Library guides and databases: Economics: Books and E-books

Books and e-books

The principle collection of economics books is located in the Main Library, 1st floor, south end, Wilkins Building.

Explore is the principal tool to find books, journals and other materials (either in print or in electronic format) held in UCL libraries. From Explore, you will find the location details of the materials you are looking for: library site, collection and shelfmark.

The Library has its own classification scheme for arranging books on the shelves. Typically, a book will have a shelfmark which begins with the name of the subject (corresponding to the section of the Library in which the book can be found), followed by letters and numbers denoting its position on the shelves within that section; e.g.

ECONOMICS N 35 PEA for a book on environmental economics
ECONOMICS R 14 OSB for a book on game theory

Other collections

History: includes an extensive collection on economic and social history.
Law: includes material on the European Union and legal systems.
Public Policy: covers aspects of political science and the formulation of government policy.

Geography: is particularly useful for additional material on development, globalisation and the environment.
Management: contains textbooks on company finance and accounting.

Bartlett Library: has substantial material on topics such as housing, planning and local authority finance.
School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) library: includes major holdings on the economies and history of Russia, the Baltics and Central, Eastern and South-East Europe.

Stores service

Stores service
The UCL Library off-site store is a closed access collection which houses important research material not currently in high demand. Users can request store material for delivery to a number of UCL's libraries.

How can you tell if a book is available online?

On UCL Explore, you can look at the results of your search to quickly discover if a book is available in print or/and online: View Online means that the book is available electronically, while Available means that the book is available in print. In some cases a book is available both in print and online.

Consult introductory material or general reference works for a broad overview of your issue or topic, and to identify key concepts, theories and researchers in the field. Introductory material may include:

subject or discipline specific dictionaries and encyclopaedias
handbooks
companions
introductions
guides
histories

Find introductory material in Explore by combining a topic keyword with one of the material type descriptors above, e.g. handbook development economics. Elsevier's Handbooks in Economics series provides high-level summaries of recent advances in research literature.

These are some examples of introductory material available for Economics in the Library. The list is not extensive, and you should perform your own searches to see what else is available in our collections.

Dictionary of Economics This authoritative dictionary covers all aspects of economics including theory, policy, and applied micro and macroeconomics on a global scale. An essential book for professional economists as well as for students and teachers of economics, business, and finance.
New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics Online The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics is available as a dynamic online resource. Written by leading figures in the field including many Nobel prize winners, this is the definitive scholarly reference work for a new generation of economists.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance The Oxford Research Encyclopedias (OREs) are comprehensive collections of in-depth overview articles on both foundational and cutting-edge research topics within a particular discipline. Written, peer-reviewed and updated by leading scholars in the field, the articles are designed to be read in 30 minutes or less.

Finding e-books in Explore

A brief guide to finding and accessing e-books via UCL Explore.

Search Explore

Check out our Explore guide to find out more about how to use Explore for your research.

Explore guide

Suggest a purchase

Suggest a purchase
Is there a book or resource you would like to see in our collection? Perhaps you've noticed something missing on your reading list? Please let us know by filling out our suggest a purchase form.

ReadingLists@UCL

ReadingLists @UCL is an online service that gives students easy access to materials on their reading lists wherever they are, and allows academic staff to create and update their own reading lists.

ReadingLists@UCL webpages