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Colombo Library
The library of the American Institute of Lankan Studies is open to all AISLS members and to other scholars.
It is a reference library - materials may not be removed from the premises. Photocopying
facilities are available. Inquires concerning the use of the library should be made to
the Center staff. The Center is normally open from 10:00 to 4:00 on weekdays, pending
staff availability. We suggest that you telephone in advance to check that the library
is open (011-250-8512).

The library holds about 1,500 books. In addition to books on Sri Lanka, the collection
includes works on other regions (mainly other countries in South, Southeast, and West
Asia) and theoretical works that provide perspectives useful for scholars working on
Sri Lanka. It has special strengths in the following areas:
- books published since 2000 in Sri Lanka, including works in Sinhala and Tamil as well as English.
- reference books, including bibliographies, dictionaries, and directories.
- books on Sri Lanka published in India, Europe, and the United States.
- Islam (Middle East, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia).
- Indian history and politics.
- Pali Text Society volumes.
- Guidebooks, maps, and accommodation guides that may be useful for visitors to
Sri Lanka.
Most books in the AISLS library are listed in the online catalogue that is part of
the Digital Library for International Research. From the
expanded search page
pick "AISLS Library Collection" from the Collection menu near the bottom of the page.
This will limit your search to our collection. The most recent acquisitions may not
be included in the online catalogue.

The DLIR catalogue only covers books. Other materials, such as journals, article
offprints and preprints, unpublished dissertations are available in the library.
The library has long runs of the Journal of Asian Studies (1965-2002) and the Sri
Lanka Journal of the Humanities (1975 --). It also holds a selection of
conference proceedings and reports on various social, economic, and political issues
commissioned by government agencies and by local and international NGOs. Finally, it
has a selection of compact disks that offer summaries and translations of recent Sri
Lankan press coverage.

In addition to the DLIR catalogue, the library also has its own electronic catalogue,
available on the premises.

The library subscribes to JSTOR, an on-line
scholarly database that offers full-text retrospective coverage of many international
journals. The JSTOR collections we have include Arts and Sciences I and II, and
selected titles from A&S III and IV. The Center staff is trained to offer library
patrons help in searching the JSTOR database. The Center's JSTOR facility has been
funded by a grant from the Ford Foundation-New Delhi.

Library patrons also have onsite access to the Bibliography of Asian Studies, an online bibliography that covers
European-language journal articles and book chapters published since 1970.
This bibliography includes coverage of materials published in Sri Lanka.
A short guide to using this resource is available in the library.
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