Asian Perspectives: open-access journal

The journal Asian Perspectives (published by the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa) is  now available on open-access from Vol.1 (1957) to Vol.47 (2008).
The journal looks at the archaeology and prehistory of the Asia-Pacific region

N.B. the Library also has access to Vol.39 (2000) onwards via EBSCOHost as well as print holdings from Vol.1(1957) onwards at Per 103 / 137833

"To whom do antiquities belong?"

This is the question posed by an article in the Jewish Ideas Daily.
The waterlogged remains of an archive relating to Iraq's exiled Jewish community were discovered in a flooded Baghdad basement by American troops in 2003. The archive, which includes material dating back to the 16th century, but mainly comprises documents, personal papers and Judeo-Arabic manuscripts from the 19th and 20th centuries, has been conserved in the USA. The archive is now claimed by both Israel and Iraq as part of their heritage.

Colonial Film: Moving images of the British Empire

The Colonial Film Database is the ongoing result of a collaborative project between the British Film Institute National Archive, the Imperial War Museum, the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum, Birkbeck College and UCL.

The database has so far catalogued over 6,000 films dating from the late 1890s to the later 20th century from most countries of the former British Empire and Commonwealth. The collection ranges from dramatic "shorts" and amateur footage to official productions by organizations such as the Empire Marketing Board and the Crown Film Unit.

350 of the most important films have detailed critical notes by the project's academic research team.

150 are available to view online (Click the A-Z Films link at the bottom of the homepage to select and view)

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A companion to Byzantium: book review

Read Professor Paul Stephenson's review of the recently published "A companion to Byzantium" (edited by Liz James) in the Institute of Historical Research's Reviews in History, and her response to his critique.

If you want to see what the debate is about, you can find "A companion to Byzantium" in SOAS Library at Ref. QT949.502 / 733914

Liz James is Professor of History of Art at the University of Sussex

Professor Stephenson is a member of the Department of History at Durham University, and their Institute of Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

Two new open-access journals of interest to historians

Two new open-access journals with a wide historical (and thematic) range

Hallesche Beitrage zur Orientwissenschaft

This academic journal published by the Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg (frequently in monograph format) covers a wide range of topics and countries (ancient history, archives, religions, Middle Eastern studies etc.)
It is currently available as digitized open-access texts from Vol.1 (1979) to Vol.44 (2007).

The current link address is via AWOL (Ancient World Online blog)

'Atiqot (Journal of the Israeli Antiquities Authority)

This journal covers the archaeology of "the land of Israel" from prehistory to Ottoman times. Open access coverage begins with Vol.60 (2008). You need to register first, but after that you will be able to login to view and share journal content.

Sasanian Empire: website and open-access e-journals

Sasanika is hosted by the University of California at Irvine. The website features resources on the geography, history and archaeology of the Sasanian Persian Empire

The website also gives open-access to:

e-Sasanika (a collection of open-access academic papers) 

Name-ye Iran Bastan (International journal of ancient Iranian studies) : the project to make all content for this title is a work in progress and only 2001 is currently available. The journal is in Persian and English

The site also aims to give access to the Persian language title Bulletin of Ancient Iranian History, which looks at the Iranian world prior to the coming of Islam. Only Vol.5 (2009) is available at present.