LibGuides: Pacific Studies: Resources for research and study

What are reference sources?

Reference sources are resources used to locate basic information and secondary literature.

There are many types of reference sources, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, almanacs, atlases, handbooks, guides, and style manuals.

They are a fantastic places to begin your research, especially if you are exploring a new topic.

Reference sources can help you to:

define your topic in general terms
find background information, including themes and key points
identify keywords and alternative terms for conceptualising your subject, and for database searching.

Key resources

The Pacific Islands: an encylopedia by Brij V. Lal & Kate Fortune
Call Number: CHIFLEY D9.P3 2000

Publication Date: 2000

An encyclopaedia of information on major aspects of Pacific life, including the physical environment, peoples, history, politics, economy, society and culture. The CD-ROM contains hyperlinks between section titles and sections, a library of all the maps in the encyclopaedia, and a photo library.
Pacific realities : changing perspectives on resilience and resistance by Laurent Dousset and Melissa Nayral [Editors]
Call Number: View online [ANU Staff and students only]

Publication Date: 2019

Throughout the Pacific region, people are faced with dramatic changes, often described as processes of “glocalization”; individuals and groups espouse multilayered forms of identity, in which global modes of thinking and doing are embedded in renewed perceptions of local or regional specificities. Consequently, new forms of resistance and resilience – the processes by which communities attempt to regain their original social, political, and economic status and structure after disruption or displacement – emerge. Through case studies from across the Pacific which transcend the conventional “local-global” dichotomy, this volume aims to explore these complex and interwoven phenomena from a new perspective.
The South Pacific by Ron Crocombe
Call Number: MENZIES DU17 .C76 2008

Publication Date: 2008

In depth investigation of the South Pacific discussing environment, history, society, culture, health, language, religion, education, information, economics, land & water, politics, governance, corruption, security, the Pacific way, regional and international relations and futures.
Historical Dictionary of Polynesia by Robert H. Craig
Call Number: MENZIES DU510.C73 2011

Publication Date: 2011

Provides a chronology of Polynesia, names of Polynesian islands and details of past and present rulers and administrators.
Pacific Histories : ocean, land, people by David Armitage; Alison Bashford
Call Number: MENZIES DU28.3.P.. 2014 and online [ANU Staff and students only]

Publication Date: 2013-12-13

The first comprehensive account to place the Pacific Islands, the Pacific Rim and the Pacific Ocean into the perspective of world history. An international team of historians provides a multidimensional account of the Pacific, its inhabitants and the lands within and around it over 50,000 years, with special attention to the peoples of Oceania. It providing chronological coverage along with analyses of themes such as the environment, migration and the economy; religion, law and science; race, gender and politics.

Oxford Reference Online

An authoritative and comprehensive reference collection combining access to in-depth scholarly resources in the Oxford Companions series with quick reference coverage from key Oxford dictionaries and reference works.