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Additional online information resources for your subject

How to find and access our online resources to support your studies

Library Search gives you access to all the e-books and journal articles that we have access to. However, we also have many more resources that go beyond Library Search. These include databases, where you can search the journal literature more widely available, and subject-specific primary sources, such as video/film resources, mapping databases, and image/anatomy databases.

Please note that to access the following you will first need to log into StudyNet with your Herts username and password.   

The Subject Toolkits on the Online Library page (scroll down to the bottom) in Studynet give you access to subject-specific resources. They are arranged by general subject. Check the resources on your subject toolkit to see if there is anything specific you need to know about access to those resources. For example, British Standards requires FileOpen plugin to download reports.

Don't forget to access your module reading list via your Canvas module for all your essential, recommended, and background reading for your course. 
We’re digitising as many essential chapters and articles as possible as well as increasing ebook versions of the most popular textbooks.

General subject Toolkit - Discover key reference sources

List of the information Managers

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

  • Cambridge Dictionaries Online. Dictionaries for learners of English around the world. 
  • Chambers. Search Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, the Chambers Thesaurus or the Chambers Biographical Dictionary.
  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Collection of over 57,000 specially written biographies of people worldwide who shaped all aspects of Britain's past.
  • Oxford English Dictionary. The definitive English dictionary that lists the meanings, history and pronunciation of over 500,000 English words.definitions of current words and their historical evolution.

Geographic Information

  •   Digimap Access information about UK maps and geospatial data. We have access to all the datasets which include:
    • Ordnance Survey -wide range of maps ranging across many scales
    • Historic - originals of maps which were published between 1846 and 1996
    • Geology - range of geological map data from the British Geological Survey
    • Marine - Raster Nautical charts and Marine Themes vector data
    • Environment - Land Cover data from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
    • Aerial - has uses in coastal zone studies, archaeology, urban studies and town planning, historical studies looking at change over time and habitat change
    • Lidar - accurate model of the earth’s surface
    • Global - global datasets in cartographic styles 
    • Society - census and socio-economic data for Great Britain
    • Pilot - experimental data sets 
    • Geomni - geospatial property data and land use maps
    • agCensus- Agricultural Censuses of England, Scotland and Wales
    • You will need to register and verify your email address before being able to access these resources. 
  • Google Maps
  • Old Maps Online. Search engine for historical maps.

Grey Literature

BASE is one of the world's biggest search engines for academic open access web resources. BASE is operated by Bielefeld University Library, in Germany.

Discovery is the catalogue of the UK National Archive: the official archive and publisher for the UK government, containing over 11 million government and public records dating back over 1,000 years.

GreyNet The website of Grey Literature Network Service founded in 1992. This website links to many sources of grey literature - see the Grey Source index for ideas of where to search. 

See also the General Reference toolkit and sources listed on the health toolkit.

Images, Sounds and Videos

Magazines

  • Magazine titles available at UH can be found using the A-Z of Journals.
  • Magazine articles can be found by searching Library Search and filtering by Magazine Article or Trade Publication.
  • Magazines in digital format are available via Exact Editions are: AnOther man, Dazed, Resurgence and the Ecologist.  
  • Print titles are available in the Periodicals section of the Learning Resources Centres and filed alphabetically.  

Newspapers

Current UK and International News

  • Gale OneFile: News is the main provider of current and international news.  Access to more than 2,300 major world newspapers, and includes thousands of images, radio and TV broadcasts and transcripts. Including selected titles:
    The Economist
    The Guardian
    The Times

Other sources of news content

Historical UK and Regional Newspaper Archives

  •  Gale NewsVault provides cross-searching of historical newspapers and individual Collections included in Gale NewsVault:
    19th Century British Newspapers. National and regional newspapers, Penny papers (aimed at the masses) and images/illustrations.
    19th Century UK Periodicals. Covers the events, lives, values and themes that shaped the 19th century world. Includes women, children, humour and leisure/sport and charts the rapid rise of publishing in a reading culture expanding through a rise in literacy and leisure and an explosion of sports and hobbies.
    17th and 18th Century Burney Collection. London and English provincial, Irish and Scottish newspapers, and a few examples from the American colonies, Europe and India.

Official Information

  • ESO: European Sources Online. Provides access to information on the institutions and activities of the European Union, the countries, regions and other international organisations of Europe, and on issues of importance to European researchers, citizens and stakeholders.

  • GOV.UK Provides a quick way to find UK Government publications. Use the search box in the Publications section to find a document.   Departments link from the top menu bar to find links to other websites.The links from the legislation.gov.uk website may also be useful.

  • Discovery is the catalogue of the UK National Archives: the official archive and publisher for the UK government, containing over 11 million government and public records dating back over 1,000 years. Use Discovery to search for records held by the National Archives and around 2,500 archives and institutions across the UK. Many records can be downloaded.

Statistical data 

A selection of statistical sources and official data.

Subject Toolkits

Search the Online Library for more resources and see recommended specialist databases listed in Subject Toolkits

Research Skills Support

Go to the Library SkillUP module to develop your research skills, from basic to more advanced literature searching techniques, essay writing and referencing guidelines.

 Hertfordshire Public Libraries provide access to online reference sources for residents.  UH students can register here. 

Contact Us

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