China Research Gateway FAQ
What is CRG?
What is the CRG Portal?
How much content will I be able to access?
What if I want to customize the products in the package?
Can I work directly with TKN to obtain CRG access?
Is there a list of journals available in CNKI?
Do you have to know Chinese to use the database?
Which language/script should I use to type a search query?
Can I search in CAJ even if I am not proficient in Chinese?
Can I search in Chinese when I am using the English language interface?
Whom do I contact to learn more?
About the Logo.
What is CRG?
China Research Gateway is a program pioneered by East View to change the way North American customers are able to access Chinese information resources. It presents a vast amount of databases from China, covering all disciplines of the humanities and social sciences and all STEM fields, collectively known as the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI).
Content (CNKI):
The China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), launched in 1988, is an electronic platform encompassing the largest collection of research content from China. With more than 10,000 journal titles, millions of dissertations, patents, and many other content types, CNKI is the most authoritative, comprehensive, and largest source of China-based information resources in the world. CNKI reflects the latest developments in Chinese politics, economics, humanities and the social sciences, and all STEM fields. Most titles in CNKI go back to their first issue, typically to 1949, and in some cases as early as the beginning of the twentieth century. Content in CNKI is typically full image and full text and includes abstracts and indexes. In most cases the abstracts and indexes are available in both Chinese and English.
CNKI is produced by East View’s long-standing partner, the Beijing-based TKN (Tongfang Knowledge Network), a leading information technology company founded by Tsinghua University. TKN is the sole developer and owner of the CNKI databases, and East View is TKN’s distribution and co-development partner in North America.
CRG program benefits:
Institutions participating in CRG gain unique advantages, including:
- Exclusive access model: complete access to all series, and the full chronological depth of all CNKI resources included in the CRG program
- Exclusive support and service by East View: East View is uniquely authorized to offer the CRG program, and East View offers a dedicated support and account service team, working in your time zone, visiting your library, and ensuring an optimal experience for your institution’s administration, librarians, and users alike.
- The CRG Portal: CRG provides an intuitive, English-language portal designed by East View for ease of browsing and accessing all the databases included in the program. Users have access to uniform information across all CRG resources, including resource metadata, descriptions, fact sheets, user guides, title lists (where applicable), links to database access, a help section, and more.
What is the CRG Portal?
The CRG portal (https://crg.eastview.com) is a convenient user experience designed and managed by East View, to suit the specific needs of North American users. It serves as a gateway to multiple CNKI databases, covering all areas of the CNKI product suite. Together, this represents the world’s largest assembly of digital content from China (including academic journals, monographs, statistical publications, news media, patents, legal content, medical content, official government publications and yearbooks, reference works, and much else).
The purpose of the CRG portal is to serve as a “home page” experience for the entire CRG program. It offers a clear overview of the various databases and their content. It also provides clear contact information for East View support.
The CRG portal is not a technical tool, i.e. it is not a federated search across the various CRG resources. In this regard, the CRG portal is similar to “LibGuides” used by many libraries, to provide clear organization and informational tools for users.
Each individual database within CRG also has its own landing page, which offers information about that specific database and serves as a jumping-off point to enter the database (by clicking on either “Go to Database” or clicking on the database name, which will launch the database in a new tab).
How much content will I be able to access?
There are over 135 million articles in CRG’s constituent databases, and that figure grows each day. In addition to journal articles, CRG contains a vast amount of dissertations, patents, reference works, analytical tools, and much else. CRG presents a first-ever program to grant users access to:
- All subject areas of the database (all fields of the social sciences and humanities, all STEM fields)
- The most comprehensive collection of Chinese databases ever offered outside of China
- Access to the entire backfile of all databases without restriction
What if I want to customize the products in the package?
CRG presents a tremendous amount of content, for a small fraction of the normal cost of these resources. The producer, TKN, has agreed to make this possible because of specific parameters of the CRG program, including a uniform product package for all participants. However, if you wish to also obtain resources that are not included in the CRG Product Package, those can be obtained by separate arrangement.
Can I work directly with TKN to obtain CRG access?
This is not possible. CRG is a program 100% exclusive to East View, and in fact proposed by East View to restructure the ways in which we can bring you CNKI content and value.
EVIS is the only party authorized to offer the CRG program, even though it is based on CNKI content and products. In fact, other business units of TKN are not trained on or largely aware of all details of the CRG program and are not able to serve you. East View is exclusively administering this unique program, in part because of its relative complexity, and the need to avoid any contradictory or unclear messaging regarding the program, its policies, its licensing, and its benefits. East View is located in North America and able to communicate most effectively, in your time zone, with you and your administration to ensure clear presentation of this ambitious program.
Is there a list of journals available in CNKI?
Yes! CNKI includes over 10,000 journals, and all are accessible without restriction in CRG. Up-to-date title lists for the individual databases and subject series are available at eastview.com/crg and in the CRG portal.
Do you have to know Chinese to use the database?
Most of CRG’s databases have an English language interface. In addition, hundreds of titles are published in English, and many more publications are fully bilingual or contain substantial English content and/or abstracts and indexes in English. In the CRG portal, each database has a database page with an “Interface” field indicating the interface languages available.
Which language/script should I use to type a search query?
To get the best results, search queries should be entered in Simplified Chinese. A query in English will return results, but they should not be considered comprehensive. Searches using Pinyin will not be comprehensive, as Pinyin tagging is incomplete across the databases.
Can I search in CAJ even if I am not proficient in Chinese?
Most of CRG’s databases have an English-language interface. In addition, hundreds of titles are published in English, and many more publications are fully bilingual or contain substantial English content and/or abstracts and indexes in English. In the CRG portal, each database has a database page with an “Interface” field indicating the interface languages available.
Can I search in Chinese when I am using the English language interface?
Yes, you can. The search interface is independent of the search query.
Whom do I contact to learn more?
East View Information Services, Inc.
10601 Wayzata Boulevard.
Minneapolis, MN 55305 USA
Tel.: (952) 252-1201
Fax: (952) 252-1202
US Toll-free: (800) 477-1005
[email protected]
About the Logo
The CRG logo, which is intended to resemble a gateway or a doorway, swinging open into receding space is modeled on the Chinese character “門” (Traditional version; pronounced mén), which means “door” or “gate.” The Chinese name for Chinese Research Gateway is 中国研究门道 (Simplified Chinese), or 中國研究門道 (Traditional Chinese), also with the precise meaning “China Research Gateway.”