Business and Economics
Section Navigation
This guide is intended to help you do topical research in business and economics.
Finding Articles
Start with either or both of the following databases:
ProQuest Business Library
Search nearly 1,800 worldwide business periodicals for in-depth coverage of business and economic conditions, management techniques, theory, and practice of business, advertising, marketing, economics, human resources, finance, taxation, computers, and more.
Business Source Complete via EBSCOhost
Full-text coverage for 8,200 periodicals, including the full text for more than 1,100 peer-reviewed business publications.
If you are doing the kind of research that would be covered by local or regional newspapers, then Lexis/Nexis is a good place to do your research. It includes the full text from a lot of newspapers from North America and around the world.
Books or Articles? Maybe both, but sometimes one format is better than the other. If you are researching a broad topic, like the history of accounting, auditing, or taxation, then maybe books are the best place to start your research (see below). Articles are your best choice if:
- you need current information (for example, company research or "the President's ideas for tax reform").
- the topic is very specific (for example, "Wal-Mart's treatment of unions or revenue sharing in the National Football League").
When searching for articles in the databases above, remember to use the connector "and" between your keywords.
- Wal-Mart and unions
- Bush and tax reform
Finding Books
To locate books owned by Niagara University Library, use the Library Catalog.
The ebrary electronic book collection offers full-text access to many titles.
If you want to search for books owned by other libraries, too, then try searching WorldCat, a catalog that contains references to more than 57 million items owned by 9,000 libraries worldwide. Don't worry - if you need a book owned by another library, you can request it. To learn how, jump to the section called Obtaining Materials NU Library Does Not Own.
Finding Films
There are two places to look for educational video and documentaries owned by Niagara University Library.
- The Educational DVD Collection is located on the first floor of the Library.
This collection exceeds 1,500 titles and can be viewed and searched via the NU Library Catalog. - Films on Demand. More than 6,000 video titles are available for streaming anywhere on campus.
- The web is a good source of video as well. Refseek links to some of the best sites: http://www.refseek.com/directory/educational_videos.html
Finding Facts, Statistics and Web Sites
Statista
Statista gathers statistical information on over 600 industries from over 10,000 different sources, such as market researchers, trade organizations, scientific publications, and government sources.
There are a great number of web sites that provide business and economics statistics. Here are some of the best:
General Sites
- EconData: a guide to economic data on the Web
- Economic Data via the U.S. Census Bureau
- Economic Indicators
- Economic Time Series Page
- Federal Reserve Board Beige Book of Current Economic Statistics
- Federal Reserve Economic Time Series Database
- U.S. International Trade Administration Statistics
- U.S. Census Bureau Foreign Trade Statistics
- United States Bureau of Labor Statistics
Economic Statistics by Region
Obtaining Materials NU Library Does Not Own
If you need an article or a book that NU Library does not own, you can make use of Interlibrary Loan to obtain it.
Tip: In a hurry? If the article or book you need is owned by another library in Western New York, you can visit that library and use their resources on site (view a list of Western New York library web sites).
Please note: If you wish to borrow a book from another Western New York library, you can get an InfoPass card at the Reference Desk.
Citing Your Sources
Format your paper and cite your sources according to the:
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (Ref BF76.7 .P83 2010)
This manual is the definitive source. The official manual is not online, though APA does provide some guidance on how to cite web sites and electronic databases:
http://www.apastyle.org/apa-style-help.aspx
You may also want to check out some style tips from APA:
http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/index.aspx
Here is a helpful guide from The Purdue Online Writing lab at Purdue University:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Try a Google search of "APA Style" to see other guides. You will find many sites listed that provide examples of APA Style. The first few that are listed tend to be reliable, but you will have to be careful.
Tip: Please talk to your professor if you have questions about how to cite your sources.