The Library has recently subscribed to the Media Education Foundation (MEF) digital films service via the Kanopy streaming service. MEF produce and provide documentary films and other educational resources to inspire critical thinking about the social, political, and cultural impact of American mass media. 
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The Scottish Government Yearbooks, which were published by the University of Edinburgh’s ‘Unit for the Study of Government in Scotland’ between 1976 and 1992, are now freely available online for the first time in a digital archive. With the Scottish Referendum fast approaching this archive offers a fascinating insight into a key period in Scotland’s social and political development.
You can access the Scottish Government Yearbooks at http://www.scottishgovernmentyearbooks.ed.ac.uk/
The archive was constructed by the Institute of Governance, successor to the Unit for the Study of Government in Scotland, and was developed by the University of Edinburgh’s Library Digital Development Team. The Archive was supported by funds from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Social & Political Science, and by the assistance of the University’s Library and University Collections.
Caroline Stirling – Academic Support Librarian for Social and Political Science.
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.
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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.
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. Continue reading
The Library has recently subscribed to the online databases China Law Info and PAIS International.
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.
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:
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
The 2014 Commonwealth Games start today and we’ve had a look through the wealth of e-books currently available to University staff and students at the Library, to pull together just a small number of titles that look at different aspects of sport related to social and political science.
Sport, culture and society: an introduction by Grant Jarvie with James Thornton looks at the place of sport in contemporary society and culture. It argues that sport is part of our social and cultural fabric, possessing a social and commercial power that makes it a potent force in the world, for good and for bad. It looks at how sport has helped to start wars and promote international reconciliation, while every government around the world commits public resources to sport because of its perceived benefits. Continue reading
Emmeline Pankhurst, leader of the British suffragette movement and one of the most important feminist public figures of all time, was born today (15th July) in 1858. To celebrate her birthday and work we thought we would give you a taster of women’s studies resources here at University of Edinburgh Library.
1. Take a look at the database Women, War & Society (part of Archives Unbound). The First World War had a revolutionary and permanent impact on the personal, social and professional lives of all women. This database is a collection of primary source materials sourced from the Imperial War Museum, London that documents the essential contribution women made to the war in Europe. You can access this and other relevant databases at databases for women’s studies.
The Library has recently subscribed to the online version of Oxford University Press’ Very Short Introduction series for the Social Sciences.
The Social Sciences collection includes titles within the following fields of study:
And also includes titles on business, management, economics, education, research and information.
You can access Very Short Introductions via the Databases A-Z list on the Library website. Once into the site you can click on Browse by Subject and click on the relevant subject under the Social Sciences heading. Or you can use the search facility on the site, though full text access is only available to titles within the Social Sciences collections.
Launched in 1995 by OUP, Very Short Introductions offer concise introductions to a diverse range of subject areas. Since the series was launched it has continued to offer new books each year for students and scholars, and the avidly curious, offering a bridge between reference content and higher academic work. All titles provide intelligent and serious introductions to a huge range of subjects, written by experts in the field who combine facts, analysis, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make challenging topics highly readable.
The Library also holds the print copies of many of the Very Short Introduction titles; you can find these in the Library Catalogue.
Caroline Stirling – Academic Library Support for Social and Political Science.
On Wednesday 18th June 2014 Professor Veena Das will deliver this year’s Chrystal Macmillan lecture.
Krieger-Eisenhower Professor at John Hopkins University and a founding member of the Institute of Socio-Economic Research in Development and Democracy, Professor Das is an established figure in Indian anthropology and her research interests also include feminist movements and gender studies, anthropology of violence, social suffering and subjectivity.
For the Chrystal Macmillan Lecture she will be speaking on the topic:
War and Intimate Violence: Reading the Ethnographic Record in the Light of the Mahabharata.
Professor Das has been published extensively and has worked as an editor on a number of publications. Using Resource Lists @ Edinburgh we’ve put together a Professor Veena Das reading list with just a small selection of books and articles authored or edited by Professor Das that University of Edinburgh staff and students can access through the University Library.
Professor Veena Das reading list
For more information on the 2014 Chrystal Macmillan lecture and how to book see:
Professor Veena Das to deliver 2014 Chrystal Macmillan lecture
For previous lectures see: Chrystal Macmillan lectures
Caroline Stirling – Academic Support Librarian for Social and Political Science
The World Cup kicks off tomorrow in Brazil and we’ve pulled together just a small number of the e-books currently available to staff and students of the University in the Library’s collections that look at different aspects of the beautiful (or not so beautiful) game.
The Global Football League: Transnational Networks, Social Movements and Sport in the New Media Age by Peter Millward addresses the themes that have come to define the global flow of images, capital and people that exist in contemporary football today, including case studies on Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City football clubs.
Foreign Players and Football Supporters: The Old Firm, Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain by David Ranc looks at supporters’ reactions to the increase in the number of foreign players in the clubs they support. It concentrates on three case studies on Glasgow (Celtic and Rangers), Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in London and the book charts the evolution of the link between supporters and club between 1995 and today.
Organisation and Governance of Top Football Across Europe : An Institutional Perspective aims to provide an extensive overview of how football is organised and managed on a European level and in individual European countries, and to account for the evolution of the national, international and transnational management of football over the last decades.
Football’s Dark Side: Corruption, Homophobia, Violence and Racism in the Beautiful Game by Ellis Cashmore and Jamie Cleland aims to express the views of thousands of football fans on the game they love, but which they know has an unpleasant underside demonstrating that beyond football’s assumed social value, the glamour and the spectacle an array of serious problems and exclusions endure.
An ethnography of English football fans: Cans, cops and carnivals by Geoff Pearson is based upon sixteen years observation of English football fans who travel home and away with their team – Manchester United, Blackpool and the England national team. The book challenges a number of the myths about hooliganism and crowd control and describes the interpretations, motivations and behaviour of these groups of fans both at home and abroad.
Caroline Stirling – Academic Support Librarian for Social and Political Science