Trial access: World Politics Review

I’m pleased to let you know that the Library currently has extended trial access to World Politics Review from EBSCO, which provides up to date and extensive coverage of foreign policy, international politics and foreign affairs.

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

Trial access ends 31st December 2017.

World Politics Review is a daily online publication for foreign policy issues. Articles for the Review are written by several hundred contributors from around the world, experts in a variety of disciplines. Full text is included in PDF and/or HTML and the Review contains thousands of articles in its archive. Continue reading

New to the Library: Africa-Wide Information

I’m pleased to let you know that after a successful trial earlier this year the Library has now subscribed to Africa-Wide Information from EBSCOhost. Bringing together 50 databases sourced from Africa, Europe and North America, Africa-Wide Information provides comprehensive, multidisciplinary information which documents research and publications by Africans and about Africa.

Africa_wide_information_logo

You can access Africa-Wide Information from the Databases A-Z list. Continue reading

How the Library can help you in Semester Two?

Need help using or discovering Library resources? Need advice on referencing and citing? Not sure where to start with your systematic literature review? Or just want to know how to best use Google in an academic context? 

Main Library Study Area 01The Academic Support Librarian team are running several courses this semester through IS Skills which you can book onto via MyEd. These (mostly) 1 hour sessions allow you to get expert advice and hands-on experience, so whether you are a returning to the University after the winter vacation or are a brand new student at the University why not book on and become an expert yourself?

Continue reading

Top five library resources for Politics

It’s one month to go until the Scottish Referendum and as Scotland is gearing up to decide its future and politics dominates the news we thought we’d give you a taster of political science resources available to students and staff here at University of Edinburgh Library.

1. Why not have a look at the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers for documents relating to the previous Scottish devolution referendums? The 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st Century House of Commons Parliamentary Papers contains bibliographic records and searchable full text for papers printed between 1688-2004. It also includes Hansard 1803-2005. The collection does not include the House of Commons Journal, or daily business papers, such as Order papers and Votes and Proceedings, nor does it include Acts. You can access this and other relevant databases at databases for Politics.IF Continue reading

New online resource for SPS: Peace Research Abstracts

The Library has recently subscribed to the online database Peace Research Abstracts. This is a comprehensive database for peace and conflict resolution research and is a particularly useful resource for those studying International Relations and Politics.

PeaceResearchAbsPeace Research Abstracts includes bibliographic records covering essential areas related to peace research, including conflict resolution, international affairs, peace psychology, and other areas of key relevance to the discipline. Continue reading

New online resources for SPS: China Law Info and PAIS International

The Library has recently subscribed to the online databases China Law Info and PAIS International.

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China Law Info
China Law Info is a bilingual database for China legal documents and information. The database provides both the original Chinese version and the English translation of China laws and regulations, judicial cases, tax treaties, white papers, law journals and gazettes, as well as other China legal information such as legal news and legislative/regulatory updates. The database is updated daily.

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PAIS International
PAIS (originally, the Public Affairs Information Service) International covers issues in the public debate through selective coverage of a wide variety of international sources including journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference papers, web content, and more. PAIS International is the current file covering 1972 to present. Fields of study covered include:

  • Civil rights movement
  • Economic conditions
  • Energy resources and policy
  • Government
  • Health conditions
  • Human rights
  • International relations
  • Labour conditions and policy
  • Politics
  • Social conditions

You can access China Law Info and PAIS International via the Databases A-Z list on the Library website.

Caroline Stirling – Academic Support Librarian for Social and Political Science

New e-resources trials available

The Library has set up trial access to a number of online resources that may be useful for those studying politics and international relations. These include:

Declassified Documents Reference System
Allows researchers to easily and quickly access and review selected previously classified government documents. This digital collection fills an important gap in post-World War II domestic and foreign policy studies and provides unique opportunities for undergraduate and graduate comprehensive research in a rich primary source. In addition, it provides basic research for journalism, public policy studies, international law and security, and other disciplines. Available until 9th June 2014

Peace Research Abstracts
Includes bibliographic records covering essential areas related to peace research, including conflict resolution, international affairs, peace psychology, and other areas of key relevance to the discipline. The index contains more than 267,000 records which are carefully selected from the most important sources within the discipline, such as: Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Conflict Resolution, International Journal of Refugee Law, etc. Available until 12th June 2014

Yearbook of International Organizations Online
Compiled by the UIA (Union of International Associations) the Yearbook of International Organizations Online is the most comprehensive reference work and information resource on international non-profit organizations and associations worldwide. The Yearbook includes detailed descriptions of international organizations, and also includes relationships and cross-links with other listed international organizations. In addition, biographical information is provided on principal officers, as well as bibliographical information on the organization’s main publications and information services. Available until 9th June 2014.

Congressional Record 1789-1997 
ProQuest Congressional is a comprehensive resource for all congressional activities, providing users access to the most comprehensive collection of historic and current congressional information available anywhere online. Available until 5th June 2014

Armed Conflict Database (ACD) 
ACD monitors armed conflicts worldwide, focusing on political, military and humanitarian trends in current conflicts, whether they are local rebellions, long-term insurgencies, civil wars or inter-state conflicts. Available until 11th June 2014

PAIS International
This resource covers issues in the public debate through selective coverage of a wide variety of international sources including journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference papers, web content, and more. PAIS International is the current file covering 1972 to present. Available until 13th June 2014.

Europa World Plus
Europa World Plus is the online version of the Europa World Year Book and the nine-volume Europa Regional Surveys of the World series. First published in 1926, the year book is renowned as one of the world’s leading reference works, covering political and economic information in more than 250 countries and territories. Available until 22nd June 2014.

These can all be accessed via the E-resources trials website: www.ed.ac.uk/is/databases-trials

There are feedback forms available and we would welcome feedback as this a key part of making a case to subscribe to resources like these.

Caroline Stirling – Academic Support Librarian for Social and Political Science

Searching Searcher – discovering the Library’s resources

IFDo you want to be able to find books, articles and other material using one search? Do you want to find material the University of Edinburgh Library owns in its collections or subscribes to online? Are you looking to use a variety of different information sources?

Searcher may be exactly what you are looking for.

Searcher is the Library’s resource discovery tool and allows you to search the Library’s Catalogue, e-journals and licensed collections i.e. what the Library owns and subscribes to, all in one search. It also lets you search beyond what the Library has in its collections and discover other resources and material that may be relevant to your research.

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There are search boxes for Searcher on the Library homepage and in the Library tab on MyEd but you can also access Searcher at http://searcher.is.ed.ac.uk/

As of 1st April 2014, when you first do your search, Searcher will limit your results to All Library Resources, which includes print books, ebooks, ejournals and database content. You can narrow this to searching just the Library Catalogue (only results which appear in the Library Catalogue will display, this includes books, ebooks and ejournal titles but NOT ejournal content) or expand this to search out with the Library’s collections.

There are Basic and Advanced search options, various limiters are available to refine your search results, you can create your own account to save searches and results, and there are options for downloading/saving references.

Where full-text is available to you online then there will be a link to go straight through to this, the link may be slightly different depending on the source of the search result. Look out for the following links Click here for full text, PDF Full Text, HTML Full Text or findit@edinburgh.

More information about using Searcher can be found at learn more about Searcher. See also Searcher: BIG change.

If you find a book in the Library that is already out on loan (Not Available) then you can click on the Retrieve Catalogue Item link to place a request on the book – Requesting an item which is on loan.

If you find material that is not available within the Library’s collections then you may want to consider requesting the material via the Inter-Library Loans service, or visiting another library to access the material or in the case of a book you may wish to recommend this is purchased for the Library – Book recommendations.

If you want to do a more focused search in your subject area or are looking looking for material most relevant to your topic then you should use some of the online databases the Library subscribes to. Find these by subject area or through the Subject Guides.

Caroline Stirling – Academic Support Librarian for Social and Political Science.