Skip to Main Content

Political Studies and Policy and Development Studies: Databases

Using GoogleScholar as an international index to scholarly literature

GoogleScholar is an international index to resources in the public domain so indexes journal articles, books and their contents, theses, and a range of formal documents. The full text can only be provided if it is free. However, if UKZN has a subscription to a journal, clicking on the article title will take you to where the full text is located.

 

Google Scholar Search

What to do if a journal / article is not available at or via UKZN?

You can use the Interlibrary Loan facility. Send an email with all the details to: ill@ukzn.ac.za or fill in the online form from the Library's webpage under the link called 'Library accounts'. You will have to create a My Library Account first if you do not already have one. The circulation staff will try and find a library within South Africa that can provide a copy of the article.

How to set up a My Library Account

What is a database?

Databases index and organise references to journal articles, newspaper articles, chapters in books, conference papers and in some cases, theses and dissertations. Some databases also include the full text of the articles. Databases usually include many publications over many years and are often subject specific. Most academic literature is not freely available so libraries pay for access to journals via databases.

This is one of the most useful ways of finding articles when you do not know in which journals articles are published.

On the UKZN Library website is an alphabetical list of all databases as well as lists by subject area. (under the Electronic Resources option)

For South African resources use the SABINET  databases (choose from the list)

For international databases try:

 

 

 

Off campus access to databases

Most publishers and suppliers do not allow free off campus access. You will need to authenticate yourself as a legitimate member of UKZN. Click on the off campus facility. Once you have authenticated yourself you will be presented with a list of those databases that allow off campus access. There is no need for any passwords.

It is best to get to the UKZN site from off campus via Firefox or Google Chrome.

All information © 2018 University of KwaZulu-Natal. All rights reserved.