Skip to Main Content

Asian Studies

Asian Studies

Selected Websites

  • Digital South Asia   Includes links to language dictionaries, images, maps, statistics, bibliographies, and books and journals.
  • A Historical Atlas of South Asia  Seeks to provide a comprehensive cartographic record of South Asia from the Old Stone Age to 1992: areas included are India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
 
  • AccessAsia database   AccessAsia is a specialized search engine with thousands of links to Asian affairs experts’ websites. These experts’ specializations range from Japan to Afghanistan and Russia to Australia, and their work includes foreign policy, security, economics, domestic politics, and energy.
  • British Columbia Archives - holdings include: government documents and records; private historical manuscripts and papers; maps, charts and architectural plans; photographs; paintings, drawings and prints; audio and video tapes; film; newspapers; and publications with a strong emphasis on the social and political history of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest.
  • The Komagatu Maru - In 1914 a ship of immigrants from the Punjab arrived in Vancouver's Burrard Inlet: the story of the ship's fate represents a pivotal incident in the history of Canada's immigration policies. This site contains both primary documents and images as well as secondary (interpretive) material.
  • Surrey history - covers the history of the area from the First Nations occupancy through the 1970s, including information about early settler families, schools, industry, and city government
  • History of Richmond - a brief history of the city.
  • Reel Asian - Canada's longest-running and largest showcase dedicated to contemporary cinema by East Asian and Southeast Asian moviemakers from around the world.
  • Canadian Historical Association Ethnic Groups Booklets - short introductory booklets about many multicultural groups' history in Canada
  • Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies (Univ. of the Fraser Valley) - "repository of the pioneering history of the Indo Canadian Diaspora while assisting in the development of much needed research that benefits members of the community, government and the many facets of academia."
  • South Asian Canadian Digital Archive - browse the collections
  • South Asian Canadian Heritage - South Asian Studies Institute, University of the Fraser Valley
  • Ugandan Asian Migration: Forced to Flee -  podcasts about South Asian refugees who had to flee Uganda in 1972

Don't believe everything you read. Ask some critical questions about every website:

Who

  • Is the author easily identified?  - check for an "About us" link
  • Why should I trust what they say?  - check author's reputation in Google
  • Are they credible?  - look for relevant educational qualifications and professional experience

What

  • What type of information is provided?   - personal opinions? research findings?
  • Does the author cite sources so that you can verify the info?   - confirm in other sources
  • Are the sources scholarly?   - see features of scholarly journals

Why

  • Is the author trying to sell something?   - watch especially with .com websites
  • Does the author or organization have a political or ideological bias, and only present one point of view?   - look them up on Google

When

  • How current is the information?   - look for sites that are updated regularly;  some areas can change rapidly, e.g. medicine, law

How

  • Is the site logically arranged?   - avoid sites with many dead links
  • Does the site look professional?   - not full of misspellings

Evaluate!