Guides and databases: Sociology: Other resources

Additional resources for Sociology

On this page you will find other resources that may be useful to carry out research in the field of sociology:

Streaming services, for films and other media.
DVD collections, including the Bain Graffy Film Collections.
SSEES Library research guides.
Grey literature.

Streaming services

The library subscribes to video streaming services, including Kanopy, which includes award-winning documentaries, training films and theatrical releases; Academic Video Online, which includes documentary films from Film Platform and the BBC Landmark video series; BFI Player, which includes subscribed feature films; and BoB National (Box of Broadcasts), a searchable database of TV and Radio broadcasts (including films).

Academic Video Online Academic Video online delivers more than 66,000 titles spanning subject areas including anthropology, business, counseling, film, health, history, music, and more. Accessibility statement for Academic Video Online.
BFI Player Access for UCL students and staff only. To set up access to your BFI Player subscription follow these steps: 1. Go to BFI Player and create an account OR sign in if you already have one by selecting 'Already have an account? Sign in' 2. Select University College London from the dropdown list 3. Login using your UCL username and password. Once you've set up your subscription, you can login on BFI Player for the remainder of this academic year; BFI Player is unavailable outside the UK; it is to be used by UCL students and staff for academic purposes only and access is limited to the subscription content
Bloomsbury Video Library: Arts and Humanities Collection Previously called ArtFilms. Featuring international content across the visual arts and performing arts, film, history this collection features exclusive indie films and shorts, avant-garde performances, interviews with renowned writers, artists, choreographers, performers and practitioners, documentaries and more
BoB (Box of Broadcasts) Access for UCL students and staff only. Access to BoB is only permitted within the United Kingdom. Requires login with UCL username and password. BoB is Learning on Screen’s on demand TV and radio service for education allowing users to record programmes from over 75 free-to-air channels, access over 2.2 million broadcasts dating back to the 1970s, create playlists, clips and clip compilations; search programme transcripts and subtitles; embed content in VLEs and share on social media
Kanopy Providing video streaming to over 26,000 films including thousands of award-winning documentaries, training films and theatrical releases. The collection includes a number of leading producers, such as the Criterion Collection, PBS, Kino Lorber, New Day Films, The Great Courses, California Newsreel, BBC and hundreds more. Accessibility statement for Kanopy.
World Cinema Collection : Films on Demand Streaming films from Africa, America, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, from the silent era, the mid-20th century, as well as award-winning contemporary works.

SSEES Library's Bain Graffy Film Collection

The Library’s Bain Graffy Film Collection focuses on Russian, Soviet, Central and Eastern European and Central Asian films. It covers feature films, animations and documentaries from across the region.

The collection comprises more than 6,000 DVDs and hundreds of recorded discs with programmes recorded from television. It is one of the biggest collections of its kind in the UK.

The collection is available to UCL staff and students only. The items cannot be borrowed, but they can be watched on site in the Library in the Multimedia Room.

The Bain Graffy Film Collection

SSEES Library research guides

SSEES Library Research Guides
Our research guides recommend reliable resources on topics and events in Russia and Central & Eastern Europe.
SSEES Library Area Guides
Our area guides provide information on where to find area specific resources in the SSEES Library.

Grey literature

Grey literature refers to any information source that is not commercially published, including internal reports, conference abstracts, and unpublished research.

Grey literature is often good quality information produced by experts in their field, but who may not be associated with academia, such as think tanks or charities. Grey literature adds another layer to your research and provides a different perspective thereby making your research more interesting. However, it is important to evaluate grey literature sources carefully by considering the credentials of the entity that produced the information.

Below are some useful sites for finding grey literature.

BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine
A search engine especially for academic open access web resources, BASE provides more than 70 million documents from more than 3,000 sources, including the full text of about 70% of the indexed documents
DANS Data Station Social Sciences and Humanities
Previously included in OpenGrey. Data station enabling users to deposit data and search for data within the social sciences and humanities domains
Digital Education Resource Archive
Digital archive of all documents published electronically by government and related bodies in the area of education.

Gov.uk UK Government publications.

King’s Fund Library
The King’s Fund Database is a source of information on health and social care policy and management including material described as grey literature – research reports produced by trusts, charities and government agencies that are not published in journals. Search the database by keyword or consult the public lists of material on specific topics. The database is updated daily and the lists when new and relevant information pertaining to each topic is released.

OAIster Database A worldwide repository of open access publications.

OpenDOAR - The Directory of Open Access Repositories
OpenDOAR provides access to open access repositories around the world.
Overton
On access users should follow the link and Browse the site or create an account and Login to to save searches, set email alerts, tags and bookmarks and set up key sources lists. Overton is the world’s largest collection of policy documents, parliamentary transcripts, government guidance and think tank research
Policy Commons
Access to more than 24 million pages of curated, high quality policy reports, briefs, analyses, working papers, and datasets from thousands of policy organisations including IGOs, NGOs and think tanks. Please view this short video introducing the platform and features.

Scottish Government Scottish Government publications, reports and more.
SocArXiv SocArXiv is a database of open access papers in the social and behavioural sciences.

SSRN - Social Science Research Network
Social Science Research Network (SSRN) is devoted to the rapid worldwide dissemination of social science research. UCL has access to the Abstract Database.
UCL Discovery
Open access repository that collects the work of UCL researchers and makes it freely available. Search covers the full-text of the works in the repository.

Quick links

Search BOB National

BoB (Box of Broadcasts)
Access for UCL students and staff only. Access to BoB is only permitted within the United Kingdom. Requires login with UCL username and password. BoB is Learning on Screen’s on demand TV and radio service for education allowing users to record programmes from over 75 free-to-air channels, access over 2.2 million broadcasts dating back to the 1970s, create playlists, clips and clip compilations; search programme transcripts and subtitles; embed content in VLEs and share on social media

Search Kanopy

Source: Kanopy, Inc

Kanopy
Providing video streaming to over 26,000 films including thousands of award-winning documentaries, training films and theatrical releases. The collection includes a number of leading producers, such as the Criterion Collection, PBS, Kino Lorber, New Day Films, The Great Courses, California Newsreel, BBC and hundreds more. Accessibility statement for Kanopy.

UCL LIBRARY SERVICES

Sociology