International Relations

Page contents > Introduction | Locating Books | Locating journals | Locating journal articles | Locating quick reference works | Electronic Resources for International Relations | Electronic books | Theses | Working Papers | Institutional Repositories | Conference papers | Internet sites | Special Collections | Primary Sources | Archives | Newspapers | Government material | Data | Useful information and aids for International Relations students | Accessing other libraries | Citing and referencing | Obtaining Further Help | Collection policy | Contact Details

Introduction

• This page will help you to get started in looking for information on your topic. It covers the basics in a systematic way:  locating books, locating journals, locating journal articles, locating theses, research being done, electronic resources including websites and working papers, conference papers, archives, newspapers and government publications 
• There is also a  selection of useful student resources for International Relations including some basic information skills online tutorials.  Further information on information skills training is available here.

Locating Books

• The place to start is the Library Catalogue.  To help you, why not try the Library Catalogue tutorial
• The Catalogue includes printed and electronic books held by the Library
• Searches can be done by searching everything, author, title, journal title, subject, classmark, series and Boolean. 
• The default search is "Quick search" which ranks according to relevance in favour of author and title
• If you are searching via keywords it is better to use the "Advanced search" option
• You can also limit by material type
• Each item has a map available showing the location of the material
• All books have a classmark, made up of letters, then numbers and finally a filing suffix                 
• The main broad subjects for International Relations and their classmarks are:

• International Relations material from JC - JN is located on the 2nd floor and from JX - UH is on the 1st floor. Other classmarks can be found using the Library floorplan 

Reading lists

• There is a separate Course Collection for essential and background readings on reading lists that is only accessible by LSE staff and students in term time.  Some background readings may be located as Recommended Texts in the Main Collection. 
• You can short-cut the searching for reading list books by clicking on the 'Reading lists'  link on the  Library Catalogue

Books not held at LSE

• You can look for books in other libraries using a number of the different catalogues listed here
  
• Use the Inter-Library Lending system for books that you cannot easily get to yourself by clicking on the "Requests and inter-lending" button on the Library Catalogue and select the "Request a book from another library" option
  

Locating journals

• To find printed and electronic versions of a particular journal title, choose "Find Results In: Journal Title Browse" on the Library Catalogue "Quick Search" screen. If the Library subscribes to both formats, there will be one entry for the printed version and one for the e-version
• The printed version will have a classmark on the catalogue record.  Click on the floor symbol where it says "Map" to view its location in the Main Collection
• To access the e-version, click on the "Click here for full text" link in the catalogue record for the title that has "Electronic resource" as its sub-title. Alternatively, go to the Journals page via the Electronic Resources link on the Library home page for full-text electronic journals. You can search alphabetically, by title, by subject or by ISSN.  These can be accessed via your LSE username and password
• Key titles in printed or electronic format (click on the title to access) are:

Journals not held at LSE

• If LSE does not have the printed or electronic version of a journal then you can check to see if other libraries have it using a number of different catalogues as listed here
• Use the Inter-Library Lending system for journal articles that you cannot easily get to yourself by clicking on the "Requests and inter-lending" button on the Library Catalogue and select the "Request a journal from another library" option

Locating journal articles

Locating journal articles can be done either through the website of a resource or by using a search across multiple resources. Do not assume a simple Google search will find all articles - the Library provides powerful searches which include Google Scholar and more.

• The Library provides a searching service for LSE staff and students called Cross Searcher that searches the content of a number of selected databases and resources. This can be used to find journal articles, and where available, links through to the full text, using the LSE article finder orange button:
• Article databases, including those in Cross Searcher and many more, are also listed on the Library Catalogue.
• Click here to see databases relevant to International Relations.
• One of the main databases, IBSS, has a subject guide for International Relations
• On the Ejournals page you can search for individual ejournals by title or ISSN. You can also browse ejournal titles by subject or choose from a list of major ejournal databases. LSE Staff and students will need to use their LSE username and password to access these.

Locating quick reference works

The Reference Collection| on the First floor contains dictionaries, directories, encyclopaedias etc.  For International Relations look for classmarks mostly beginning JX and JZ.

Electronic Resources for International Relations

The Electronic Resources page contains information on all of the electronic resources the Library has access to. 

All subscription and important resources are listed on the Library Catalogue|,  and some are searchable via Cross Searcher|. There are also many web resources that can be accessed using the Library's Delicious account| or using the Delicious tag cloud on the Free Resources on the Web page|.  A selection of the top resources is shown below:

Electronic books

The Library has a growing number of electronic book suppliers as shown on the list here. They are accessible to LSE staff and students by using their network username and password.  Our main electronic book suppliers for International Relations are:

• Brookings Institution Press Books Online
• My iLibrary
• Oxford Scholarship Online.
• Rand Publications Online

Theses

Theses are a valuable resource in terms of research.  The Library only holds LSE PhD and MPhil thesis.  These can be located via the Library Catalogue| using the follow method:

•  Turn the "Quick limit" box to read "Theses"
• Enter either the title in "Title browse" if you have it or the name of the department in the "Quick Search"

There are several databases available via the Databases page that contain details of UK and international doctoral thesis completed or in progress.

Working Papers

Theses are one way of accessing research currently being undertaken.  Working papers are another important source.  The list below contains a selection of working paper sites for International Relations

Institutional Repositories

Institutional repositories are becoming increasingly important as a source of information regarding research being undertaken by academics and students in universities worldwide.  LSE Research Online| is the LSE repository, including full text where available.

Conference papers

• ZETOC - Index to conference papers 1992- . No full-text, simply tells you where to find the paper concerned eg: in a book or journal
  

Internet sites

The internet is a valuable research tool.  The sites mentioned below are pre-selected, high-quality web links.  It is possible to find others via search engines such as Google.|

Special Collections

Within the Library there are a number of special collections that may be of interest:

• Pamphlet Collection.  There are a number of collections that make up this collection overall.  Some of those relating to the 19th Century have recently been digitised and will be available for use in the near future
• Government
• Intergovernmental Organisations (IGO)

Primary Sources

You might also be interested in using primary sources, especially when it comes to doing your dissertation. Primary sources include newspapers, government material and statistical data

Archives

• Check out the LSE Archives pages to see what is available here and nationally/internationally
• LSE Archives has a subject page for International History and Relations

Newspapers

• The Library takes a selection of newspapers though few go back beyond 1981.  The main exceptions are  The Times, , the Financial Times, Le Monde and Die Zeit.  These are available in microfilm.  The Times is also available electronically via the Times Digital Archive 1785-1985
• A wider range of full-text newspapers going back to 1981 is available electronically via Nexis.  This does not contain  images, statistics, graphs, charts and advertisements. To see these, you will have to use the microfilm versions or go to the British Library Newspaper Library (see below)
• The British Library Newspaper Library at Colindale has back-runs of London, British provincial and some overseas newspapers

Government material

• Government publications contain a range of information and come in a number of forms.  These include reports of working parties, committee, commissions and departments.  Parliamentary and assembly related publications and papers are also valuable resources
• The Library holds extensive collections of government and intergovernmental material, most of it dating from the early Nineteenth Century onwards which can be found on the Library Catalogue .  Some material like parliamentary papers, US, EU "COM" and UN documents are not catalogued
• The Library is a European Documentation Centre, with a collection of European Union official publications such as legislation, consultation documents,  European Court of Justice judgements and reports. Material is located on the 1st floor in either the  International Organisations Collection under the classmark EC or in the Main Collection under KJC and KJE respectively. 
• British Government publications include Parliamentary debates, bills, statutes, government reports and consultation papers. Parliamentary papers are on the Lower Ground floor. Recent departmental publications are held on the first floor, with older ones on the Lower Ground.
• United States Federal Government publications have been received since 1903 and are complemented by Congressional documents and reports in the Congressional Serial Set on the Lower Ground Floor.  Most of the latter are not catalogued so please visit the Help Desk for help in locating them
• The Library has been a United Nations depository since 1946. This link points towards electronic UN documents as well as to the printed ones held by the Library.
• Further help and information relating to this type of information can be found be either visiting the Help Desk on the 1st Floor or visiting the Government and inter-governmental publications page.  More detailed guides for the UN and US  are also available in electronic format

Data

• If you are interested in data then have a look at our Data Library pages. You will see information about searching for data and the scope of our collection.
• You can also try our Data Companion in Moodle.

Useful information and aids for International Relations students

There are a number of resources available that help to support students studying subjects related to International Relations.  These include:

Accessing other libraries

• Information regarding access to LSE staff and students can be found by using the Using other libraries' page.
• You are entitled to borrow from the Senate House Library - take your LSE ID card along with you. This also gives you access to their online databases.
• Borrowing from other libraries is possible for LSE part-time masters students, research students and staff using the SCONUL access card that permits borrowing  from member institutions.  This can be obtained at the Help Desk on the 1st floor. 

Citing and referencing

• Once you have found your references, remember that you must cite them correctly. The Library has a useful collection of online guides on this. They include a podcast. Refer to the Departmental handbook or your tutor for guidance on which style to use.  A selected list is shown below:

• If you have a large number of references keep track of them using EndNote bibliographic software. Use EndNote works with word to format your references automatically. You can also export references automatically from many online databases. The library offers regular training courses on this software

Obtaining Further Help

Further help can be obtained via a number of different methods:

• Check the Library home page
• See the guides and staff at the Help Desk on the 1st floor for both Library and IT inquiries
• Use the Web enquiry form which we aim to respond to within 2 working days
• Take a Library skills course - see our our Information Skills  page to book.
• Try the Moodle courses The Library Companion for Students and The Library Companion for Researchers

Collection policy

• The International Relations collection policy indicates what the Library aims to collect in relation to this subject, it's comprehensiveness and depth.  The policy is reviewed in consultation with academic staff every few years.

Contact Details

• The Library contact for the Department of International Relations is Clive Wilson.
• E-Mail
• Phone: 020 7955 7475