Starting Your Research
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How to find books and journals?
Search the SOAS Library catalogue . This will find print and electronic books and print journals. Widen your search to include other research libraries in the UK and Ireland by using Library Hub Discover .
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How to find journal articles?
If you know the article you are looking for search the Library catalogue and/or eJournal and eBook Finder for the title of the journal if you want to find what articles have been written on a certain subject then start with EBSCO Discovery searching tool and then move on to more subject-specific databases [use the pull down menus].
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How do I find multimedia resources?
In the Library catalogue you can browse by classmark for DVDs and CDs . Use the Limit button to search the results by keyword.
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How do I find newspapers?
- World-wide newspapers 1996 to present [including UK] on Access World News. This includes retrospective access to the Financial Times, up until the previous month.
- UK Newspapers on Lexis Library
- For other news resources, please consult our list of News Sources .
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SOAS Research Online
SOAS Research Online : Open access e-print repository of academic publications [articles, book chapters, theses etc.] by SOAS staff and students. Content dates mainly from the 1990s, though the earliest items are from 1959.
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What if SOAS Library does not hold what I need?
Try our e-book collections:
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- Cambridge Books Online [SOAS staff & students only when off-site]
- Ebrary [SOAS staff & students only]
- Dawsonera [SOAS staff & students only]
- Try other libraries nearby.
Information on accessing other libraries – including use of electronic resources - can be accessed at Access to other Libraries .
Use Jisc Library Hub Discover to search for books and journals to find material located in other libraries.For Anthropology & Sociology, the following nearby libraries are recommended:
- Anthropology Library at the British Museum The Anthropology Library at the British Museum is effectively the United Kingdom's national anthropological library, housing the library collections of the Royal Anthropological Institute [RAI] and the British Museum's Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas [formerly the Department of Ethnography].
- Senate House Library [University of London] SOAS students have access to the 8 collaborating libraries, which contain a vast range of different materials. They offer Arts, Humanities and Social Science Research Collections and Historic Collections .
- Institute of Commonwealth Studies Part of the University of London, the Institute focuses on the recent history of Commonwealth countries and is a major resource for those working on the Commonwealth as a whole, or on any of its member states.
- LSE Library LSE holds vast Social Science collections , which include: Anthropology, Gender, Development, Social Psychology, Social Policy, and Sociology. Special collections include The Malinowski Archive and The Women's Library @ LSE . [ Subject guides ]
- UCL Library Collections supporting the College’s teaching and research programme in anthropology. [ Subject guides ]
- British Library The national library and manuscript collection of the U.K. Comprehensive collection of anthropological materials published in Britain and strong collections on the British Commonwealth. [ Subject guides ]
Try consulting the regional subject guides for listings of relevant libraries.
Try using the Inter-Library loans service to request books from other Libraries.
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How do I cite and reference sources?
Citing and referencing is the way in which you provide details of quotations, arguments and ideas of others that you included in your own work. To avoid plagiarism, always keep notes as you go along of what you have been reading. Using a reference organising software [e.g. Zotero and Endnote Web ] would be recommended.
There are a number of different citing and referencing systems. Check with your Department or tutor which referencing system they prefer being used. The key is to be consistent.
Referencing Guides are available from the Skills for Success site from MOODLE .
A comprehensive guide to the Harvard System has been created by Anglia Ruskin University.
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I'd like further training. Who do I ask?
- Check the Library Events pages for upcoming training sessions.
- Try the Moodle Skills for Success Site to develop both your library and study skills. Courses are available to all students and staff but you will need to register the first time you log on. To access go to BLE Moodle and select the Skills for Success tab.
- Contact the Subject Librarian for Anthropology and Sociology