How to find articles

Theses of Leiden University

As a rule, printed BA and MA theses were not included in the library collection. Starting from 2010, BA and MA theses of the Faculties of Archaeology, Humanities, and Social and Behavioural Sciences are included in the Student Repository of the Leiden Repository. These theses can also be found in our Catalogue by title or author. If you are looking in the Catalogue for theses on a certain subject, then first enter the subject in the search window. Left from the results list, you can then refine your results with Results type, click here on more options and then (if available)on Student theses.

If you are looking for an unpublished thesis it is advised to contact the secretariat of the department where the author of the thesis concerned has graduated.

The Social and Behavioural Sciences (FSW) Library collects printed theses, received before 2010, for a period of ten years. A list is kept at the lending desk. The Catalogue may also be searched for these theses by  author or title words. For an overview of all FSW theses that can be found in the Catalogue, go to Catalogue / Advanced Search, then select Shelfmark and enter: pedag. scr., cultan scr., polwet scr., psycho scr., or b.s.k. scr. in the search window, then click Search.

Theses written from the start of the nineties till 2009 at the Institute for History are placed in the Open Stacks of the University Library (book cases 14332 to 14343). In a separate thesis-database you can search for these theses by subject and then narrow down the result by author, title or supervisor’s name. These theses are not lendable and can only be found in the thesis-database.

Theses of Dutch universities  

• Scripties Online (under construction): facility to make MA theses of departments within the Dutch higher education available online. This database among others contains theses of the following universities: Delft, Eindhoven, Groningen, Rotterdam, Tilburg, Utrecht and the Open University. 

• UvA Scripties Online: in this database the UvA theses are available publicly and in full-text. The database was started in October 2004.

• Online Scriptiedatabase (VU): database with a growing number of VU theses. The theses may be downloaded free of charge. This database was started in October 2007.

• Catalogus scripties Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen: this catalogue contains references  (no full-text) to theses of Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen which are included in the libraries of Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen. Not all theses are included.

How to find books

Print dictionaries

On the shelves
At the UB, in the Information Center Huygens at the right from the stairs to the basement, you will find several shelves with general western language dictionaries. More dictionaries can be found in the reference collections at the the study rooms on the first floor and at the faculty libraries.

Via the Catalogue
If you are looking for a dictionary in a specific language, e.g Dutch, then search the Catalogue, file tab Leiden Collections, using Advanced Search with the Subject dictionaries in combination with the subject dutch. All dictionaries, including the digital ones, can be found in The Catalogue. 

Digital dictionaries

Under Start
At all university work stations under the Start button (bottom left) under  Programs you can find a link to the Van Dale grote woordenboeken (Van Dale big dictionaries). Here you can find the dictionaries: Dutch; Du-Eng; Eng-Du; Du-Fr; Fr-Du; Du-Ge and Ge-Du. 

Through the Catalogue
In addition, you can find dozens of dictionaries through the Catalogue. To find these dictionaries in the Catalogue click tab Find Databases and then enter the title of the dictionary you are looking for.

For a list of all reference works which can be found through the Catalogue, click tab Find Databases, followed by the tab Advanced, then select the type Reference and click SEARCH. You will find, among others, the following dictionaries: (access is only available with a ULCN account and password):

• Van Dale Online Professioneel Nederlands, Engels, Frans en Duits

• Oxford English Dictionary

• Kramers Nederlandse Taal

• Johnson Dictionary of English

• Indo-European Etymological Dictionaries Online

• Chinese-English dictionary of modern usage

• Woordenboek Latijn-Nederlands

E-journals and Databases (digital bibliographies, catalogues, websites, dictionaries, encyclopedias etc.) have separate entries in the Digital Library. Before performing a search, you need to choose which you are looking for: an e-journal or a database.

• Log on into the Catalogue

• Click Find e-Journals

• Select the tab Journal Title (default tab)

• Enter the name of the e-journal in the search window or click the initial letter in the alphabet

• Click GO

• A list will appear on the screen with one or more names of e-journals succeeded by action buttons

• Click the resource name to open the e-journal

• After clicking the e-journal title, a SFX-screen may appear in which you can choose between several providers, offering different volumes of the journal. Click the name of one of the providers or enter the year, volume, issue and starting page of the article and click GO

• Outside the university network it is sometimes necessary to log on a second time before access is granted. Most of the time you can log on with your ULCN account and password, but occasionaly an  e-journal requires special log-on information. You can find this information under the i-icon behind the database/title of an e-journal.

Open the Catalogue and enter a few details of the journal that you are looking for. Do not enter too many different details, because this will only increase the chances of making typing errors. Click SEARCH.

You can restrict the list of titles that will be shown using the menu on the left side of the screen.

Click the Availability button to see which volumes of the journal are available and in which location they can be found.

Open stacks/closed stacks
Most journals in the faculty libraries are placed in open stacks. Here, library users have direct access to all the volumes.

In the University Library old volumes of many journals are placed in the Open Stacks. These are located in the basement of the University Library building and are accessible through the stairs next to the Lending Desk. As a rule the volumes may be borrowed; you can take them off the shelf and have them registered at the Lending Desk. Current volumes of many journals are placed in the study rooms on the first floor and are for reference only. Furthermore, there are also journals in the Closed Stacks of the University Library. To consult or borrow volumes of these please request them through the Catalogue as with ordinary books.

References
How to find articles
How to find a specific book or journal

How to find jurisprudence

You can find all staff members through the search bar at the right top of the homepage of Leiden University.
Please note that staff members of  Leiden University Medical Center can not be found this way.

How to find letters

How to find maps and atlases

See also VU Geoplaza, digital maps from the Vrije Universiteit

Digital newspaper articles

Factiva – International Newspapers contains full-text documents of thousands of newspapers, weeklies, and professional journals from several branches. The starting year differs per magazine, varying from as early as the beginning of the nineties through 2004. Factiva is updated up to the publication of the previous day.

Proquest Historical Newspapers contains full-text of:

• The Guardian (1959-2003); London (UK)
• The Irish Times (1859-2010)
• The Manchester Guardian (1821-1825; 1828-1959); Manchester (UK)
• The Manchester Guardian and British Volunteer (1825-1828); Manchester (UK)
• New York Daily Times (1851-1857); New York, N.Y.
• New York Times (1857-1922; 1923-2007); New York, N.Y.
• The Observer (1791- 2003); London (UK)
• The Washington Post (1877-1954; ); Washington, D.C.
• The Washington Post (1923-1954; 1974-1994); Washington, D.C.

British Newspapers 1600-1900 contains:
The 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers: the largest collection of English newspapers from the 17th and 18th centuries. This collection contains full-text of newspaper articles, pamphlets and books, compiled by Rev. Charles Burney (1757-1817).
The 19th Century British Library Newspapers collection contains full-text of 48 British newspapers, selected by the British Library.

The Irish Newspaper Archives contain the archives of nearly all the major Irish national, regional and local newspapers, from 1700 till present-day.

Free digital archives. Many newspapers offer the opportunity to search their digital archives through their website. Sometimes even complete archives of various newspapers are available though the Internet, free of charge. You will find an overview of these newspapers on: Kranten-Historische-Startpagina and on the List of online newspaper archives (Wikipedia) .

Paper newspaper articles

Recent issues of several foreign newspapers can be consulted in the UB-Lounge in the Huygens Information Centre. The issues are kept for one month. Foreign newspapers in the collection of Leiden University Libraries can be found through our Catalogue, advanced search, file tab Leiden Collections.

Digital newspaper articles (NL)

LexisNexis Academic NL Nieuws (formerly the Krantenbank) offers access to recent articles in Dutch national and regional newspapers. The supply differs per newspaper: Nrc-Handelsblad for instance is available from 1990 onwards, the AD from 2005. All newspapers are updated daily. Often certain articles by freelancers and other sources within the publication (for instance pictures, columns, and advertisements) are not available digitally.
Access only with ULCN account plus password.

The Digital Newspaper Archive of the Leiden Regional Archives  gives access to old volumes of Leiden newspapers. The project is ongoing, but a lot of newspapers can already be browsed digitally.

Via KB Historische Kranten the digital versions of a major parts of all national, regional, local, and colonial newspapers published between 1618 and 1995 are available. The site is still under construction. 

Startpagina.nl offers an overview of digital newspaper archives available through the Internet.

Paper newspaper articles (NL) 
The Catalogue offers access to all newspapers available in the collection of Leiden University Libraries. Use advanced search, file tab Leiden Collections.

The paper collections of Leiden University Libraries comprise, among other things, old volumes of a dozen Leiden newspapers which may be consulted inside the library building only. The majority of these newspapers can be requested through the Catalogue. Newspapers from the 17^th and 18^th centuries may only be consulted in the Special Collections Department, more recent newspapers can be collected from the Lending Desk. An overview is presented here:

• Ordinaire Leydse courant, available: vol. 1 (30 mrt 1686) - vol. 119 (31 dec 1686)
• Opregte Leydse courant, available: vol. 1 (2 jan 1687) - vol. 45 (1 mrt 1720)
• Leydse Courant, available: vol. 46 (4 mrt 1720) - vol. 39 (1 apr 1795)
• Hollandsche Courant, available: vol. 1 (3 apr 1795) - vol. 117 (30 dec 1795)
• Gazette de Leyde (= Leydse Courant), available: 1811 (no. 13-156)
• Affiches, annonces et avis divers de Leyde = Advertentien, aankondigingen en berigten van Leyden, available: vol. 1 (1 jan 1812) - vol. 138 (17 nov 1813)
• Leydse Courant, available: vol. 1 (19 nov 1813) - (1884)
• Weekblad van Leyden, available: vol. 1 (8 jan 1853) - vol. 25 (14 jan 1854)
• Leidsch dagblad, available: vol. 1867 (2 dec 1867) - vol. 1903 (31 dec 1903); vol. 1939 (31 aug 1939) - vol. 1943 (31 dec 1943)
• Nieuw Leidsch dagblad, available: vol. 1 (12 mrt 1867) - vol. 147 (2 sep 1867)
• De Leidenaar : vrijzinnig blad voor stad en omstreken, available: vol. 1 (1893) - vol. 2, no. 35 (1894)
• De Leidsche Courant, available: 1910 (vol. 1) – 1939 (vol. 23) (incomplete)
• Leidsch dagblad : dagblad voor Leiden en omstreken, available: vol. 1946 (1 okt 1946) -...

Recent issues of several Dutch newspapers can be consulted in the UB-Lounge in the Huygens Information Centre. The issues are kept for one month.

For recent paper issues of the remaining national and Leiden newspapers, we refer to the Leiden Public Libraries.

In case you cannot find a newspaper in Leiden, we should like to refer you to the Newspaper Collection of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek , where recent as well as older issues or volumes of nearly every Dutch newspaper can be found.

Leiden Ph.D. theses in digital form
Recent Ph.D. theses (from approximately 2005 on) by Leiden Ph.D. students are available digitally through the Leiden Repository. The site offers free access to these Ph.D. theses. However, in some cases a thesis may be under embargo temporarily and access to its full-text version will only be granted later.

Leiden Ph.D. theses on paper
All Leiden Ph.D. theses are included in the Catalogue, file tab Leiden Collections. To find a Ph.D. thesis of which you have already obtained title and/or author, it suffices to simply type this information in the search field, and click SEARCH.
To find a Leiden Ph.D. thesis on a specific subject choose Advanced Search in the Catalogue; in the pull-down menu change Any into Subject and fill in your subject. Narrow down your question by typing dissertation in the second search field.

Dutch Ph.D. theses
Recent Ph.D. theses (from approximately 2005 on) from all universities in the Netherlands are available digitally through Narcis, a database with free access. However, in some cases also here a thesis may be under embargo temporarily and access to the full-text version of the thesis may only be granted at a later date.
For paper versions of Dutch Ph.D. theses that cannot be found in the Catalogue we like to refer to Picarta. In this database the holdings of all Dutch university libraries and the Koninklijke Bibliotheek may be found. Access to Picarta is granted only with a ULCN account and matching password.
Printed bibliographies and catalogues of Dutch Ph.D. theses can be found through this link.


International Ph.D. theses
Many recent scientific publications, including Ph.D. theses, are offered full-text in repositories on the internet, free of charge. The websites mentioned below offer access to collections of repositories:

• The British site OpenDOAR (The Directory of Open Access Repositories)  offers access to more than 1500 repositories world-wide. All included repositories have been reviewed and approved by OpenDOAR staff members. The site maintains a user-friendly interface.

• OATD (Open Access Theses and Dissertations) is a resource maintained by several US University Libraries, for finding open access graduate theses and dissertations published around the world. OATD tries to index only graduate-level theses and dissertations that are freely available to download, they leave out closed-access and embargoed ETDs.

• The British site ROAR (Registry of Open Access Repositories) also offers access to repositories world-wide, but, contrary to OpenDOAR, is filled automatically.

• Driver (Digital Repository Infrastructure Vision for European Research) gives an overview of, and offers access to repositories in Europe.

• OIAster (originally a project by Michigan University, USA) offers access to scientific publications world-wide. Since December 2009 this database has been integrated in WorldCat.

• DART-Europe is a webportal that provides access to more then 360.000 scientific dissertations from more then 500 European universities. DART stands for Digital Archive of Research Theses.

Through the Catalogue (tab Find Databases) you are offered access to the following databases of Ph.D. theses:

• China Dissertations: contains full-text Ph.D. theses from 1999 on. Access only with a ULCN account and matching password.

• Proquest Dissertations and Theses: A&I: database with data (not full-text, but abstracts) of mainly North American Ph.D. theses beginning in 1637.  It is possible to order the full-text on payment. Access only available with a ULCN account and matching password.