Category Archives: General

Trial – South Asia Commons (until 30 May 2026)

Trial

Bodleian Libraries users have trial access to South Asia Commons from Coherent Digital until 30 May 2026. This is an online resource comprising two modules, South Asia Archive and South Asian History and Culture.

South Asia Archive is a collection of 4.5 million pages of documents and published material from across the Indian subcontinent from 1700 to 1953. The collection was originally amassed by the South Asian Research Foundation in Kolkata and contains material relating to economics, politics, law, Indology, gender, archaeology, anthropology, culture, history and education. The content is mostly English, with 15% in South Asian languages, primarily Bengali and Sanskrit.

The second module, South Asian History and Culture, is a comprehensive, full-text repository providing centralised access to millions of pages of South Asian primary source materials from across the internet.

Please send any comments and feedback on the trial to emma.mathieson@bodleian.ox.ac.uk. She would be particularly interested in hearing about experience and usage of the different modules.

Trial – Coherent Digital: Applied Science Commons (Until 30 May 2026)

Trial

Bodleian Libraries users have trial access to three modules from Applied Science Commons from Coherent Digital until 30 May 2026.

The trial includes:

Applied Environmental Science

A database of over 150,000 grey literature items from over 100 organisations, focusing on the intersection of technology and environmental sciences, as well as conservation research.

• Includes full-text access to documents such as technical papers, guidelines, datasets, conference papers, reports, policy documents, as well as audio-visual materials.

• Topics covered include climate change, biodiversity and conservation, regenerative practices, renewable energy, food security, and environmental policy and governance.

• Advanced search tools support Boolean searches and filtering of items by language, organisation, material type etc.

• A useful tool to supplement searches of the academic journal literature, particularly for systematic review projects.

Please send feedback to Oliver Bridle.

Applied Psychology

A database of hundreds of thousands of grey literature items related to psychology. Includes materials produced by practising psychologists, healthcare providers, research groups, charities, and other professional and governmental organisations.

• Includes materials such as surveys, case studies, reports, policy papers, white papers, clinical guidance, conference proceedings and audio-visual materials as well as printed items.

• Global coverage from more than 20 countries and over 500 organisations.

• Advanced search tools support Boolean searches and filtering of items by language, organisation, material type etc.

• A useful tool to supplement searches of the academic journal literature, particularly for systematic review projects.

Please send feedback to Karine Barker.

Computer Science, Data & AI

A database of over 500,000 grey literature items from over 1000 organisations related to all aspects of computer science, data science and artificial intelligence. The collection emphasises real-world applications of AI and computer science.

• Includes full-text access to documents such as technical papers, reports, policy documents, as well as audio-visual materials.

• Topics covered include machine learning, cybersecurity, quantum computing, AI ethics and governance, Internet of Things, and robotics, among many others.

• Advanced search tools support Boolean searches and filtering of items by language, organisation, material type etc.

• A useful tool to supplement searches of the academic journal literature, particularly for systematic review projects.

Please send feedback to Alessandra Vetrugno.

Trial (until 4 April 2026) – Notable Individuals of British Communism, 1886–1997

Trial

Bodleian Libraries users have trial access to Notable Individuals of British Communism, 1886–1997 from British Online Archives until 4 April 2026.

This collection is drawn from the personal papers of a multitude of Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) activists throughout the twentieth century. This includes those at the heart of party (such as full-time “national organisers”), “full-time” CPGB activists such as Mariam Ramelson and Jack Dunman, and peripheral figures who supported the communist cause (such as Labour MP Dennis Nowell Pritt).

The works of trade unionists are featured extensively, and the papers of Peter Kerrigan and Arthur Horner shed light on the activities and campaigns of the Amalgamated Engineering Union and the Welsh Miners Federation, respectively.

The collection houses material from regions ranging from colonial Africa to war-torn Northeast Asia. The collection also hosts material related to militant activism, with biographical material concerning British volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, as well as accounts of those who fought against fascism in the Second World War.

The collection is accompanied by three contextual essays written by Kevin Morgan.

Please send feedback to: Isabel Holowaty.

Trial – Prayer in the Ancient World Online (until 6 April 2026)

Trial

Bodleian Libraries users have trial access to Prayer in the Ancient World Online from Brill until 6 March 2026.

Prayer in the Ancient World is a critical handbook on prayer in the ancient world including an anthology of representative prayers from the major languages and religious traditions e.g. Akkadian, Arabian, Christian, Egyptian, Greek, Hittite, Islamic, Jewish, Roman, Sumerian, Zoroastrian in Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean world, up to the end of the late antiquity period.

Please send any feedback on the trial to hilla.wait@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

Trial – Shipping records and trade statistics from British Online Archives

Trial,

Bodleian Libraries users have trial access until 4 March 2026 to three collections of primary source material in British Online Archives:

Bristol Shipping Records: imports and exports, 1770-1917: Containing over 28,000 images, the resource charts nearly 150 years of merchant shipping to and from the city of Bristol. It contains Bristol Presentments, Bills of Entry derived from the reports and manifests of ships that docked in the city. These documents offer unique insights into British maritime history and the goods traded in Bristol from 1770 to 1917. Significantly, the sources in this collection reveal how the city’s economy responded to the gradual abolition of slavery throughout the British empire during the early 1800s.

The collection provides an overview of how Bristol, and the wider economy of the United Kingdom, interacted with and influenced global trade networks throughout much of the modern period.

British Mercantile Trade Statistics 1662-1809: Containing over 47,000 images drawn from files at The National Archives (UK), the resource charts nearly 150 years of British trade and shipping. This collection includes trade ledgers, registers, and indexes that supply detailed statistical data on trade throughout the “long eighteenth century”. The collection also includes the official registers of “Mediterranean passes”: the registers detail which vessels were issued passes, their port of embarkation and destinations, as well as additional information on their size, crew, and defences.

The resource will appeal to those investigating the colonial, economic, and maritime dimensions of British history throughout this period. It should also interest those exploring broader themes, such as the escalation of global trade and the development of the fiscal-military state.

Liverpool Shipping Records: imports and exports 1820-1900: Containing over 85,000 document images, the resource charts 80 years of merchant shipping to and from the city of Liverpool. This collection comprises Bills of Entry derived from the reports and manifests of ships that docked in the city. These detailed documents offer unique insights into Liverpool’s maritime history and the goods traded in the city throughout most of the nineteenth century.

This collection provides a survey of how Liverpool, and the wider economy of the United Kingdom, interacted with and influenced global trade networks.

Please send any feedback on these trials to Isabel Holowaty.