Specialist materials: primary sources

1. Specialist materials: primary sources

2. Outline the value of primary sources and how these relate to their research topic including: Assessing primary sources such as newspapers, official publications, archives and data to determine if they are appropriate sources for their research topic Locate, access and use these materials effectively Demonstrate awareness of how to cite and manage these sources. Today’s session

3. Data Collections Microdata - Large scale government surveys, longitudinal data and opinion polls Aggregated Data - Socio economic indicators from organizations such as OECD, EUROSTAT, IMF, World Bank. Financial Databases - Information on markets, companies, exchange rates Geographic Information Resources, GIS - Covering EU admin boundaries and Ordnance Survey data

4. Popular Data Sources • Datastream • Bloomberg • World Development Indicators (via ESDS) • Global Market Information Database • WRDS • OECDiLibrary ..among many others. All can be found on the Library Catalogue

5. And… • International Data Centres and Statistical Institutes • Free Data! • http://delicious.com/lselibrary • IGOs such as World Bank, Eurostat or OECD or IMF

6. ESDS International • Aggregate and survey international datasets. Examples include: • Eurostat • ILO Key Indicators of the Labour Market • IMF International Financial Statistics • OECD International Migration Statistics • World Bank World Development Indicators • European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions datasets • Eurobarometer Survey Series • European Social Survey

7. Access, licences, red tape • Most recent data is available online – LSE username and password • Some on Data PCs only (first floor at Help Desk) • Some on CD-ROM only • Historical statistics (pre 1960 approx.) are more likely to be found in print • All our data is licensed for research and academic purposes only • Assume data cannot be shared with people from other institutions without permission

8. Data – be prepared… • Plan ahead! Finding the right data can take time. • Talk to colleagues in your department – they might have tried to do what you’re trying before, or know certain systems well. • Remember not all data actually exists – if you can, be flexible

9. Newspapers • Why are newspapers important? • What sort of information do they contain • Text or images? • Other resources

10. Nexis UK for News UK National & Local International Text only-no images Times Digital archive 1785-1985 Scanned newspapers Search by date, keyword, article type Access via Library Catalogue Also: Mideast Wire Peoples Daily Current Digest of the Post Soviet Press online Latin America Database Historical collections Free resources via Delicious Databases at LSE

11. British Library • British Library Newspaper Library atColindale • UK National & Regional • International • Microfilm or CDROM - will contain images • BL online services at St. Pancras • Colindale being merged into St. Pancras

12. Nexis • UK daily Newspapers from 1980 onwards. Also includes current awareness magazines (e.g. Economist) and newswire services • Major Foreign newspapers most from 1980 onwards • Files are usually updated daily. However in some cases (e.g. Financial Times) stories are embargoed for 24 Hours • Photographs, graphs and original visual layouts are not available on the database. If you require these you must use an alternative source.

13. Nexis Tips • Lexis automatically searches for most regular plural terms eg city would find city, cities, city's and cities'. • However, it will not automatically find the plural form of words that end in "us" or "is", or other irregular plural forms. • For example, bonus will not find not find bonuses and child would not find children. In these case you need to search for child or children

14. More tips Results • Using In the Headline or Major Mentions • ensures that your hits will have greater relevance • useful for when your search is likely to retrieve a great number of articles. • List of results displayed gives only brief details. To view the full article, click on the highlighted title of the article. Views • To see the full text of an article, click on the document title in either List or Expanded List in the drop down menu at the top left hand side of the screen. • Expanded List shows the same information as List but also shows your search terms in context. • This view can help you decide whether the article is relevant to your research topic.

15. Financial Times • From the home screen select the cream sources tab. • Then select Find sources and search for Financial Times. • This will retrieve several titles. Select Financial Times (London) • Select OK - this will reload the search screen entering the FT in the select Sources Field. • If you want to cross search the FT with other newspapers, choose the Sources tab > Browse sources > Newspapers • On this screen is an a-z list of Single Sources. You can then tick the boxes next to the titles you need and select OK. • The search screen will now reload. Check that the titles you want to search are entered in the sources box.

16. Official publications • Wide range of materials produced by national governments or intergovernmental organisations (IGOs) • Statistics • Proceedings / meeting records • Reports of activities • Legal documents • Consultation papers / proposals for reform • Country profiles

17. United Kingdom Image: front page of a House of Lords official report, November, 6, 2007 Subscription resource: no Amendments: 1) cropped to exclude browser window

18. Collections • United Kingdom print holdings are extensive - go back to the earliest days of parliament. Our UK holdings mainly fall into three categories: • Parliamentary papers – these are documents that support the work of parliament such as reports of committees • Hansard – this is the verbal record of the debate within parliament. It is held in print format and online from 1803-2005 is available. • Departmental publications - these can be annual reports, responses to government policy etc.

19. Key online resources • Public Information Online, 2006 - • House of Commons Parliamentary Papers – 3 centuries to 2003-04 includes Bills, Command Papers, HC papers, Accounts, Reports

20. United States Image: front page of an hearing from the US committee of foreign affairs, May, 8, 1990 Amendments: 1) cropped to exclude browser window

21. US Government • LSE - US federal depository since 1903 Main holdings include: • Congressional documents including committee hearings • Serials Set • Public papers of the president But majority of this collection cannot be located using the Library Catalogue. Key finding tool: US GPO Contact Library for specialist help.

22. International Organizations Image: front page of a UN Security council session (Repot of the Secretary-General on the United Nations mission of observers in Prevlaka Edited: Yes

23. Why use IGO materials? • Practical - often based on field experience (more authoritative?) • Timely (not slowed by peer review process) • Trans-national viewpoint (global governance issues) • Primary source materials (documents, meeting records)

24. IGO • Produce comparable (harmonised) statistical data • IGO programmes affect government programmes – produce information for planning, research, and decision making; affect national legislation; people’s lives (labour standards; health, transport, communications standards)

25. IGO • Each IGO has its own agenda and its own values to promote (e.g. “Washington concensus”) • Objectivity? • IGO research often contracted out to academics • IGO material is just one type researchers need to use. • Numerous IGOs with output not necessarily aimed at academic or public usage • Enormous range of roles and structures

26. Tracking down Archives Think broadly and widely What terms could be relevant? Organisations, individuals, events

27. The National Archives The National Archives: its own catalogue and research guides. Includes animated guides: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/quick-animated-guides.htm Podcasts: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/podcasts/default.htm Cabinet papers, 1915-79 National Register of Archives: location of archives by person/organisation. Links to other resources such as: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ARCHON A2A: Access to archives AIM25: archives in London and the M25 area Archiveshub: archives in the UK

28. Looking further afield… Some outside the UK: UNESCO Archives portal Repositories of primary sources (University of Idaho) MICHAEL Directory of online resources from archives, libraries, museums across Europe. For other resource discovery sites see: LSE Archives other archival resources

29. Visiting a reading room Contact in advance Opening hours? Registration and rules? Availability and ordering? Copying policies? Take detailed notes Allow yourself plenty of time

30. Conclusions • These materials all have special characteristics • Important to understand the resources and the organisations or governments that produce them • Do follow up with your Academic Support Librarian for further assistance with your research area.

31. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.