Research in Pacific Islands Studies

Following is a selected list for starting research in Pacific Islands Studies. As one of only three US library collections with a focus on the Pacific Islands, the UO Libraries' collections contain a wealth of information on the Pacific Islands not easily found elsewhere. Identifying information on your particular topic may be challenging due to fewer reference sources that cover this area of the world. Therefore, please don't hesitate to contact Robin Paynter, Area Studies/Reference Librarian, at (541) 346-2689 or email for further assistance in finding what you need!

Starting Your Research

These sources are useful because they provide synopses of a research field, background information on a specific issue, or help you identify a research topic by perusing them.

Encyclopedias

Scholarly encyclopedias are great for their short, information packed articles summarizing the history and scholarly views on a subject. Articles are usually written by an expert in the field, and often have citations to help you find further relevant information. There are many general encyclopedias, like Brittanica or Americana, with Pacific Islands content (ask @ the Reference Desk if you don't find what you need); below please find a select list of encyclopedias that focus on Pacific Island nations.

TIP: You'll find many more resources near these on the Reference bookshelves, space limitations preclude listing all available sources:

Reference Books

If you're looking for biographical information on King Kamehameha, the history and cultural meaning of PawPaw in Papua New Guinea, statistical information on Palau, or thematic maps(atlas) of Polynesia the following list of selected sources can offer authoritative answers to everyday questions.

ATLASES, MAPS, & GIS

The MAP Department has extensive holdings on the Pacific Islands representing many different aspects of the Islands - their geography, environment, social/cultural issues, etc. The following selected general atlases can help you get started, please consult with MAP staff for further assistance):

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
 

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Useful tools to identify materials on various subjects, such as prehistory, religion, environment, etc. Also search the UO Library Catalog, Orbis, or WorldCat (more info on this below) to find books, etc. on the Pacific):

BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES:
 

CHRONOLOGIES:
 

DICTIONARIES

There are many more dictionaries in the UO Libraries' collections, to find them search the UO catalog by subject, e.g. Fijian language dictionaries. Alternatively, browse the shelves between PL6110-6600):

GUIDES TO FINDING INFORMATION:
 

HISTORICAL DICTIONARIES

Great sources for succinct explanations of key historical events and figures. For more in-depth articles on the history of the Pacific search Historical Abstracts or Hawaii Pacific Journal Index.

LITERATURE

The following titles provide general background information, on authors & literary criticism of their works. For additional literary criticism articles search the MLA Bibliography.

STATISTICS

Following are selected general statistical sources to get started, there are many additional sources available depending on what type of statistic you are interested, e.g. agriculture, health, literacy, or statistical yearbooks published by a particular nation, etc. For further assistance please consult with Document Center staff.

Journals (CURRENT PERIODICALS ROOM, 2nd floor, Knight Library

Browse through the table of contents of recently published Pacific Islands journals to identify a contemporary research topic for your research paper. These journals can be found in many different call number (subject areas) sections:

Finding Articles

To look for articles in journals, newspapers, or magazines, you will need to start with an index. An index will allow you to search by subject (guaranteed article largely or wholly about this subject), by keywords (like an Internet search, article will appear if it matches the exact words you typed in, no guarantee that the focus of the article), or by author, etc.

Following is a select list of indexes that explicitly focus on the Pacific Islands. Because Pacific Islands Studies is an interdisciplinary field, there are many subject specific indexes (e.g. anthropology, history, literature, environmental studies) that also will be helpful in your research. Please ask @ the Reference Desk for assistance for help in finding or using the appropriate index(es)!

Finding Books

• UO Libraries Catalog
  Identify books by topic, title or author; identify journals and magazines owned by the UO Libraries. To find journal articles on your topic, use the databases listed in the section above. Once you have a citation, you can check the library catalog by doing a title search on the name of the journal to see if we have it here.
  • If the UO Libraries does not own the journal, fill out an interlibrary loan form to request a copy of the article from another library.
  • If the UO Libraries does not own the book, or other material you want, try Summit or WORLDCAT and request through them.
• Summit (formerly Orbis Cascade Alliance Union Catalog)
  Orbis Cascade Alliance is a consortium of libraries in the Pacific Northwest whose combined collections greatly exceed the size of the UO Libraries collection. Request books and other materials (but not journal articles) through Summit if the UO copy is checked out, missing, or if UO doesn't own a copy.
  • Delivered within 3 *working* days or less
  • 3 week checkout period with renewal option
  • Free service for UO students, faculty, and staff
  • Click on REQUEST THIS ITEM link when looking at full record to borrow material.
• WorldCat
  Worldcat provides access to library catalogs from around the world AND you can request materials from most of them. The database contains more than 40 MILLION bibliographic records describing books, journals, maps, musical scores, manuscripts, etc. Once you are looking at the full record for an item you want you can request it by clicking on the ILL button (top button bar) and filling out the form. Delivery time varies, consult with the Reference Department or the Interlibrary Loan Department for more information.
   
• Browsing the shelves
  Try the following call number areas to get a taste of the UO Libraries' holdings (please ask @ the Reference Desk if you cannot find what you want):
  • DU Pacific Islands: History, culture, general. The section with the greatest number of books & journals.
  • GN 662-700 Pacific Islands: Anthropology
  • PR 9645 Pacific Islands: Literature
  • *To find a particular author's works, search the UO Library Catalog.

Web Resources

There are a handful of websites that try to cover all the islands or regions (Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia) within the Pacific. For help finding additional websites please ask @ at the Reference Desk.

TIP: To get the best retrieval when searching for Pacific Islands information don't forget that they are also generally referred to as the South Seas, the South Pacific, and Oceania. Alternatively, narrowing your search to one of the regions or a particular country will give you more focused results.

• CocoNET Wireless: Pacific Islands News and Information News is a strong point as well as links to governmental directories
• dmoz Open Directory Project (Oceania) Yahoo!-like arrangement by country or category make this an easily searched site.
• Pacific Islands Internet ResourcesCreated by Professor Michael Ogden at the University of Hawaii, another leader in Pacific Islands Studies, this site is one of the oldest collecting Pacific websites.
• Pacific Islands ReportCreated by the East West Center this site is useful for its news coverage and links.
• Pacific Studies WWW Virtual Library Created under the auspices of the Australian National University, a leader in Pacific Island Studies, this site is a wonderful starting point to identify Pacific sites.
• Te Puna Web Directory: A directory to New Zealand & Pacific Island web sites Created by the National Library of New Zealand this is a wonderful spot to begin finding information grouped by country. Country information ranges from arts & literature to science & technology.