Welcome to your Social Sciences Subject Research Guide
Watch the video to meet your Academic and Digital Library Liaison – Stephanie Fair, then have a look in the sections below to find useful and relevant resources for your course.
If you are not able to find what you are looking for please contact your Academic Digital Library Liaison, listed at the bottom of the page, who will be happy to help you with all library and subject research needs.
Key Ebooks
Library Search
eCore is an essential tool for finding, via one single search box, information from the physical and online library resources available to you, including:
- Research Starters
- Library catalogue
- Ebooks
- Magazines articles
- News and newspaper articles
- Encyclopedia articles
- Additional Online Resources
Ebook Spotlight
Making Evil: Science of Humanity’s Dark Side
Are you evil?
In Making Evil, Julia Shaw uses a mix of science, popular culture and real-life examples to investigate the darker side of human nature.
How similar is your brain to a psychopath’s? How many people have murder wishlists? What do our reactions to deviance teach us about ourselves?Can AI be evil? if evil is within all of us, should it be said to exist at all?
Original, fresh and rigorous, Making Evil is a surprising and wickedly entertaining exploration of a darkly compelling subject. By shining a searching light into the darker corners of the human psyche, this text undercovers a modern science of evil.
Graphic Guides Series
ClickView
ClickView is Edinburgh College’s media player. It contains TV & Radio programmes recorded from free-to-air channels and Audio & Video produced by staff.
For sign in guidance, please visit our Clickview page.
- What is Sociology?
- Sociology: Conflict Theory
- Sociology: Socialisation
- Sociology: Culture
- Talking about Gender and Identity
- The Gender Wars
- The Instagram Effect
- Shaped by Culture and Culture Over Time
- Families
- Truth About Scotland and Racism
- Suffragettes Forever! The Story of Women and Power
- Enslaved with Samuel L Jackson: The Atlantic Slave Trade
- Rise of Nazi’s (Series)
- Conflict in Europe: 1935-45
- Sociological Methods in Action
- Psychology: Usefulness of Research
Podcasts
Podcasts are a good way to keep up with the latest discussions and trends related to your field of study.
The Study Skills Handbook
The ultimate guide to study skills, written by million copy bestselling author Stella Cottrell. Her tried and tested approach, based on over twenty years’ experience of working with students, has helped over a million students to achieve their potential.
Key topics covered include:
- Essay Writing
- Research & note-taking
- Time Mangement
- Organisation Skills
- Exam practice
- Exam writing
- Critical Thinking
- Studying Effectively
Magazines
The following magazines can be found across our campuses – Granton, Sighthill and Milton Rd. You can find these magazines on the display stands at each campus, and within the Social Sciences book collections.
If you are looking for a particular topic or issue from our magazine collection, don’t hesitate to get in touch with your ADLL.
Sociology Review
Psychology Review
Politics Review
New Scientist
Online Resources
Credo
A useful resource for all subject areas, featuring reference works such as encyclopedias and dictionaries alongside textbooks.
You can display your search results in a traditional list layout, or you can choose to have them displayed in a concept map where linking themes, people, and events can be explored easily to expand upon your research topic.
Issues Online
Issues Online provides key information and statistics about the Social Issues of today.
View the access guide below for more information.
Gale
Using Gales PowerSearch you can search across newspapers, scholarly journals, and general reference magazines for content on all topics and subjects. Read current and historical newspaper coverage from local, national and international press, browse general magazine content, and explore articles from scholarly journals and other authoritative sources.
Online Courses
Referencing at Edinburgh College: Online Course
Our online course (approx. 30min) provides a simple introduction to referencing and plagiarism using the Harvard system of referencing. If you are new to referencing this is the ideal place to start. We provide introductory guidance on what referencing is, why you need to reference, and how to correctly reference some of the most common sources in your assignments.
The course is divided into 7 sections. Sections have short activities that you can undertake to test your own understanding of the topics you have read about.
Research Skills Course
Information finding and ‘googling’ are very regular parts of our everyday lives, but being asked to research as part of your studies involves a much more specific and systematic approach to the general ‘information finding’ we are used to.
There are many skills that need to be developed in order to conduct effective and efficient research, and this short course will give you an introduction to what we mean by research and provide you with opportunities to develop general research skills.
AI Guidance for Students
As AI becomes increasingly integrated into our daily lives, Edinburgh College is aware of the impact this could have on the student experience.
Whilst there are many applications of AI which could be beneficial to your studies, it is also crucial that you are aware of the drawbacks and limitations of this emerging and constantly developing technology, and that you are mindful of the biases, ethical and data considerations inherent in its use.
Support
Contact Stephanie Fair at stephanie.fair@edinburghcollege.ac.uk
Find contact information for the Library team by visiting our Contact and Support page