The Library is currently running a short trial to MediaPlus, a digital media resource offered by Alexander Street Press (ProQuest).
MediaPlusconsists of more than 100,000 videos, images, and sound recordings. The resource is ideal for students and researchers interested in 20th century British social, political and cultural history from a range of disciplines (particularly History, Media, and Politics).
You can also browse by Title, Subject, and Sub-collection from the MediaPlus homepage, where you can then further refine results by date, publisher, or subject.
Content is drawn from a number of sources (Sub-collections):
Associated Press Archive (6,010 items)
Channel 4 News (6,508)
Gaumont British News (2,476)
Gaumont Graphic Newsreel (8,087)
Getty Moving images (8,163)
Getty Still images (11,732)
ITN (6,300)
ITV news (27,519)
Imperial War Museum – images (4,165)
Photographic Youth Music Culture Archive – PYMCA (6,421)
Reuters News (3,248)
Royal Geographical Society (6,448)
Royal Mail Film Classics (66)
The North Highland College – Johnston Collection (10,037)
The trial access to the resource is available until 15th November 2024. As the purpose of a trial is provide short term institutional access to establish whether the resource is of interest for future sustained access, unfortunately we are not able to extend or repeat trials.
Please note that MediaPlus content cannot be downloaded, and any embedded content or permalinks will not work after the trial ends.
We are keen to hear any feedback on this resource – please contact us by commenting below or by emailing your Liaison Librarian (libliaison@newcastle.ac.uk).
Women’s Magazine Archive, Collection I, II and III
We will be trialling all three Women’s Magazine Archives from Monday 27th February. This collection includes classic 19th and 20th century titles such as Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal and Parents. For those more mature students and colleagues you can enjoy a trip down memory lane to look at Cosmopolitan, Flare, Seventeen and Essence magazines. The collections cover a range of 29 to 123 years and will be useful for those researching a range of topics such as social history, gender studies, media history and more.
Each magazine in the collection is scanned cover to cover in high resolution to give a good level of detail for each page.
To access the collection follow the link here If you are off campus follow the link and you may be asked to authenticate using your Newcastle University computer ID and password.
The trial ends on 29th March 2023 To help us evaluate it, please email us your feedback, or leave a reply on this blog.
The Library has lots of great collections and resources, so when it comes to finding wider reading for your topic or beginning research for your assignment or dissertation it might all seem a bit overwhelming. Library Search is a great place to start looking for information but there are many other resources you might want to try. To help you get the best out of our resources we’ve put together this list of some of the most useful online databases and collections for Media Studies.
Let’s dive in!
Scopus
Scopus is a large, interdisciplinary database of peer-reviewed literature, providing an index of articles, book chapters, conference papers and trade publications.
One of the main advantages of using Scopus is that it provides a lot of useful information about the articles it indexes. This includes full reference lists for articles and cited reference searching, so you can navigate forward and backward through the literature to uncover all the information relevant to your research. You can also set up citation alerts, so you can be informed of new, relevant material automatically.
https://youtu.be/qCu-obYMFsE
Scopus tutorial showing how to expand your search results.
Scopus includes other smart tools that can help you track and visualise the research in your area, including author and affiliation searching, visual analysis of search results, a journal analyser, and author identifier tools. You’ll find tutorials and advice on using these features in the Scopus support centre and on their YouTube Channel.
JSTOR
JSTOR provides access to full-text materials including scholarly journals, books and book chapters in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. It has basic and advanced search options that allow you to search by topic keyword, author, subject area, title or publisher.
Take a look at our Get more out of JSTOR blog post to find tips for advanced searching on this database.
Film and Television Literature Index
The Film and Television Literature Index is an excellent resource for film and television research, with coverage focused on film and television theory, writing, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews. You’ll find indexes and abstracts for more than 500 journals and full-text records for over 100 journals and books.
The database uses subject terms to help you refine your search and get more helpful results, this (five minute) video explains how to use the database and how the subject term functions works.
Video guide to the Film and Television Literature Index.
Newspapers
Newspapers can be a great source of information, with news stories and editorial opinion offering a fascinating angle on your research topic. The Library provides access to a wide range of news resources, dating from the 17th century to the present day, and stretching from Newcastle to New York and beyond. You’ll find an overview of these resources and some helpful videos and links for getting started on our Newspaper Guide.
Remember to use your critical thinking skills when using newspapers as they may present biased opinion and inaccurate facts – watch out for Fake News!
Current News
If you’re looking for current news sources, Lexis is an excellent place to start. Providing access to UK national and regional newspapers, from the 1990s to the present day, Lexis presents a copy of the newspaper text, without images or formatting, alongside the details you’ll need to create a reference.
Once you have logged in to Lexis, click News in the main menu to go straight to the news content. You can refine your search using date ranges, keywords or by selecting specific newspapers or publication types (i.e. broadsheet or tabloid).
International News
The Library’s online news resources are strongest for the UK, but we do also provide access to a wide range of historic and contemporary international news resources, including The New York Times archive. You may want to explore Nexis which covers international news from the 1990s to present day.
Historic News
The Library provides access to several million digitised pages of historic newspapers, dating from the seventeenth century. We have all UK broadsheet archives online (e.g. The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph) as well as titles which are strong in arts and culture coverage, such as the Times Literary Supplement.
If you want to search across a range of historic new sources, start with Gale Primary Sources, as this gives access to almost all our British newspaper archives, except The Guardian and The Observer.
Box of Broadcasts (BoB)
Box of Broadcasts allows you to access TV and radio broadcasts from over 65 channels, including most of the UK’s Freeview network, all BBC TV and radio content from 2007, and several foreign language channels. It’s a great resource for finding documentaries or critical opinions.
You can view archived programmes, create clips and playlists, and see transcripts to help with citation and translation. You can also search other users’ public playlists to see curated lists around topics similar to your own. There are lots of helpful tutorial videos on the BoB website.
Unfortunately, Box of Broadcasts is not available outside the UK.
Statista
Statista is an extensive statistics platform covering over 1.5 million data sets. It includes reports, statistics and forecasts on a range of topics. So if you want to know which social media platforms are most popular across the globe; compare TV advertising statistics; explore industry trends, or see how many people use Netflix, Statista is a brilliant place to start.
Statistics and reports can be exported in a range of formats including images and PowerPoint, giving you flexibility over how you can include visual data in your assignments. The statistics’ source is also included, giving you the information that you need to cite it successfully.
Statista tutorial showing how to do a basic search for data.
This list was just a taster of all the great resources available for your subject area, to access these and to find out more visit your Subject Guide and explore the journals, databases and subject specific resources we’ve curated for Media Studies students.
The University may be closed for the Christmas period but if you are studying, writing assignments or revising, library resources and help are always available. We may not be in the building, but the library team can help you with your semester 2 preparation.
Use your Library Subject Guide
If you are not sure which resources are best to use for your subject or what you can access off-campus, visit your Subject Guide . The guides bring together links and help for the specialist information sources in your discipline.
Visit the Library over the vacation
The Philip Robinson Library building will be open for the majority of the Winter break (Friday 24th December 2021 – Monday 3rd January 2022) but is closed on Christmas Day (Saturday 25th December) and New Year’s Day (Saturday 1st January). All other library buildings will be closed for the entire Winter break. If you need access to books and journals, or a quiet place to study, all you will need is to book your study space online and to bring your University smartcard to enter the building. Visit the website for the Library vacation opening hours. Please remember that it is currently mandatory to wear a face covering when moving around indoors in all university buildings (free masks are available at the Library Welcome Desk).
Have a question? Check the FAQs
We have an extensive database of frequently asked questions available on the Library website. You can search by keyword or browse by topic area and find answers to the most common questions. So whether you want to know how to access newspapers from the Library, how to book study space or get help with EndNote, check the FAQs to see if we have already answered your question.
Contact Library Help
If you need help or have a question, use Library Help to get in touch with us. You can live chat with a librarian outside of the University to get immediate answers, or send us a message and we will get back to you when the University reopens.
So remember, you can access all of our online resources, journals and e-books from the Library website and we will be back in the Library on Tuesday 4th January 2022. Enjoy the festive season!
If you’re away from Newcastle over the Winter break you may be studying in unfamiliar or unusual spaces, which can make it more challenging to concentrate or find your motivation. Procrastination may be a struggle and creating a space, both physical and online, in which to be your most productive is something that many of us find challenging. It may not always be possible, but creating a managed space to study in will help. So what are our tips for creating the perfect study space at home?
1. Select your space
If possible, designate a space as your study environment. It may be your room in a shared house, the kitchen table, office, dining room or a spot in the hallway. Wherever you choose, claim it and make it yours in order to reduce distractions from those you live with and to create a studying mindset.
It can be invaluable to have a ‘work space’ which is separate from the rest of your life and spaces in which you relax. Even if this is simply a cheap desk in your bedroom, having a ‘study spot’ which is dedicated to your academic work will help you create structure and routine, and feel in the studying zone. It also makes for less embarrassment when you turn your camera on in Zoom or Teams.
2. Make it comfortable
While it may be tempting to study from your bed (which we’ve all done!), sitting upright will help you stay alert. Not to mention the benefits for your shoulders, back and neck. Start with a desk or table if you can, as it will allow you to make an organised space and leave your hands free to take notes.
It’s also worth thinking about how you can make the space more comfortable by opening a window for fresh air every so often, and the level of natural light you can introduce. Perhaps think about studying earlier in the day so that the natural brightness helps you stay alert and boosts your mood.
3. Tidy space, tidy mind
A cluttered study space can make it more difficult to focus and introduce unwanted distractions. By filing away your notes and de-cluttering your space at the end of a day, you will be able to start the next day fresh and find the learning materials you need.
This goes for your online spaces too. Think about how and where you keep your assignments, notes and any materials you download from Canvas, to ensure you are able to access the materials as you prepare assignments or revise for exams. Set up folders in One Drive that relate to each module or project you are working on and be sure to keep track of any collaborative work, such as projects in Teams. Managing the information you collect as you study and keeping it organised in some way is an essential study skill. Visit the Managing Information Guide for more tips.
4. Gather some stationery
It’s a simple tip, but keep a pen and paper nearby so that you can make quick notes. This might be jotting down an idea or something to remind yourself about at a later date. Many of you will take your notes digitally and may have a tablet you use within your programme, but having a notebook and pen to hand is a valuable backup. If you prefer handwritten notes, make sure you have a good organisational system so that you are able to retrieve the information you need.
You’ll find lots of useful tips around notetaking on the ASK website.
5. Listen to some music
Some of you may find studying in silence works best for you, while others may need a little background noise to block out distractions. Select a soundtrack for your study that helps you concentrate, with a mixture of mood boosting tracks and songs that are a little more mellow and calming. You’ll find lots of readymade study playlists on streaming services, or you could start with our Library Spotify playlists.
6. Switch off your devices
Many of us will recognise our mobile phone as a significant source of distraction and cause of many unproductive minutes. Switch off your mobile phone, log out of social media accounts on your study device and turn off the TV. This will help you create designated study time as well as space. It will also be a step towards introducing breaks in your study routine.
7. Take breaks
Taking regular breaks and walking away from your study space will help you return feeling refreshed. Why not download the iNCLude App? It has been designed to help you take small steps to improve and maintain your wellbeing, by creating positive habits and helping you focus on more than just your academic studies.
One valuable bonus tip from the WDC about taking breaks:
When you break, take a moment to leave a ‘note to future self’ about where you got to or what you were intending to do next.
Learning remotely is challenging when you have to manage your own time and motivation. Being organised and creating your own plan or timetable can help.
When you begin your study session make sure you have everything you need to hand so that you don’t interrupt your flow. You might want to leave your laptop charger nearby!
Our mobile apps and resources guide also includes some suggestions for apps that can help you be more organised and boost your productivity.
Visit the ASK website for more study and academic skills advice
We have bought several new e-book collections from Bloomsbury and Manchester University Press, complementing and updating our existing collections from these two publishers.
From Bloomsbury, we have bought new collections in:
All the titles are individually catalogued on Library Search, or if you prefer, you can browse them from the publishers’ platforms via the links above. NB If you are browsing any of the Bloomsbury subject collections, under Access, tick Purchased/Open Access.
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.
Enrichment week is a great opportunity to take some time to reflect on your academic skills and practice ahead of completing upcoming end of year assessments.
Throughout Enrichment week the Library and Writing Development Centre are hosting a series of live events that will help you grow and enhance those all-important academic skills. During the week we will be highlighting our very best resources, so you’ll have a host of useful tools and advice at your fingertips.
A good place to start
It’s early days in this semester, so you have time to take a step back and assess your academic skills, review your feedback, and organise your studies. Join the Writing Development Centre for live Q&A sessions on Time Management, and Feedback, or register for the Library’s live session on Developing your Information Skills, which will give you the tools to evaluate and improve your skills:
As you embark on your dissertation there are many ways the Library and Writing Development Centre can advise and support you with your reading, notetaking, searching, and critical thinking. Our two live Dissertation and Literature Review sessions are a great starting point for planning your next steps, while the Write Here, Write Now session will help you kick start your writing. Also check out a fantastic session from our Special Collections and Archives, which highlights you how you can use our collections for your dissertation.
You might feel confident with your academic skills, but maybe some of those abilities could use a little bit of fine-tuning? Take time during Enrichment week to hone your skills with the help of our live sessions. Referencing can easily fall off your list of priorities, so to help you keep on top of all those citations and bibliographies the Library will be looking at common referencing problems and where to find help. Or you might like to perfect your presentations with help from the Writing Development Centre.
The Library has lots of great collections and resources, so when it comes to finding wider reading for your topic or beginning research for your assignment or dissertation it might all seem a bit overwhelming. Library Search can be a great place to start looking for information but there are many other resources you might want to try. To help you get the best out of our resources we’ve put together this list of some of the most useful online databases and collections for Archaeology.
Let’s dive in!
Scopus
Scopus is a large, interdisciplinary database of peer-reviewed literature, providing an index of articles, book chapters, conference papers and trade publications.
One of the main advantages of using Scopus is that it provides a lot of useful information about the articles it indexes. This includes full reference lists for articles and cited reference searching, so you can navigate forward and backward through the literature to uncover all the information relevant to your research. You can also set up citation alerts, so you can be informed of new, relevant material automatically.
https://youtu.be/qCu-obYMFsE
Scopus tutorial: How to expand your search results
Scopus includes other smart tools that can help you track and visualise the research in your area, including author and affiliation searching, visual analysis of search results, a journal analyser, and author identifier tools. You’ll find tutorials and advice on using these features in the Scopus support centre and on their YouTube Channel.
JSTOR
JSTOR provides access to full-text materials including scholarly journals, books and book chapters in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. It has basic and advanced search options that allow you to search by topic keyword, author, subject area, title or publisher.
Take a look at our Get more out of JSTOR blog post to find tips for advanced searching on this database.
Archaeology Data Service Library (ADS)
ADS is a database which brings together material from the British and Irish Archaeological Bibliography (BIAB), the ADS library of unpublished fieldwork reports, as well as documents from the ADS archives and publishers such as Oxbow.
There are three ways to search ADS:
Archsearch – for searching for short records about a monument or historic environment event from the UK.
ADS Library – for a report, book or article about the historic environment of Britain and Ireland.
Find out how to search ADS for a known article in this video guide:
PastScape
The information on PastScape is derived from the National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE) which holds records on the architectural and archaeological heritage of England. The NRHE contains over 420,000 records of archaeological sites and buildings in England and its territorial waters. The record is very broad in scope and contains information on sites dating from prehistoric times to the modern period, from finds of early stone tools to contemporary architecture, from Roman roads to disused railways and 19th century shipwrecks.
Although PastScape is no longer being updated, it is still a useful resource for finding descriptions of sites or buildings, surveys and excavation information and other useful links.
BAR Digital Collection
The BAR Digital Collection 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. 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.
Encyclopedia of Ancient History
The Encyclopedia of Ancient History is a reference work containing a comprehensive collection of 21st century scholarship on the ancient Mediterranean world. Entries span the bronze age through to 10th century Byzantium and extend to all Mediterranean civilisations including the Near East and Egypt. Materials include articles, images and maps of the ancient world. Our video guide below demonstrates how to browse and search for information using the Encyclopedia:
Video Guide to finding information on the Encyclopedia of Ancient History
Abstracts of International Conservation Literature (AATA)
AATA Online is a comprehensive database containing over 150,000 abstracts of journals and conference proceedings related to the preservation and conservation of material cultural heritage, including archaeological sites and materials.
You can browse the database by topic or use the search tab to do a quick keyword search, a more detailed search in particular fields or a text search for a more detailed keyword search.
The results tab allows you to sort items by date, author or title, and export record details to a reference management tool such as EndNote.
Historical Abstracts
Historical Abstracts provides bibliographic records for thousands of journals and books, including several key archaeology journals such as Historical Archaeology, International Journal of Historical Archaeology, International Journal of Nautical Archaeology and World Archaeology. Content covers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present, including world history, military history, women’s history, history of education, and more.
This video explains how to search effectively in EBSCOHost databases such as this one:
https://youtu.be/DjKNxqiuwpY
EBSCOHost Tutorial: Creating an Advanced Search
Aph
l’Année philologique is a bibliographic database, indexing journal articles and book chapters about the classical world, going back to 1924. It’s an excellent resource for researching topics related to Greek and Latin literature and linguistics, Greek and Roman history, art, archaeology, philosophy, religion and more. Our video guide below demonstrates how to find information on l’Année philologique:
Video guide to finding information on l’Année philologique
Box of Broadcasts (BoB)
Box of Broadcasts allows you to access TV and radio broadcasts from over 65 channels, including most of the UK’s Freeview network, all BBC TV and radio content from 2007, and several foreign language channels. It’s a great resource for finding documentaries or critical opinions.
You can view archived programmes, create clips and playlists, and see transcripts to help with citation and translation. You can also search other user’s public playlists to see curated lists around topics similar to your own. There are lots of helpful tutorial videos on the BoB website.
Unfortunately, Box of Broadcasts is not available outside the UK.
Archaeology Subject Guide
This list was just a taster of all the great resources available for your subject area, to access these and to find out more visit your Subject Guide and explore the journals, databases and subject specific resources we’ve curated for Archaeology students.
The Library subscribes to over 57,000 journals and has access to 0.7 million e-books. When you are on campus or use a computer connected to the University network, e-book and e-journal providers will recognise you as a member of the University and allow you access to the resource. You will see the University logo on the page and if you are on things like Google Scholar, you will be given the option to “Find at Newcastle University”. This works because it recognises the IP address of the University.
It all works like magic and it is easy to think that it is all freely available. However, when you’re off campus, working from home or perhaps in a different library, you won’t be automatically recognised. This can cause you some difficulty accessing resources and you’ll probably find that you are locked out of the full-text and asked to pay large amounts for articles.
If you are working off campus, follow our tips to make sure that you are able to access all of the resources that you are entitled to as a member of Newcastle University.
#1 Access the resource from Library Search
If you perform a search in Library Search, you will be automatically prompted to log in to online resources with your University username and password, even when you are off campus. But did you know you can also search it to access whole journal titles and databases, such as Scopus and Web of Science? Access the database through Library Search and you will be prompted to log in, to easily perform your search and download the full-text.
#2 Access the resource from your Subject Guide
As we have access to so many databases and specialist resources, we’ve drawn together the best ones for your discipline on your Subject Guide. Clicking on the links in the Subject Guide will take you through a route that will prompt you to log in with your University username and password.
#3 Access the e-journal in Browzine
Have you created your own journal shelf or downloaded the Browzine app? Browzine is a way of accessing e-journal titles for your subject, and reading the most recent articles just like flicking through a magazine. As you set up your personal account using your University email address, Browzine will always recognise you as a member of the University and give you access to the full-text.
#4 Check the screen for the University logo
We get a lot of enquiries from staff and students who aren’t sure if we have a subscription to a journal or an electronic version of a book. This is sometimes because they are not logged in or have found a reference through a search engine such as Google Scholar. If you are on the website of a journal or a database, the quickest way to check if you are logged in, is to look around the screen to see if you can spot the University logo or name. This is often at the top right or below the search boxes on the homepage of a database or journal/ e-book platform.
Still not working …
There are times when you’ll have done everything right and you are still not recognised as being able to access the resource. In this case, it is always worth trying to log in again within the platform. Look to the top right of the screen for a link that says institutional log in, sign in via your University or it might mention something called Shibboleth. This will allow you to log in with your University username and password.
Try a different web browser, such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge or Firefox.
If you’re in any doubt, you can always chat with us online 24/7 or send us an enquiry via Library Help. We’ll probably ask you to send us a picture of what you can see on screen, as this will help us spot any problems.
