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BU Electronic Resources: International Relations

BU Library search function

BU libraries has a very useful search function: a meta search engine, through which you can search across all collections, journals, databases and books - including down to article level in individual journals. It's advisable to sign in using your BU credentials (bu.edu email and password) to ensure you are seeing all the results. The sign in option appears at the top right-hand corner of the page. Please click on the image to access the search function.

 

For all and any help with resources please contact the library at any stage.

Journals

The university subscribes to a broad range of titles relating to International Relations. To search for and access individual titles, use the BU Libraries Search function. 

To select journal titles, choose the journals option from the drop-down menu as shown in the screenshot below. To access journals search please click here

There is a very useful, and brief, video tutorial on using the Search function which can be viewed by clicking on the icon below:

Suggested journal titles:

Newspaper Sources

Many of the multi-disciplinary databases offer content from news sources, however we have some excellent dedicated platforms for this type of content. Hover over the "i" for details of each.

 

We also have a very good dedicated research guide for news content, via the central university, which you can access here by clicking in the image below:

Video & Multimedia

The university subscribes to a number of excellent multidisciplinary video and audio platforms. It is advisable to consult these first for any content you wish to use in your teaching, since use of content from third party sources can be fraught with licencing/ownership and copyright issues. However, this box includes external sources for video content you may consider using, but please consult the terms of use, which are included here.

 

TED Talks are of course a great source of content for a broad range of subjects and topics. However, TED has previously considered the education sector as 'for profit', as a university 'sells courses' to students, which would usually require content to be purchased. This is largely disputed, and the majority of TED content (unless otherwise stated) is released under the Creative Commons (CC) licence CC BY–NC–ND 4.0 meaning that it can be used in teaching, provided the terms of the licence are followed.

Please consult the licence here and ensure this is adhered to if you are using TED content: CC Licence for TED

Please see this link for for the full TED Terms of Use

To access TED please click the image below:

E-Books

Similar to e-journals, the university has access to a broad range of platforms and suppliers for electronic books.

Proquest Ebook Central encompasses a wide variety of subjects and titles, and is a very nicely designed user-friendly platform. Click into the logo to access:

We have a very useful subject guide to e-books, which you can access from the link below. This gathers together all of the university's e-book platforms along with reliable third-party open access collections: E-Books Research Guide

Specialised sources for IR

The site E-International Relations is a well regarded and influential source for the subject area, and is referred to by many universities. Content here is released under open access meaning you can share and re-use materials providing the licence is followed, see the About section for more details. Click into the logo below to access:

Databases for International Relations

This box highlights a specialised resources for International Relations. Hover over the "i" for more details on each one. Multi-disciplinary databases will also have relevant content for this subject area. At the base of this box is the link to the full A-Z list of databases the university has access to.

 

From the main landing page for databases, you can search resources using your own terms, the A-Z list, or use the pre-set subjects and database type options as shown below. To access the page, please click into the image. 

Country Studies

This box groups together some suggested sources of country profiles and data, and includes both BU-subscribed and third party sources.

BBC Country Profiles History, politics and economic background of countries and territories, and background on key institutions. Bonus: audio and video clips from BBC archives, plus lists of media within countries.

Economist Intelligence Unit: Country Reports Each country page in the EIU database provides forecast updates and featured analysis on economic and political events as well as content pertaining to market opportunities, government regulations and the financial services sector.

Worldbank: Countries News, data, and research overviews by country.

ProQuest ABI/INFORM Collection Available from 2008
ProQuest Political Science Database Available from 2008

Box of Broadcasts (BoB)

Box of Broadcasts - or BoB for short - is a unique resource. This is a UK-based television/radio archive and streaming service, which covers all UK terrestrial channels. It's records go back to the early 1990s, so the breadth of content is vast, and it is constantly updated each day as programmes are broadcast. 

The first time you use the service you will need to register using your BU.edu email, and this is a very quick process. 

The benefits of this service are:

  • Programmes can be booked in advance of being aired, and are then emailed to you when ready to view.
  • Create personalized playlists of broadcasts. 
  • Edit broadcasts into clips and create playlists of these. 
  • Easily share and/or embed broadcasts and playlists.  

To access BoB:

  • Visit Learning on Screen
  • When prompted type Boston University into the box (this will appear as you type)
  • Sign in from here using your bu.edu credentials (email and password)

Please click into the image below to access a full set of instructions for using the service. 

Below are a series of brief how-to videos, made by Learning on Screen who provide us with BoB, covering all essential elements of using the service. Click into the image below to access these:

Images

The Copyright Guide has links through to an extensive list of image sources, plus guidance on using these materials in line with UK rules. Please click into the image below to access the guide:

Please contact the library for all and any copyright related questions.

Open Access Materials

The university has an extensive repository for materials produced under open access, OpenBU. Click into the image below to find the landing page - from here you can access subject specific collections and the main page for articles, all of which are searchable: