Brill ABIA Online

Index of South and Southeast Asian Art and Archaeology

Index of South and Southeast Asian Art and Archaeology

The ABIA (Index on South and Southeast Asian Art and Archaeology) goes back to 1928 and is well-known among specialists as the only comprehensive and up-to-date standard bibliographic reference in the field, serving both students and scholars. The online version of the complete ABIA includes all twenty-three volumes of the Annual Bibliography of Indian Archaeology, and its successor the ABIA Index. The ABIA is updated on a quarterly basis and c. 9,000 new records are be added each year.
This unique specialist academic in-depth bibliography is dedicated to South and Southeast Asian and covers the areas of: prehistory, archaeology of the historical period, art, crafts and architecture, inscriptions and palaeography, and coins and seals from the region.
Through strong partnerships in Asia, the coverage includes unique references to literature published in the region, which is often very hard to identify and access. The ABIA Online presently cooperates with partner institutes in New Delhi (the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts) and Colombo (The Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology) and is partly supported by the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) and the Jan Gonda Fonds.

The ABIA contains the following key features:

Key Features

• Unique and up-to-date specialist academic bibliography dedicated to South and Southeast Asian art and archaeology.
• Extensive coverage of publications from the 1920s onwards.
• Coverage of monographs, journals, articles in edited volumes, conference proceedings and grey literature.
• Compiled by an international team of specialists in both Europe and Asia.
• Records up to 2011 are richly and extensively annotated.
• Rich keywording
• Inclusion of references to hard-to-access locally published Asian works.
• References to publications in a multiple variety of languages
• Includes all bibliographical references of the printed Annual Bibliography of Indian Archaeology (published between 1928-1984) and the ABIA South and Southeast Asian Art and Archaeology Index (published between 1999-2011), as well as recent up-to-date online only material.
• Covers scholarly publications by specialists for specialists and non-specialists.

Key Figures

• 40,000 records
• Quarterly updates (9,000 new records per year)
• 425 journals
• 200 book series
• 19 languages
• 22 countries
• 12 major subject categories per country

Regions Covered

• South Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Maldives
• Southwest Asia - as related to South Asia (e.g. Afghanistan and eastern Iran)
• Central Asia - as related to South Asia (e.g. Turkmenistan and Tajikistan)
• East Asia - as related to South Asia and Southeast Asia (e.g. the region of Tibetan culture and South China)
• Southeast Asia: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam
• The Pacific - as related to Southeast Asia (e.g. the region of Austronesian culture)

ABIA offers search options by means of:

• 3500 geographic keywords
• 5,800 general keywords
• 950 personal names as keywords
• 5,500 unique authors and editors
• 15,000 records of the ABIA Index in the online database
• 25.000 records of the Annual Bibliography of Indian Archaeology (the Kern ABIA)

Materials

• Books
• Contributed articles in books
• Articles in periodicals (including reviews and obituaries)
• Electronic books
• Electronic articles
• Unpublished PhD theses and Habilitationsschriften
• ‘grey’ literature of academic level

ABIA Online: A Unique Reference Tool For:

• Scholars and students of Asian Studies, Art History, Archaeology, Comparative Religions, Buddhist Studies, Hindu Studies, Asia studies in general, Anthropology, History, Heritage Studies and Museum Studies; and in subfields such as Epigraphy, Palaeography, Numismatics and Sigillography.
• Museum curators and collectors of Asian arts and coins

Downloads - A4 Flyer ABIA.pdf

Reviews

'The sources indexed in ABIA Online might be expected to overlap with the contents of comprehensive databases like Anthropology Plus (CH, Apr'13, 50-4191) with equally long publishing histories and similar subject or areal coverage; sample searches in both of these resources, however, revealed significantly higher numbers of unique results compared to duplications. This database is a well-designed, quickly mastered resource filled with valuable information suitable for advanced students and scholars pursuing research in Asian studies, archaeology, anthropology, art history, architecture, and museum studies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty.'
T. Chan, SUNY Oswego, Choice Reviews Online, 53-0015

For more information, open free trial or to place an order, contact:
Jacek Lewinson
Mobi:+48 502 603 290, skype:jacek.lewinson , Email:Jacek@jaceklewinson.com

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