5 recommended Library resources for Africa Week 2019

Yesterday, 24th October, was the start of Africa Week 2019 at the University. A chance to celebrate Edinburgh’s connections to the region. There are a number of events taking place to mark Africa Week but I wanted to highlight just some of the library resources available to staff and students of the University that will allow you to study and research Africa and Africa related subjects further.

1. C.A.S. collection on 4th floor, Main Library

Have you ever been searching DiscoverEd for a book or journal related to Africa and come across shelfmarks starting C.A.S.? Continue reading

New! Mideastwire

I’m happy to let you know that thanks to a request from Politics and International Relations (PIR) the Library now has access to Mideastwire, an internet-based service of translated news briefs covering key political, cultural, economic, and opinion pieces appearing in the Arab media.

You can access Mideastwire via DiscoverEd. Continue reading

New! Tanzania and Malawi in records from colonial missionaries, 1857-1965

I’m pleased to let you know that the Library now has access to Tanzania and Malawi in records from colonial missionaries, 1857-1965 from British Online Archives. This database gives you access to 54,550 digital pages from the Universities’ Mission to Central Africa (UMCA) archives including correspondence, journals, magazines, books, reports, etc.

You can access Tanzania and Malawi in records from colonial missionaries, 1857-1965 via the Databases A-Z list, the Digital primary source and archive collections guide or the African Studies databases list. You can also access it via DiscoverEd.

The UMCA was founded in the late 1850s, after the return of Dr David Livingstone from the region in 1857. This high church Anglican society drew its missionaries initially from the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Durham and Dublin. Under its motto “A servant of servants”, from its main centres of Zanzibar and Nyasaland (now Malawi), the UMCA began from an early date opposing the slave trade and promoting the education of the indigenous people and the training and ordination of African priests. Continue reading

New! African Studies – Oxford Bibliographies

I’m pleased to let you know that following a request from staff members in the Centre of African Studies (CAS) the Library now has access to Oxford Bibliographies: African Studies collection.

You can access Oxford Bibliographies: African Studies via DiscoverEd, the African Studies LibGuide or via the entry to Oxford Bibliographies on the Databases A-Z list.

Since the literature on African Studies is diverse, fast moving, controversial, and scattered among unfamiliar sources, Oxford Bibliographies have asked leading scholars to identify the most significant themes and areas of study in their fields, recommend the best sources for exploring them, and discuss these works conceptual and empirical significance to provide a series of guided studies through the diverse approaches to a wide array of complex subjects. Continue reading

World Newspaper Archive collections: on trial

*The Library has now purchased access to African Newspapers, Series 1. See New! African Newspapers, Series 1 1800-1922*

Thanks to a request from the UncoverEd project team, I’m pleased to let you know that the Library currently has trial access to two digital newspaper collections, African Newspapers, Series 1 and South Asian Newspapers, from Readex. Both collections offer unique access to fully searchable collection of historical newspapers from Africa and South Asia.

You can access this digital resource via the E-resources trials page.
Access is available both on and off-campus.

Trial access ends 19th April 2019. Continue reading

LGBT Magazine Archive: Trial access

*The Library now has access to LGBT Magazine Archive until 31st July 2024. See New! LGBT Magazine Archive*

I’m happy to let you know that just in time for LGBT History Month the Library currently has trial access to the LGBT Magazine Archive from ProQuest. This new primary source database is a searchable archive of major periodicals devoted to LGBT+ interests, dating from the 1950s through to recent years.

You can access this digital resource via the E-resources trials page.
Access on-campus is direct, for off-campus access you must use VPN.

Trial access ends 28th February 2019. Continue reading

5 recommended library resources for Africa Week

Today, 25th October, is the start of Africa Week 2018 at the University. A chance to celebrate the University’s engagement across the African continent. There are a number of events taking place to mark Africa Week but I wanted to highlight just some of the library resources available to staff and students of the University that will allow you to study and research Africa and Africa related subjects further.

1. C.A.S. collection on 4th floor, Main Library

Have you ever been searching DiscoverEd for a book or journal related to Africa and come across shelfmarks starting C.A.S.?

C.A.S. simply stands for the Centre of African Studies and there is a substantial collection of books and journals, separate to the general lending collections on the 2nd and 3rd floor of Main Library, that were purchased on behalf of the Centre over many years. The C.A.S. collection can be found on the 4th floor of the Main Library on the South-East side of the floor. This is a really interesting collection of material, mostly published in the 20th century, and includes material published by commercial and academic publishers, government agencies, Unesco, the Centre of African Studies, etc.

The C.A.S. collection is now a closed collection i.e. no newly purchased books are added to this collection, but it’s not the only place you will find books on Africa or African related subjects in the Main Library. There are a large range of books throughout the general lending collections on 2nd and 3rd floor and the HUB area, you will find books relating to Africa at a number of the site libraries as well and there are a considerable number of e-books, e-journals (and print journals) available relating to Africa. Just search DiscoverEd to discover more.

2. University’s archives – Centre for Research Collections

The University of Edinburgh holds world class collections, including rare books, archives and manuscripts, art, historical musical instruments and museum objects. And it is the Centre for Research Collections (CRC) on the 6th floor of the Main Library that is your gateway into these unique collections. Continue reading

Get referencing right: some useful resources

Working on your assignment and unsure how to do references? Wondering what references, citations, endnotes, footnotes, etc., actually are? Don’t know your Harvard style from your Chicago style? We’ve got a few useful online resources that should help demystify the referencing process.

(Lego Academics, 2014)

What is referencing?

Referencing is the process of acknowledging other people’s work when you have used it in your assignment or research. It allows the reader to locate your source material as quickly and easily as possible so that they can read these sources themselves and verify the validity of your arguments. Referencing provides the link between what you write and the evidence on which it is based.

(Cite Them Right Online, no date)

Continue reading

New! Oxford Handbooks Political Science 2017 collection

I’m pleased to let you know that following a request from staff in Politics & International Relations the Library now has access to the Oxford Handbooks Online Political Science 2017 collection. This includes titles such as The Oxford Handbook of Populism, The Oxford Handbook of Gender and Conflict and The Oxford Handbook of U.S. National Security.

You can access the individual book titles in the collection via DiscoverEd. Or you can access the Oxford Handbooks Online site via the E-books pages.  Continue reading

New! News, Policy & Politics Magazine Archive

I’m happy to let you know that following some successful trials in the last couple of years the Library has purchased the News, Policy & Politics Magazine Archive from ProQuest. This resource offers digital access to the archival runs of 15 major 20th and 21st century consumer magazines covering such fields as the history of politics, current events, public policy and international relations. Central to this collection is the archive of Newsweek, one of the 20th century’s most prominent and highest circulating general interest magazine.

You can access News, Policy & Politics Magazine Archive from the Databases A-Z list and appropriate databases by subject listsYou’ll soon be able to access it from DiscoverEd as well. Continue reading