School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics

1. The School

The Faculty of Arts is one of the largest in the university, in terms of student numbers, and was one of the foundation faculties of Monash University. It offers courses on the Berwick, Caulfield, Clayton and Gippsland campuses in Australia and at the Monash Malaysia and South Africa campuses. The faculty has an enrolment of over 7,400 students, of whom nearly 1,200 are postgraduate. There are 287 academic staff in the faculty. Most honours courses and graduate courses are offered on the Clayton campus.

The faculty is structured as eight academic schools, many of which have several departments. The schools are as follows: School of English, Communications and Performance Studies, School of Geography and Environmental Science, School of Historical studies, School of Humanities, Communications and Social Sciences, School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, School of Music-Conservatorium, School of Philosophy and Bioethics and School of Political and Social Inquiry.

Some schools incorporate interdisciplinary centres as follows: Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies, National Centre for Australian Studies, Centre for Biography and Life Writing, Centre for Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, Centre for European Studies, Centre for Human Bioethics, Centre for Japanese Language Education, Australian Centre for the Study of Jewish Civilisation,  Research Centre for New Media in Language Learning, Centre for Studies in Religion and Theology, Centre for Women's Studies and Gender Research and Centre for Research on Work and Society in the Global Era.

The School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics incorporates programs in Chinese Studies, Classical Studies, English as an International Language, French Studies, German Studies, Hispanic Studies, Indonesian Studies, Italian Studies, Japanese Studies, Korean Studies, Linguistics, Slavic Studies and Translation Studies. It offers major sequences in four Asian languages (Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian and Korean) and five modern European languages (German, French, Italian, Spanish and Ukrainian). Latin, Ancient Greek and modern Greek are taught through the Classical Studies program. Courses in Chinese Studies, Classical Studies, French Studies, German Studies, Hispanic Studies, Indonesian Studies, Italian Studies, Japanese Studies, Korean Studies and Slavic Studies variously include components on literature, linguistics, culture, media and society. Russian Studies and Polish Studies are taught within the Slavic Studies program. 

Honours degrees and postgraduate degrees by research are offered in all programs (with the exception of Classical Studies, English as an International Language and Translation Studies) and in European Studies. Graduate or postgraduate coursework degrees are offered variously in Asian Studies, European Studies, Japanese Applied Linguistics, Japanese Interpreting and Translation, Applied Linguistics and Translation Studies.

The School hosts the Centre for European Studies, the Language and Society Centre, and the Research Centre for New Media in Language Learning, and has close links with the Monash Asia Institute through staff and postgraduate membership of its six centres. The research output of staff and postgraduates of the school is significant at an international and national level. Research activities involving staff from more than one program in the school include those of the Popular Culture and Ethics Research Group.  The School has a student load of 1026.1 EFTSU, of which approximately 158 is postgraduate. There are 56.8 FTE academic staff in the School. Sessional staff are additional to these.

Chinese Studies : The Chinese program offers seven Chinese language entry points (according to ability and experience) on the Clayton campus. In addition to the core language units, students may also enrol in a number of electives, including Chinese media studies, internship, Chinese readings in a discipline area, and Chinese translation, as part of their major in Chinese. Honours studies are available in Chinese, and honours and postgraduate courses in Chinese Studies. The School offers supervision of research masters candidates in Chinese studies. Areas of research supervision include Chinese politics and economics (with an emphasis on contemporary mainland and diasporic cultural issues), Chinese philosophy and intellectual history, contemporary Chinese intellectuality and post-Mao Chinese society. In addition there is the new area of translation studies.The School also offers to PhD candidates in Chinese Studies supervision in the following areas: Chinese politics and economics (with an emphasis on contemporary mainland China and Taiwan), traditional and modern Chinese literature, mainland and diasporic cultural issues, Chinese philosophy and intellectual history,  contemporary Chinese intellectuality, and post-Mao Chinese society.

Classical Studies – Modern Greek Studies : The Classical Studies program enables students to study the civilizations, cultures and languages of Ancient Greece and Rome. Students can take a first-year sequence in the civilization and culture of Ancient Greece, or in Latin (at Beginners or Intermediate (post-VCE) level), or in Ancient Greek (at Beginners or Intermediate (post-VCE) level). This allows students to go on to complete a minor sequence in Classical studies specialising in civilization and culture, Latin or Ancient Greek, or a major sequence in Classical studies by combining at least two of these areas of study. Modern Greek is offered from 2010 and postgraduate studies in Modern Greek are also available.

English as an International Language : The program offers a three year major sequence plus the options of a fourth Honours year. Students can also do an M.A. coursework or by research or a PhD.

French Studies : The French Studies program is designed to enable students to develop a high level of communicative competence in the French language (including translation skills and specialised registers such as business French), and a critical awareness of fundamental areas of French studies: literature, film, cultural studies and linguistics. Areas of research specialisation include the late 19th century novel (especially Zola), the contemporary novel (especially Queneau, Blanchot and detective fiction), post-surrealist poetry (especially Ponge, Bonnefoy and Guilloux), contemporary popular culture, translation studies, and applied linguistics. Work in the area of critical theory and practice focuses on discourse theory and sociocriticism. A recent area of research is Francophone authors in Africa. Materials for French studies are kept throughout the collections but mainly in the Main collection. Materials are in both French and English.

German Studies : The German program offers three German language streams on the Clayton campus. It is one of the largest departments in Australia. German Studies offers an Honours year (4th year comprising coursework and research) which may be taken in either a literature, culture or linguistics stream. The Master degree and Doctorate are research degrees. Students can also do the coursework degree Master of Translation Studies. Areas of research include media studies, history and theory of mass media, literature of exile; applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, second language acquisition, German for special purposes, discourse and text analysis; Romanticism, feminine theory, drama and theatre studies, literature and the environment; contemporary German literature, sociology of literature, aesthetics; the grotesque satire, B. Brecht, literary theory; medieval and baroque studies, comparative literature, poetics, rhetoric and in cultural studies; travel literature, European cinema, literature of the fantastique. Materials for German studies are kept throughout the collections but mainly in the Main collections. Materials are in both German and English.

Hispanic Studies : Entry to the Hispanic Studies program  is at the Basic, Intermediate and Advanced levels according to the student’s experience and proficiency. The Honours year offers supervised research in Peninsular and Spanish-American Literature, Linguistics and Cultural Studies. Students may enrol in a Masters or Doctoral degree by research in one of the following areas: Hispanic women writers; 19th and 20th century Spanish, Catalan and Latin American literary and cultural studies; Hispanic cinema studies; Discourse analysis, Critical discourse analysis, Pragmatics and Translation Studies. A Graduate Diploma in Spanish by coursework is also available.  Subjects pertaining to Catalan studies are offered at the undergraduate level.  Students can also do an M.A. or PhD in Catalan studies. 
Areas of research specialisation include applied Spanish linguistics, culture and civilisation of the Hispanic world, feminist literature in the Hispanic world, 19th and 20th century Spanish American literature and culture, 19th and 20th-century Spanish literature, postmodernism, Spanish sociolinguistics, Latin American popular culture, pre-Columbian culture and literature, pragmatics. Materials for Hispanic Studies are kept throughout the collections but mainly in the Main collection. Materials are in both Spanish and English. To support this program, the library holds materials in both Spanish and English.

Indonesian Studies : The Indonesian program offers three streams in Indonesian language, with a major study available in Indonesian at the Clayton and Caulfield campuses. Honours studies are available in Indonesian, and honours and postgraduate courses in Indonesian Studies. Areas of research supervision include classical Malay, old and middle Javanese literature, Javanese theatre and culture, Indonesian cultural history, linguistics, media and film.

Italian Studies : First year Italian Studies at Clayton campus has four entry points, allowing students, from the beginners to advanced, to begin first year study at an appropriate level. Each starting point corresponds to a first year sequence of two units. Enrolling students select one of these sequences according to the criteria set out for each one. First year Italian Studies at Caulfield has two entry points allowing Beginners and Post-VCE students to begin first year study at an appropriate level. All core units consist of two components: culture (20% of the overall assessment) and language (80% of the overall assessment). The cultural component is one hour per week (lectures alternating with tutorials) on aspects of Italian history, culture and society. The language component aims to build all four skills areas (listening, speaking, reading and writing). The Honours programme includes a dissertation and two other units. An alternative to this Fourth Year is a Graduate Diploma in Translation Studies.  Postgraduate research is also available. Major areas of research include Italian sociolinguistics, post World War II Italian Jewish writers, especially Primo Levi, women in 20th century Italy, contemporary literature drama, theatre and cinema, Dante, Italo-Australian texts, 19th and early 20th century literature.
In 2005 the library was presented with a large donation of high quality books by the Italian Ministry of Culture. This donation included encyclopedias, dictionaries and multi-volumed art works. The donation was made in order to support the Italian Studies Research Centre which has been established within the School. Materials for Italian Studies are kept throughout the collections but mainly in the Main collection. Materials are both in Italian and English.

Japanese Studies : The Japanese program offers four streams in Japanese language on the Clayton campus.  Honours studies are available in Japanese, and honours and postgraduate courses in Japanese Studies. Areas of postgraduate supervision include applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, Japanese society and culture, Japanese management and industrial relations, political economy, international relations, law, intellectual history, media studies, popular culture, women's studies, tourism, interpreting, performing arts, gender studies, and translation studies.

The Japanese language program provides students with basic skills in Japanese and knowledge about Japanese culture and society.  It targets skills needed for interaction in Japan and in other countries, developing both oral and written communication skills. The school offers several points of entry to its courses. Language sequences are available at both undergraduate and graduate levels, and subjects are available to cater for everyone from beginners to semi-native and even background or native speakers of Japanese.

The Japanese Studies program allows students to study Japanese culture, gender issues, history, linguistics, politics, society and sociolinguistic behaviour, and Australia-Japan relations.  These subjects may be taken independently towards a Japanese Studies major or minor, or fruitfully combined with Japanese language subjects.

Students can major in Japanese language and Japanese studies in the Bachelor of Arts degree or the BA (Languages), and can include Japanese subjects in most of the undergraduate and many of the postgraduate degrees offered at Monash.  Within the BA, students can pursue their interest in Japan within other disciplines such as anthropology and sociology, economic history, comparative literature and cultural studies, geography and environmental science, history, music, politics and visual arts.  The studies subjects offered within the School itself allow students to study Japanese economics, society, history, culture, linguistics and sociolinguistics.

Korean Studies : The Korean program offers two streams in Korean language, with a major study in Korean available at the Clayton campus. A minor study only is available in Korean Studies. Honours studies are available in Korean and postgraduate studies in Korean Studies are available in areas including Korean linguistics and applied Korean linguistics.
The collection in Korean held at the Monash University Library is jointly funded by participating institutions between Monash University and the University of Melbourne.

Linguistics : A major, honours and postgraduate studies are available on the Clayton campus, with two second-level units being taught at the Berwick campus and many units being available in off campus mode.  The department's research strengths include descriptive linguistics, applied linguistics, Australian Aboriginal languages, Austronesian  languages, bilingualism, first and second language acquisition, discourse analysis, dialectology, historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, pragmatics, forensic linguistics, language and gender, language and race, and educational linguistics.  To support this program the library acquires introductory works on a wide range of languages.

Slavic Studies : The Slavic program offers two Ukrainian language streams all on the Clayton campus. The degree of Diploma of Languages (Ukrainian) is also offered. Russian Studies  is also offered as a minor sequence. Although this can utilise Russian language materials, the Russian language is not taught at Monash.  Polish has been taught for some years but has not been offered since 2005 until outside funding is secured.  Major areas of research in Slavic Studies interest include modernism and postmodernism in Russian, Ukrainian, Polish and other Slavic literatures, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Bakhtin, structuralism and post-structuralism, Slavic women's writing, literature and culture of the Slavic diasporas, theory of formal grammar, problems of Slavic inflectional morphology, especially Russian and Ukrainian, Slavic, especially Russian, accentology, verbal aspect in the Slavic languages, especially Russian, the Czech language, history of Slavic linguistics, the theory and practice of literary translation from Slavic languages, Russian crime fiction, film and Slavic cultures in Australia. Slavic Studies staff edit two international refereed journals:
Dostoevsky journal : and independent review.
Transcultural studies : a series in interdisciplinary research.

Translation and Interpreting Studies : Translation and Interpreting Studies is a postgraduate interdisciplinary subject drawing on a wide variety of fields including language, culture and literary studies, linguistics, philosophy, semiotics, technology, science, finance and law.  Its interdisciplinary methodology moves beyond models of communicative interaction still tied to limited and limiting national paradigms. In practice, this means not only developing skills in particular languages, but also providing students with the conceptual tools to understand how to assess cultural difference most broadly. The units therefore include theoretical considerations as well as practical translation/interpreting work. The course develops skills in translating to and from English and another language, mainly Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Malay, Italian, Japanese and Spanish. The library holds materials in English and other languages to support the study and teaching of Translation and Interpreting.

Monash Asia Institute : The Monash Asia Institute represents the Asian research and teaching expertise in all ten faculties on all Monash campuses located in Australia and abroad and is a multi-disciplinary research, teaching and publishing centre for more than 200 Monash staff. Founded in 1988 as the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies and reconstituted as the Monash Asia Institute in 1992, it consists of six research centres – Asia Pacific Health and Nutrition Centre, China Research  Centre, Centre for Malaysian Studies, Centre for South East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies Centre and National Centre for South Asian Studies. The Institute has a PhD program and also offers an M.A. in Asian Studies and Development Studies in partnership with the Faculty of Arts and other Monash faculties. Special research projects hosted by the Institute include the Kashgar project, the Sukunan project and the Revival of Music in Afghanistan project.

Monash European and EU Centre: The Centre offers two ways of majoring in European studies – by a major in European Studies within the BA, or by the specialised BA (European Studies). These give an introduction to modern European history, culture, politics and economics. The MA, PhD and a Graduate Diploma in European Studies are also available. Major areas of research within the Centre include comparative urban history, contemporary Russian politics, French culture and society, economic geography, regional structure and development, Ukrainian literature and culture post-Soviet, European unification, European literature and culture, Soviet economic system, economic history of Nazi Germany. The Matheson Library on the Clayton campus is a deposit centre for selected publications of the European Economic Community.

2. General policy statement

The Collection Development Policy covers printed books and journals, electronic resources, multimedia and any other formats acquired for the Library's collection.

The Policy is regularly monitored to ensure that the selection and acquisition of new resources supports the teaching and research needs of the faculties and their departments. While every effort is made to meet known information needs some gaps in the collection may develop which need attention, and suggestions to address them are welcome. This may be done through liaison with library staff or, for individual titles, using the recommendation form.

To ensure that the library provides collection materials to support new courses and subjects, completion of a Library Impact Statement is required. When establishing new research directions staff are encouraged to liaise with the library about the provision of supporting information resources.

All titles listed as prescribed or recommended reading for teaching subjects are acquired as high priority and in multiple copies depending on student enrolment numbers. This is particularly necessary for undergraduate students, who need access to adequate resources on their home campus. Electronic versions of these texts are also provided where possible, so that access is more readily available regardless of location and number of copies held. The inter-campus loan and photocopy services for undergraduates further support the needs of those students.

However, the library cannot acquire every item that could conceivably be needed by Monash staff or students. The reciprocal borrowing scheme enables Monash library users to borrow from other university libraries. Post-graduates and staff may also use the document delivery service to obtain books and articles from other libraries in Australia and overseas.

3. The Library's collection

a. Location

Materials to support the School of Languages, Culture and Linguistics are kept in various locations in the Matheson Library. Books, journals and newspapers purchased to support Asian languages and studies, in an Asian language, are located in the Asian Studies Research Collection, in the Matheson Library on the Clayton campus. Material in European languages and in English is classified and shelved in the appropriate area elsewhere in the Matheson Library. A growing quantity of Asian studies books in English are located in the Caulfield Library, supporting the Monash Asia Institute. Material to support Chinese, Indonesian and Japanese language teaching is also available on the Peninsula campus; and material to support Japanese language teaching is available on the Caulfield campus. Audiovisual material in all languages is kept in the Music and Multimedia Collection.

Material to support Chinese, Indonesian and Japanese language teaching is also available on the Peninsula campus; and material to support Japanese language teaching is available on the Caulfield campus.

Many other departments, both within the Faculty of Arts (such as Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, Visual Culture and Anthropology) and from other faculties such as Business and Economics, purchase material related to Asian Studies. This material, if not in an Asian language, is located with the subject to which it refers, eg in the visual arts, performing arts, economics or sociology sections of the library, and is housed in the libraries on all campuses. The Faculty of Art and Design acquires significant material of relevance to Asian culture in the area of the fine arts. This material is located on the Caulfield and Gippsland campuses.

The departments of History and Politics both purchase significant amounts of material related to Asian history and its context and this is mostly located in the Matheson Library on the Clayton campus, with a smaller collection in the Gippsland and Caulfield libraries.

There is also significant material located in the Rare Books collection and the microform collection, including material relevant to Indonesian studies, Burmese studies, Vietnamese studies and Mekong subregion studies.

b. Language

The material acquired for the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics is in English and many Asian and European languages.

c. Classification and romanisation used

The Library's collections relevant to the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics are classified using the Dewey Decimal Classification. On the Clayton campus, all literature by a particular writer is classified at a single call number representing that writer and his works; however on the other campuses, literature is classified by the form ie drama, poetry, fiction, rather than by author.

The Library's collections acquired in the Chinese language are catalogued using the Pinyin romanisation system, although the Wade-Giles system of romanisation was used until 1996.

The library's collections acquired in the Korean language are catalogued using the McCune-Reischauer romanisation system with Korean characters.

The Japanese collection is catalogued using the modified Hepburn Romanisation system as well as Japanese characters.

d. Formats.

The collections supporting the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics include monographs, serials, newspapers, pamphlets, microforms, films, videos, DVDs, sound recordings and electronic resources.

The Chinese language collection includes microforms, language kits, videos, films and posters. There is a large collection of major English language serials and a collection of 280 Chinese language serials, of which 40 are ongoing and current subscriptions.

A great deal of the Indonesian collection is held on microform, including more than 1000 newspaper and journal titles. The collection also includes newspapers, language kits, sound recordings in various formats, videos and DVDs. There is also a large collection of major English language serials.

The Japanese studies collection includes microform, newspapers, language kits, sound recordings, CD-ROMs, and a number of videorecordings and DVDs. There is a large variety of nonbook items in the Melbourne Centre for Japanese Language Education (MCJLE) Collection.

The Korean Studies collection includes much non-book format material such as microforms, language kits, videos, films, sound recordings and a large collection of CDs and CD-ROMs.

e. Size of the collection.

Estimated number of vernacular monograph titles purchased per annum :

• Chinese - 500
• French – 500
• German - 500
• Indonesian - 500
• Italian - 300
• Japanese - 600
• Korean - 300
• Linguistics-600
• Russian - 100
• Spanish - 300
• Ukrainian - 500

Estimated current size of the vernacular monograph collection :75,000 vols.

Number of print serial titles received :

• 40 for Chinese Studies,
• 102 for Japanese Studies
• 54 for Indonesian Studies
• 40 for Korean Studies
• 70 for linguistics
• 10 general interest titles

f. Significant electronic resources

The Library is purchasing increased numbers of resources in electronic format, including networked or internet databases, fulltext resources, including suites of electronic journals. Some CD-ROM databases are only accessible within a particular branch library or the Asian Studies Research Collection. As a result, an increasing proportion of the budget for library material for the Faculty of Arts is spent on these resources.

Electronic resources include :

• Indexing and abstracting services : Bibliography of Asian Studies, BERITA (South East Asia Database), Historical Abstracts, Humanities Abstracts, MLA, PAIS, Sociofile, APECLIT, APAIS, ERIC, Anthropological Index Online and LLBA.
• Fulltext databases / electronic journal suites : Expanded Academic ASAP (over 1,500 titles, of which approximately 520 are in fulltext), ABI/Inform (2000 titles of which approximately half are in fulltext), Dow Jones Interactive (fulltext or abstracts in over 6,000 sources), IDEAL (175 Academic Press journals), Factiva) (full text newspapers worldwide), Taylor & Francis journals (over 700 journals), Project MUSE (over 100 journals.)
• Chinese language databases: Dragonsource, China Academic Journals, China Data Online.
• Japanese language databases and indexes: CiNii, Magazineplus (indexes or abstracts in over 25,000 sources) is accessible from a single machine in the Asian Studies Research Collection (ASRC).
• Korean language databases: Korean Studies.
• Subject gateways : Library Arts faculty team homepage, Asian Studies Research Collection homepage, Linguistics homepage.

20% of the library materials budget for the Faculty of Arts is spent on serials and more than 15% on electronic resources.

g. Coverage of the collection

The library resources acquired for the School cover in general all areas of the Dewey Decimal Classification, but with particular emphasis on the language of the vernacular, and the history and culture of the particular country.
The main areas of collecting for Chinese Studies are detailed below

The main strengths of the Chinese studies collection, which was commenced in the 1960s, are contemporary Chinese and Taiwanese politics, history and literature and language studies, as well as basic reference texts. This includes the provision of Chinese/English science and mathematics dictionaries for the Hargrave Andrew Library’s reference collection. Most of the Chinese studies collection comprises titles published in the postwar twentieth century although there are microforms of earlier materials, and some retrospective acquisition has taken place, often in reprint. There are about 6000 titles in the Chinese language collection.  In addition the library collects translations into Chinese of Australian literature (A820).

The Library at Caulfield aspires to collect at teaching level English language titles in Chinese politics, economics and business, together with relevant reference works.

At Clayton, the Library collects English language material at research level in Chinese history, contemporary politics, language and literature. The library also aims to collect all basic textbooks and dictionaries for studying the Chinese language. The library collects at teaching level in the areas of business and other social areas relating to China.

In the Chinese language collection, the library collects at research level in modern Chinese history, literature and contemporary economics and politics. The library also aims to buy basic textbooks in the areas of economics, language studies (including translation studies) and popular culture. In addition national yearbooks for statistical and regional data are acquired. The library also acquires Chinese language works about Australia and translations of Australian literary works.

The library has a growing collection of contemporary films from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong to complement both language and culture courses.

The main areas of collecting for Classical Languages are detailed below

The library has an extensive collection on the languages and their literatures as well as material on classicial civilisation. Monash students can still study these languages vie instruction from staff of the University of Melbourne, so the collection can support them in their studies. The collection in this area is also enhanced by material acquired for relevant archaeology subjects.

The main areas of collecting for European Studies are detailed below

As the library has been collecting for many years in relevant areas of European history, European languages and literatures, European and European Union government publications and statistics, sociological studies of Europe as well as religion and philosophy, the library has a very good collection to support this interdisciplinary centre. In addition, the library is collecting material specifically identified by staff of the Centre. Material is collected in English as well as German, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian and Ukrainian languages. There is also much relevant material held in the Kipen Judaica collection and the Rare Books collection.

The main areas of collecting for French Studies are detailed below

There is a wide selection of language learning material with strengths in French and English books on French literature, film, cultural theory, civilisation and linguistics. There is also a good collection of reference texts.

The main areas of collecting for German Studies are detailed below

The collection strengths are civilization of the German-speaking countries, and the political, social and intellectual history of these countries. Material supports research of an interdisciplinary nature in disciplines such as history, philosophy, social theory, literary criticism, media studies and cultural theory; or across second language acquisition, bilingualism and sociolinguistics. The collection also supports the research and teaching on Austria. There is also a good collection of reference texts.

The main areas of collecting for Hispanic Studies are detailed below

The library has a teaching level collection in Hispanic Studies but the library in consultation with academic staff is preparing to upgrade the level of the collection with material in Spanish and English.

The main areas of collecting for Indonesian Studies are detailed below

Indonesian is the largest Asian collection at Monash, including material in Bahasa Indonesia, regional languages, Dutch and English, and has been collected since the mid-1960s. Collecting from Indonesia is at research level. Monash was a participant in the National Library of Australia Indonesian Acquisitions Project from 1973 to 2009. Current collecting focuses on anthropology, economics, education, geography, history, linguistics, literature, music, politics and sociology. The library holds an extensive collection of periodicals, including 1500 older serial titles and daily newspapers and weekly current affairs publications. Government publications are mainly collected at the national level.

Two important special collections are the Southeast Asia pamphlet collection and the Balai Pustaka Collection, both of which contain some very rare material. The collection of Indonesian language publications and material about Indonesia in English and other Western languages is the largest in Victoria.

The main areas of collecting for Italian Studies are detailed below

Collection strengths are in Italian literature, women's studies and Italian language.

The main areas of collecting for Japanese Studies are detailed below

The Japanese studies collection is the largest collection in Melbourne of English language publications for Japanese studies. The collection is one of the oldest Asian collections at Monash University Library and has approximately 30,000 volumes of Japanese language books and 5,000 volumes of Japanese language serials. The focus of the collection is on the history of modern Japan and contemporary Japanese society, women's studies, popular culture, economics, literature, language and linguistics. There had previously been an emphasis on collecting Japanese language material in the social sciences. A special collection of books on Japanese music is complemented by taped music.

The MCJLE Collection is a major initiative of the Melbourne Centre for Japanese Language Education (MCJLE) and was established in July 1997. The collection supports the needs of Japanese language teachers from Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. It consists of Japanese language resource material for use in the teaching of Japanese. A range of classroom materials are available including kits, flash cards, audio visual and electronic resources, readers and workbooks.

The main areas of collecting for Korean Studies are detailed below

Monash has the best Korean collection among the Australian Universities. This collection is jointly funded by a consortium of Monash University and the University of Melbourne. Collecting commenced in 1992, and its focus has been on social sciences, especially economics and politics, and on the language and history of Korea. Major purchases include key microform collections of Korean research materials, extensive research materials, journals and newspapers, doctoral dissertations and Korean language books, and English language research materials on Korea. The collection has approximately 14,000 titles in Korean and Western languages, including 9,000 titles in Korean.

The main areas of collecting for Linguistics are detailed below

The library has a large collection of material on a wide range of linguistics topics, including foreign language books and journals. The collection supports both undergraduate teaching and independent research at postgraduate level. There are significant collections in linguistic theory, analysis of language, intercultural communication, comparative linguistics, Australian languages, Austronesian languages and psycholinguistics. Second language acquisition, English as an international language, sociolinguistics and multilingualism are major foci, as is also the case for the Faculty of Education.

The main areas of collecting for Slavic Studies are detailed below

To support Slavic Studies the library holds materials in Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Serbian, Croatian, Slovakian and Czech as well as in English.

Monash has the foremost Ukrainian language library collection in Australia. Its strengths are in recent and contemporary Ukrainian literature. The collection is also strong in post-colonial approaches to the study of Ukrainian literature and culture; culture and national identity in contemporary Ukraine; and linguistics, particularly morphology of modern Ukrainian.  Some of the Ukrainian language material is held in the Rare Books Collection.

The Polish collection is small, consisting mainly of language learning books and contemporary Polish literature. Serbo-Croatian, Czech and Slovak are not currently taught, but there is a small collection of history and literature and language in the library. There has been research in these languages and their literature.

The Russian collection has strengths in the history, politics and culture of Russia; 19th and 20th century Russian literature; Russian and Slavic linguistics; investigation of the Russian vocabulary and the basic sentence structure of Russian with some reference to other Slavic languages.

During 2009 the library was notified that it would be the recipient of a large bequest from the estate of the late Ada Booth specifically for the acquisition of Slavic language and Slavic studies material. During 2010 the library will start acquiring materials using the funds from the bequest.

4. Other significant Monash collections or resources

Asian Libraries in Melbourne (ALIM), formerly called the Melbourne Asian Research Libraries Consortium (MARLC), was formed in 1993 to enhance access to the Asian materials held in the Monash University and University of Melbourne libraries. It provides reciprocal access to the collections by staff and students from both universities. At the University of Melbourne materials are collected in the Chinese and Japanese languages, mainly in the arts and humanities, social sciences, Japanese architectural history and Chinese medicine, whereas the Monash collection's focus is more contemporary.

The Chinese language collection at Melbourne is stronger in traditional areas of study than that of Monash, with strengths in language, history of China, Buddhism and Taoism, Chinese literature, local gazetteers, customs and culture, Chinese medicine, with 16 Chinese CD-ROMs. The strengths of the Japanese collection are applied and sociolinguistics, language teaching and learning, social problems and popular culture, art and architectural history. There is also a large collection of items dealing with women's studies.

The Monash University collection includes the largest Indonesian and Korean collections in Victoria.

Chinese

Microform collection: There are many items of interest in the microform collection, such as

• The Chinese People's Movement, Spring 1989, a collection of contemporaneous documents including manifestos and pamphlets from Tiananmen Square 1989 (34 fiche)
• Taiwan's Opposition Magazines from the 1970s and 1980s (865 microfiche) and newspapers dating from the 19th century.
• China through Western eyes : manuscript records of traders, travellers, missionaries and diplomats, 1792-1942 (30 reels)
• There are also newspapers from China and Taiwan.

Rare Books: A collection of Chinese art reproductions and Chinese children's picture booklets was presented by Rachel Faggetter who collected them during her teaching days in China in the 1970s as well as a collection of over 100 political posters. Rare Books also holds many old and valuable items on China, such as An Account of the Embassy to the Emperor of China (1795) complied by Aeneas Anderson from the papers of Earl Macartney.
The Rare Books collection also contains a large and very important collection of material relating to early travels in the Indonesian archipelago and to the Dutch colonial period in Indonesia, which includes printed works, maps and serials ; as well as the Suetsugu-ADF School of Languages collection of Japanese and Chinese classics published before the pre-modern period.

European and classical languages

Rare Books : Material in the collection includes substantial holdings of French writing from the Enlightenment period with a particular emphasis on surreptitious or pirated editions, German expressionism, textually significant editions of the Greek and Latin classics and critical works of eminent classical scholars published in the 19th century or earlier. There is also a large and interesting collection of rare books relating to French theatre and French language books relating to Australia.

Microform collection : British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service. Summary of world broadcasts, 1939-1959, 1972-1976 (398 reels, ca. 2,400 fiche)

The Laura and Israel Kipen Judaica Collection in the Matheson Library on the Clayton campus provides access to resources supporting all aspects of Jewish studies, including works in Hebrew. The Collection also houses the Giligich Yiddish Collection, which consists of Yiddish books in a wide range of subjects.

Indonesian

Microform collection includes:

• Indonesian monographs, 1945-1968, which contains over 7000 books (17,149 fiche plus catalogue)
• Memories van Overgave (800 fiche)
• Java Factory records, 1613-1826 (39 reels)
• Sumatra Factory records, 1685-1825 (67 reels)
• Documents relating to the social and cultural history of Java in the 19th century (90 reels)
• Dutch East India Company (VOC) archives, 1600-1800 (310 reels, 20,000 fiche)
• The East Timor question, 1975-1996 (691 fiche)

Indonesian Historical collection : This collection of over 6000 mainly Dutch-language books, serials and pamphlets relating to colonial-era Indonesia is jointly managed by the Asian Studies Research Collection and Rare Books Collection.

Korean

Microform collection :

• Despatches from the United States ministers to Korea, 1883-1905. (22 reels)
• U.S. - U.S.S.R. Joint Commission on Korea. Records of the American delegation. 1945-1918. (23 reels)

Japanese

Microform collection :

• Records of the US Department of State relating to the internal affairs of Japan, 1930-1939 and 1940-1944 (53 reels)
• Japan through Western eyes (83 reels)
• Western books on Asia : Japan (13,000 fiche)

The Melbourne Centre for Japanese Language Education was established in 1997 to provide teacher reference materials and internet access in order to improve the teaching of Japanese at primary and secondary level. It includes materials suitable for use in the classroom such as textbooks, cultural information, storybooks, as well audiovisual material, such as videos and kits.

Southeast Asia

• Burma Democracy collection
• Burma Human Rights collection
• David Chandler Cambodia collection
• Malaysian Jawi collection
• Norodom Sihanouk Archival collection

Collections Table

(T = teaching level, R = research level)

Amendment history
First Issued: :November 2000,
Updated: October 2008, April 2010

Ask a question Phone +61 3 9905 5054 or use our enquiry services ask.monash for Monash students and staff | ask.monash for visitors and alumni.
Your opinion Feedback form for Monash staff and students | Feedback form for visitors and alumni