced by the US Army Map Service (AMS) and other US Department of Defense agencies, including Jet Navigation Charts, Tactical Pilotage Charts, and Operational Navigation Charts, the Kokudo Chirin (Geographical Survey Institute, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan), the Geological Survey of Japan, Topographische dienst (Batavia), the National Geographic Service of Vietnam, and numerous Chinese national and provincial cartographic agencies. Other maps include East and Southeast Asian city and road maps from the 1940s through 1980s.

For archaeologists, anthropologists, and art historians, these older edition Asian maps are very useful for looking at the location of historical, cultural, and topographic features prior to the widespread intensification of agricultural and construction activities since the 1970s. Scholars and students interested in urban and regional planning issues in East and Southeast Asia will also find the period spanned by this collection to be very useful.

Most of the maps in the ICEAACH collection were obtained through the generosity of our colleagues at numerous American university map libraries who sent us their deaccessioned duplicate or otherwise unneeded map sets. The ICEAACH collection is not yet catalogued, but can be browsed with staff assistance in our library. We also welcome e-mail inquiries about our holdings information.

Photographic Collection

The ICEAACH library holds some 12,000 print, negative, and slide images from the 1930s through the 21st century. Major components of the collection include black and white prints of ancient Chinese bronze ritual vessels and vessel inscriptions in Western museum collections, field photographs from excavations in Taiwan and in China, photographs of archaeological and ethnographic objects from East and Southeast Asia, and a growing collection of photographs of Southeast Asian temples and other historic sites from the 1950s through 1990s. Of particular interest are the photo collections of Prof. Kwang-chih Chang 張光直, and of the late Sichuan archaeologist, Prof. Tong Enzheng 童恩正. The library also holds the substantial photo collection of the late geologist Charles Samz, which includes hundreds of color and black and white images of Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, and South Asia from the 1940s through 1990s, as well as an important collection of color slides of Angkor Wat and other Cambodian sites from the late 1960s taken by art historian Daphne Lange Rosenzweig.