Library Resources, Databases and Research
School of Social & Political Science
Christine Love-Rodgers
Academic Support Librarian – School of
Social & Political Science
SPS.Librarian@ed.ac.uk
Twitter @SPSLibrarian
Informing our communities, informed by our
collections
12/03/2016
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Today's workshop
About …
1. Getting started with the Library
2. Discovering online research resources
3. Tips for systematic literature searching
4. What to do when you can’t find what you want
5. Managing your research : Referencing, citing and
avoiding plagiarism
6. help with library queries
Informing our communities, informed by our collections
12/03/2016
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1. Getting Started with the Library
• Library Facilities
sites, study space, collection
locations, computing, print
& copy, uCreate, WiFi
• Library Services
opening hours, self-service,
Helpdesk, Helpline, book
borrowing, Library Annexe,
• Research Support
CRC, 5th Floor Study spaces
– dedicated PG area.
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Borrowing from the Library
• Loan periods
– PGR - 60 books (incl. 3 HUB Reserve)
– PGT – 50 books
– Standard loan = 12 weeks, Short Loan & HUB Short Loan =
1 week, HUB Reserve = 3 hours.
– Watch out for fines!
– http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/library-borrowing
• Short loan or standard loan item on loan?
– Request via DiscoverEd
• Item held at Library Annexe (library’s offsite store)?
– Request via DiscoverEd
– http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/library-annexe
Informing our communities, informed by our collections
Finding material in the Library
Search DiscoverEd
http://discovered.ed.ac.uk
Can search direct from Library homepage (www.ed.ac.uk/is/library) or
access it from the “Library” tab in MyEd.
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What’s it searching?
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Sign in here
Use Advanced
Search for
specific items
Use facets
to refine
search
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Accessing Library resources via MyEd
Access the Library
tab here
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2. Online Research Resources
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Full text e-journal articles
E-books
Abstracts
Citation information
Newspaper articles – historical and current
Index to conference proceedings
Dissertations
Images
Archives
Informing our communities, informed by our collections
Accessing Library databases
• Databases A-Z list
(www.ed.ac.uk/is/databases-a-z)
• Databases by subject
(www.ed.ac.uk/is/databasessubjects)
• Subject guides
(www.ed.ac.uk/is/subjectguides)
• “Library” tab in MyEd.
• Majority offer on and offcampus
• EASE username and
password
• Check for any special log
in information noted e.g.
– VPN (www.ed.ac.uk/is/vpn)
• Small number of
databases are only
accessible on-campus
Informing our communities, informed by our collections
Some databases for Politics
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BFI InView
Political Science Complete
Documents on British Policy Overseas
House of Commons Parliamentary Papers
Web of Science (Social Sciences Citation Index)
Scopus
IBSS
JSTOR
MEF digital films (Kanopy)
These and more available at www.ed.ac.uk/is/databasessubjects (under Sociology)
Informing our communities, informed by our collections
Some databases for Sociology
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Sociological Abstracts
SocIndex
ASSIA
Web of Science (Social Sciences Citation Index)
Scopus
IBSS
PsycInfo
JSTOR
MEF digital films (Kanopy)
These and more available at www.ed.ac.uk/is/databasessubjects (under Sociology)
Informing our communities, informed by our collections
Some databases for Social Anthropology
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Anthropology Plus
Anthrosource
Web of Science (Social Sciences Citation Index)
Scopus
IBSS
JSTOR
MEF digital films (Kanopy)
These and more available at
www.ed.ac.uk/is/databases-subjects (under Social
Anthropology)
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Newspapers
• Current and archives
• UK and international
• Access via http://bit.ly/1K7bMSo
Media
• Box of Broadcasts (BoB)
• MEF digital films
• BFI InView
• Access via
www.ed.ac.uk/is/databases-a-z
Dissertations and theses
• ProQuest Dissertations &
Theses Global
• Edinburgh Research Archive
(ERA)
• EThOS
• Access via
http://bit.ly/1Ma7WIH
Official publications
• Access via http://bit.ly/1O6aFjX
• Freely available sites such as
• https://www.gov.uk
• http://www.scotland.gov.uk
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http://www.scottish.parliament.uk
• http://europa.eu/
Data and statistics
• Access via
http://bit.ly/1CDzAuJ
• Data Library
(www.ed.ac.uk/is/data-library)
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“Can’t I just use
?”
• Google is great
– but it doesn’t search all the online services the
University subscribes to.
• There’s a lot of rubbish
• Many sites are not suitable for an academic context
• If you’re going to use Google
– Use Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.co.uk/)
– Academic version of Google and is a really good
search tool
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Getting set up for Google Scholar
• 1. Access the Settings
(wheel symbol) web
page. Click to enlarge
• 2. In the library link enter
“Edinburgh University”
in the search box and
select University of
Edinburgh.
• 3. Then click on Save
Informing our communities, informed by our collections
Searching the literature
Google Scholar
Bibliographic databases
Why use it?
Why use them?
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Quick and easy way of getting hold of good
references, including peer-reviewed papers,
theses, books, abstracts and technical reports.
Can be set to retrieve and link to what’s
available at Edinburgh.
It’s good enough!
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However …
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Harvesting of content unknown.
The ranking of content is not clear.
For content & resources not in Google.
Specialist content and focus across a range of
disciplines.
Content and coverage is explicit.
Comprehensiveness.
Added value.
Puts you in control!
However …
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Informing our communities, informed by our collections
They index more than we have, which is not
necessarily a problem as we can generally get it
for you!
3. Tips for systematic literature searching
What is your
research question?
What do you need to
find out?
Identify the principal
concepts – these will
form the keywords for
your search.
variant spelling:
behaviour (UK)
behavior (US)
Types of Resources:
Primary Sources (archives,
images, newspapers,
statistics, etc.)
Secondary Sources (books,
journals, theses, book reviews,
etc.)
Searching
effectively
- Boolean
searching
- Finding full text
variations in
terminology over time:
lame, handicapped,
disabled
Search limits –.
 time
 language
 geography
Plan your search strategy
• Identify the principal concepts – these will
form the keywords for your search.
• Identify terminology, names of significant
individuals
• Identify geographical or date limits for your
search
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Combining your keywords
Use connecting words AND, OR or NOT (Boolean operators).
These will help you widen or narrow your searches.
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Boolean operators at work!
 gin AND tonic
 alcohol AND addiction
 gin OR tonic
 alcohol OR booze
 tonic NOT gin
 addiction NOT drugs
Informing our communities, informed by our collections
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Didn’t find what you wanted? Mix it up again
Too many results?
 Add additional keywords with AND
 Use more specific keywords
 Use thesaurus terms
 Apply limits
 Use phrase searching
Too few results?
 Combine with OR
 Check your spelling – typos really
mess things up!
 Use truncation or wildcards
 Use synonyms or alternative spelling
 Check thesaurus terms
 Use Nesting to separate single/group
concepts: (concept 1 OR concept 2)
AND (concept 3 OR concept 4)
Snowballing – follow up references &
citations and see where they lead you.
Informing our communities, informed by our collections
Explore what’s out there : scoping
searches
• Google Scholar
• DiscoverEd
DiscoverEd limiters allow
you to see useful database
collections for your search
Click here to search
resources beyond
EUL
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Use Advanced Search techniques
Use DiscoverEd
Advanced search for
Boolean Searching
Search across multiple databases
from the same provider for
systematic but time effective
searching. E.g. EBSCO provides
SocIndex, Political Science
Complete
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Use Advanced Search techniques
• Thesaurus searching
• Citation searching
Use databases to record and track your
search methods
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4. What to do when you can’t find what
you want
If the Library has it but you can’t find it
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Ask at the Helpdesk or information point
Double check the catalogue for e-copies or copies at other site libraries
Are there relevant books at the same classmark?
You can reserve a book online through DiscoverEd if it’s out on loan
If the Library doesn’t have it – Resources Plus
• Use the inter-library loan service (30 loans free) www.ed.ac.uk/is/ILL
• Use another library – e.g. NLS
• Request the book for the Library www.ed.ac.uk/is/RAB
Informing our communities, informed by our collections
5. Managing your library research
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The reference management system
What it is
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EndNote
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What it does
EndNote X6 desktop software on all UoE lab PCs
 personal copy may be purchased from UoE
EndNote Web for home use (free)
Both versions ‘speak’ to each other?
Training & support available
 IS skills
 Self-study workbook
Reference Manager
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Personal copy may be purchased from UoE
Training & support available
IS skills
Self-study workbook
 Free web tools
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 Helps you
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Collect & organise your references
Annotate and describe your references
Cite your references in your work
Style your references for
 your assignment
 your dissertation or PhD thesis
 that published journal paper or book
chapter!
 Takes the misery out of reference
management!
Mendeley
Zotero
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Help with Research Methods / Study Skills
• SAGE Research Methods
• Cite them right
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Getting help
Helpdesk and Helpline
• Face-to-face: Visit Main Library Helpdesk
• Email:
IS.Helpline@ed.ac.uk
• Phone:
0131 650 3409 (Library issues)
0131 651 5151 (IT issues)
• Self service portal: http://ed.unidesk.ac.uk/tas/public
Help with resource questions
SPS.Librarian@ed.ac.uk
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Thank you and keep in touch
Christine Love-Rodgers
Caroline Stirling
Academic Support Librarians – SPS
SPS.Librarian@ed.ac.uk
Twitter @SPSLibrarian,
http://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/spslibrarian/
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