Library Research Guide
Business
Go to The Master’s College Library Web site http://www.masters.edu/library for access to the library online catalog to identify all of the resources in the library or to find those available electronically through its many online databases. The Web site also provides information on how to do research, library services, hours, personnel, links to other libraries’ catalogs and links to other useful Web sites.
Dewey Decimal Classification Numbers:(used by TMC)
The TMC library’s collection is arranged according to the Dewey Decimal Classification System (DDC) with a few exceptions. An outline of the whole DDC can be found at OCLC's Dewey Decimal Classification Summaries: http://www.oclc.org/dewey/resources/summaries/. The following are the more common Dewey numbers used in the field of Business:
Business Ethics - 174
Statistics – 310-319
Economics/Finance - 330-339
Law - 340-349
Commerce - 380, 381, 382
Management - 650-659
Library of Congress Classification Numbers:(used by TMS)
The Master’s Seminary Library and many other libraries around the world use the Library of Congress Classification System (LC). For an outline of the entire LC System go to the Library of Congress Classification Outline: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/lcco.html. The following are the more common LC numbers used in the field of Business:
Statistics – HA
Economics – HB
Industrial Management – HD
Commerce – HF
Finance – HG-HJ
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Identifying Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) is an important aspect of conducting research especially in the early stages of the research process. LC Subject Headings are extremely useful for identifying a variety of useful search terms.
To find LC subject headings related to any field: from the Library Catalog select the Basic Search screen and search broad topics in the Subject (Left Anchored) field or use the seperate Subject tab (for narrow topics). Read any “See also” and “Note” references for further understanding of the use of each term. Scroll through the list of headings to identify a variety of possible search terms for focusing or expanding your search.
Note: for materials relating to “business management” use the LC Subject Heading “industrial management”, for “human resources” use “human capital” and for “human resources management” use “personnel management”.
Library Catalog
The library’s Online Catalog is the index to all the resources the library provides. The TMC Catalog is searchable by anyone at anytime with an Internet connection.
To find resources on a particular topic from the Library Catalog select the Advanced Search screen, type in your topic. Use the appropriate Boolean options of “any of these” “all of these” or “as a phrase” and select either Keyword anywhere or Subject fields.
Although the library catalog itself does not provide the full-text of the hardcopy print books, many of the records do contain the item's respective Table of Contents (TOC). Search using the Keyword field to include a search of the TOC.
eBooks: The library has developed a significant collection of business related ebooks. These ebooks do have the full-text. Access to the library’s e-books is limited to TMC faculty, staff and students.
Accessing ebooks found in the library catalog is as simple as clicking on the link "Connect to book” corresponding to the “Linked Resources” field in the "Holdings Information" portion of the record (bottom of the page). When you are off campus and you’ve made the connection to the online resource, you will be prompted for either your MasterNet id/password or your NetLibrary id/password.
NOTE: If the ebook is part of our NetLibrary collection you will not be able to access the ebook off campus unless you first create your own account and password from a computer while you are on campus. To create your own account with NetLibrary, go to http://www.netlibrary.com while logged onto your computer on campus. Then select “Create a Free Account” (top right corner of screen) and simply follow the instructions for creating your own id/password to use with NetLibrary.
The library catalog will not identify articles found in journals and magazines. To find articles one must use a periodical index (see Periodicals below)
Reference & eReference Resources
Reference tools should be consulted in the early stages of research as they provide an overview of a topic, the parameters of a topic, persons, places and events related to a topic, a ready made outline of a topic and often times a bibliography of important titles related to the topic.
For a list of all eReference books go to the Find Articles page of the library Web site and using the topic/type matrix select the Main Topic: Business and the Type: eReference. Here you will find a number of electronic dictionaries and encyclopedias on business in general as well as banking, economics, finance, investment terms, management, travel and more. There are also several business dictionaries for these languages: French, German, Spanish. eReference books may be accessed anywhere anytime by the TMC community with a MasterNet id/password.
For a list of all hardcopy Reference books related in some way to business, from the Library Catalog use the Advanced Search screen and Search for: business and Search in: Keyword Anywhere then set the Location Limit to Reference. Peruse the list of titles taking notice of the call numbers associated with related titles.
Of particular note are:
· Business ethics : a reference handbook / Dienhart, · Company profiles for students. · Encyclopedia of business / Jane A. Malonis, editor. · Encyclopedia of business and finance / Kaliski, · · International business information : how to find it, how to use it / Pagell, Ruth A.; Halperin, Michael. 2nd ed. · The AMA style guide for business writing / American Management Association. · The business library and how to use it : a guide to sources and research strategies for information on business and management / · Understanding American business jargon : a dictionary / Folsom, W.
Periodicals
Magazines, Journals & Newspapers: The periodical holdings list indicates which periodical titles are held by the library as well as inclusive dates and format availability (microform, physical, electronic). For all periodical titles available through the TMC library go to library Web site, select Find Journals from the menu on the left. From this page you can find magazines, journals & newspapers by title or by subject.
Periodical Indexes: used to find articles in magazines, journals and newspapers. For indexes available to the TMC community go to library Web site and select Find Articles. Using the topic/type matrix select the Main Topic: Business and the Type: Articles.
Of particular interest are:
ABI Inform (FirstSearch)
Business Source Premier (EBSCO)
Lexis/Nexis
All of our online indexing tools utilize the CHECK FOR FULL TEXT service which allows you to link from an abstract or citation directly to the article found in another online index or, if the article is not available online, to the print holdings record in our Library Catalog. In the event the TMC library does not have the journal in question, CHECK FOR FULL TEXT also provides a link to our interlibrary loan service. Look for the CHECK FOR FULL-TEXT when searching any of our online indexes.
Online Databases
The Library's Find Articles page provides links to all subscription based electronic research tools including periodical indexes and eReference books. To access all of these online research tools use the Find Articles menu option found on the library Web site. For more details see Reference & eReference Resources and Periodical Indexes above.
Of particular interest are these FirstSearch Databases:
BusDateline - Regional information vital to businesses
BusIndustry - Business and industry facts, figures, and key events
BusManagement - Practical aspects and approaches to business management
Disclosure - Directory information on companies publicly traded on U.S. exchanges
EconLit - Journals, books, and working papers on economics
WorldCat - OCLC catalog of books and other materials in libraries worldwide
Worldscope - Basic financial information on public companies worldwide
Many public libraries supported by a state, region, county or city may provide access to a number of online databases. Often times business related databases are among those that are available free to library card holders. For example all County of Los Angeles (COLA) library card holders may access any of the COLApl databases which includes Business & Company Resource Center, BusinessFile ASAP, Legal Forms and Reference USA Directory. Also, residents of the state of California may go to any branch of the San Francisco Public Library to get a library card that will give them access to all SFPL online databases including these business titles: Gale Virtual Reference Library-Business Collection, Morningstar, S&P NetAdvantage, D&B Million Dollar Database, D&B International Business Locator, Mergent Online and Kompass.
Web Resources
Go to the library Web site and select Web Resources from the menu on the left. Select the appropriate subject related to the field of interest. All Web sites posted have been evaluated and recommended by subject specialists.
Of particular interest are these:
County & City Data Book
Fortune 500
Glogal Edge
Institute for Supply Management
Know This
Many of the library's databases also provide links to scholarly Web sites. Using these will save you from the need to evaluate for yourself their reputability. So will using Web sites that have been reviewed and annotated by scholars and specialists in the field. These can be found very easily by using these Subject Directories:
BUBL Link - Selected Internet resources covering all academic subject areas.
CompletePlanet - A deep Web directory of dynamic searchable databases.
Digital Librarian - An annotated Internet directory providing hand selected links.
INFOMINE - Scholarly Internet resource collections.
Internet Public Library (IPL) - An annotated collection of high quality Internet resources.
The Scout Report - Contains critical annotations of carefully selected Internet sites
Additional Research Guides: (also available on the Reference Desk)
· Basic Steps in Library Research – six simple steps explaining the research process
· From Cite to Hand - Books – how to actually obtain books and other materials whether or not the library owns them
· From Cite to Hand - Articles – how to actually obtain magazine and journal articles whether or not the library owns them
· Finding Articles in Two, sometime Three, OK maybe Four Easy Steps
· Identifying Scholarly Books – clues for distinguishing scholarly books and journals
· Identifying Scholarly Periodicals- clues for distinguishing between magazines, journals and peer reviewed journals
· Evaluating Resources – easy way to help evaluate the usefulness of research resource both paper and electronic
· Research Worksheet – designed to make research simpler by working step by step through the research process
· Copyright for Higher Education– help in understanding the copyright law as it pertains to faculty and students
© Janet Tillman/The Master’s College, 2004-2009, permission is granted for non-profit educational use; any reproduction or modification should include this statement.