Chengzhi Wang is a Chinese studies librarian at Columbia University. He serves as English editor for the Journal of Library and Information Science, copublished by the Chinese American Librarians Association and the National Taiwan Normal University.

Su Chen is head of the Richard C. Rudolph East Asian Library at the University of California, Los Angeles, and former head of the East Asian Library at the University of Minnesota. Her recent work includes a compilation of The Archives of the Young Men's Christian Association in China at the University of Minnesota Libraries: The Annual Reports 1896–1949.

North America maintains the largest collection of archival materials relating to the Chinese Republican era (1911–1949) outside of China. Most of the archival materials are also unique, and the collections contain special materials supplementing historical records in China and Taiwan. In many cases, North America's holdings represent the best and only public access to the tumultuous Republican government and society of the first half of the twentieth century.

An essential guide for researchers and students of Republican China, this volume, presented in both English and Chinese, covers personal papers, correspondences, memoirs, diaries, photographs, moving images, and other materials held at academic and research institutions across the United States and Canada. It includes concise descriptions of the people, organizations, and events connected to each entry and notes when certain collections are closely related and when materials are digitized for online access. The book corrects common errors associated with the library records of many archives and updates or completes information on the objects of these records. More than a straightforward itemization, this book adds significant depth to any research on the history and global import of China's modern development.