Getting Started
Purpose of this guide
This guide is designed to help provide you with subject support identifying the most useful resources for your subject.
Getting Started using the Library
The best place to start searching for resources for your course is your online reading list and LibrarySearch.
Relevant Databases
The Library subscribes to a number of subject databases helping you to find academic books and journal articles on your chosen topic.
Education Databases
The key education databases are:
For more education resources look at our education library resource guide.
Health & Social Care Related Databases
The Library subscribes to a number of health and social care databases the following will of particular interest:
Abstract in Social Gerontology
CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature)
PILOTS index to worldwide literature on post traumatic stress disorder
General Social Science Databases
The following general database will also be of relevance
International Bibliography of the Social Sciences ( IBSS)
Online Resources
As well as the resources that the library subscribes to there is a lot of useful freely available information available on the internet. To help navigate this the library has created a reading list with links to useful websites – use the table of contents option to jump to the relevant section.
Newspapers
We subscribe to a large number of newspapers, both international and from the UK. They are available in a number of formats, including print and online. Visit the newspaper resources pages for full information and access to online holdings.
Information about global newspapers is included in the list of international newspapers, and a list of worldwide internet news sources is also available.
is a non profit platform that is working to enrich, engage and improve the UKs media landscape. It’s mission is to challenge the homogeneity of voices in the UK media news, through addressing the under-representation of BAME communities.
Alternative media
Many traditional sources such as books and journal articles can quite often present predominantly Eurocentric and Global North perspectives, consulting alternative media sources that offer marginalised and new voices more of a platform can help to balance out the biases.
Explore our list of curated alternative publishers and resources
Look at some of our diverse digital collections for example filter via Diversity on the Digital Resources Directory
We have a number of reading lists celebrating liberation months such as Black History, Disability History and LGBTQ+ History
Don’t forgot that alternative sources such as TED talks, YouTube and social media sites like Twitter can also offer other perspectives.