Elizabeth Stephan Librarian for the College of Business and Economics
CBE Reference hours:
CBE Office PH45/45B
Oct 13 - Dec 2
Tuesday 1:30-3:30
Wednesday 9:30-11:30
Library Office:
Haggard Hall 226
Phone: 360-650-2061
Email: Elizabeth Stephan
AOL IM: buslibrarian
Facebook: Elizabeth Stephan
Learning Objectives
When the session is over you should be able to:
Know where to access library subscription databases.
Gain familiarity with full text and bibliographic databases.
Use keyword and subject search techniques
Identify article citation elements.
Use the library catalog to locate books and journal titles.
Know where to go for assistance using the Library.
Know the strengths and weaknesses of databases, books and other materials.
Use resources useful to find online demographic statistics.
Gain familiarity with resources used to locate market share.
Find resources on companies, industries, and other topics.
Know how to submit requests for items not owned by WWU library.
About this Guide This guide lists selected information resources useful for finding information about market research. Additional resources can be located using the WWU library catalog, on-line databases, or the World Wide Web. Citations to print materials available in Wilson Library have the call number and location printed at the end of the citation. The web address (URL) is given for other electronic resources.
Additional Help Help locating information for your research project is available.
Come in to the Reference & Information Desk on Haggard 2.
. Find books, journals, videos and other resources in the Western Library collections. This also allows you to connect to the Summit Catalog. It also provides connections to the interlibrary loan system ILLiad.
Access to databases which WWU has licensed to use on their campus.
Choose subject for a list of key resources in your area.
Research Assistance
. This provides links to library instruction, to Internet Search engines and to email reference. It also provides an extensive array of general and subject based bibliographies available online or in print.
About us.
This provides you with information on other library services, library hours, etc.
Finding Materials in the Western Libraries
Western Libraries Catalog What you will find in the Library Catalog:
The Library Catalog, with more than 785,000 records, provides information about the books, journals, newspapers, a significant number of the U.S., Canadian, and Washington State government documents, databases, and on-line and other electronic resources owned or legally accessed by WWU Libraries. This includes online full text journals.
How to search the catalog:
You can search the catalog in a number of ways. The most common ways are title, author, subject or keyword. The WWU library is now adding table of contents descriptions for important resources into their catalog. You can search through these content pages using a keyword. The keyword is the best approach if you are not sure what subject heading to use. Where can you access the catalog?
The catalog may be accessed from computer work stations throughout the libraries, in general campus computer labs, and in the College of Business and Economics lab as well as from off-campus via the internet.
What you will not find in the Library Catalog:
You will not find entries to resources that WWU does not own or is unable to provide paid or free access.
You will not find articles listed in the catalog.
You will not find the contents of any online databases within the catalog.
Sample Search:
Search by keyword:
If you just enter a word the computer will search for this word in all fields. A better way to search is to specify fields, using field codes. Fields available for this database are:
Example: s: just in time AND inventory. In this example the phrase "just in time" must be in the subject field. The word inventory may be found in any searchable field.
Search by title
Example: Accounting and Performance Measurement
Search by subject
Examples: Benchmarking management Ratio analysis
Search by author
Example: World Bank
Locating Materials Beyond our Collection
Summit Summit is the combined library catalog of Pacific Northwest academic libraries. Use Summit to locate and request materials like books and videos which are not available from Western Libraries. To access Summit, search our library catalog first, then choose the option to “Repeat search in Summit”.
WorldCat WorldCat is the online catalog of OCLC (Online Computer Library Center), a searchable database of records describing materials owned by libraries around the world. It contains full bibliographic descriptions and cataloging information for the following types of materials: books, serials, manuscripts, sound recordings, audiovisual materials, maps, music scores, and computer-readable files. Consortium Shares 100 Simultaneous Users.
While the Library Catalog is freely available to anyone, most electronic databases are licensed to the library for access by WWU students, faculty and staff only.
Western Libraries search databases The library has a wide variety of databases to help you locate articles of interest to your research. Access this wide variety of databases by using the subject or alphabetic list.
Tips One or more databases (depending on their specific content) should be searched in conjunction with the use of other sources such as reference books, books, other material types such as videos, and the web. You need to search more than one database because some databases index popular journals, some trade journals, and some academic journals. Some databases have a particular focus, others are historical, and yet others only cover current information. Other databases index statistics and other non-journal resources. MetaSearch allows you to search several databases together. This is a great way to identify how much you will find in each database. After looking at your results, we recommend that you also search each database independently because each database often has special search features that allow you to readily focus on a topic. These features are not found in MetaSearch.
a) Statistical Databases
Table Base
[Resource no longer available]
Sample Searches
Nike (Company) and Market Share (Concept Term) and USA (Geo area)
Footwear (Industry) and Import (Concept Term) or Export (Concept Term) Hold down the Caps Lock and CTRL key at the same time to select 2 things.
b) Article Databases
Business & Industry Provides multi-industry, international access to company, industry, market, and product information in over 1000 leading trade magazines, newsletters, general business newspapers, and international business dailies. Coverage is from 1994 to present.
[Resource no longer available]
Sample Searches:
Under Industry term choose Pharmaceutical and under Concept term choose Industry forecasts, and under geo region choose USA. In Words in Title add ecommerce or electronic commerce or online. You can limit by date - most recent is displayed first.
UnderIndustry fill in Mail Order and under Concept term choose Trends, and under Marketing Term choose ConsumerBehavior; from geo region choose USA.
ProQuest
[Resource no longer available]
ABI/Inform Global
[Resource no longer available]
Sample Searches
Footwear Industry (Subject) and advertising campaigns (Subject) Nike (Company) and advertising(Subject)
ABI/Inform Dateline
[Resource no longer available]
ABI/Inform Trade & Industry
[Resource no longer available]
ProQuest Newspapers
[Resource no longer available]
PsycINFO • Dates covered: 1840-current
PsycINFO indexes and provides nonevaluative abstracts for scholarly, international literature in psychology and related disciplines such as sociology, education, consumer behavior, linguistics, medicine, law, psychiatry, and anthropology. Materials covered include articles from more than 1,300 journals, reports of surveys, bibliographies, books and book chapters, and dissertations. Dates covered: 1840 – present. Site License.
c) Directory Databases
Reference USA
[Resource no longer available]
Finding Items from Database Searches
Many databases have articles in full text. Simply click on the .pdf or .html file and it should open. Not all articles, however, are available in full text so you need to find them.
1) Some databases have a "FIND IT" button. Click on the Find It button and you might find the article in another full text database or on the web.
2) If there is no Find It button, then search the library catalog using the JOURNAL SEARCH feature. This tells you if we have the journals (in hard copy, in microform copy, or in an electronic copy through direct access or through a subscription database), and where they are located within the library.
3) If we do not have a journal you require, consider using the ILLiad - - Interlibrary Loan system to order any article.
Internet Search Engines Some business and economic information can be found on the Internet. Be careful! Some information you find on the Internet is not accurate and some may present biased viewpoints.
Google This indexes the largest amount of information on the Internet and includes pdf files. It is also very quick. One wonderful feature is the cache function which allows you to look at older pages.
Yahoo This search engine is very easy to use and offers thousands of links to all sorts of information.
Television and cable factbook • Location: Haggard 2 Reference TK6540.T453 3 volumes
• Check Catalog This two volume guide tells you just about anything you need to know and television and cable access, including profiles of local television stations and cable systems. There are maps showing the broadcast range, summary figures on station viewership, and market data such as estimates of the number of households watching and "average daily circulation". The guide intends to include advertising rates for local stations and cable systems, but most entries say simply "on request" because rates change frequently.
Company Home Pages Many companies set up home pages as marketing and communications tools to generate business. Their sites often provide annual reports, news articles and press releases, information about new business ventures and products. Try your favorite search engine such as Google to locate your company web page.
Corporate Affiliations / Lexis Nexis Corporate Affiliations (CA) is a directory of public and private information. Includes basic company information (contact info, location, SIC/NAICS), a financial snapshot, executives, and a corporate tree (parents company, subsidiaries, etc.) CA does not have analysis or a narrative, but it is a great place to find information on privately-held companies.
County and city data book / United States. Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census • Location: Haggard 2: Gov Information C56.243/2: C3.134/2:
• Check Catalog This is published every five years, and offers statistics for all states and counties in the United States, and for cities with populations greater than 25,000. Beginning in 1988, brief data are also included for "Minor Civil Divisions" with populations greater than 2,500. Although much of the information comes from the decennial census, other data sources are also used. It covers population, vital statistics, health, employment, income, social welfare, housing, crime, education, government finance, and business. Some rankings tables are also included, covering topics such as counties with the fewest people per square mile, counties with the largest decline in manufacturing, and so on.
Right Site / Easy Analytic Software, Inc. The Right Site offers both fee-based special reports and some free compilations of Census Bureau and other government data. Free census data is from the 2000 census; updates are available for a fee. You may search for data by ZIP code, county, metropolitan areas, states, and so on. Free reports include "Top 100 significant variables: report and analysis", various compilations of data on income, housing, education, employment, "quality of life" and so on. Much of the data is given in the form of proprietary "EASI" ranks or " EASI" scores, or in an Index value, where the U.S. average = 100.
Statistical abstract of the United States • Location: Haggard 2 - Gov. Inf. Ref. C 3.134:/
Haggard 2 -Ref Desk Coll HA202.A1
• Dates covered: 1995-
• Check Catalog Statistical Abstract of the U.S. contains a collection of statistical tables on social and economic conditions in the United States with selected international data. Sources include data from the Census Bureau, other Federal agencies, and private organizations. Back issues are available in print form in the Government Documents collection: C 3.134: Tables and information from the years 1995-2002 are available on the web.
Access Washington Washington State maintains an extensive web site which contains a wealth of economic, demographic and other information.
Find-it! Washington / Washington State Library An online search tool developed to help citizens find government information. Web documents from around the state, government publications available at public and state libraries, and government information and services maintained by the State Dept. of Information Services are included.
g) Demographics - International
Demographic yearbook / United Nations. Statistical office. Department of Economic and Social Affairs • Location: Haggard 2 Reference HA17.D45
• Check Catalog This United Nations publication includes information on social factors such as age distribution, household composition and life expectancy for more than 200 countries. It does NOT include economic or household income data. It DOES include information on the reliability of the data it includes. Some historical data is provided, so this can be useful for studying trends over past decades. Unfortunately this is often 2 years behind in publishing.
Publication manual of the American Psychological Association / American Psychological Association • Location: Haggard 2 Ref Desk Coll BF76.7 P83
• Check Catalog The Publication Manual offers an authoritative and easy-to-use reference and citation system and comprehensive coverage of the treatment of numbers, metrication, statistical and mathematical data, tables, and figures for use in writing, reports, or presentations.
