Humanities
Guide to Shelfmarks
Electronic Books
Key Reference Books
Online Bibliographical Databases
Other Useful Library Resources
Useful Web Links
Guide to Shelfmarks
The main collections of books can be found on the 4th and 5th floor of the Library.
Books in heavy demand are placed in the Short Loan Collection on the ground floor. The Short Loan Collection contains 1 day loan and 3 hour loan books; 7 day loan books are shelved with the ordinary loan books on the upper floors.
Use the Library catalogue to find the exact shelfmark and location for each book. If you are searching for books on a particular topic, use a keyword search.
Archaeology: 930-939
Art History: 7-709
Environment: 577.4
Literature: 800-829
History: 900-942
Electronic Books
You can use the Electronic Books page to access eBooks on Humanities. The most useful collections will be the Ebrary and NetLibrary collections.
Some other useful ebooks packages are:
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
An illustrated collection of more than 50,000 specially written biographies of the men and women who shaped all aspects of Britain's past, from the fourth century BC to the year 2001.
Credo Reference includes searchable encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri and books of quotations, as well as a range of subject-specific reference books such as the Thames and Hudson Dictionary of Art and Artists, The Bloomsbury Dictionary of English Literature, Dictionary of British History
There are also links from reading list titles on the Library catalogue to electronic versions of the text - look for "e-link".
Key Reference Books
- A glossary of literary terms 8(03) ABR
- Contemporary dramatists 8.2 BER
- Contemporary novelists 8.32 CON
- Contemporary poets 8.1 CHE
- Dictionary of art 7.03 DIC
- Dictionary of Historical terms 93(03) COO
- Encyclopedia of Romanticism 7.035 (03) ENC
- New Cambridge Bibliography of English literature 820.16 ENC
- Oxford Companion to English literature Quick Reference 820.9 OXF
- Times atlas of world history 911 OVE
Online Bibliographical Databases
Online databases are the best way to find out what journal articles have been published on a particular topic. Some databases will link to the full text of articles, others will only supply bibliographic details. Important databases for Humanities students will be:
Arts & Humanities Citation Index (via the Web of Knowledge) : this database indexes over 1,100 of the world's leading arts and humanities journals, from 1981 onwards.
JSTOR Arts & Science Collections: is a collection of full text journals, most going back to Volume 1, Issue 1 (in some cases going back to the 18th or 19th Century). Many subjects are covered across the Sciences, Social Sciences and Arts & Humanities. It indexes 8 Performance Art Journals.
BHI: British Humanities Index: From 1962 onwards. BHI indexes over 320 humanities journals and weekly magazines published in the UK and other English speaking countries, as well as quality newspapers published in the UK.
IngentaConnect: Provides details of articles from over 28,000 publications
Project Muse: Provides full-text access to over 300 humanities and social sciences journals from over 60 scholarly publishers.
LION (Literature Online): The full text of over 18,000 works of English and American poetry, drama and prose, 228 full-text literature journals, and other key criticism and reference resources
Early English Books Online (EEBO) contains digital facsimile page images of virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700
Other Useful Library Resources
Newspapers
The Library takes certain daily British broadsheet newspapers. Recent copies are on the 1st floor of the Library and older copies are kept on the 2nd floor.
British newspapers can also be read electronically. See the Online databases page for a link to Infotrac or Lexis Library.
Times Digital Archive, 1785-1985: The complete digital edition of The Times (London) capturing the entire newspaper, with all articles, advertisements and illustrations/photos divided into categories to facilitate searching.
Also of interest may be The Times (1910-1999) and The Sunday Times (1970-1999) which are held on microform on the 2nd floor of the Library.
Videos/DVD's
The video and DVD collections are kept on the 2nd floor east of the Library.
For DVD's take the box to the Issue Desk counter where staff will provide you with the DVD. Some Videos and DVD's are 1 day loans, some will also be Library Use Only.
Watch Videos/DVD'S in:
- The AV Room on the 2nd Floor - DVD's and Video's - No booking needed. (Headphones need to be obtained form the Lending Services Desk)
- IT Area 5 on the 4th Floor. (Please use Headphones)
- The Small Meeting Room in Splash on the 3rd floor. Viewing of DVD's only. For groups of up to 6. (book at the Splash Desk on the 3rd Floor).
If you are searching for a video or DVD on a particular topic, use a keyword search on the Library catalogue.
Good Study Guides
- The good study guide 378.147226 NOR
- How to write essays 808.042 CLA
- How to write better essays 808.042 GRE
- Studying for a degree in the Humanities and Social Sciences 378.170281 DUN
- Write great essays 808.066/ LEV
- Excellent Dissertations 808.066378 / LEV
Guides to Referencing
Look at the help pages provided by the University of Surrey.
Further guides are available from:
University of Birmingham and Bournemouth University (especially useful for citing electronic references.)
Also look at Pears, R. Cite them right: referencing made easy (Newscastle Upon Tyne: Northumbria University Press, 2008) which is available in the Library at 808.027 PEA
Useful Web Links
Gateways
Intute: Arts & Humanities: A gateway to first class Creative Arts and Humanities websites for higher education students (formed from the merging of HUMBUL and Artifact).
BUBL : Selected Internet resources covering all academic subject areas
Other Libraries
You may wish to search the catalogues of other libraries.
COPAC : Access to the merged online catalogues of 24 major University research libraries in the UK and Ireland, plus the British Library, National Library of Scotland and National Library of Wales.
General Internet Sites
Archaeology
Council for British Archaeology: Organisation that promotes knowledge, appreciation and care of the historical environment.
English Heritage : Excellent site covering all aspects of teh work of English Heritage
Institute of Field Archaeologists : The professional organisation for archaeologists working in the UK
Surrey Archaeological Society : Information about archaeological activities in Surrey.
Art History
Art History : Resources on the web : Extensive and comprehensive guide arranged by historical period and geographic region.
Art Guide : Internet guide to museums and galleries in the UK
Art History Resources on the Web
Art History Libraries in London
Voice of the Shuttle : Comprehensive listing of electronic art resources (modern and contemporary)
English Literature
Literary resources on the Web : Extensive listing of literary websites arranaged by period
Voice of the Shuttle : is a comprehensive listing of electronic literature resources
History
British Association for Local History : A national organisation promoting the importance of local history
Institute for Historical Research : Access to the Institute's online database of 40,000 records, including articles, books and research papers
Bibliography of British and Irish History : Academic society formed to promote scholarly study of the past. Access to bibliographies and articles
For further information please contact
Gill Downham
Academic Liaison Librarian - English, Languages and Translation Studies and Music and Sound Recording
T: 01483 68 3351
E: g.downham@surrey.ac.uk
Room number: 02 LC 02