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Politics resources and support

Your Subject Librarian

Your Subject Librarian

Catherine Downs

Other Arts and Social Sciences Library staff can answer your more general library queries.

Recommend other items

Politics resources are available in these branch libraries

Politics resources can be found in the following branches:

  • The Arts and Social Sciences Library holds the bulk of materials relevant to you. Class J in the library classification stands for Political Science, and there are the following subdivisions of it: JC - Political theory; JF,JJ,JK,JL,JN,JQ - Political institutions and public administration; JS - Local government; JV - International migration and colonial studies; JZ - International relations. In addition, many books of political relevance are classified in the History section, Classes D through F in the library. The Special Collections department of the Arts and Social Sciences library holds a number of collections of importance to political researchers, including the National Liberal Club pamphlet collection
  • The Geographical Sciences Library contains a certain amount of Politics-related material, (books on globalisation, for example)
  • The Wills Memorial (Law) Library has a complete set of British Statutes.

Course based materials

Materials to support Politics courses are available in the Arts & Social Sciences Library:

  • Recommended textbooks (books in high demand for essays, for example) are kept in the Short Loan Collection (SLC)
  • Examination papers: past papers can be found on the first floor of the Arts and Social Sciences Library, on the shelves next to the pamphlet collection.

Thesis collection

University of Bristol Politics PhD theses are held in the Arts and Social Sciences Library thesis collection, kept in a locked cage on the first floor. They may be consulted within the library, and you will need to complete a slip for each one. Please ask at the library issue desk.

How to find books, journals, and more

Inter-Library Loans and ILL vouchers

The Inter-Library Loans (ILL) service can be used to obtain Items not held in print in the University's branch libraries or available online. There is a charge for this service, though it may be possible to obtain an Inter-library loan voucher to pay for this:

  • Politics academic staff and research postgraduates should be able to obtain an Inter-library loan voucher to pay for this from your department. The department secretary, Dan Hemings, keeps the vouchers for your department.
  • Politics undergraduates and taught postgraduates should always consult their personal tutor in the first instance before applying for an Inter-library loan. If the tutor deems the request reasonable, it may be possible to issue the student with an Inter-library loan voucher (though these are generally reserved for use by academic staff and researchers).

Information for academic staff and researchers

  • Our Research support pages cover finding information, managing information, and exploiting your research, together with sources of further help and advice.
  • Each academic department in the university has a library representative, whose duties are detailed in these guidelines. For Politics the Library Representative is Dr Will Atkinson.
  • Suggestions for book purchases, or for new subscriptions to journals or electronic databases should be made via the departmental Library Representative. Note that to fund any new subscription it may be necessary to cancel an existing one, so consider this when you make your request.
  • The change loan periods page gives information about how books on high demand from students may be given an appropriate loan period in the Arts & Social Sciences Library; and also describes how academic staff should request books be placed in the Short Loan Collection.
  • If you are new to the department, please feel free to contact your Subject Librarian to arrange a session to discuss how the library can support you, your researches and your students. You may want to discuss, for example, information literacy sessions for students; or perhaps want some instruction yourself in using a particular database. Whatever your library needs - run them past us, and we'll see if we can help!

Databases and other useful resources

Quick reference tools

General dictionaries and encyclopedias of Political Science

Many printed reference dictionaries and encyclopedias of politics (and the social sciences in general) can be found in the Arts and Social Sciences Library. They can be used to get a good overview of the subject, or to research specific aspects of it. Some of the best ones are:

  • A dictionary of modern politics / David Robertson (JA61 ROB)
  • Blackwell dictionary of political science / Frank Bealey (JA61 BEA)
  • Routledge encyclopedia of international political economy /edited by R.J. Barry Jones (HF1359 ROU)
  • The concise Oxford dictionary of politics (JA61 CON)
  • The international encyclopedia of the social sciences (Oversize H40.A2 INT) (also available electronically)

You will also find dictionaries concerning the political situation in particular geographical areas. For example:

  • A political and economic dictionary of Latin America /Peter Calvert (F1406 CAL)
  • A political and economic dictionary of Eastern Europe /[edited by] Alan J. Day, Roger East and Richard Thomas (JN96.A58 POL)
  • Dictionary of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: culture, history and politics (DS119.7 DIC)
  • Encyclopedia of the Cold War /Thomas S. Arms (Oversize D843 ARM)
  • Statesman's year-book (Serial JA51.S7 ) (also available electronically)

Biographical dictionaries of politicians, and lists of members of Parliament are also held. Some examples are:

  • Dod's parliamentary companion (current issue at Serial JN500.D73 )
  • Routledge dictionary of twentieth century political thinkers /edited by Robert Benewick and Philip Green (JA83 ROU)
  • Dictionary of Labour biography / edited by Greg Rosen (JN1129.L31 DIC)

Information skills training for undergraduates

  • Your Subject Librarian will be able to run classes on library and information skills if requested by your department.
  • Internet for Government and Politics
  • A number of general 'Self-learning resources' are available below, including video tutorials, downloadable library guides, and web resources.
  • Find out about referencing in your written work and EndNote referencing software in 'Referencing help'.

Information skills training for postgraduates

  • Internet for Government and Politics
  • A number of general 'Self-learning resources' are available below, including video tutorials, downloadable library guides, and web resources.
  • Find out about referencing in your written work and EndNote referencing software in 'Referencing help'.

Self-learning resources

  • Video tutorials - topics include the Library Catalogue, understanding references on reading lists, using the MetaLib resource gateway, off-campus access to eResources, etc.
  • Finding and using information pages - covering key aspects of information skills, including researching a topic, effective use of Google, evaluating your search results, avoiding plagiarism, etc. Also includes a Jargon-buster page.
  • Library guides - downloadable guides to each branch library, our main search tools, special library services, etc.
  • External resources for developing your information skills - including online tutorials and downloadable guides.
  • Find out about referencing in your written work and EndNote referencing software in 'Referencing help'.

Referencing guidance

Writing for the subject, and how to avoid plagiarism

EndNote referencing software

EndNote is the University of Bristol's recommended bibliographical management software, which can be used to collect, store, organise and manage references, and to output them as reference lists or bibliographies. A particularly useful function is 'Cite While You Write', enabling you to format Word documents, producing bibliographies and adding references within the text.