Microform Collections

The following represents a select list, organized by country, of microfilm collections relevant to the study of Southeast Asia. Many are owned by the Southeast Asia Collection at Ohio University and housed in the Microform Collection on the first floor of Alden Library. Others are owned by and readily accessible through the Center for Research Libraries (CRL).

I. Indonesia

Indonesia: Memories van Overgave (Retrospects for New Officials).

This collection consists of local reports (about 400), covering 1900-1947, as well as reports on Irian Jaya (formerly Dutch New Guinea), covering the period 1950-1964. The reports were written by Dutch civil servants in Indonesia, and contain anthropological, social, political, economic, and geographical data about the area for which the civil servant was responsible. The collection, as a whole, includes 930 reports, filmed on 812 fiche. Ohio University's holdings include East Java materials only (MMK 83-133; KIT 545-579), housed in the microform collection on the first floor of Alden Library (Refer to ALICE). The remainder of the collection is available through inter-library loan from the Center for Research Libraries (CRL).

KITLV Indonesia Microfiche Project

In the 1970s, the Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (KITLV) embarked on an ambitious preservation project involving the filming of over 25,000 Indonesian publications covering a wide range of fields (though special emphasis was on the social sciences and the humanities) and topics. Ohio University Libraries owns a reproduction of this important microform collection. The complete set is housed in the Microforms Collection on the first floor of Alden Library. For a comprehensive index of these materials, and other KITLV microfiche collections, refer to the guide: Katalog perpustakaan: koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde kumulasi 1969-1976. Jakarta: Proyek Pengembangan Pusat Dokumentasi dan Informasi Bidang Ilmu-Ilmu Sosial dan Kemanusiaan, Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia, 1978. It is located in the reference section of the Southeast Asia Collection (Z3276 .I57 1978).

Kong Koan records

This collection, filmed under the auspices of the Southeast Asia Microform Project (SEAM), contains volumes of legal documents, including birth, marriage, divorce, immigration, and death records, on the overseas Chinese in Indonesia during the latter stages of Dutch colonial rule. These materials may be obtained through interlibrary loan from CRL (MF-12822).

Local Factory Records

This set includes volumes of British East India Company factory records, mainly from the 19th century, for Borneo, Celebes, Java, and Sumatra. All are available through interlibrary loan from CRL (MF-4304, MF-4305, MF-4303, MF-12925 respectively). An online guide for the Sumatra Factory Records may be accessed from the CRL online catalog.

Memories van Overgave: New Guinea

This IDC-produced collection consists of administrative reports detailing Dutch attempts maintain New Guinea's independence from Indonesia during the 1950s and 1960s. The set includes 111 microfiche, and is readily available through inter-library loan from CRL.

Modern Indonesia Microfiche Project. IDC. [PDF file]

At the beginning of 1970, the Royal Institute of Linguistics and Anthropology (RILA) in Leiden, The Netherlands, in cooperation with the Inter Documentation Company (IDC) in Zug, Switzerland, launched the Joint Microfiche Project on Indonesia. The chief aim of the project was to make available in microfiche form all the essential Indonesian social science publications issued in Indonesia between 1945 and 1968. The vast majority of the print materials selected for this project were drawn from the Wason Collection (renamed the Echols Collection in 1977) at Cornell University Libraries. The result of this project, completed in the mid-1970s, and subsequently dubbed the Modern Indonesia Microfiche Project, was the filming of some 1,400 periodicals and 7,000 monographs onto roughly 60,000 microfiches.

The Southeast Asia Collection at Ohio University Libraries owns several thousand titles collected and filmed under the aegis of the Modern Indonesia Microfiche Project, as well as select titles from several of the more specialized IDC microform collections mentioned above. Most of these materials are cataloged in ALICE by title. However, due to the enormous volume of microfiche obtained by Ohio University Libraries through IDC and the Modern Indonesia Microfiche Project, some periodical titles are still not cataloged in ALICE. It is for this reason that the Southeast Asia Collection staff has compiled a comprehensive index of all the remaining un-cataloged IDC titles owned by Ohio University Libraries. This title list, organized alphabetically, is available here as a PDF file.

All the IDC titles included in this index are located on the first floor of Alden Library (shelved in individually marked boxes along the north wall) in the Microforms Collection. Each box is labeled with an alphanumeric code (e.g., SE-301, SE-302, etc.). The index below includes both IDC titles and their corresponding alphanumeric code. Please refer to this alphanumeric code when searching for individual IDC titles in the Microforms Collection. For additional assistance in locating materials, contact the SEA Collection Staff.

War and Decolonization in Indonesia, 1940-1950.

This IDC-produced microfiche collection is divided into four parts: Part I constitutes the archive of Dr. Van Mook, first Minister of the Colonies and later Lieutenant Governor-General of the Netherlands East Indies. In this capacity Van Mook played a central role in the events of the time. Part II consists of the papers of the Director of the Cabinet of the Governor-General and later the High Representative of the Crown, Dr. P.J. Koets. Part III is particularly revealing in documenting the war period. It includes intelligence material on the Japanese occupation and information on allied military actions, all from the archive of C.O. van der Plas. Part IV, the Van Roijen materials (1946-1962), mostly concern the question of Indonesian independence and the transfer of sovereignty to the Republic. They include telegrams, correspondence, reports and position papers. A smaller section covers the New Guinea affair, in the early 1960's.

The complete microfiche set, including guides, is cataloged in ALICE and housed in the Microforms Collection on the first floor of Alden Library. (DS644 .W37 1997x).

II. Philippines

Philippines: U.S. Policy During the Marcos Years, 1965-1986.

This set is from the National Archives. It consists of an array of State Department correspondence on the Philippines-including cables, airgrams, internal memoranda, briefing papers, intelligence reports, legal records, and so forth. The set includes 652 microfiche and a three-volume index, MICRO/SEA E183.8.P6 M42 1990x (located in SEA Reference).

Philippine Republic: Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files.

The “Central Files,” record group 59, are from the Department of State's Internal and Foreign Affairs subject classifications of the Central Files presently housed in the National Archives. The files consist mainly of U.S. State Department correspondence regarding the political, military, social, and economic situation in post-WW II Philippines. The series covers the independence movement, land reform initiatives, the Hukbalahap Revolt, the Ramon Magsaysay presidency, Carlos P. Garcia, and U.S. security objectives in general. Ohio University Libraries owns the following series:

• Philippines: INTERNAL AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS, 1945-1949.
  35 reels microfilm and guide, SEA DS686.5 .C663 1987x.
• PHILIPPINES: INTERNAL AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS, 1950-1954.
  37 reels microfilm and guide, SEA DS686.5 .C664 1987x.
• Philippines: INTERNAL AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS, 1955-1959.
  24 reels microfilm and guide, SEA DS686.5 .C665 1987x.

III. Siam

Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions 1833-1911

This collection of microfilm includes a wide range of documentation on the religious and humanitarian activities of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in Thailand during the period 1833 to 1911. The complete set is located in the Microform Collection (BV3315 .P77x).

IV. Vietnam/Indochina

John M. Echols Collection: Selections on the Vietnam War

This microform collection includes a wide range of Vietnamese-language non-fiction monographic publications held at the Cornell University Library. The set covers an array of subject areas, including history, politics, religion, economics, and social theory, among others. But the main emphasis of the microfilming project was to incorporate Vietnamese perspectives on the critical events that constitute the Vietnam War and the era of US involvement in Vietnam. Ohio University Libraries owns units 1-13, as well as the respective guides, which can be located in the SEA Reference section (DS557.4 .C675 1989).

Indochina: Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files

The “Central Files,” designated group 59, are from the Department of State's Internal and Foreign Affairs subject classifications of the Central Files presently housed in the National Archives. The files consist mainly of post-World War II correspondence between the U.S. State Department and the various diplomatic posts then located in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The files include a wide range of materials and topics, such as reports on contemporary political, military, social, and economic developments, minutes, interviews, letters, and translations of foreign documents. Ohio University Libraries owns the following series:

• INDOCHINA: INTERNAL AFFAIRS, 1945-1949.
  10 reels microfilm & guide, SEA DS532 .C659 1985x
• INDOCHINA: INTERNAL AFFAIRS, 1950-1954.
  44 reels microfilm & guide, SEA DS532 .C66 1985x.
• INDOCHINA: INTERNAL AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS, 1955-1959.
  54 reels microfilm and guide, SEA DS550 .C663 1989x.

Vietnam. CIA RESEARCH REPORTS: VIETNAM AND SOUTHEAST ASIA 1946-1976.

One of the U. S. Central Intelligence Agency's mandates has been to produce foreign intelligence reports to meet the needs of the President, National Security Council, etc. The result has been a diverse body of documentation. The material consists of reports, intelligence memos and biographical reports. This installment offers CIA staff evaluations of most of the leading issues of the period including numerous ones on the Vietnam situation from the early beginnings to later attempts to read enemy intentions and assess damages on both sides. Several reports review the political machinations of the Saigon government. Attention is also given to events in neighboring Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos. The printed guide lists reports by subject, geographically and chronologically. 7 reels microfilm & printed guide. This set is located in the Microforms Collection (DS550 V53x).

Vietnam. CIA RESEARCH REPORTS: VIETNAM AND SOUTHEAST ASIA, 1949-1979 Supplement.

This supplement devotes four reels to reports from South Vietnam, Tet Offensive, etc. Other reports cover American prisoner and MIA issues into 1979. The other reels cover Cambodia, Laos, and North Vietnam, primarily from 1962-1975. 6 reels microfilm (DS550 V53x suppl.).

VIETNAM: A DOCUMENTARY COLLECTION- WESTMORELAND V. CBS.

The guide reproduces the trial indexes-lists of documents, tables of witnesses, exhibits, and court cases cited. General Westmoreland brought a libel suit against the CBS television network for its special "The Uncounted Enemy: a Vietnam Deception" This set contains 10,000 pages of trial transcripts and 30,000 pages of exhibits contain a wealth of information for research. See the guide for an introductory essay. 1010 microfiche & printed guide (DS559.46 V54 1985x).

VIETNAM. U.S. ARMED FORCES IN VIETNAM, 1954-1975.

This set was issued in four parts (see below) with a reel guide to each part, but no subject indexes. This material was filmed from the collections of the Army Center for Military History and from the National Technical Information Service. Apart from Vietnam, the set covers military and political developments in Laos and Cambodia. Includes 21 rolls microfilm & printed guide (DS557.8 U2 1983x).
Part 1: Indochina Studies (4 reels); Part 2: Lessons learned (8 reels); Part 3: Reports on U.S. Army operations (5 reels); Part 4: U.S. Army senior officer debriefing reports (4 reels).

Southeast Asia-General

South-East Asian Biographical Archive

The South-East Asian Biographical Archive (Sudostasiastisches Biographisches Archiv), produced by K.G. Saur, includes approximately 85,000 biographical sketches, written in various Western and vernacular Southeast Asian languages, on more than 50,000 prominent Southeast Asian figures. The archive covers Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Although special emphasis is given to contemporary Southeast Asian public figures, the collection includes biographical entries for colonial and independence-era leaders as well. A complete online index is available through K.G. Saur at www.saur-wbi.de. The archives are housed in the Microforms Collection on the first floor of Alden Library. The entire collection is catalogued in ALICE under the call number SEA CT1592.S68 1997x.