Databases and online resources

You can access materials online via our wide range of databases and digital resources, which are listed alphabetically below.

If you come across an article, journal, or book online that Birkbeck Library doesn't subscribe to, you can go and access it from another library or order it via the Interlibrary loan service.

Do also have a look at Free Access to Online Resources guide as it includes free-to-access content and any trials arranged for Birkbeck staff and students.

Browse our digital resources

Find databases and digital resources for your subject

If you are not sure which databases and digital resources are best for your subject, consult our Academic Subject guides.

A-Z list of databases and digital resources

A-E

• Academic Complete UKI
• Academic Search Complete - access via OpenAthens (EBSCOhost database)
• ACLS Humanities E-Books
• ACM Digital Library - also includes access to conference proceedings
• Agence Europe - access this via the walk-in computer on level two
• Agricola
• Album of Anna Birkbeck 
• American Chemical Society (ACS) Online Library 
• L'Année Philologique - not currently available.
• Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL) part of Literature Online (LION), select the "Advanced Search" option to access this. Or access via OpenAthens (ProQuest database)
• Apartheid: Global Perspectives, 1946-1996
• Archaeology Data Service (previously known as British and Irish Archaeological Bibliography (BIAB)) - you can only access this via an on-campus computer
• Art Full Text and Art Index Retrospective - access via OpenAthens (EBSCOhost database)
• Beckett Digital Library - not currently available.
• BFI Screenonline - you can only access this via an on-campus computer 
• Bibliography of British and Irish History - not currently available.
• Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA) and Répertoire International de la Littérature de l’Art (RILA)
• Bloomberg - is only available for Birkbeck students and staff and you have to book a slot on the Bloomberg terminal, which is near the Library helpdesk on level one.  Click these links to find out how to create a Bloomberg account and how to install the Bloomberg Excel add-on.
• Bloomsbury Collections (Hart Publishing 2019 and 2020) 
• Box of Broadcasts (BoB) National - take a look at How to use BoB videos
• British and Irish Legal Information Institute - no username and password required.
• British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS): Collections on the history of science 1830-1970
  
• British History Online
• British Library Newspapers 1600-1900
• British Periodicals - or access via OpenAthens (ProQuest database)
• British Universities Film and Video Council (BUFVC) 
• Business Source Premier - access via OpenAthens (EBSCOhost database)
• The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Ben Jonson Online
• C19 Index see Nineteenth Century Index
• Capital IQ - you must register before using this resource, using your Birkbeck email address. A guide to registration can be found here. 
• Carl Giles Trust Collection
• Census data - you must register before using this resource. 
• Cochrane Library
• The Complete Prose of T.S. Eliot: The Critical Edition - not currently available.
• Crime Survey for England and Wales - you must register before using this resource.
• Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text - access via OpenAthens (EBSCOhost database)
• DanteNet is located on the walk-in computer on level two. 
• Datastream - see Eikon. 
• Dialnet Plus - not currently available.
• Digimap - once you have logged into this resource you will need to register once.
• Digital Education Resource Archive
• Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB)
• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
• Directory of Open Access Repository (openDOAR)
• Drama Online Core Collection - you can access the following in this collection:
  
  • Aurora Metro Books, BBC Drama Films, Globe on Screen, Globe on Screen 2, The Hollow Crown, LA Theatre Works, Nick Hern Books, Playwrights Canada Press, Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama Video.
• Early English Books Online (EEBO)  or access via OpenAthens (ProQuest database)
• Early European Books (EEB) or access via OpenAthens (ProQuest database)
• Early Modern Books‎ access via OpenAthens(ProQuest database)
• Education Resources Information Center (ERIC)
• eDuke Books Scholarly Collection: Latin American Studies
• Eighteenth-Century Collections Online (ECCO) via Text Creation Partnership
• Eikon and Datastream are only available for Birkbeck students and staff and you have to book a slot on the Eikon/Datastream computer, which is near the Library helpdesk on level one.
• Electronic Theses Online Services (EThOs)
• Elgar Online
• The Enzymes - access via OpenAthens
• European Newsstream - covers local, national, and European newspapers - access via OpenAthens (ProQuest database)
  
• European Views of the Americas 1493-1750 - access via OpenAthens (EBSCOhost database)

F-J

• FT.com
  
• Fortunoff Archive - not currently available.
• Gale cross-search - all the Gale historical newspapers databases
• Geological Society Lyell Collection
• GreenFILE - access via OpenAthens (EBSCOhost database)
• Hein Online
• Historical Abstracts - access via OpenAthens (EBSCOhost database)
• House of Commons Parliamentary Papers or access via OpenAthens (ProQuest database)
• IEEE Xplore Digital Library
• Illustrated London News Historical Archive 1842-2003
• Independent Voices
• IngentaConnect
• Institute of Civil Engineer's (ICE) Virtual Library
• International Bibliography of the Social Sciences or access via OpenAthens (ProQuest database)
• International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences - access via OpenAthens
  
• International Monetary Fund  (IMF) eLibrary - no username and password required
• IRIS Digital Repository
• IsisCB Explore
• John Johnson Collection or access via OpenAthens (ProQuest database)
• JoVE Science Education - we have a subscription to five sections only: General Laboratory Techniques; Basic Methods in Cellular and Molecular Biology; Essentials of Behavioral Science; Essentials of Experimental Psychology; and Essentials of Neuroscience.
• JP Morgan Research
• JSTOR
• JSTOR - Open Community Collections
• JSTOR - Irish Studies (JSTOR Digital Library of Core E-Resources on Ireland)

K-O

• Kanopy
• Kortexts ebooks
• Lexis Library
• Linguistics and Language Behaviour Abstracts (LLBA) or access via OpenAthens (ProQuest database)
• LinkedIn Learning is provided by Information Services. Log in with your Birkbeck email address.
• Literary Encyclopedia
• Literature Online (LION) is now part of ProQuest One Literature  or access via OpenAthens (ProQuest database)
• LLMC Digital - not currently available.
• Loeb Digital Classical Library
  
• London Datastore
• Manchester Medieval Sources online - access ends 31 Dec 2024.
  
• MathSciNet - Not currently available.
• Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (MPEPIL)
• Medline - access via PubMed, no username and password required. Medline  access via OpenAthens (EBSCOhost database)
• Migration to New Worlds
• Mintel
• MLA International Bibliography - access via OpenAthens (EBSCOhost database)
• Nineteenth-Century Books from the British Library is available via the BL Explore catalogue, use the search term “blmsd” in Explore to limit results to this specific collection. However, the content may not be available temporarily due to a major technology outage at the British Library because of a cyber-attack.
• Nineteenth-Century British Newspapers
• Nineteenth-Century British Pamphlets - you can access this resource via JSTOR. 
  • Bristol Selected Pamphlets; Cowen Tracts; Earl Grey Pamphlets Collection; Foreign and Commonwealth Office Collection
  • Hume Tracts; Knowsley Pamphlet Collection; LSE Selected Pamphlets; Manchester Selected Pamphlets; and Wilson Anti-Slavery Collection.
• Nineteenth-Century Index (C19 Index) - incorporates Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals 1824-1900 - access via OpenAthens (ProQuest database)
• Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (NCSE)
• Nineteenth-Century UK Periodicals
• Now Publishers - Computer Science titles - not currently available.
• OAIster - no username and password required. 
• Open Commons of Phenomenology -  click on 'Repository'.
• Open Textbook Library -  no username and password required.
• Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development iLibrary (OECDiLibrary) - open access content only
• Oxford Bibliographies Online - Law - access via OpenAthens
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - access via OpenAthens
• Oxford English Dictionary - access via OpenAthens
• Oxford Handbooks Online (OHO)  - access via OpenAthens- you can access the following handbooks: 
  • Archaeology, Business and Management, Classical Studies, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Economics and Finance, Law, and Psychology. 
• Oxford Journal Archive - access via OpenAthens
• Oxford Reference - access via OpenAthens
• Oxford Research Encyclopedias (ORE) - access via OpenAthens, or you can access the following handbooks, directly:
  • Criminology and Criminal Justice
  • Politics
• Oxford Scholarly Editions Online: The New Oxford Shakespeare - access via OpenAthens
• Oxford Scholarship Online - access via OpenAthens
• Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment ONLINE ebook collection

P-T

• Past Masters - not currently available.
• Paulys Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft - no username or password required
• Psychoanalytic Electronic Publishing (PEP) Web and a list of books available via PEPWeb 
• Periodicals Archive Online -access via OpenAthens (ProQuest database)
• Periodicals Index Online - access via OpenAthens (ProQuest database)
• PhilPapers: Philosophical Research Online - not currently available
• Project Muse - not currently available
• ProQuest eBook Central
• ProQuest One Business - access via OpenAthens (ProQuest database)
• ProQuest One Literature includes Literature Online (LION) - access via OpenAthens (ProQuest database)
• PsycARTICLES - access via OpenAthens (EBSCOhost database)
• PsycINFO - access via OpenAthens (EBSCOhost database)
• PsycTESTS - access via OpenAthens (EBSCOhost database)
• PubChem
• PubMed - no username or password required. 
• Regional Business News - access via OpenAthens (EBSCOhost database)
• Research Professional - you will need a Birkbeck email address if you want to create a customised account.
• Routledge Handbooks Online: Philosophy
• Royal College of Physicians Part 1: 1200-1862, History of Medicine from Folklore to Modern Public Health Policy
• Royal Society of Chemistry Journals Archive
• Safari Books Online - you will need to have a Birkbeck email address and if you wish to access this resource via a mobile device please download the app.
• ScienceDirect  
• Scopus - read a guide to Scopus. 
• The Scrapbook of Anna Birkbeck - no username and password required. 
• Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Burney Collection
• Socarziv - preprint database for the social sciences
• Sounds - no username and password required. 
• SpringerProtocols (1980-2032) 
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - no username and password required
• Teachers TV from Education in Video - not currently available.
• Television and Radio Index for Learning and Teaching (TRILT)
• Testifying to the truth - no username or password required
• Times Digital Archive (1785-2019)
• Toxline TOXNET services have been integrated into other NLM products and services.

U-Z

• UK Data Service - you need to register before using this service.
• UK Medical Heritage Library - brings together books and pamphlets from 10 research libraries in the UK, focused on the 19th and early 20th century history of medicine and related disciplines.
• Visual Arts Data Service (VADS)
• Vogue Archive  or access via OpenAthens (ProQuest database)
• Westlaw UK -  the first time you access this you will be asked to set up a OnePass profile - you will only have to do this once. Having completed it, you will be taken through to Westlaw. Read how to access this resource via OpenAthens and the OnePass profile, also read how to access the Westlaw UK (old platform) via OpenAthens.
• WARC (World Advertising Research Center)

NEWSPAPER DATABASES

• British Periodicals  - access via OpenAthens (ProQuest database)
• Carl Giles Trust Collection (cartoons)
• European Newsstream - covers local, national, and international newspapers - access via OpenAthens (ProQuest database)
• FT.com
• Illustrated London News Historical Archive (1842-2003)
• Nineteenth-Century British Newspapers
• Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (NCSE)
• Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Burney Collection
• The Times Digital Archive (1785-2019) 
• Gale cross-search all the Gale historical newspaper databases:
  
  • Nineteenth-Century British Newspapers, Nineteenth-Century UK Periodicals, Illustrated London News, Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Burney Collection, The Times Digital Archive. 

STATISTICAL DATABASES

• Bloomberg - management and economics staff and students can access this via the Bloomberg terminal, which is near the Library helpdesk on level one and must be booked in advance. Find out how to create a Bloomberg account and how to install the Bloomberg Excel add-on. 
• Census data - you must register before using this resource.
• Crime Survey for England and Wales - you must register before using this resource.
  
• Eikon and Datastream - these are only available in the Library for Birkbeck students and staff. There is one Eikon/Datastream computer located near the helpdesk on level one of the Library. Book a slot on the Eikon/Datastream computer.
• Eurobarometer Surveys
• European Social Survey
• European Values Study
• International Monetary Fund  (IMF) eLibrary - no username and password required
• International Social Survey Programme
• London Datastore - a free and open data portal that provides over 700 datasets to help you understand the city and develop solutions to London’s problems.
• Office for National Statistics
• UK Data Service - is a multidisciplinary resource. You need to register before using this resource. Help in using this resource is available.
  
• United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN COMTRADE)
• World Values Surveys

EBOOK PACKAGES AND PLATFORMS

• Here are some of the main ebook packages and platforms for individual book titles that we subscribe to. Please note that access to specific titles will depend on whether we subscribe to a particular subject collection or individual titles. For further information and help in using ebooks see our ebooks guide.
  • Academic Complete UKI Multidisciplinary (via the ProQuest Ebook Central site)
  • ACLS Humanities E-Books, Humanities & Social Sciences (via the ACLS Humanities E-Book site)
    
  • Bloomsbury Collections (Hart Publishing 2019 and 2020) - law (via the Bloomsbury Collections site)
    
  • Business Expert Press Business and Management (via the Business Expert Press site)
  • Cambridge Books Online Multidisciplinary (via the Cambridge Books Online site)
  • Cambridge Companions Online Multidisciplinary (via the Cambridge Companion Online site)
  • Companion to British Literature Literature reference (via Publisher's site)
  • Dawsonera Multidisciplinary, now hosted by VLebooks (Browns Book was Askew and Holt). [Please note Dawsonera is no longer trading.]
  • DoShorts Sustainability
  • Drama Online A digital library of plays in English, from classical drama to contemporary.
  • eDuke Books, Latin American Studies Cultural studies. Browse by Latin American subject under "Books".
  • Early English Books Online (EEBO) via ProQuest Books printed between 1473 and 1700.
  • EBL Multidisciplinary (via Publisher's site, see Ebook Central below)
  • Ebook Central Multidisciplinary (via ProQuest Ebook Central's site)
  • ebrary Multidisciplinary (via Publisher's site, see Ebook Central above)
  • Elgar Online Business, Organisational Psychology, Economics, Essentials Collection: Human Rights, and Law (via the Elgar Online site)
  • IEEE Xplore Digital Library Computer Science ( via IEEE's site)
  • IGLibrary Law ( via IGLibrary’s site)
  • Knowledge Unlatched 
  • LION - Literature Online English and American Literature.
  • Manchester Medieval Sources Online Medieval History documents.
  • MyiLibrary Multidisciplinary
  • Open Book Publishers Multidisciplinary (via the Open Book Publishers site)
  • Open Textbook Library Multidisciplinary (Open Textbook Library)
  • OPEN Textbooks from SUNY Multidisciplinary (via the OPEN Textbooks from SUNY site)
  • Oxford Handbooks Online Archaeology, Business and Management, Classical Studies, Economics, and Finance Law, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Literature, Philosophy, Psychology (via the Oxford Handbooks Online site)
  • Oxford Reference Online Multidisciplinary reference works (via the Oxford Reference Online site)
  • Oxford Research Encyclopedias Multidisciplinary (via the Oxford Research Encyclopedia site)
  • Oxford Scholarship Online  Classical Studies, History, Law, Literature, Philosophy, Political Science (via the Oxford Scholarship Online site)
  • Past Masters Philosophy (via Past Masters publisher’s site) not available
  • Palgrave Connect Language and Linguistics, Media and Culture, Social Sciences (via Publisher's site, see Springer Link below)
  • PEPWeb Psychoanalysis (via PEPWeb’s site)
  • Routledge Handbooks Online Law, Philosophy (via the Routledge Handbooks Online site)
  • Safari Books Online Technology, digital media, and business (via Safari Books Online publisher’s site)
  • Sage Handbooks Online Multidisciplinary (via Sage’s site)
  • Science Direct eBooks Biochemistry, Genetics, Immunology, Microbiology, Molecular biology, Psychology (via Science Direct publisher's site)
  • Springer Link Computer Science, Language and Linguistics, Media and Culture, Social Sciences (via Springer Link’s site)
  • Springer Protocols Science (via Springer Protocol’s site)
  • Taylor and Francis eBooks Multidisciplinary  (via the Taylor and Francis site)
  • VLebooks (Browns Book (was Askew and Holt) multidisciplinary (via VLebooks (Browns Book) site)

Help with accessing digital resources 

• You will need to look for an OpenAthensMD link for ejournals, databases, or online resources, you will be prompted for your Birkbeck username (Birkbeck email address) and password. 
• You should always check the date of the journal article, as the Library's subscriptions are sometimes restricted to a particular date range. 
• For help, please contact the helpdesk. Outside of helpdesk opening hours, email us and we will get back to you as soon as the helpdesk re-opens. If you would like training to use digital resources more skillfully, please contact your Academic Services Librarian. 
• If you have difficulty accessing our digital resources via Discover (articles and more) or the above A-Z lists, you can try to log in via MyOpenAthens. Alternatively, please contact us (eresources).

Accessibility statements of third-party content

• The Library web pages are covered by the Birkbeck, University of London Accessibility Statement.
• This web page and other Library web pages may contain third-party content. We do not have control over and are not responsible for the accessibility of this content, but we make best endeavours to work with the third party to improve its accessibility. This may include:
  • Links to non-Birkbeck, University of London websites
  • Content hosted on other websites, such as social media and digital and online resources:
• See our Accessibility Statement links for third-party content of our Digital and Online Resources
• See our ebook providers' Accessibility Statements, in our eBooks guide
• These will be updated regularly.
• To help accessibility compliance across the sector, Birkbeck Library supports searchBOX, a centralised, independent directory of third-party accessibility information.
• searchBOX catalogues the contact information and accessibility statements of third-party suppliers enables the sharing of community-generated accessibility statements and allows users to map their supplier ecosystem. Birkbeck Library encourages all our partners and suppliers to support this effort by ensuring that their accessibility information is included in the searchBOX directory.
• Users may directly source third-party accessibility statements using the free searchBOX Finder service.