The POLIS Collection

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The Seeley Library aims to hold books necessary for studying all courses offered by the POLIS department. As a result, the library holds copies of books relevant to the study of a broad range of subjects, such as international political economy, international relations, domestic and international politics and public policy. This considerable collection of politics and international studies books is split between older more recent material.

The older books are kept together on the mezzanine. These books can be recognised in the catalogue by their unique location being set as ‘Seeley Library: Mezzanine’. This collection is new to The Seeley Library, but is now being permanently retained at its new location and all books have the same borrowing rights as the main collection. The Seeley also holds International Relations MPhil theses and selected award-winning dissertations since the 1970’s until 2019. All theses held in this collection are searchable in iDiscover and a complete list of what is held for each year of each course is available behind the Reference Desk. Theses from 2019 onwards are held by the department and available on Moodle.

More recent material is kept alongside the main collection housed on the ground floor. Books that have been recently acquired for new or updated reading lists or second copies of more frequently used material are likely to be kept in this collection.

Alongside this comprehensive print collection, the University Library gives access to a wealth of digital information related to the study of POLIS courses.

  • Open Access (Apollo) – Cambridge University’s online repository continues to grow as more material is deposited from researchers within Cambridge. Here you will find a selection of theses, articles and datasets relevant to a broad range of study areas.
  • Databases – The University Library subscribes to hundreds of digital databases that are accessible to anyone with a Raven Log-in.
  • E-Journals – Cambridge University has access to a comprehensive collection of electronic journals that are available to access and download to personal devices in and outside Cambridge. All journals and articles can be found on iDiscover.
  • E-Books – The Seeley Library seeks to buy access to ebooks for titles that are popular and on multiple reading lists. These ebooks are all available in iDiscover and come on a range of platforms that can offer downloads, limited printing and additional functions, such as the ability to search and add notes.