Find UK and international news with Nexis Uni

If you’re looking for UK or international news from the last thirty years or so to today, then make sure you explore Nexis. The Nexis database has recently moved to a new platform (Nexis Uni): we think you’ll find it is easier to search than the old version, and it has some really useful features.

If you’re used to ‘old’ Nexis, don’t worry: the content on Nexis Uni is exactly the same, and you can still use the ‘expert’ search features if you want to.

What does it cover?

Nexis Uni enables you to search over 17,000 news, business and legal sources. This includes most UK national and regional newspapers, together with international sources, including newspapers, newswires and news magazines in multiple languages. Coverage of news titles often dates back to the 1990s and includes today’s news. Coverage is text only, and doesn’t include images, layout, adverts etc.

Nexis Uni also gives access to specialist business information, including dossiers on major UK and international companies, together with specialist legal information.

How to search news on Nexis Uni?

There are various ways to limit your search to newspapers/news sources, but the simplest is to select the News button from the Guided Search section:

Guided Search

Type in your search term (use ” ” if searching for a phrase), select your date range, and click Search.

Limit by location of publication

Once your results are displayed, you can then further limit your search by date, publication type, location, language and more.

If you want to search news from a particular country, such as the UK, select Location by Publication >International> and then choose your continent and country.

If you would like to try more complex searching (e.g. searching in a particular section of the newspaper, or combining terms together in various ways), then click on Advanced search from the home page.

There is more detailed guidance about searching in the Nexis help centre.

Searching/browsing a particular newspaper

If you want to find a particular newspaper, choose Menu>All Sources, and then type the newspaper’s name in the Search within sources box. Click the three dot menu to get more information about coverage of the newspaper in Nexis Uni (NB ignore the phrase which says Archived source: no longer updated).

You can also use this route to add one or more newspapers as search filters, if you just want to search across certain titles only: to do this, type the newspaper title in the top search box entitled All Nexis Uni.

Personalisation features

If you’re using Nexis Uni regularly, we’d recommend you create a Nexis account, which enables you to set up alerts (click the bell icon at the top of your results listing), save searches, annotate and bookmark items, and share these with others. You can read more about alerts here.

Alert button

Please note: if you had previously set up alerts or saved searches on ‘old’ Nexis, they won’t migrate to Nexis Uni, so you’ll need to set them up again.

Where can I get more help?

Click the large question mark icon at the bottom right of the screen to get to the Nexis Help Centre >Support Resources, which includes videos and short guides.

Should I use Lexis or Nexis for UK news searching?

The ‘news’ section on the Lexis legal database enables you to search UK national and regional (but not international) newspapers. Nexis Uni is produced by the same company, and should have the same UK news coverage as Lexis, though Nexis Uni also includes a wider range of news sources such as broadcast news and news wires. We also think you’ll find the Nexis search and personalisation options are better, and easier to use, so we’d recommend Nexis. However, you might prefer to stick with Lexis if you use it regularly for legal information.

New resource now available: JSTOR ebooks collection

The Library now has access to over 59,000 extra ebooks via JSTOR. These books are from nearly a hundred different publishers in 25 countries mainly in Europe, Africa and the USA, and were all published in 2018 or earlier. We also have access to 6,500 Open Access titles.

The content is wide-ranging, encompassing many subject areas across the humanities and social sciences, as well as some natural sciences.

Our access to all the books is for an initial twelve month period, after which we will buy permanent access to certain titles; usually those which have been most heavily used.

Finding JSTOR books

JSTOR search limit

All the books are individually catalogued on Library Search, or you can find them when you search JSTOR (you can limit your search results to find books only).

You can also view a full title list in the Evidence-Based Acquisition section here.

If you would like to find out more about JSTOR’s other collections, and how to get the best out of this resource, please see our blog post.

SAGE Research Methods

After a recent trial we are delighted we have managed to secure access to SAGE Research Methods. This is an invaluable resources for anyone undertaking an independent research project or dissertation.

The platform contains thousands of resources, dedicated to the subject area of Research Methods.  It supports all stages of the research process from: writing a research question, conducting a literature review, choosing the best research methods, analysing data, to writing up your results and thinking about publication.

It contains information suited to all levels of researchers, from undergraduates starting their first projects to research associates. Within the resource students will be able to access dictionary and encyclopaedia entries, book chapters, full books, journal articles, case studies, some datasets and streaming video from SAGE Research Methods Video. It includes online access to the complete Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences (QASS) series, aka the “The Little Green Books,” as well as the Qualitative Research Methods Series (QRMS), or “The Little Blue Books”

SAGE Research Methods includes a wealth of teacher resources and reusable materials for academics and module leaders to draw on and are licensed for educational use, allowing you to reuse materials and show videos within your teaching free of Copyright concerns. We think the platform will work well in conjunction with textbooks on research methods as well as some of the resources we have on our ASK website.

The Methods Map can be used to navigate methods, concepts and techniques via breakout diagrams. Whereas the Project Planner Tool is a step-by-step guide to starting, developing and completing a research project.  The methods sections provide information on all aspects of the research cycle – including the formulation of research questions, research design, project management and data collection.

Coming soon, SAGE Research Methods will be embedded in Canvas as an LTI, allowing you to easily embed videos, learning materials, case studies and videos into your Canvas courses.

Access the SAGE Research Methods User Guide for an overview of the resource an use the tabs below to access videos and training materials to get started.

Sustainable development goals online

This platform from Taylor and Francis is directly mapped onto the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

The Sustainable Development Goals Online collection contains more than 12,000 of the most important book chapters and journal articles published under Routledge and CRC Press.

We like the variety of content on the platform from essays, presentations, videos, articles and chapters.

From a teaching point of view, academics will want to check out the teaching and learning resources, teaching guides and lesson plans.

The collection was brought together to help governments, NGOs and organisation respond to the UN call to action and we think it will be of benefit to both teaching and research at the University.

Additional information can be found on the Sustainable Goals website or watch the short video below

New resource now available: Mass Observation 1980s and 1990s

We’re delighted to announce that the Library has now bought the latest instalment of the Mass Observation Online collection, covering the 1980s and 1990s.

About Mass Observation

Mass Observation is a pioneering project which documents the social history of Britain by recruiting volunteers (‘observers’) to write about their lives, experiences and opinions. Still growing, it is one of the most important sources available for qualitative social data in the UK. This latest instalment is a great resource for anyone researching aspects of late twentieth century Britain. It complements our existing access to the original Mass Observation project archive, which covers 1937-1967.

1981-1999 collection

The 1980s and 1990s modules include hundreds of directive (survey) responses from observers on a wide range of issues, covering major political and social themes of the period from Thatcher to Blair, as well as everyday life. There are also photographs, leaflets, and other ephemeral materials, as well as contextual essays and timelines to help you interpret the collection.

Searching and browsing

Filtering options

You can browse or search Mass Observation in various ways.

Browse by directive: browse the different directives (surveys), which are arranged chronologically and by topic.

Browse all documents: browse all the individual documents, and then further filter your search as required.

You can also use the Advanced search box at the top of the screen to search for specific topics.

Help

Research tools

We’d recommend you start by reading through the Introduction (top menu) which explains more about the project and the different document types. If you’re looking for ideas about how to make use of it, take a look at the Research Tools, which includes essays, videos, exhibitions and chronological timelines.

Note that as over half the materials in these collections are handwritten, the database enables Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) to help you search. We would recommend you read about how HTR works, to help you get the best out of the database, in the Introduction section.

Reading Lists and supporting your students

Teaching is just around the corner and the students are starting to prepare for studying through 2021/22. So, which resources are you going to recommend to your students to support your teaching? How will you ensure the Library can offer access to what you need?

We’re promoting the Reading Lists service to our students. It’s easy to use, accessible and is a good starting point when approaching a new subject area.

Surprisingly, even in 2021, not every book is available online. You can use Reading Lists to check to see if we, as an institution, can gain access to those essential, recommended and background reading materials for you and your students. 

How can you do this? Well, you can self-enrol on the Reading Lists Training for Staff course which is available via Canvas. It will explain each stage of creating and editing your lists ready for your students to use for guidance and to prioritise their reading.

An image of the Reading Lists Training for Staff Canvas course home page.

If you don’t have time to do this now, you can produce a list of books, book chapters, journal articles and other resources and submit this to our dedicated Library Reading Lists team to create the online version to be accessed via Canvas for you. If you are doing this, the team need to know:

  • Module Leader or Coordinator’s name.
  • School.
  • Reading list/Module title.
  • Module code.
  • Anticipated student numbers on module (if known).
  • When it is running, e.g. Semester One and/or Two.

You should think about how the list should be organised: by topic, lecture, seminar, etc.

Finally, each item should be classified as essential, recommended or background reading so the Library is aware of the potential demand on the materials.

If you have any questions about availability of online materials or the Reading Lists service, contact your Liaison Team.

Books added to the Library by students in GPS (Semester Two 2020/21)

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Our Recommend a Book service for students allows you to tell us about the books you need for your studies. If we don’t have the books you need, simply complete the web form and we’ll see if we can buy them. For books we already have in stock, if they are out on loan please make a reservation/hold request using Library Search.

Further information about Recommend a book.

In Semester Two, academic year 2020/2021 we received 104 requests from students (53 PGR, 23 PGT and 28 UGT) in the GPS. This is what we bought :

TitleResource type
A Companion to the Ancient Near EastBook – Electronic
Aesthetic Nervousness: Disability and the Crisis of RepresentationBook – Electronic
After Genocide: Transitional Justice, Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Reconciliation in Rwanda and BeyondBook – Physical
America & the World The Double BindBook – Electronic
America in Afghanistan: Foreign Policy and Decision Making From Bush to Obama to TrumpBook – Electronic
Atlas of the Aegean flora / 2 volume setBook – Physical
Beyond Spaceship Earth: Environmental ethics and the solar systemBook – Physical
Bodies for sale : ethics and exploitation in the human body tradeBook – Electronic
British Football and Social ExclusionBook – Electronic
Challenging Immigration Detention: Academics, Activists and Policy-MakersBook – Electronic
China Watching Perspectives from Europe, Japan and the United StatesBook – Electronic
China’s citizenship challenge Labour NGOs and the struggle for migrant workers’ rightsBook – Electronic
Class and Its OthersBook – Electronic
Clearly Invisible: Racial Passing and the Color of Cultural IdentityBook – Electronic
Contentious Cities Design and the Gendered Production of SpaceBook – Electronic
Convincing Ground: Learning to Fall in Love with your CountryBook – Electronic
Cuba and Africa, 1959-1994Book – Electronic
Cultural region : North East England 1945-2000Book – Physical
Culture and the senses: Bodily ways of knowing in an African communityBook – Electronic
Democracy in the fifty statesBook – Physical
Developmental Politics in Transition: The Neoliberal Era and BeyondBook – Electronic
Discursive Illusions in Public Discourse: Theory and PracticeBook – Electronic
Drone Warfare: War and Conflict in the Modern WorldBook – Electronic
Economic Geography: A Critical IntroductionBook – Electronic
Embodied Practices Feminist Perspectives on the BodyBook – Physical
Energy and Society: A Critical PerspectiveBook – Electronic
Ethical Research with Children Untold Narratives and TaboosBook – Electronic
Ethnographies of Home and Mobility: Shifting RoofsBook – Electronic
EU Development Policy in a Changing World: Challenges for the 21st CenturyBook – Electronic
Family Practices in MigrationBook – Electronic
Feminist perspective on the bodyBook – Electronic
Football in neo-liberal times. A Marxist perspective on the European football industryBook – Electronic
From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America\’s World RoleBook – Electronic
Gaming Globally Production, Play, and PlaceBook – Electronic
Geopolitics, Geography and Strategic HistoryBook – Electronic
Global Capital, Local Culture: Transnational Media Corporations in ChinaBook – Physical
Global Health GovernanceBook – Electronic
Great Power Politics in the Fourth Industrial Revolution: The Geoeconomics of Technological SovereigntyBook – Electronic
Handbook on Austerity, Populism and the Welfare StateBook – Physical
Handbook on the geographies of regions and territoriesBook – Electronic
Handbook on Think Tanks in Public PolicyBook – Electronic
Human Rights Approaches to Environmental ProtectionBook – Physical
Imagining the Peoples of Europe Populist discourses across the political spectrumBook – Electronic
Inter/nationalismBook – Electronic
Issue Salience in International PoliticsBook – Electronic
Killing AnimalsBook – Physical
Korea’s Online Gaming EmpireBook – Electronic
Lived experiences of ableism in academia: strategies for inclusion in higher educationBook – Electronic
Made in Hong Kong Studies in Popular MusicBook – Electronic
Making the Cut: How Cosmetic Surgery is Transforming Our LivesBook – Electronic
Mapping Exile and Return: Palestinian Dispossession and a Political Theology for a Shared FutureBook – Electronic
Maritime Asia vs. Continental Asia: National Strategies in a Region of ChangeBook – Electronic
Migration and the Search for Home Mapping Domestic Space in Migrants’ Everyday LivesBook – Electronic
Military Strategy as Public Discourse: America’s War in AfghanistanBook – Electronic
Moving the Goalposts : Football’s ExploitationBook – Physical
Museveni’s Uganda: Paradoxes of Power in a Hybrid RegimeBook – Electronic
Nature in Literary and Cultural Studies: Transatlantic Conversations on EcocriticismBook – Electronic
Near Abroad: Putin, the West and the Contest over Ukraine and the CaucasusBook – Electronic
New Directions in the Study of China’s Foreign PolicyBook – Physical
Nitrates in GroundwaterBook – Electronic
Nitrates in GroundwaterBook – Electronic
Ordinary ConsumptionBook – Electronic
Outdoor Learning, Past and PresentBook – Electronic
Politics and the Media in BritainBook – Electronic
Politics: Critical Essays in Human GeographyBook – Electronic
Racism and English Football: For Club and CountryBook – Electronic
Rain without thunderBook – Electronic
Realism and social scienceBook – Electronic
Remote Sensing of the CryosphereBook – Electronic
Researching Amongst Elites: Challenges and Opportunities in Studying UpBook – Electronic
Responsibility Beyond Growth A Case for Responsible StagnationBook – Electronic
Routledge Handbook of NGOs and International RelationsBook – Electronic
Seeing White: An Introduction to White Privilege and RaceBook – Electronic
Seeking Palestine: New Palestinian Writing on Exile and HomeBook – Electronic
Snow and Ice-Related Hazards, Risks, and Disasters / 2ndBook – Electronic
Sociology beyond societies : mobilities for the twenty-first centuryBook – Electronic
Stakes and Kidneys: Why Markets in Human Body Parts are Morally ImperativeBook – Electronic
Structure and Agency in the Neoliberal UniversityBook – Electronic
The Animal Rights Debate: Abolition or Regulation?Book – Electronic
The Bowhead Whale Balaena mysticetu: Biology and Human InteractionsBook – Electronic
The Corona Crash: How the Pandemic will Change CapitalismBook – Electronic
The End of Stigma: Changes in the Social Experience of Long-Term IllnessBook – Electronic
The first Department : a history of the Department of AgricultureBook – Physical
The Handbook of Diverse EconomiesBook – Electronic
The Hundred Years’ War on PalestineBook – Electronic
The Middle Voice of Ecological Conscience A Chiasmic Reading of Responsibility in the Neighborhood of Levinas, Heidegger and OthersBook – Physical
The New Silk Road: China Meets Europe in the Baltic Sea Region: A Business PerspectiveBook – Electronic
The Palgrave Handbook of Society, Culture and Outer SpaceBook – Physical
The Power of Ideas: The Rising Influence of Thinkers and Think Tanks in ChinaBook – Electronic
The Provocation of Levinas: Rethinking the OtherBook – Electronic
The Rise of Think Tanks in ChinaBook – Electronic
The rural housing question: Community and planning in Britain’s countrysidesBook – Electronic
The SAGE Handbook of Transport StudiesBook – Electronic
The SAGE Handbook of Visual Research Methods /2ndBook – Physical
The Trump, Bush, and Obama Doctrines: A Comparative AnalysisBook – Electronic
The World Food Programme in Global PoliticsBook – Electronic
Theorizing Native StudiesBook – Electronic
Theorizing Native StudiesBook – Electronic
Thucydides on Choice and Decision Making Why War Is Not InevitableBook – Electronic
Transforming Industrial Policy for the Digital Age: Production, Territories and Structural ChangeBook – Electronic
Why the garden club couldn’t save Youngstown: the transformation of the Rust BeltBook – Electronic
Women Political Leaders and the MediaBook – Electronic
Women, Gender, and PoliticsBook – Electronic
Young Dark Emu: A Truer HistoryBook – Electronic

BAR Digital Collection for archaeology now available

We’re pleased to announce that the Library has bought access to the new BAR Digital Collection, following a successful trial earlier this year.

This online collection, from one of the world’s largest academic archaeology publishers, gives full text access to over 3,100 titles published from 1974 to date. The collection includes both BAR’s British and international series, and covers archaeological research, excavation reports and other important series from around the world. Publications are mostly in English, as well as some in Italian, German, French and Spanish.

BAR browse options

You can browse or search the entire collection in various ways (e.g. by location, author, subject, time period or series). Each report is also individually catalogued on Library Search (here is an example).

Get the latest news and features about this collection on Twitter.

Be Connected: EndNote

What is EndNote?

The official blurb on EndNote is that it is “…the industry standard software tool for publishing and managing bibliographies, citations and references.”

EndNote takes a little getting used to and we recommend you familiarise yourself with it at the start of your research process. EndNote isn’t for everyone, but EndNote can save you a lot of time in terms organising and managing your references for assignments, dissertations or big research projects.

You can use EndNote to create and organise a personal library of resources relevant to your research. You can import references from Library Search, and a huge range of databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore and Business Source Complete. Did you know you can instruct Google Scholar to import references into EndNote too? Give it a go.

You can also ask EndNote to locate full-text PDFs for references and annotate the documents within EndNote. Finally, if you already have PDFs stored in your home folder (H:\) then you can attach them to a manually-created reference within EndNote, bringing all your research together in one place.

In addition to organising your references (and this is the clever bit) you can then get EndNote to ‘talk’ to Microsoft Word, and insert the citations into your work for you in your chosen referencing style, e.g. Harvard at Newcastle, Vancouver, APA or MLA. If you don’t want to do that, then EndNote will also allow you to create an independent bibliography of your references, saving you an awful lot of typing.

EndNote help

  • Enrol onto our Teach Yourself EndNote module on Canvas to become proficient in using EndNote.
  • Take a look at our EndNote Guide which contains all the introductory information you need, step-by-step workbooks to train yourself on the use of EndNote (the Desktop and Online versions), videos, and useful FAQs.
  • Finally, Newcastle University provides support for EndNote but it is not compulsory to use. Take some time to explore alternative referencing management tools such as MendeleyZoteroRefWorks which might suit you better.
  • If you can’t find the answer, email Library Help and someone will get back to you, or you can fill in the form on the FAQ box.

Help and training from Clarivate

For further training, you might want to have a look at Clarivate’s training calendar.  They also have really useful Question and Answer sessions where you can ask them anything regarding EndNote. You can register for any of the training via their training calendar.

They also have an excellent suite of training resources which includes video tutorials, self-guided learning, PDF reference guides, live training and online guides for:

Be Connected: Referencing

Following on from our Be Connected: Referencing session, this blog post covers the main points that we covered in our session. You will find links to key resources that we highlighted so you have them in one handy place.

You can also find a copy of our slides and a link to other useful referencing/managing information blog posts at end of this post.

Photo by Timothy Eberly on Unsplash

The Managing Information Guide and the slides from the session give you the context of why it is import to reference and why you should be managing your information. It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the amount of information out there (and that’s before you start your dissertation/project!), so getting into good habits it essential not only academically, but also for your wellbeing.

Why is referencing important?

  • It acknowledges the ideas and contributions of others that you have drawn upon in your work, ensuring that you avoid plagiarism
  • It highlights the range of reading you’ve done for your assignment and makes your own contribution clear, showing how you’ve taken ideas from others and built upon them
  • It enables the person reading your work to follow up on your references so they can learn more about the ideas you’ve discussed in your work or check any facts and figures.

How does referencing work?

Academic Skill Kit video on Managing Information; how to reference

Are there any tools that can help?

There are lots of referencing tools that can help you manage and format your citations and references correctly.  Given where you might be within your dissertation or project it might not be best use of your time to start learning a new tool now. But if you are working with lots of references or still writing up most of your dissertation then a digital tool might save you some time in the long run.

Here are some examples of tools that can help:

A very useful online tool that lists all the information you need to include in a reference and provides examples of how a reference will look as an in-text citation and in a reference list. 

  • Citation Buttons
Citation button consisting of a speech mark "

Keep an eye out for this symbol on Library Search and Google Scholar.  Clicking the button will provide the option for you to copy a reference in a particular style and paste it directly into your reference list.  You might need to tidy it up a little bit but it will save you time over writing them manually.

Reference building tools help you to create a bibliography using the correct referencing style.  You can input information manually or use import functions to pull information through from other webpages or documents.  As with the citation button above, reference building tools can save you time but you may still need to check the references are accurate.

  • Reference Management Software: e.g. EndNote

If you are writing a detailed essay, dissertation or thesis, you may like to use a reference management tool such as EndNote, Mendeley or Zotero to help keep all of your references organised.  This software allows you to manually add references or import them from Library Search, Google Scholar or Subject Databases; sort references into groups; attach pdf documents or add notes.  You can then use the reference management software while you write to add in-text citations and format your reference list.

The University has a subscription for EndNote which is available in all University clusters and can be downloaded to your own personal device. You’ll find information about how to get started with EndNote on our EndNote Guide.

Remember: whatever tool you use, it’s always a good idea to get to know the conventions of the referencing style your school or lecturer would like you to use.

Need more help?

If you feel you need to work on your referencing a bit more, and still a bit unsure about it all, we recommend that you complete Cite them Right’s Referencing and Plagiarism tutorial – this is available within Cite them Right. You’ll need to log in then select the tutorial button on the top right of the homepage.

Download our Referencing top tips from the Academic Skills Kit.

Take our online referencing quiz to check your own understanding.

Slides

Here’s a copy of our slides from our referencing drop-in session: