What is a database?
A database is a searchable collection of information, usually related to a particular subject area or topic. Library Search is good for searching most of the library's books, peer-reviewed articles and journals simultaneously. In addition to books and journals, databases are good for finding a broader range of information types such as audio-visual material, newspaper and magazine articles, dissertations, theses, data sets and statistics. Most databases also have better search functionality than Library Search and can help you to find more relevant material more quickly.
Sometimes items from databases can be found using Library Search, but some items can only be found by going to the database directly. We use a traffic light system to explain whether items from a database will appear in Library Search results. If a relevant database is amber or red then it's a good idea to repeat your search in the database.
In this page I have listed the databases I think are most relevant to your department. You can also see a full list of the library's databases here.
For help using any of the databases listed below, please contact me using the 'email me' or 'book a one-to-one appointment' button in the right hand column of the guide.
Useful Databases for Anthropology students
- Oxford Bibliographies - Anthropology This link opens in a new windowA great starting point if you want to find references for key literature in a specific aspect of anthropological research. Developed cooperatively with scholars and librarians worldwide, Oxford Bibliographies offers research guides across a variety of subject areas. Combining the best features of an annotated bibliography and a high-level encyclopedia, this resource directs researchers to the best available scholarship across a wide variety of subjects.
Not in Library Search - Anthropological Index Online This link opens in a new windowThe Anthropological Index Online (AIO) is an index to articles in journals taken by Anthropology Library and Research Centre at the British Museum and to films held at the Royal Anthropological Institute. The Library, which incorporates the former RAI library, holds some 4,000 periodical titles (1,500 current) covering all branches and areas of anthropology. Nearly 800 journals, published in more than 40 languages, are indexed on a continuing basis. Records cover 1957 to the present. Not in Library Search
- AnthroSource This link opens in a new windowAnthroSource contains more than 300,000 full-text articles from AAA journals, newsletters, bulletins and monographs in a single place; and 24/7 access to scientific research information across the field of anthropology.
Partially in Library Search - Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA) This link opens in a new window(1987- current). Coverage includes: health, social services, psychology, sociology, economics, politics, race relations and education.
Partially in Library Search - Arts & Humanities Full Text This link opens in a new windowThis database features hundreds of titles covering Art, Architecture, Design, History, Philosophy, Music, Literature, Theatre and Cultural Studies.
In Library Search - GreenFILE This link opens in a new windowGreenFILE offers well-researched information covering all aspects of human impact to the environment. Its collection of scholarly, government and general-interest titles includes content on global warming, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling, and more. The database provides indexing and abstracts for more than 384,000 records, as well as Open Access full text for more than 4,700 records. Partially in Library Search
- Human Rights Studies Online This link opens in a new windowHuman Rights Studies Online is a research and learning database providing comparative documentation, analysis, and interpretation of major human rights violations and atrocity crimes worldwide from 1900 to 2010. The collection includes primary and secondary materials across multiple media formats and content types for each selected event, including Armenia, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rwanda, Darfur, and more than thirty additional subjects. Our editorial board includes Laetitia Atlani-Duault (IRD; Hunter College/CUNY), Olivier Bercault (University of San Francisco), Phillip Cantrell (Longwood University), Catherine Filloux (Playwright), Pamela Graham (Columbia University), Adam Jones (University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus), Laura McGrew (Consultant, Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation), David Scheffer (Northwestern University), and Ruti Teitel (New York Law School; London School of Economics.) In Library Search
- International Bibliography of Social Sciences (IBSS) This link opens in a new window(1951 – current). Coverage includes: anthropology, cultural studies, demography, education, ethnology and ethnography, politics, religious studies and sociology.
Partially in Library Search - The Open Library of Humanities This link opens in a new windowGoldsmiths are proud to support The Open Library of Humanities. OLH is a not-for-profit, peer-reviewed open access, internationally supported, academic led mega-journal, multi-journal, overlay-journal & books platform for the humanities, with a focus on high-quality outputs. To avoid the problems of high article processing charge levels and their unaffordability in the humanities, the OLH implements a collaborative, or collective, funding model for gold open access in the humanities.
In Library Search - Philosophers Index This link opens in a new window
To access this resource please register for free membership to Senate House Library.
The Philosopher's Index is a bibliographic database with informative author-written abstracts covering scholarly research in the fifteen fields of philosophy, published in journals and books since 1940. Records cite journal articles, books, contributions to anthologies, and book reviews.
Serving philosophers worldwide, it contains over 600,000 records from publications that date back to 1902 and originate from 139 countries in 37 languages. The Index features high-quality content with complete and accurate citations, and author-written abstracts for most articles. Many of these abstracts cannot be found in other reference resources; they are unique to The Index.
Not in Library Search - Project MUSE This link opens in a new windowThe library subscribes to the 'standard collection.'
In Library Search - Social Sciences Premium Collection This link opens in a new windowThe Social Sciences Premium Collection is a tool for cross-checking the Criminology Collection, Education Collection, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS), Library & Information Science Collection, Linguistics Collection, Politics Collection, Social Science Database, and the Sociology Collection. A video guide to searching the resource can be found here.
In Library Search - Social Theory This link opens in a new windowSocial Theory offers an extensive selection of documents that explore the complexities and interpret the nature of social behavior and organization. Particular care has been taken to index this material so that it can be searched more thoroughly than ever before. This final release features more than 150,000 pages of content by such major theorists as Theodor Adorno, Jean Baudrillard, Simone de Beauvoir, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Émile Durkheim, Michel Foucault, Jürgen Habermas, Robert Merton, Dorothy E. Smith , and Talcott Parsons.
In Library Search - Web of Science (Primary Collection) This link opens in a new windowWeb of Science Primary Collection: Thomson Reuters Web of Science provides access to the world’s leading citation databases. Authoritative, multidisciplinary coverage includes current and retrospective journal and proceedings data in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Web of Science Primary is currently comprised of 15,700 critically-selected journals, covering 257 subject areas spanning the life sciences, physical sciences, health sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. The Web of Science Primary agreement includes access to:
• Science Citation Index Expanded™ from 1970
• Social Sciences Citation Index™ from 1970
• Arts & Humanities Citation Index® from 1975
• Conference Proceedings Citation Index™ from 1990
• Emerging Sources Citation Index™
• 1 Billion cited references in total
Users should register an account to access additional features such as saved searches, email alerts and better file export options.
In Library Search
- Artfilms This link opens in a new windowArtfilms is a video database of artist's films, masterclasses, documentaries, and interviews.
International in scope and wide-ranging in subject matter, Anthropology students may be particularly interested in the Anthropology of Art and Community/Culture collections.
Not in Library Search - Box of Broadcasts (BoB) This link opens in a new windowBoB is Learning on Screen’s on demand TV and radio service for education. Our academically-focused system allows staff and students at subscribing institutions to record programmes from over 65 free-to-air channels, and search our extensive archive.
Please note that due to licensing restrictions users can only access this resource from within the UK
Not in Library Search - Ethnographic Video Online: Vols.1-2 This link opens in a new windowEthnographic Video Online is a comprehensive online resource for the study of human culture, behavior and society around the world. The collections contain over 2,000 hours of streaming video, including ethnographic films, documentaries, select feature films, and previously unpublished fieldwork. It’s also a resource for a study of the discipline itself: By placing examples of traditional ethnographic methodologies alongside indigenous-made films representing previously overlooked perspectives, scholars, teachers and students of anthropology can gain a sense of the discipline’s history and of its future direction. In Library Search
- London Community Video Archive This link opens in a new windowThe London Community Video Archive (LCVA) is preserving the work of the Community Video movement in the 1970s and 80s, in London and the South East. In the early 1970s portable video recording equipment became available, and it was possible for the first time for people outside of mainstream broadcasting to make their own television. LCVA’s aim is to draw attention to these unheard voices and images, enabling them to be used in contemporary debates and activism.
Not in Library Search - TRILT (Television and Radio Index for Learning and Teaching) This link opens in a new windowIndexes all television and radio programmes broadcast in the UK from 1995 onwards.
Not in Library Search
- Goldsmiths Anthropology PhDsDoctoral theses undertaken in the Department of Anthropology at Goldsmiths.
- Dissertations & Theses: UK & Ireland This link opens in a new windowThis database is the most comprehensive available record of doctoral theses from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The collection offers the most comprehensive available listing of theses, with abstracts accepted for higher degrees by universities in the United Kingdom and Ireland, since 1716.
Not in Library Search - EThOS This link opens in a new windowSearch over 400,000 doctoral theses. Download instantly for your research, or order a scanned copy quickly and easily.
In Library Search - Goldsmiths Research Online This link opens in a new windowOur repository for College researchers and their research outputs, freely available on the web.
Partially in Library Search - Open Access Theses and Dissertations This link opens in a new windowAn index of over 2.5 million graduate theses and dissertations from around the world, freely available online.
Not in Library Search
- The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology byISBN: 9781118924396Publication Date: 2018-10-05The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology is the most complete reference resource for the field of anthropology and interrelated areas, providing an authoritative and expert overview of the concepts, research, and techniques that together define the discipline. In-depth discussions of hundreds of key topics, including: ecology, human evolution, gender, health, language and education, kinship, politics, and power, as well as biographical entries of many of the world's most influential founding anthropologists.
- Oxford Bibliographies - Anthropology This link opens in a new windowA great starting point if you want to find references for key literature in a specific aspect of anthropological research. Developed cooperatively with scholars and librarians worldwide, Oxford Bibliographies offers research guides across a variety of subject areas. Combining the best features of an annotated bibliography and a high-level encyclopedia, this resource directs researchers to the best available scholarship across a wide variety of subjects.
Not in Library Search - Oxford Dictionary of National Biography This link opens in a new window To access this resource please register for free membership to Senate House Library.
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is the national record of men and women who have shaped British history and culture, worldwide, from the Romans to the 21st century. The Dictionary offers concise, up-to-date biographies written by named, specialist authors. It is overseen by academic editors at Oxford University, UK, and published by Oxford University Press.
Not in Library Search
- The International Handbooks of Museum Studies byISBN: 9781118829059Publication Date: 2015-06-09The International Handbooks of Museum Studies is a multi-volume reference work that represents a state-of-the-art survey of the burgeoning field of museum studies. Featuring original essays by leading international museum experts and emerging scholars, readings cover all aspects of museum theory, practice, debates, and the impact of technologies.
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new windowCredo Reference is an online database of encyclopedias, dictionaries and other reference texts with access to 3,476,088 full text articles in 942 titles from 116 publishers covering a wide range of subjects.
In Library Search - Sage Research Methods Online (Core collection) This link opens in a new windowA tool designed to help you create research projects and understand the methods behind them. SAGE Research Methods' taxonomy of over 1,400 methods terms links to authoritative content including: Over 640 books, Dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks, The entire "Little Green Book" and "Little Blue Book" series, Two major works collating a selection of journal articles and Newly commissioned videos. SRMO LibGuide
In Library Search
- Independent Voices This link opens in a new windowIndependent Voices is a digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals, drawn from the special collections of participating libraries. These periodicals were produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines during the latter half of the 20th century.
Not in Library Search - LGBT Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window To access this resource please register for free membership to Senate House Library.
LGBT Magazine Archive provides access to back issues of 26 of the most influential, longest-running serial publications covering LGBT interests. Includes the pre-eminent US and UK titles – The Advocate and Gay Times, respectively. Chronicles more than six decades of the history and culture of the LGBT community. In addition to LGBT/gender/sexuality studies, this material also serves related disciplines such as sociology, political science, psychology, health, and the arts. Some publications may contain explicit content. Not in Library Search - Vogue Archive This link opens in a new windowA complete searchable archive of American Vogue, from the first issue in 1892 to the current month, reproduced in high-resolution color page images. Every page, advertisement, cover and fold-out has been included, with rich indexing enabling you to find images by garment type, designer and brand names. The Vogue Archive preserves the work of the world's greatest fashion designers, stylists and photographers and is a unique record of American and international fashion, culture and society from the dawn of the modern era to the present day.
In Library Search - Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new windowGale Primary Sources is a site which allows you to easily cross-search our Gale newspaper archives:
* 17th-18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers
* 19th Century UK Periodicals: New Readerships
* British Library Newspapers, part I and II
Not in Library Search - International Newsstream This link opens in a new window To access this resource please register for free membership to Senate House Library.
ProQuest International Newsstream provides information from more than 660 of the world's top newspapers, including The Times (London), The Bangkok Post, El Norte, Financial Times, The Guardian, Jerusalem Post, South China Morning Post, The Daily Telegraph, Asian Wall Street Journal, and the BBC Monitoring series of publications.
Not in Library Search - Nexis This link opens in a new windowNexis contains thousands of national and international newspapers and other news sources. It also provides international company and industry information and biographical data for many individuals. A video guide to using the resource can be found here.
Not in Library Search
- Primary Sources Databases at Senate House LibraryGoldsmiths students can register for free access to Senate House Library who provide access to hundreds of online archival databases on a range of subjects. To register a free account go to https://explore.gold/shl
Not in Library Search
- British Online Archives This link opens in a new windowBritish Online Archives is home to over seventy digitised primary source collections, dedicated to teaching and research within the Humanities and Social Sciences with collections ranging from colonial, missionary and transatlantic relations to twentieth century political and social development, cover four-hundred years of world history. A video guide to the resource can be found here.
Not in Library Search - Mass Observation Online This link opens in a new window To access this resource please register for free membership to Senate House Library.
Mass Observation Online offers revolutionary access to one of the most important archives for the study of Social History in the modern era. Explore original manuscript and typescript papers created and collected by the Mass Observation organisation, as well as printed publications, photographs and interactive features.
Not in Library Search - Migration to New Worlds: The Century of Immigration This link opens in a new windowFrom the century of immigration, through to the modern era, Migration to New Worlds charts the emigration experience of millions across 200 years of turbulent history. Explore the rise and fall of the New Zealand Company, discover British, European and Asian migration and investigate unique primary source personal accounts, shipping logs, printed literature and organisational papers supplemented by carefully compiled teaching and research aids. In Library Search
- UK Data Archive This link opens in a new windowThe UK's largest collection of digital research data in the social sciences. To access the datasets go to sign up. The first time you login you will be required to register.
Not in Library Search - UK Data Service This link opens in a new windowThe UK Data Service is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to meet the data needs of researchers, students and teachers from all sectors, including academia, central and local government, charities and foundations, independent research centres, think tanks, and business consultants and the commercial sector.
The UK Data Service collection includes major UK government-sponsored surveys, cross-national surveys, longitudinal studies, UK census data, international aggregate, business data, and qualitative data.
You will need to sign in with your Goldsmiths' details, and then register for an account.
Not in Library Search
- Sage Research Methods Online (Core collection) This link opens in a new windowSAGE Research Methods is one of the primary databases for resources on methodology we subscribe to at Goldsmiths. A tool designed to help you create research projects and understand the methods behind them. SAGE Research Methods includes hundreds of books, Dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, videos and podcasts. SRMO LibGuide In Library Search
Books
Below is a non-exhaustive list of books on research methods held by the library. You may also want to look at the department's Reading Lists to see what resources are recommended on research methods modules.
Goldsmiths students and staff are entitled to free membership to Senate House Library which is the central library for the University of London and the School of Advanced Study. Through Senate House you have access to a range of databases covering art and cultural memory, Black histories and studies, Latin American studies, LGBTQ+ studies, political activism, protest and counter-culture to name a few. You can see a full list here.
To register for access to online resources just click the Register Here link at explore.gold/shl (you'll need to login with your Goldsmiths username (e.g. cuser001) and password to do this).
