Welcome to the latest edition of new and interesting internet resources for social science information professionals.

 

created by a partnership  between the genealogy company Ancestry, and the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery at University College London. It provides free access  to 300,000 pages of records of enslaved people across former British colonial dependencies between 1813 and 1840, including the Bahamas, Barbados, the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, Jamaica, Mauritius and Trinidad. Search by name status and location to retrieve names of individuals

 

The 10th anniversary edition compiled by HEPI and Cambridge University Press and Assessment. It provides data about where VVIPs (Very Very Important People) world leaders were educated.  Headline figures in 2026, 66 world leaders were educated in the US while 60 were educated in the UK; the top three institutions are: Harvard University; the University of Oxford; and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

 

RMT Union magazine
now free online a searchable archive of all issues from the rail workers union from 2004 onwards. RMT News Archive

It covers strikes, industrial relations and the trade union perspective on railway management and privatisation in the UK

 

https://editingwomenarchive.org/about-ewa/
Recently the LSE South Asia Centre hosted an event
Editing Women in the archives
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCcWA6zmCXM
which celebrated the history of women’s magazine publishing in Pakistan.
It is based on an amazing project involving Teesside University which is aiming to preserve rare women’s lifestyle magazines. The website has a really valuable researcher  handbook https://editingwomenarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Editing-Women-in-the-Archives-handbook-v5-ONLINE-VERSION_corrected.pdf  and back files of She magazine  
https://editingwomenarchive.org/she-journal-for-the-home/
SHE magazine was one of Pakistan’s longest running women and home magazine https://editingwomenarchive.org/she-journal-for-the-home/
However the event emphasised that amongst the fashion and home articles there was feminist political content. This article from August 1970
https://digital.library.lse.ac.uk/Documents/Detail/she.-vol-8.-no-4.-aug-1-1970/516094?item=516101
provides an account of women meeting a leading politician to discuss equality. They refer to him in scathing terms as looking ‘sickly’ and unable to carry through plans and delivering to them a basically condescending ‘drawing room lecture’ . Also worth looking at are the editorials by  Zuhra Karim
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsehistory/2023/07/19/zuhra-karim-1932-2019-pioneer-of-womens-journalism-in-pakistan/ a pioneer journalist who frequently discusses womens rights
see more digital issues on the LSE digital Library
https://digital.library.lse.ac.uk/collections

 

Latest edition of the annal report from the World Economic Forum

covers a cohort of 145 economies and analyses a longitudinal constant sample of 97 economies, providing the longest-running assessment of progress towards gender parity. It includes global and regional comparisons plus analysis of progress over time.

Detailed methodology is provided

 

Annual report from International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance which analyses global and regional trends in democracy. Detailed rankings and methodology provided.

 

developed by Elsevier’s Data and Analytical Services. In collaboration with Universities UK

The dashboard maps UK university research outputs (2021-2025) against seven of the eight sectors of the UK Industrial Strategy (IS-8), and provides evidence on the scale, quality, and collaboration patterns of that research. The topic areas are

 

Outputs taken from Scopus and Scival. Methodology provided on the website. It offers insight into regional research specialisms and the nature and reach of collaboration

Fun website hosted by the British museum designed for families

and students.. You can take a short, guided tour of the 70-metre Tapestry and discover highlights. Or explore individual sections by themes such as warfare and daily life.