Southeast Asia

Our collections for Southeast Asia feature both western language and indigenous publications with a particular focus on the humanities and social sciences. The central strength of the collection lies in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Other countries represented include Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia, East Timor, Laos, Cambodia and Brunei.

Spanish, Dutch, French, English, Japanese, Portuguese, and German language collections support the indigenous collection, reflecting the colonial powers present in the region.

The collection supports the information needs of faculty, students, and researchers of the university, as well as the broader community.

Important related collections

Our Philippine American History Special Collection covers covers activities of Americans in the Philippines from 1898 to 1946 under the American occupation. The Labadie Collection documents American activities in regard to the Philippines, the protest movement during the Marcos era, Mai Lai legal transcripts, and poster collections from the Vietnam War.

Additional relevant collections include tapes on Indonesian classical and pop music at the Music Library, materials in the Askwith Media Library, and maps and documents in the Clark Library.

Noted collections outside of the U-M Library system include those at the:

Bentley Historical Library, which houses Philippine American collections, as well as the field notes of William Gedney on the languages of Thailand and Laos
Museum of Anthropological Archaeology, which holds ethnological slides, archaeological finds, and botanical specimens of the Philippines
William L. Clements Library, where the collection includes materials from the Christian missionary efforts in Thailand
Visual Resources Collection, which includes the Southeast Asia Art Foundation Archive of photographs and slides compiled by John Adams Thierry (the University of Michigan Museum of Art holds the Thierry Art Collection)
Law Library also has relevant materials