The Resource and Information Centre

The Resource and Information Centre of the Dunhuang Academy serves the information needs of all who work for the goals of preserving, researching and promoting the relics in Dunhuang.

Our specialized library has one of the best collections in the world of material on Dunhuang Studies. As of 2009, the collection has more than 150,000 books and magazines, including more than 35,000 volumes of ancient books, 90,000 books in Chinese, 5000 books in foreign languages, and 20,000 copies of over a hundred titles of academic periodical publications. Many of them are of single copy or rare editions. The library is located in Mogaoku, Dunhuang with a branch in Lanzhou, Gansu Province.

In this highly technology-oriented era, we have invested to improve the information technology facilities of the Centre. An automated library management system has been implemented. We have also established two digital libraries on research papers on Dunhuang Studies and Chinese periodicals. In the multi-media reading room, users have access to archives and digital libraries in China and abroad including CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), JSTOR and ARTstor, so that they can follow the development of Dunhuang Studies around the world.

In order to communicate the latest news and development on the overseas research of Dunhuang relics to Chinese readers, we have published at least one issue of “Information and Reference” annually since 2002. We also have a collection of Chinese translations of the books and papers on Dunhuang Studies.

Another responsibility of the Centre is the maintenance of the Academy’s web site (www.dha.ac.cn) which is used to communicate news of the Academy, research results on Dunhuang Studies and the conservation of the grottoes to the general public. Since the launch of the Chinese site in 2002, there have been more than 500,000 visits. The English site was launched in Oct 2009.