Resources for the social sciences

Here you will find subject-specific information about, among other things, databases, reference works and literature searching for geography, information science, media studies, politics and administration, comparative politics, economics, social anthropology and sociology.

Library of Social Sciences, Music and Psychology

Key resources and databases

Databases, reference works and statistical sources that are common to the social science disciplines.

Books in the library

The book collection is arranged according to the Dewey system, where physical books have specific numbers and are shelved by subject, not by discipline. Here are some overarching subject classes for social science topics:

300-309 Social sciences - theory and method, sociology and anthropology

310-319: Statistics

320-329: Politics 

330-339: Economics

340-349: Law

350-359: Public administration and military science

360-369: Social problems and public services

370-379: Education

380-389: Commerce, communications and transport

390-399: Customs, etiquette and folklore

You will find detailed shelves for each discipline under «Resources for your field». See Library for Social Sciences, Music and Psychology for a general overview of the library.

Search pages for scholarly articles and books

You have access to all electronic material (e-books, articles, databases) off campus if you install the Cisco AnyConnect VPN. You will find more information for Windows and Mac at UiB Hjelp (follow the link and log in to reach the guide)

General social science reference works
Method books

We have a large selection of method books at the SMP library, especially at these shelf numbers:

  • 300.72    Books about research.
  • 300.721  General method books.
  • 300.722  Qualitative and historical method. Case studies.
  • 300.723  Quantitative and comparative method.
  • 300.724  Experimental methods
  • 300.727  Statistical method. (R, SPSS, STATA)

For method literature online see Sage Research Methods Online for:

Overview of various 83 handbooks for qualitative and quantitative methods: Sage Research Methods - Search Results (sagepub.com)

Empirical sources, statistics, reports

Official documents (Norwegian)

Nordic statistics and data

International

Reports and the like

Newspapers and news sources
Citation styles

APA, Harvard and Chicago author-date are the most common styles within the social sciences. See Referanseverktøy for guidance.

Resources for your discipline

Detailed resources for each discipline – with databases, reference works and a subject specialist.

Geography

Books in the library

The book collection is arranged according to the Dewey system. Geography is a discipline where you often have to use literature and resources from a range of different fields, and giving a complete overview of the literature is therefore difficult. Even so, you can find a lot of subject-specific literature under these main categories. This is by no means a complete overview, but it gives examples of how the hierarchical Dewey system works.

  • 304.2 Social geography
  • 330.91-330.99 Economic geography (if arranged under economics)
  • 550 Physics of the solid earth
  • 577 Ecology
  • 910 Geography and travel
    • 910.1 Topic-specific arrangement 
      • 910.133 Economic geography (if arranged under geography)
        • 910.133041   Economic geography of the British Isles
        • 910.1330481 Economic geography of Norway
    • 910.2 Miscellaneous, travel guides 
      • 910.202 Travel guides for the whole world. For specific regions, see 913-919
      • 910.22 Illustrations, models, miniatures
        • 910.223 Diagrams
      • 910.28 Apparatus, equipment, materials
        • 910. 285 Computer applications (GIS, GPS, RTLS)
    • 910.3 Reference works, dictionaries, gazettes
    • 910.4 Travel accounts
      • 910.41 Round-the-world journeys, circumnavigations
      • 910.45 Sea voyages and seafaring tales
        • 910.452 Shipwrecks   
      • 910. 46 Travel facilities
        • 910.462 Holiday resorts
        • 910.464 Bed & Breakfast
        • 910.466 Hostels
        • 910.468 Campsites
    • 910.5 Serial publications
    • 910.6 Organizations and administration
    • 910.7 Education, research, related topics
      • 910.71 Education
      • 910.72 Research
      • 910.74 Museums, exhibitions, collections
      • 910.78 Use of apparatus and equipment in education and teaching
    • 910.8 Groups of people
      • 910.81 People by sex
        • 910.811 Men (sorry, the system is 150 years old)
      • 910.82 Women
      • 910.83 Young people
      • 910.84 Various stages of adulthood
        • 910.842 Young adults
          • 910.8421 Young men
          • 910.8422 Young women
        • 910.844 Middle-aged adults
        • 910.846 Older adults
      • 910.85 Relatives
        • 910.851 Fathers
        • 910.852 Mothers
      • 910.86 People by social status and class
        • 910.862 People by social and economic level
          • 910.8621 Upper class, elite, nobility, royalty, wealthy people
          • 910.8622 Upper middle class
            • 910.86222 Intelligentsia
          • 910.8623 Lower middle class, working class, skilled workers
          • 910.8624 Underclass, migrants, lumpenproletariat
          • 910.8625 Slaves, serfs
        • 910.865 People by marital status
          • 910.8652 Single, unmarried
            • 910.86523 Engaged
          • 910.8653 Separated and divorced
          • 910.8655 Married
          • 910.8656 Partnerships and informal relationships
          • 910.8659 Polygamous relationships
        • 910.866 People by sexual orientation
          • 910.8662 Heterosexuals
          • 910.8663 Bisexuals
          • 910.8664 Homosexuals
            • 910.86642 Homosexual men
            • 910.86643 Lesbian women
    • 910.9 History, accounts and descriptions of specific geographical areas and locations
  • 911 Historical geography
  • 912 Graphic representations of the earth's surface and extraterrestrial worlds
  • 913 Geography and travel in the ancient world
  • 914 Geography and travel in Europe
  • 915 Geography and travel in Asia
  • 916 Geography and travel in Africa
  • 917 Geography and travel in North America
  • 918 Geography and travel in South America
  • 919 Geography and travel in Australia, the Pacific Islands, the Atlantic Islands, the Arctic Islands, Antarctica, as well as extraterrestrial locations

Databases

Reference works

Handbooks

Handbooks are thematic collections of articles. They give you an in-depth introduction to various topics and a critical review of the state of the research field. There are many publishers that offer such handbooks; here is a selection you have access to from the university library:

Working papers

Subject contact

Erik Hauke Tønnesen · Henry Langseth

Information science

Books in the library

You will find books on information science at these shelf numbers: 

004- Computers, data processing, human-machine systems, systems development

005- Programming, programming languages, computer programs

006- Virtual reality, neural networks, expert systems, artificial intelligence, multimedia

020- Information science

025.042 Internet, the World Wide Web

303.4833 Information technology (social change)

323.0420285 Information technology (political participation)

Databases

Subject contact

Erik Hauke Tønnesen

Media Studies

Books in the library

We use the Dewey Decimal Classification to arrange the books. Here are some key Dewey numbers for media studies:
 

070-079 News and journalism

302.23- Media (media use, media research, media history)

303.4833 Communication (social change, information technology)

323.0420285 Information technology (political participation)

323.44- Freedom of expression

338.47- The newspaper industry, the media industry, media economics, ownership

384 Communication (telecommunications)

659: Advertising and PR

741- Comics, cartoons, animation

770-779 Photography, photographers, computer art, video production, sound

780- Music, film music

791.4- Film, radio, television

Databases

  • Bibliorama – the Danish Film Institute's library database
  • Film Indexes Online – AFI and Film Index International
  • IMDb (via the University Library)
  • medienorge – facts about the Norwegian mass media
  • Electronic resources – Media studies (Oria)

The film collection

The library has a large film collection (primarily DVD) spread across several locations. The films are divided into several collections, but UBBSMP Film/UBBSMP FilmIM, UBBSMP Film Mag and UBBKD are the most important. UBBSMP Film/UBBSMP FilmIM are shelved on open shelves at the Library of Social Sciences (the year given refers to the specific release, not the film's production year), music and psychology (UBBSMP), UBBKD is on open shelves at the Library of Art, Music and Design, and UBBSMP Film Mag is a closed-stack collection located at UBBSMP. Films at UBBKD can be collected from the open shelves, or they can be ordered to UBBSMP. The closed-stack films should in principle be ordered in Oria, and will then become available the next day. That said, if we have time they can be fetched right away if you ask at the desk. There are mainly two reasons why a film is placed in the closed stack: either we have another release on the open shelf, or the film has become so rare/expensive that it cannot easily be replaced. The closed stack was set up both to safeguard parts of the collection and to give our users the opportunity to borrow different releases of the same film if this is desired.

Subject contact

Erik Hauke Tønnesen

Politics and public administration

Books in the library

Physical books are shelved by subject, not by discipline. Important overarching subject classes for politics and public administration are, for example:

300.72 Method (General method: 300.721, Case studies: 300.722, Statistics: 300.727)
302.35 Organizational sociology
306.43 Sociology of education
320. - 328 Politics (320.011 Political theory, 320.4 Political systems of government, 320.6 Public policy, 320.8 Local politics)
330. - 339 Economics (330.122 Capitalism; 335.4 Marxism; 338.9 Economic policy)
341.2422 EU
351. - 354 Public administration (351 Administrative structure; 352 Administrative policy)
363.34 Disaster preparedness
370.-379. Education
658. Business economics 

Reference works for subject topics, definitions and theory

Encyclopedias (encyclopedias with subject terms) 

Handbooks - overview articles on topics and theory 

Political theory and political science in general

Organization theory 

States, law and political systems

Political parties, participation and elections

Polarization, populism and politics

Public policy and governance

Government systems and public administration

Gender and politics

Environment and climate change politics

International and comparative politics

Other topics

E-books

ProQuest Ebook Central · Springer · OECD iLibrary

Subject contact

Laura Elisabet Drivdal

Comparative Politics

Books in the library

Some shelf numbers for relevant books

320. - 328 Politics 
330. - 339 Economics (330.122 Capitalism; 335.4 Marxism; 338.9 Economic policy)
341.2422 EU
351. - 354 Public administration (351 Administrative structure; 352 Administrative policy)
 

Reference works

Encyclopedias - encyclopaedias with subject terms available online

Political theory and political science in general

International and comparative politics

States, law

Party politics, elections, participation

Polarization, populism etc.

Governance 

Public policy and policymaking

Gender

Climate and environment

Regions and countries

 

Economics

 

Miscellaneous

Databases and country information

Subject contact

Laura Elisabet Drivdal

Economics

Books in the library

When you find a printed document in Oria, the "find and order" tab will give you the status and  location of each document. E-books are usually also part of the result list, and these are available when you are on campus or connected to UiB's network. 

The book collection is arranged according to the Dewey system, and economics is divided into the main categories:

  • 330  Economics
  • 331  Labour economics
  • 332  Financial economics
  • 333  Management of land and energy
  • 334  Cooperatives
  • 335  Socialism and related systems
  • 336  Public finance
  • 337  International economics
  • 338  Production
  • 339  Macroeconomics and related topics

You can find out more about how to use Oria here. Contact the desk or the subject librarian if you have trouble navigating the collection.

Reference works

Handbooks are thematic collections of articles. These give you an in-depth introduction to various topics and a critical review of the state of the research field.

Statistics and data

International

Europe

Journals

American Economic Review · Quarterly Journal of Economics · Journal of Political Economy · Econometrica · Review of Economic Studies · Samfunnsøkonomen · Magma

Working papers and data

Subject contact

Henry Langseth

Social anthropology

Books in the library

The book collection is arranged according to the Dewey system. Social anthropology is a subject in which you often have to use literature and resources from a wide range of fields. Even so, much subject-specific literature can be found under these main categories:

  • 300  Social sciences
    • 301  Sociology and Anthropology
    • 302-307 Specific topics in Sociology and Anthropology
      • 302 Social interaction
      • 303 Social processes
      • 304 Factors affecting social behaviour
      • 305 Groups of people
      • 306 Culture and institutions
        • 306.09 Monographs. We have these arranged by geography rather than language or ethnicity.

Reference works

Handbooks are thematic collections of articles. They give you an in-depth introduction to various topics and a critical review of the state of the research field. There are loads of them; this is a tiny selection.

Journals

A selection of international journals within social anthropology. In some cases we do not own the entire archive digitally, but will then often have physical copies in storage. 

Podcasts:

Anthropology:

Antro-podden: the podcast of the Norwegian Anthropological Association. Anthropologists talk about their field, which makes it easy to keep up to date on what is happening in the anthropology community in Norway. Projects, current issues and books are examples of things covered here.

Antrohalvtimen: the student radio in Bergen. An anthropological podcast by students at UiB, for everyone with an interest in anthropology.

New books in Anthropology: an English-language podcast in which anthropologists are interviewed about their books. Useful for knowing what is new on the book market.

University of Oxford Podcasts - Anthropology: an English-language podcast from the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography. The topics covered reflect the breadth of the subject. There is a great deal of interesting material to be found here. The University of Oxford has a large selection of podcasts within most subjects and topics. From the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography alone, 9 are currently produced, including medical anthropology, biological anthropology and various lectures. 

There are of course far more than this, and you will find links to some of the best here.

News and insight:

For someone who in principle has the whole world as their field and future workplace, it can be useful to know "what's going on". Podcasts often offer an opportunity to go somewhat deeper into current issues than more traditional news outlets can. This is a practical way to gain insight into the everyday lives people actually live and the events that help shape the societies we study.

Monocle 24 - The Foreign Desk: a weekly programme that in 30 minutes goes in depth on a current issue, from politics in Africa to the war in Ukraine. It consists of interviews and conversations with politicians, researchers, diplomats and others working on the issues in question. It also includes The Explainer, which in 5-8 minutes explains what lies behind a topic or an event that has often gone under the radar in the news. Available both as a podcast and online.

Other podcasts from Monocle: Monocle has several podcasts on news and culture, from The Globalist, which goes through international news every day, to The Curator, which is a weekly summary of the most interesting stories from all of Monocle 24's podcasts, as well as culture, urban planning, fashion and design, plus business. 

BBC Global News Podcast: a daily news podcast from the BBC. Goes in depth on a current topic. Episodes are available for 30 days from the website, but there is an archive if you download the podcast via an app. The BBC has almost 600 podcasts available, so there is something for most interests. Search by topics, countries and continents.

You will find links to a number of other podcasts dealing with news and international relations here and here. This is a real mixed bag, but it can be useful to be presented with different views on the same issues - not least to gain insight into what people out there actually think and believe. 

Culture and history:

In our time: a weekly discussion programme with Melvyn Bragg. 3 experts talk about a topic, moderated by Melvyn Bragg. It goes back to 1998, with over 900 programmes produced.

Empire: Anita Anand and William Dalrymple look at various empires that have arisen and fallen. The first episodes dealt with India and The Raj.

The Rest is History: a history podcast with Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook. There is great variation in what is covered, but current events will often influence what is dealt with, be it the war in Ukraine or the United Kingdom's relationship with the countries that took part in the final stages of the football World Cup. 

Research communities in Bergen

Subject contact

Erik Hauke Tønnesen

Sociology

Books in the library

Physical books are shelved by subject, not by discipline. "Sociology books" are mainly found at shelf numbers from 300 to 307.

For example:

300.3 Reference works in social science

301.092 Classical sociologists (including Bourdieu, Durkheim, Giddens, Goffman)

302.5 Social relations

305.3 Gender

305.8 Ethnic and national groups

306.4 Cultural sociology

306.45 Sociology of science

307 Local communities

To find the number of the book you want to borrow, you can search in Oria

Reference works

Norwegian encyclopedias

Encyclopedias (with subject terms) available online

Handbooks - longer overview articles available online

Sociological theory and classics

 

Environment and climate

School, education, expertise

Vulnerable groups, migration

 

Family, youth

 

Gender, sexuality

 

Work, inequality 

Sociology and politics

 

Culture

Subject contact

Laura Elisabet Drivdal

Looking for your syllabus and course literature?

Reading lists in Leganto and searches in Oria for the social sciences, gathered on a single page.

Find reading lists
Last updated: 17.06.2026