Guides and databases: Geography: Databases

Key databases

UCL Library Services subscribes to many electronic databases which provide access to a variety of resources. The most relevant ones for Geography are listed on this page and these include:

Key databases for journal articles

ASSIA Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts
ASSIA covers the literature of health, social services, psychology, sociology, economics, politics, race relations and education. The database abstracts and indexes over 500 journals and periodicals from 19 countries, including the UK and US
EconLit
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to EBSCOhost. This database can be accessed by no more than 4 users at a time. Index of international publications on economics, with selected abstracts.
GEOBASE
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. This database can be accessed by no more than 4 users at a time. Index of literature in the fields of physical and human geography, geology, oceanography, geomechanics, mineralogy, ecology and development studies.
GeoRef
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Index of literature in the geosciences. See GeoRef InProcess for provisional content.
GreenFILE
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to EBSCOhost. Index of scholarly, government and general-interest publications, covering all aspects of human impact on the environment.
IBSS: International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (ProQuest)
Index of literature in the social sciences and related subjects.
JSTOR
Archive of important scholarly journals. Core resource. Accessibility statement for JSTOR.
ProQuest Central
ProQuest Central is the largest multidisciplinary database with over 11,000 titles, with over 8,000 titles in full-text. Over 160 subjects areas are covered including business and economics, health and medical, news and world affairs, technology, social sciences and more. Accessibility statement for ProQuest Central.
ScienceDirect
Information source for scientific, technical, and health research. Contains full-text scientific database offering journal articles and book chapters from nearly 3,800 journals and more than 35,000 books. Accessibility statement for ScienceDirect.
SCOPUS
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Scopus. Multi-disciplinary database containing references to journal articles, conference proceedings, trade publications, book series and web resources. Please use IE 8 or higher, Google Chrome or Firefox browsers.
Sociological Abstracts
This Indexing and Abstracting database covers the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Pulled from nearly 2,000 serial publications, including journal articles, conference papers, books, dissertations.
Web of Science
A multidisciplinary database containing references to journal articles, conference proceedings, trade publications, book series and web resources.

Key databases for primary sources

Archives Unbound
Cross-search with other Gale/Cengage primary sources in Gale Primary Sources. Archives Unbound presents topically-focused digital collections of historical documents covering a broad range of topics from the Middle Ages forward--from Witchcraft to World War II to twentieth-century political history.
Border and Migration Studies Online
Border and Migration Studies Online is a collection that explores and provides historical background on more than thirty key worldwide border areas, including: U.S. and Mexico; the European Union; Afghanistan; Israel; Turkey; The Congo; Argentina; China; Thailand; and others. Accessibility statement for Border and Migration Studies Online.
British Association for the Advancement of Science (Collections on the History of Science: 1830-1970): BAAS
The Archive of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS) spans a wide variety of interdisciplinary research areas, and supports educational needs in a broad range of subjects and disciplines including the History of Science, Life Sciences; Physical Sciences; Mathematics; Engineering; Area Studies; Colonial, Post-Colonial & Decolonisation Studies; Development Studies; Environmental Degradation; Historical Sociology; Geology; International Relations; Trade and Commerce, and Law and Policy relating to Science. It contains administrative records, correspondence, illustrations, manuscripts, photographs, prototypes, clippings, personal papers, grey literature—all presented as fully searchable digital images.
Environmental Issues Online
Environmental Issues Online brings together multimedia materials (text, archival, primary sources, video and audio) around key environmental challenges, including climate change, water/air pollution, biodiversity, conservation, agriculture and deforestation
Ethnographic Sound Archives Online
Includes over 2,000 hours of audio recordings from field expeditions around the world, particularly from the 1960s through the 1980s—the dawn of ethnomusicology as a codified discipline.
Ethnographic Video Online
UCL has access to Vols. I and II: Foundational Films and Vol. III: Indigenous Voices.
Gale Primary Sources
Cross search many of Gale Cengage's databases in one platform
Royal Geographical Society Digital Archive (with Institute of British Geographers)
The RGS’s archive contains vast collections of documents, maps, photographs, expedition reports, manuscript materials and books, and span 500 years of geography, travel and exploration.

Discover other relevant primary sources through exploring the full list.

Key databases for newspapers: current coverage and archives

Al-Ahram Digital Archive
Founded in 1875, Al-Ahram (الأهرام‎, “The Pyramids”) is one of the longest-running newspapers in the Middle East. It is one of Egypt’s most authoritative and influential newspapers, and one of the most important newspapers in the Arab world, with a circulation of over 1 million
African American Newspapers, Series 1: 1827-1998
Providing access to 280 U.S. newspapers and chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience, this collection includes papers from more than 35 states and features many rare and historically significant 19th-century titles. Accessibility statement for African American Newspapers, Series 1: 1827-1998.
African American Newspapers, Series 2: 1835-1956
This database complements and expands on African American Newspapers, Series 1, 1827-1998 with more than 75 newly available newspapers all written for or by African Americans. The focus is on the lives of African Americans as individuals, an ethnic group and Americans. Accessibility statement for African American Newspapers, Series 2: 1835-1956.
African Newspapers: The British Library Collection
This collection, originally archived by the British Library, features nearly 60 newspapers from across the African continent, all published before 1900.
British Library Newspapers
Cross-search with other Gale/Cengage primary sources in Gale Primary Sources. British Library Newspapers consists of collections from the British Library which span three hundred years of newspaper publishing in the U.K. The resource consists of six collections and covers the period from 1732-1950. Accessibility statement for British Library Newspapers.
Caribbean Newspapers, 1718-1876
Focuses on the evolution of the region across two centuries chronicled within more than 140 titles from 22 islands
Eastern European Newspapers
Newspapers published in Eastern Europe between 1835 and 1922.

The Economist
Current access to the Economist is via ProQuest Central.

Economist Historical Archive, 1843-2020
Cross-search with other Gale/Cengage primary sources in Gale Primary Sources. The Economist Historical Archive delivers a complete searchable copy of every issue of The Economist from 1843 to 2020. The Economist presents the world's political, business, scientific, technological and cultural developments and the connections between them.
Financial Times (FT.com)
Access for UCL students and staff only. UCL username and password required. Registration is required on first visit to enable off-site and ePaper access. UCL users also have access to the app
Gale OneFile News
Gale OneFile: News provides access to more than 2,300 major world newspapers, and includes thousands of images, radio and TV broadcasts and transcripts.
Gale Primary Sources
Cross search many of Gale Cengage's databases in one platform. Contains archives of newspapers such as The Financial Times, The Times, The Telegraph, and others.
Imperial Russian Newspapers
The Imperial Russian Newspapers collection comprises out-of-copyright newspapers spanning the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, up to the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution
Irish Newspaper Archives
Covers Irish newspapers from both North and South of the Irish border dating from 1738 to the present day. This archive contains over 9 million pages of content from 106 publications.
Jerusalem Post, 1932-2008: ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Founded in 1932 as The Palestine Post, this paper fervently supported the struggle for a Jewish homeland and freely opposed British restrictions on Jewish immigration. The publication came to be known as The Jerusalem Post in 1950. Over the decades, the paper espoused a left-leaning perspective that shifted to the right in the 1980s. The Jerusalem Post archives (1932–2008) tells firsthand the history of the state of Israel
Late Qing and Republican-Era Chinese Newspapers
Following the 1912 establishment of China’s first post-imperial government, the Republic of China, the country experienced both industrial and social revolution, a civil war during which communist and nationalist forces battled to shape the country’s future, and looming external threats during both world wars. This collection of Chinese Newspapers provides invaluable perspective on this critical period. The press of more than twenty cities is represented, spanning the Chinese mainland and the entire half century.
Latin American Newspapers, Series 1: 1805-1922
This database provides more than 50 fully searchable Latin American newspapers published in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Featuring titles from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela and elsewhere
Latin American Newspapers, Series 2: 1822-1922
The second series of digitized Latin American Newspapers expands the number of searchable titles available from this region. Providing issues from more than 250 additional titles, this online series includes newspapers published in English, Spanish and Portuguese from 20 countries, including some countries and cities not represented in the inaugural collection of Latin American Newspapers.
Le Monde, 1944-2000 : ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Written in the French language and dating from 1944 to 2000 ProQuest's Le Monde archive covers leading issues and events, such as World War II and the Fifth Republic, French, European and international politics, society and business.
Nexis
News database. Provides international, national, and local newspaper coverage, back to the 1980s for most titles. Text only, no images.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Search the historical archive of The Guardian, The Observer, The South China Morning Post, The Times of India, Le Monde, and 13 major American newspapers including The New York Times. Click "i" for a full coverage list.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chinese Newspapers Collection
Providing insight into Chinese political and social life during the turbulent 120 year period from 1832 to 1953 with 12 English-language Chinese historical newspapers.
ProQuest News & Newspapers
Searches ProQuest Newsstream and Historical Newspapers databases
Southeast Asian Newspapers
Covering countries including Myanmar (formerly Burma), Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, and multiple languages including Dutch, English, French, Javanese, Spanish, and Vietnamese, the Southeast Asian Newspapers collection incorporates a wealth of coverage and perspectives on major regional and global events of the late 19th and 20th centuries.
World News in Indian Newspapers, 1782-1908
This collection contains copies of three English language newspapers published in India during the period 1782-1908: The India Gazette (1782-1834); The Bengal Hurkaru and Chronicle (1822-1866); and The Bengal Times (1876-1908

Key databases for research methods

SAGE Research Methods
Combining content from Sage books, journals, case studies, datasets and references works to help users explore methods concepts when designing research projects, conduct research, and write up findings. Access to all areas including Datasets and Doing Research Online. Some video contents is available - refine by 'Available to me'. Foundations content is now included. Accessibility statement for SAGE Research Methods.

Library Databases

Library databases A-Z
Browse or search our databases by title, or use the Subject drop down box at the top to narrow down to databases in your subject area.

What is a database?

Newspapers

The Library provides online access to many historic and current newspapers from around the world. You can access them by:

Searching by individual title in Explore.
Searching across collections using Newspaper collection databases.

Newspaper collections at UCL
Details on the many online newspapers to which UCL subscribes, and how UCL staff and students can find and access them.