Subject Guide: Social Sciences

This subject guide contains information about collections of materials that support study and research in the Social Sciences with links to most of the resources. These include books, e-books, electronic and print journals, multi-media materials and access to a variety of other online resources, see access advice. For further information about resources or training contact the Academic Liaison Librarian with responsibility for Social Sciences.

Helping you discover ... Social Sciences (printable PDF)

CONTENTS

Reference Book and Newspapers
Electronic Books
Journals
Databases
Web Resources
Children’s Rights
Criminology
Human Rights
Social Policy
Sociology
Travel and Tourism
Using Other Libraries

 Reference Books Online

Oxford Reference Online: Politics and Social Sciences Collection Available via the Internet. Login Required

The online database Oxford Reference Online provides 100 dictionaries and reference books to help you with your studies. Print materials can be found in the Key Text Collection Area on the Ground Floor of the Library; use the library catalogue OPAC to find them.

 Reference (Print) 

Child Poverty Action Group (2010) Welfare benefits and tax credits handbook, London: Child Poverty Action Group

361.6 WEL

Selected current newspapers can be found on the ground floor, some back issues are shelved on the 4th floor, but both current and past newspapers can be found on the Nexis UK database.

 Electronic Books

Search the library catalogue OPAC for your topic using Ebooks as the collection you want to search or look at an ebook database to find materials. The main ebook database we have access to is Ebrary but try DawsonERA too. For access to databases off-campus users will need to log in.

Journals and newspapers

Online Journals: For Social Sciences almost all journals are available online and accessed via the e-journal finder which lists all the full-text online journals that the university provides. Many of these journal titles link you to databases containing hundreds of journal titles where you can see the title you need and also search to find other titles and more articles e.g. JSTOR and Project Muse databases, more are listed at link below. An A-Z list of all the databases that you have access to is at Online Databases. For information about how to use the databases go to Electronic Journals Information.

Academic Search Premier A database designed for academic institutions with full-text for more than 4,600 scholarly titles. There is a 12 month embargo on some titles. Login Required

Emerald Full-Text This database provides full-text access to selected journal titles - the collection of 100 titles that the Library subscribes to covers management disciplines such as strategy, leadership, marketing and human resource management. You can search the database on specific topics or click browse to access individual journal titles. Login Required

JSTOR Arts & Sciences I, II, III, IV, V, VI and VII Includes the complete back runs of almost 400 journals. Established from 1997, this archive collection includes many of the core research and society published journals in economics, history, political science, and sociology, as well as in other key fields in the social sciences.  Login Required

NexisUK A major source of news and business information, this full-text database covers approximately 12,000 international, national and local publications and is updated daily. Login Required

Project MUSE Provides full-text articles from over 450 scholarly journal titles in the arts, humanities and social sciences covering many different subject areas including literature, history, political science, performing arts, film, philosophy, religion, women's studies, and many more. Login Required

Sage Premier Over 500 full-text titles across a range of subjects in this collection, including social sciences. Login Required

Social Theory Is a database covering writing from the eighteenth century to the present and includes key works by Durkheim, Weber, Habermas, Perkins Gilman, Foucault and Baudrillard. Browse the authors, theories, discussions etc. or use keywords or themes to cross search the full-text sources. Login Required

Westlaw. (access on campus - no password required) Westlaw (for off campus access) Login required
Primary/secondary law and current awareness service for UK.

Print Journals: A very few journals are only available as print. As with other print materials these are listed on the library catalogue OPAC, some individual online journals are listed too. Print journals are shelved on the 4th floor of the Library. Check the library catalogue OPAC  journals collection for details of available print titles and volumes; OPAC will not give you details of the content. Older issues of printed journals are kept in our reserve stack, for help with this please ask the library staff at the Enquiry Desk. 

 Databases

There are many other bibliographic databases that may be used to locate and retrieve useful journal articles on a particular topic; these databases do not provide full-text but access may be available via the e-journal finder. Get more information in  Finding Articles in Journals. Some of the main databases that cover social science subjects are:

ASSIA (Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts) This database contains abstracts to periodicals and newspapers covering the social sciences, economics, politics, employment, race relations and health and penal services. It covers materials from 1987 onwards.  Login Required

ChildData This is a database produced for the National Children's Bureau. It contains records of books, reports and journal articles covering the literature on children and young people. Login Required

International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (1BSS) A comprehensive social sciences database which provides an index to books and journals dating back to 1951. Useful for political and social philosophies.  Login Required

PsycINFO This database provides citations and summaries of journal articles, book chapters, books, and dissertations and is produced by the American Psychological Association (APA); it holds records dating back to 1887. It covers not only psychology but also the psychological aspects of related disciplines, including: sociology. As well as information on core psychology topics, you can find references about health care, education, business, organisational behaviour, consumer behaviour, criminal justice, artificial intelligence, and much more.  Login Required

Social Sciences Citation Index This database fully indexes 2,697 major social science journals, from 1970 onwards. Access is made available via the ISI Web of Knowledge Service.  Login Required

 Web Resources

British Academy This is the British Academy's directory of Web Resources in the humanities and social sciences.

Census Registration Service This site gives access to census data resources from 1971 to 2001 and to the UK Data Archive. You will need to register to use the service. Login Required.

DirectGov This is the principal link for accessing UK government information and press releases. There is an organisational index of local and central government, and a functional index, which lists keywords for subject searching.

Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS) This is a national data service bringing together several centres of expertise - including the UK Data Archive and Institute for Social and Economic Research. The website allows you to access economic and social datasets - for example The British Social Attitudes Survey. You can search their online catalogue for these datasets. For some services provided by this site you will need to register and login.

EUROPA  EUROPA is the official website for the European Union. It explains the roles of different institutions and bodies within the European Union, and presents information on economic and social matters, foreign policy, justice and home affairs. It contains links to press releases and statistics.

Eurostat is the Statistical Service for the European Union. It provides data on countries within the Union on areas such as population, employment, economy and social conditions. One of its major publications is the Eurostat Yearbook. This gives updates on topics such as economic developments and changes in society for individual countries and for the EU as a whole.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) This website allows access to a wealth of statistical information. Reports such as Social Trends and Regional Trends can be downloaded in full (for recent years).

Web resources: Children’s Rights

Childwatch International Research Network This is a network of institutions involved in research and information projects relating to the rights of children as expressed in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Children's Rights Information Network This is a global network which spreads information about child rights worldwide.  There is a newsletter and research papers on various issues that you can download.

UNICEF Convention on the Rights of the Child These are the UNICEF pages relating to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

UNICEF Statistical Data Gives indicators such as nutrition, mortality, and education in the nations where UNICEF fights for children's rights.

Web resources: Criminology

British Crime Survey Access to full reports (pdf format) from the Home Office website.

British Society of Criminology The British Society of Criminology aims to "further the interests and knowledge, both academic and professional, of persons engaged in any aspect of teaching and research, or in the promotion and dissemination of knowledge, about crime and criminal behaviour, and the criminal justice systems in the United Kingdom". The society publishes a newsletter four times a year and a conference is held every two years.

Criminal Statistics Annual Report The latest National Statistics release on annual criminal statistics in England and Wales, released by the Ministry of Justice.

CrimLinks is an online annotated resource guide to crime, criminology and community justice produced at the University of Teesside. The web links are organised by subject area including criminology, diversity, the UK justice system, police, prisons, probation and restorative justice.

Home Office Research Development Statistic (RDS) RDS manages research and collect statistics for the Home in areas including crime, policing, immigration and drugs. One example of their publications is Research Findings No 137: Confidence in the criminal justice system: findings from the 2000 British Crime Survey (pdf format)

Web resources: Human Rights

Amnesty International Amnesty International's site has an archive of press releases and reports from 1996 onwards as well as information about current campaigns in countries all over the world. There is also a list of weblinks and other useful resources on their site.

Human Rights Act 1998 This is a link to the Human Rights Act 1998 on the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) website.

Human Rights Watch This is the website of a nongovernment organisation that investigates human rights abuses all over the world. On the website there are sections on children's rights, refugees, disability rights and other human rights issues.

Human Rights Internet (HRI)  HRI helps human rights organisations share information. The website hosts a database of records of funding sources, publications and organisations relating to human rights issues.

Institute of Development Studies (IDS) The IDS is the national centre for research and teaching for international development issues. Within this web site, information on poverty reduction, the environment, globalisation and social policy can be accessed.

Web resources: Social Policy

Joseph Rowntree Foundation The website gives free access to several hundred research summaries. These publications can be searched by keyword, research category, or by clicking on the search icon. Research categories include Income and Poverty, Housing and Communities and Social Problems.

Web resources: Sociology

Theory.org.uk University of Westminster site for those interested in the mass media and gender identity. It contains information on writers such as Foucault and Gramsci, as well as explanations of theories relating to role models and queer theory.

Web resources: Tourism and Travel

VisitBritain This page of the VisitBritain website provides information about the structure, policy and plans of VisitBritian. Through this website, research and statistics produced by the national tourist boards can be accessed.

World Tourism Organization This web site contains information on world tourism events, conferences, press releases, and includes a news section reporting on major tourism issues and developments world-wide.

 Using Other Libraries

The SCONUL Access Scheme allows students to share the resources of other Higher Education libraries, and in particular allows staff, part-time students and distance learners to borrow resources from these libraries.  Full-time students can visit the libraries on a reference only basis. Full information of the scheme plus details of how to access the British Library can be found on our guide Accessing Other Libraries & Library Catalogues.

  •  The British Library: Social Sciences include print and electronic information resources covering a range of topics including company information, market research and financials. Students wanting to visit the British Library can fill in a pc based application form on arrival and discuss their need to use British Library material with admissions staff. For more information and for access to the online catalogue please see: http://www.bl.uk/.
    Reader Registration Enquiries Tel: 020 7412 7677

 

 

  • King’s Fund This library is one of the UK's main sources of information resources on the development and management of health and social care services. Library and Information Service, 11-13 Cavendish Square, London, W1G 0AN 020 7307 2568.

 

 

Subject Advice For further information about resources or training, contact the Academic Liaison Librarian with responsibility for Social Sciences. 

For General Advice If you need help with access or have a general library-related question try the Virtual Librarian online enquiry service and search the Frequently Asked Questions section to see if your question can be resolved quickly and easily. If you can’t find the answer you are looking for in the FAQs you can submit a request. Give a description of your enquiry, clearly outlining the details, and the team will provide you with advice and solutions.

 

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