If you discover a book that is not available in the Library, and need access to it on an ongoing basis for your research (e.g. for the dissertation) you can ask the Library to purchase it, please put the details of the book on the book suggestion form 

The majority of books are now available digitally and can usually be acquired quickly. Books can also be purchased in print format if required.

If you just need a chapter from a book, journal article, conference paper, or PhD dissertation, then use the inter-library loan form. Material that is available digitally can usually be supplied rapidly.

Dictionaries and encyclopaedias are helpful places to start your research, as they define & clarify concepts and terminology. Good encyclopaedias will usefully summarise a topic, and they often point to some of the key literature on a topic (follow up these references through the library catalogue).

Do not use free Web reference sources unless they are reputable (ask if in doubt). You may lose marks if you cite unreliable sources. Instead, try the authoritative online resources listed below. The Library has access to Oxford Research Encyclopedias and Oxford Bibliographies Online, which are both excellent sources of information and benefit from new articles being regularly added to them:

SpringerLink is a highly useful resource. Springer is a major academic publisher in Politics & IR, and we have access to reference works in the Humanities & Social Sciences. Some of these encyclopedias are "living reference works" which are regularly updated with new content.

Some well-known online reference sources that may be useful for your research:

Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political Thought / edited by David Miller(Blackwell: 1987)

Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Governance & Politics / edited by Philipp H. Pattberg and Fariborz Zelli (Edward Elgar: 2015)

Encyclopedia of Governance / edited by Mark Bevir (SAGE: 2007)

Encyclopedia of Modern Political Thought / edited by Gregory Claeys (SAGE: 2013)

Encyclopedia of Political Theory / edited by Mark Bevir (SAGE: 2010)

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - highly regarded open access work, regularly updated

World encyclopedia of political systems & parties / edited by Neil Schlager and Jayne Weisblatt. 4th ed. (Facts on File: 2006)

Useful academic reference works across the social sciences more broadly include:

International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. 2nd ed. (Elsevier: 2015)

The Social Science Encyclopedia / edited by Adam & Jessica Kuper (Routledge: 2004)

Encyclopedia of Global Justice / edited by Deen Chatterjee (Springer: 2011)

In addition, browse the range of print reference books at JA 61 on floor 4, or search the catalogue using some general keywords + dictionary, eg. Political Theory Dictionary. Supplement your use of print sources with more recent online sources.

A couple of standard reference works that are particularly useful for background information on countries and international agencies:

Europa World Year Book - held in print form at D 1.E8 on floor 2 (1963-2013)

Political Handbook of the World - held in print form at JA 51 on floor 4 (1978-)

The CIA World Factbook (online) is also a reasonably reliable source of basic information.

After searching some of the reference resources (see above), books are useful for extending your understanding of a topic. All print & online books that the library has access to are listed in the library catalogue. Academic book types include:
1. Introductory textbooks
These are often referred to on your reading lists and you can find many of these online via the Kortext e-textbook platform. There is also a great selection of print copies in the Student Collection on Floor 1 (classmarks JA-JX in particular).

2. Short form books
Popular in recent years, they are brief (so cheaper & faster to publish), and often deal with contemporary topics that appeal to students. The Library has purchased some of these, particularly the Cambridge Elements series available through Cambridge Core, but many other publishers produce them. 

3. Handbooks
These can be highly useful, as they summarise research across a broad subject area and its subfields. A very useful resource are the Oxford Handbooks in Political Science that the Library subscribes to. You can cross-search them for the topic you are interested in. The Library has also purchased many Elgar Handbooks in Politics & Public Policy. Others are available from publishers including Routledge, SAGE, Wiley, Springer Palgrave, etc. To find them, use keyword "handbook" in library search and a few general keywords on your topic area.

4. Other academic books
The library subscribes to the Oxford Scholarship Online collection of ebooks in Politics & other subjects. We also purchase individual print and ebook titles. Note also the growing number of open access titles published on the well-known e-International Relations website.

 

The library search does include the contents/chapter details of some books. Google Books or Amazon Books can be helpful in finding out the contents details of specific books. Browsing the library shelves is a good way of finding relevant material, as books on similar topics are shelved together. A summary of the classification is given below.