Trial access to The Atlantic Magazine Archive (1857–2014)

The Library currently has trial access to the The Atlantic Magazine Archive (1857–2014).

The digital archive covers events and political issues through literary and cultural commentary. It includes more than 1,800 issues providing a broad view of 19th, 20th and early 21st-Century American thought. The Atlantic was originally created with a focus on publishing leading writers’ commentary on abolition, education and other major issues in contemporary political affairs at the time. Over its more than 150 years of publication it has featured articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, science and more.

Access to theThe Atlantic Magazine Archive (1857–2014) is available on the Library Databases – E-Resources Trials page. Trial access is available until 25th February 2024. Please remember to give us feedback to help us make a decision about subscribing using the E-resources Trial Feedback Form.

Trial access to the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics

The Library currently has trial access to the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics.

The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics includes more than 500 articles by renowned scholars from all over the world. Peer-reviewed and frequently updated, articles feature a wide array of resources, including audio-visual materials, links to digital archives, datasets, and other pedagogical tools.

From morphology to neurolinguistics, semantics to sociolinguistics and sign languages, the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics aims to map, over time, the entire landscape of the world’s languages, weaving together the various historical, theoretical, and experimental approaches that make up the field of linguistics.

Access to the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics is available on the Library Databases – E-Resources Trials page. Trial access is available until 18th February 2024. Please remember to give us feedback to help us make a decision about subscribing using the E-resources Trial Feedback Form.

Information Literacy and Library Skills sessions for LLC students in Semester 2

LLC students — please note below upcoming Information Literacy and Library Skills sessions you may wish to attend.

Literature Searching, 14:00-15:00, Wednesday 31 January, 2024

Introduction to literature searching techniques and resources for students in the School of Literatures, Languages & Cultures.

The online session will help you to:

  • develop a search strategy to find appropriate sources for your research topic;
  • select appropriate online databases and other research resources to search;
  • create a set of search terms for your chosen topic using facet analysis;
  • carry out subject term-based, keyword-based, and citation-based searching;
  • assess search results and export citations to a reference manager.

Sign up to attend on the Event booking page: Literature Searching for Students in the School of Literatures, Languages & Cultures.

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How to Reference and Avoid Plagiarism, 14:00-15:00, Wednesday 21 February, 2024

Introduction to referencing and avoiding plagiarism for students in the School of Literatures, Languages & Cultures.

The online session will help you to:

  • understand what academic referencing involves
  • avoid plagiarism and academic misconduct
  • find resources to support with referencing in the appropriate style for your subject area
  • learn about reference management tools and how they can support good referencing practice

Sign up to attend on the Event booking page: How to Reference and Avoid Plagiarism for Students in the School of Literatures, Languages & Cultures.

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Managing Your References Using EndNote, 14:00-15:00, Wednesday 13 March, 2024

Introduction to managing references using the EndNote reference management tool for students in the School of Literatures, Languages & Cultures.

The online session will enable you to:

  • download the desktop version of EndNote (version 20) and set up a personal library;
  • add references to your EndNote library;
  • organise your EndNote library into themed groups;
  • use EndNote to create in-text citations and a reference list in MS Word.

Sign up to attend on the Event booking page: Managing Your References Using EndNote for Students in the School of Literatures, Languages & Cultures.

Library Tours for Staff 2024

Are you a new or exisitng staff member who would like to find out more about the University’s libraries?

Join an Academic Support Librarian on a 20 to 30-minute in-person tour of one of our ten Library sites. Find out about key library services, including EdHelp, borrowing, printing, and study spaces. Discover the general print collections at the library and explore the subjects covered. Suitable for staff in all roles.

To book a tour, visit Event Booking.

Schedule of library tours:

Main Library

17 January @ 14:00, 6 February @ 10:30, 6 March @ 14:00, 2 April @ 10:30, 8 May @ 14:00, 12 June @ 14:00 (additional tours to be confirmed)

 

Art and Architecture Library

5 March @ 09:15

 

Edinburgh College of Art Library

18 January @ 09:15, 6 February @ 09:15, 9 April @ 09:15, 7 May @ 09:15, 11 June @ 09:15

 

Law Library

19 January @ 11:00, 12 February @ 10:00, 21 March @ 11:00 (additional tours to be confirmed)

 

Moray House Library

25 Jan @ 11:00, 22 Feb @ 11:00, 21 Mar @ 11:00, 25 Apr @ 11:00, 23 May @ 11:00, 20 June @ 11:00

 

Noreen and Kenneth Murray Library

11 Jan @ 13:00, 14 Feb @ 15:00 (additional tours to be confirmed)

 

New College Library

30 Jan @ 16:00, 27 Feb @ 16:00, 26 Mar @ 16:00 (additional tours to be confirmed)

 

Royal Infirmary Library

26 Jan @ 10:00, 7 Feb @ 10:00, 26 March @ 09:30 (additional tours to be confirmed)

 

The Lady Smith of Kelvin Veterinary Library

24 Jan @ 14:00 (additional tours to be confirmed)

 

Western General Hospital Library

25 Jan @ 10:00, 19 Mar @ 12:30, 22 May @ 13:00

Carer & Child Room at the Main Library now open

Photo pf Carer and Child Room in the Main Library, University of Edinburgh

The Carer & Child Room has been designed for students and staff to use the Library while accompanied by their children. The room has been set up to support both independent study and collaborative work, while children can learn and play in a dedicated section of the room. Following registration, the room can be used during normal Main Library opening hours. Users are required to sign in and out when entering and exiting the library whenever making use of the Carer & Child Room. The room is exclusively available to users accompanied by children.

For more information, visit the Carer & Child Room – Main Library webpage.

On trial: Foreign Office Files for Japan

The Library currently has trial access to Foreign Office Files for Japan, 1919-1952 from AM Digital. This resource allows you to discover Japan’s rise to modernity and its relations with global superpowers through British Government documents from the National Archives, UK.

For more information, see the On trial: Foreign Office Files for Japan blog post by the Academic Support Librarian for History, Classics and Archaeology.

On trial: Latin American Newspapers, Series 1

The Library currently has trial access to Latin American Newspaers: Series 1 from Readex, which allows you to explore Latin American history and culture during the 19th and 20th centuries.

For more information, see the On trial: Latin American Newspapers, Series 1 blog post by the Academic Support Librarian for History, Classics and Archaeology.

Database trial for Chinese and Japanese ancient books

Some of us may have already used Diaolong Complete Si Ku Series (in Databases A-Z) that we have subscribed to for the last few years. This resource is part of a larger database which also contains many more pre-1911 Chinese books as well as several thousand volumes of Japanese books. The database is called Diaolong Full-text Database of Chinese & Japanese Ancient Books — 雕龍中日古籍全文資料庫.

The University Library has now set up a trial of this whole database. The trial will be added to the E-resources Trials website: http://edin.ac/e-resources-trials very soon. Meanwhile, you can access the trial directly at the following website on the University network or via VPN while off campus:

The trial will end on 31 August 2022, with a possible subscription depending on feedback and library budget.

Diaolong Full-text Database of Chinese & Japanese Ancient Books contains about 30,000 ancient books which cover a wide range of subjects including history, religion, philosophy, literature, politics, economics, medicine and local gazetteers. The page display can be in scanned images, in transcribed texts, or in both side by side. The huge number of books are sourced from 21  large series titles which can be searched or browsed. These 21 series are:

  1. Daozang (道藏, 1513 book titles / 5878 vols)
  2. Daozang jiyao (道藏辑要, 299 / 2553)
  3. Sibu congkan (四部叢刊, 472 / 13685)
  4. Xu Sibu congkan (續四部叢刊, 364 / 15328)
  5. Yongle dadian (永樂大典, 813 / 813)
  6. Gujin Tushu Jicheng (古今圖書集成, 33 / 10012)
  7. Dunhuang shiliao(敦煌史料,2952 / 2955)
  8. Qingdai shiliao (清代史料, 113 / 10832)
  9. Zhongguo difangzhi (中國地方誌, 2137 / 52022)
  10. Zhongguo difangzhi xuji (中國地方誌續集,1939 / 37477)
  11. Zhongguo difangzhi sanji (中國地方誌三集,2090 / 18309)
  12. Riben gudian shujiku (日本古典書籍庫, 618 / 7400)
  13. Siku quanshu (四庫全書, 3541 / 92074)
  14. Xuxiu Siku quanshu (續修四庫全書, 5550 / 104703)
  15. Siku cunmu (四庫存目,4350 / 65551)
  16. Siku wei shou shu (四庫未收書,167 / 2479)
  17. Siku jin hui shu (四庫禁毀書,620 / 13342)
  18. Liufu wencang (六府文藏, 7717 / 149576)
  19. Zhongguo minjian wenxue (中國民間文學,203 / 538)
  20. Qingdai keju zhujuan (清代科舉硃卷, 1071 / 7792)
  21. Yi jia ku (醫家庫,1033 / 9362)

Feedback would be much appreciated.

Scoop a student award for using digital library resources in Chinese

The Library subscribes to two databases from CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastruture): China Academic Journals and China Doctoral and Masters Dissertations Full-text Database. These databases are receiving very high usage across all three Colleges of the University, and our overall usage is the highest in the UK.

CNKI is offering database users opportunities to win packs of awards for using CNKI e-resources. Please see https://cnki.mike-x.com/Fe8LP, with links to:

The prizes are:

  1. Zhuang Yuan (状元) Prize: a plaque and $800 BOOK grants( $300 for books at Amazon, $500 for ebook from CNKI)
  2. Bang Yan (榜眼) Prize: a plaque and $500 BOOK grants ($200 for books at Amazon, $300 for ebook from CNKI)
  3. Tan Hua (探花) Prize: a plaque and $300 BOOK grants ($100 for books at Amazon, $200 for ebook from CNKI)
  4. Jin Shi (进士) Prize: a plaque and $100 BOOK grants ($100 for ebook from CNKI) and over 100 other prizes for learning chances of learning and researching on China.

The names Zhuang Yuan, Bang Yan, Tan Hua and Jin Shi are the titles of top winners in the imperial examinations of pre-1911 China.

Qur’an Tool

Qur’an Gateway, a digital tool for the critical study of the Qurʾanic text and its early manuscripts, ceased to operate by last November. The good news is that this useful resource has now a reincarnation in the form of Qur’an Tool, which is an open source thanks to Melbourne School of Theology hosting the service. The landing page of Qur’an Tool (www.quran-tools.com) provides a link to the open source version at the hosting institution directly:

This is a powerful tool for the critical study of the text, construction, and language of the Qur’an. Formulaic analysis is based upon the tools and techniques in An Oral-Formulaic Study of the Qur’an (New York: Lexington, 2017 [2014]) by Dr. Andrew G. Bannister. You can simply look up a verse or browse the list of all Suras, root usage by Sura, word lists, word associations and intertextual connections. There is also a searchable dictionary derived from Project Root List, which has digitised several classical Arabic dictionaries (al-Mufradāt fī gharīb al-Qurʾān, Lisān al-ʿarab, Tāj al-ʿarūs min jawāhir al-qāmūs, and An Arabic-English Lexicon by E.W Lane) and made the data publicly available. (Information above is extracted from the Qur’an Tool site at Melbourne School of Theology)

For first time users, it is necessary to sign up for a personal account to use the service.