Here is a quick guide to start finding materials in the library. For a more detailed guide, explore the various tabs on the left-hand side. Once you've collected your materials and you're ready for citing sources in your essay, see the Referencing tab.
Search in the SOAS Library catalogue. If you already know what book you are looking for, try searching by title first, and if you're getting too many results, add the author's name, publisher and/or publication year to narrow it down. You can do this in the advanced search. If you are looking for books on a particular topic, search by keywords, and filter results by format.
If you know the article you are looking for, search for the article title and author in the library catalogue. If you find that the article is not coming up, try searching for the journal title. Once you've located the journal, look at the list of all issues, then find the right year, volume, issue and page number. If you're just wanting to find out what articles have been written on a particular topic, search by keywords, and filter results by format.
SOAS Library has the print edition on Level E. The current year's issues can be found in Stack 78, while older issues (2021 - ) are shelved in Stack 64. The call number is Lee Per 60 /2186, and you can find more details on the SOAS library catalogue.
SOAS students and staff have the option to access the electronic version via Senate House Library. Sign up for membership using your SOAS email address.
How do I find financial and company data?
The library subscribes to the following databases for market research:
There are also free resources available online.
The British Library's Business & IP Centre (BIPC) also provides free access to free access to their collections of business and intellectual property information, industry reports and insights.
Search other academic UK libraries’ holdings using Jisc Library Hub.
Once you've located the material in another library, you then have two options:
1. Go visit the library (SCONUL Access)
First, request a SCONUL letter from SOAS Library. Next, check the website of the library you want to visit and follow their registration instructions. *Some libraries have a special relationship with SOAS, and so you don't need a SCONUL letter, For example:
2. Have the material sent to SOAS library (Interlibrary loan service).
SOAS library will borrow material from other libraries on your behalf. Materials sent to SOAS Library are reference only. If you only need a chapter or an article, the lending library may be able to scan the section and send it to your email. Please note there is a £5 fee for this service.
If the material is not available at other libraries, or it is essential to your coursework / you believe it would benefit other SOAS members, please recommend the book to the library by filling out the form, or by emailing your subject librarian.
I need help finding material for my assignments
Don't hesitate to contact your subject librarian.
