LibGuides: Chinese: Find Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Reference Resources

Dictionaries
Encyclopedias

Print English-Chinese Dictionary Resources

The following language dictionary can be found on the 2nd (main) floor of the library. Search OneSearch to locate additional dictionaries, including some that are available to check out.

Oxford Chinese Dictionary
Call Number: PL1455 .O94 2010 (2nd floor reference collection)
Publication Date: 2010

Online Chinese-English Dictionary Resources

LINE Dict
LINE Dictionary is an online Chinese-English dictionary.
Zhongwen.com
Zhongwen.com is an online Chinese etymological dictionary.

Multiple Languages

WordReference
WordReference is one of the most-used online resources for bilingual dictionaries and language tools. Among others, WordReference has resources for French, Spanish, Italian, German, Swedish, Chinese, and Japanese language learning.
Collins Dictionary
"Collins online dictionary and reference resources draw on the wealth of reliable and authoritative information about language ... both in English and in other languages."

Collins provides tools for English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, Chinese, and Korean.

Print Reference Resources:

Tredway Library uses the Library of Congress (LOC) Classification system to organize our physical collection. Consider searching in the following sections of our reference collection, located on the 2nd (main) floor of the library. Remember that the following call numbers are helpful for this subject area:

PL1001-3208: Chinese dictionaries and literature materials
DS: Asian history and culture materials
- DS701-799: Chinese History and Culture

Important note: reference books can't leave the library! You may photocopy some pages that are helpful, but the physical material can't be checked out the way that circulating books can. If you need to access reference books while you're outside the library, our electronic reference tools are very helpful.

Chinese Online Reference Resources:

CNKI Reference Works: encyclopedia database of over 1,400 entries relating to Chinese language, literature, history, and culture; part of the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database
China Historical Geographic Information System, CHGIS: database of "place names and historical administrative units for the Chinese Dynasties"
China Biographical Database (CBDB): A biographical database of "biographical information about approximately 529,560 individuals as of May 2023, primarily from the 7th through 19th centuries"
Modern China Biographical Database (MCDB): A database of biographical information of individuals in China collected from approximately 1949 to the present

General eReference Databases:

Gale Virtual Reference Library
A vast collection of electronic reference books covering a wide variety of subject areas, Gale Virtual Reference Library is an excellent place to start your research.
Credo Reference
This is an online reference library that provides unlimited and remote simultaneous access to current, integrated, full-text content from a selection of over 200 reference books from 55 publishers with over 2 million entries. Credo includes encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri and books of quotations, a range of subject-specific titles covering everything from health to technology and science to law, not to mention the Bridgeman Art Library with over 16,000 art images.