Library Blog

A range of new archive database collections have been made available over the past few months. Take a look through the latest additions to see if there is anything of interest to your studies or research.

If you would like to know more about any of the resources, just get in touch with your Liaison Librarian. 

Introducing The Social History Archive

The publishers of Find My Past and British Newspaper Archives have launched a brand-new platform, The Social History Archive, which makes their extensive primary source records available to universities and other institutions for the first time via subscription. When fully migrated, the Social History Archives collections should offer the same access to historical resources as Find My Past and the British Newspaper Archive.

The collections have been organised into two packages:

We are currently trialling this new online collection:

Decolonization: Politics and Independence in Former Colonial and Commonwealth Territories

This collection brings together material from within former British colonies and Commonwealth nations, alongside some from former French and Portuguese territories, to provide valuable primary source material created for local audiences by local actors during a period of enormous global change. After the Second World War decolonization movements around the world gathered pace, and from the small port colony of Aden to the vast Indian sub-continent, new borders were set and new nations built.

This recorded webinar explores this collection: https://support.gale.com/doc/webinar-gps-decolonization

The trial runs from now until 17^th February 2023.

As always, feedback on collections we are trialling is extremely appreciated. Please send your comments about this collection to n.nye@exeter.ac.uk (Subject Librarian for Archaeology and History).

A digital archive of monographs and periodicals on political economy, trade, finance, industry, business, labour, and related subjects. The archive supports research on critical topics, such as world trade, finance and capital formation, transportation and the growth of cities, industrialisation, imperialism and colonialism, socialism, labour and poverty, and other areas of study. This collection is of particular value to anyone with an interest in early twentieth century history, political science, philosophy, business and economic law, and women’s studies.

“A magazine devoted to social and political problems, literature and art… .”  

Published initially under the aegis of the of Soviet Women’s Anti-Fascist Committee and the Central Council of Trade Unions of the USSR, it began as a bimonthly illustrated magazine tasked with countering anti-Soviet propaganda by introducing Western audiences to the lifestyle of Soviet women, their role in the post-WWII rebuilding of the Soviet economy, praising their achievements in the arts and the sciences. Originally published simultaneously in Russian, English, German and French, the magazine went on to add more foreign language editions aiming to reach even wider audiences both in the West and elsewhere to balance the Western narrative about the Soviet Union in these countries with a pro-Soviet ideological counterweight.

Over the years the magazine developed regular sections covering issues dealing with economics, politics, life abroad, life in Soviet republics, women’s fashion, as well as broader issues in culture and the arts. One of its most popular features was the translations of Soviet literary works, making available in English, (and other languages) works of Russian and Soviet writers that were previously unavailable, allowing readers worldwide a peek inside the hitherto insular Soviet literary world. An important communist propaganda outlet, the magazine continued its run until the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

Archive of the weekly periodical published by the BBC for radio listeners and later, TV viewers. Includes transcripts and commentary of broadcasts as well as articles and interviews.

The Listener is one of the few records and means of accessing the content of many early broadcasts. In addition to commenting on the intellectual broadcasts of the week, the Listener also previewed major literary and musical shows and regularly reviewed new books.

  
LGBT Thought and Culture is an online resource hosting the key works and archival documentation of LGBT political and social movements throughout the 20th century and into the present day. The collection contains rare archival content, including seminal texts, letters, periodicals, speeches, interviews, and ephemera. 

Key highlights include:

- The Pat Rocco Collection: Acquired from the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, this collection features ephemora and correspondence from gay rights organizer and filmmaker Pat Rocco, documenting his impact in Southern California and Hawaii in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Includes letters from SPREE (The Society of Pat Rocco Enlightened Enthusiasts)
- The Jeanne Cordova Papers: The collection offers ephemera documenting the 1970’s activism of editor Jeanne Cordova. It includes correspondence regarding her magazine The Lesbian Tide, and other letters that provide insight into her role as a leader for Los Angeles-based LGBT and feminist movements.
- The Magnus Hirschfeld Collection:  Including the professional correspondence, publications, confidential reports, news clippings, court documents, and other materials from renowned German sex researcher Magnus Hirschfeld (1868–1935).

Staff and students at University of Exeter now have access to the Encyclopedia of Law and Religion Online. This online version of the multi volume encyclopedia provides comparative insights into the relations between law, religion, the state and society.

Content is grouped into volumes covering, Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceana plus International Organisations.

The articles cover topics such as

• Social facts; 
• Historical background; 
• Position of religion in the legal system; 
• Individual religious freedom; 
• Legal status of religious communities; 
• Right of autonomy; 
• Active religious communities and cultures; 
• Labour law within religious communities; 
• Religious assistance in public institutions; 
• Legal position of religious personnel and members of religious orders; 
• Matrimonial and familial laws; 
• Religious and criminal laws; and 
• Country-specific issues. 

You can browse through the country materials or run a search on a topic to retrieve materials from across all volumes.

Sample Search Screenshot

Bibliographies are provided at the end of each country article and will point you towards further research in the field, drawn from books, articles, legislation and websites.

If you need advice on using the encyclopedia, just contact your Liaison Librarian. 

Trial access is available to the Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text database until 22nd July 2020.

Click to Access: Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text 

This database is hosted by EBSCO and provides access to hundreds top journals and magazines related to criminal justice and criminology. A full title list is available for you to view online.

Content Includes

• More than 320 full-text magazines and journals

• More than 600,000 records

• Coverage of more than 600 journals from around the world

Subjects Include

• Criminology

• Criminal justice

• Corrections and prisons

• Criminal investigations

• Forensic sciences and investigation

• Substance abuse and addiction

• Probation and parole

Please pass any feedback on this database to your Liaison Librarian.  We'd be interested in your thoughts on its relevance to your teaching / research.

 As we plan for the new term and focus on the online delivery of resources to students, digitised reading lists are an increasingly important element of University teaching support.

In recognition of the value of digitised reading lists to the taught course experience of students, on 16th June, the University’s Maintaining Educational Opportunities and Outcomes (MEOO) committee agreed a new reading lists policy, which is now available on the Library’s website.

Reading List Policy

• All modules must have a Library created reading list (this could be one book, or many) which the Library will make available to students via ELE modules.

• All reading lists for Term 1 should be sent to your Reading List Team as soon as possible, but by 1st August at the very latest.

• Due to Covid-19 restrictions, all materials on reading lists need to be available digitally.

• You can read the policy in full.

Many modules already have reading lists in place, so staff will be used to working with the library on this service. If you are involved in teaching in September you should have received a message about module reading lists for 2020/21.  If you have not previously used the service and want more information just get in touch.

As all materials need to be available digitally, some changes to existing reading lists are likely to be required.  When the reading list team check your lists they will flag any inaccessible content so that alternatives can be considered.

This new approach to reading lists will mean that students on all taught modules have easy access to all their required readings through their ELE modules.

If you need help or advice, please contact the Library Reading List Teams at

Exeter                  readinglists@exeter.ac.uk

Cornwall              digital@fxplus.ac.uk

To address the unprecedented global and immediate need for access to reading and research materials, the Internet Archive suspended waitlists on its 1.4 million (and growing) books in their lending library. 

This National Emergency Library was available from 24th March - 16 June 2020.  The waitlist suspension allowed users to immediately borrow digitised books and supported students, researchers and other readers during a very difficult period when physical access to library collections was not possible.

From the 16th June 2020, traditional controlled digital lending was reintroduced, meaning that users would need to wait for access to a digitised book in the borrowable collection, if it was on loan to another user.

You need to set up a free Internet Archive user account for access.

These borrowable books can be accessed alongside other freely accessible 'always available' digitised books via the Internet Archive book collection.