JSTOR – expanded set of content freely available now

*JSTOR have extended their expanded access to e-journals and digital primary source databases until 31st December 2020 and their expanded access to e-books until 31st August 2020.*

I’m delighted to let you know that JSTOR, and their participating publishers, are making an expanded set of content freely available to participating institutions where students have been displaced due to COVID-19.

What this means at the University of Edinburgh is that we are getting access to journals and primary source collections that we do not already have a licence for and a collection of ebooks freely available through June 30, 2020.

To see the journals and primary source collections included see JSTOR’s Expanded access to journals and primary sources page. To see the participating publishers for the e-books (not all of their partner publishers are participating) see JSTOR’s Expanded access to ebooks page.

While at the University we already have access to 2 of JSTOR’s primary source collections, 19th Century British Pamphlets and Struggles for Freedom: Southern Africa, this expanded offer from JSTOR gives us access for a limited period to World Heritage Sites: Africa and Global Plants.

World Heritage Sites: Africa

The materials in World Heritage Sites: Africa serve researchers in African studies, anthropology, archaeology, architecture, art history, Diaspora studies, folklore and literature, geography, and history, as well as those focused on geomatics, advanced visual and spatial technologies, historic preservation, and urban planning. The collection is also a tool for museums, libraries, NGOs, and government organizations that manage or oversee cultural heritage sites, as well as for experts and professionals engaged in the conservation and management of such sites. The resource consists of thirty sub-collections, including the Heinz Rüther Collection from the University of Cape Town, the Kilwa Archive from the British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA), and the Smithsonian Heritage Collection.

Global Plants

The Global Plants database features more than two million high-resolution type specimens, and this number continues to grow. The collection also includes partner-contributed reference works and primary sources, such as collectors’ correspondence and diaries, paintings, drawings, and photographs.

Plant type specimens are in great demand for scientific study because of their pivotal role as original vouchers of nomenclature. They also act as a historical record of changes in various flora. The specimens have been hand-selected and meticulously digitized by partner herbaria with generous support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

To access all of the extended content from JSTOR go to Temporary access to additional e-books and other e-resources. Why not take a look at some of the other resources on this page that are currently on offer as they may hold material you wouldn’t normally be able to get access to? New resources are added as the Library become aware of them.

Caroline Stirling – Academic Support Librarian for School of History, Classics and Archaeology