DSOC 111: World, Inc: How Global Corporations Market Our Lives
http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/dsoc111ep.html

Developing a Search Strategy
 Finding Background Resources
Finding Books
Finding Articles
Internet Resources
Evaluating Sources
Citing Sources
Research and Reference Help


    


Developing a Search Strategy

Search strategy is a library term for the process of finding information in a logical, step-by-step manner. Using a search strategy insures that you will find the information and materials you need as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Research Steps:

  1. Choose your topic
  2. Find background information
  3. Find books on your topic
  4. Find periodical articles
  5. Find networked resources or relevant Web sites
  6. Evaluate your sources
  7. Cite your sources

For more information about library research strategy and using library resources, go to Research Strategy: a tutorial -- an online, hypertext guide to library research that is a part of Library Gateway Help.



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Finding Background Resources

Reference Sources

Networked

(NOTE: Also see the Management Library web site for Business resources.)

  • CQ Researcher
    CQ Researcher explores "hot" issues in the news in depth. Topics range from social issues to environment, health, education, and science and technology. There are 44 reports produced each year including four expanded reports. The CQ Researcher's hallmark is scrupulous objectivity and balance. Every 12,000-word report is written by an experienced journalist and features comments from experts, lawmakers and citizens on all sides of every issue. Numerous charts, graphs and sidebar articles -- plus a pro-con feature, a chronology, lengthy bibliographies and a list of contacts -- round out each report.

  • Encyclopedia of Sociology. New York : Macmillan Reference USA, c2000. 2nd ed.
    Classic reference updated to reflect the many changes in society and in the field of sociology in recent years. Articles covering core issues such as race, poverty, violence, economics, pregnancy and abortion have been updated and expanded, and completely new articles have been written on topics such as the Internet, privacy, and epidemiology. Also in print: Olin Ref HM 17 E56 2000

  • Hoover's Online
    Provides company profiles, corporate directory (searchable by company name, industry, ticker symbol, sales, location), market quotes, and business news. Includes Hoover's company profile database. Also provides hypertext links to over 5000 company Web sites.

  • International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. [Amsterdam ] : Elsevier, 2002. also in print in 26 volumes, Olin Ref H 41 .I58x 2001
    The first comprehensive, multi-volume encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences since the appearance of the 17-volume International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences in 1968. This encyclopedia is available in print and electronic form, including 3,842 signed articles; 90,000 bibliographic references; and 150 biographical entries.

  • Oxford Reference Online
    Searchable database of 100 language and subject dictionaries and reference works of Oxford University Press. Each topical division contains searchable versions of the latest editions of published dictionaries and encyclopedias. Includes English and bilingual dictionaries, dictionaries of quotations, etymology and euphemisms, and the World Encyclopedia. Covers general reference, language, science and medicine, humanities and social sciences, business and professional subjects.


Also online:

In Print

  • Encyclopedia of the Developing World. New York: Routledge, c2006. 3 v. Olin Ref HC59.7 E52 2006 +
    "...a comprehensive work on the historical and current status of developing countries. Containing more than 750 entries, the Encyclopedia encompasses primarily the years since 1945 and defines development broadly, addressing not only economics but also civil society and social progress. Entries cover the most important theories and measurements of development; relate historical events, movements, and concepts to development both internationally and regionally where applicable; examine the contributions of the most important persons and organizations; and detail the progress made within geographic regions and by individual countries." [publisher]

  • The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History. 5 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Olin Ref HC 15 .O94z 2003+
    This encyclopedia gives in-depth coverage of economic history in all areas of the world from prehistoric times to the present.

  • Routledge Encyclopedia of International Political Economy. London ; New York : Routledge, 2001. 3 v. Olin Ref HF1359 R68x 2001+
    A comprehensive reference to the rapidly developing field of international political economy. Featuring over 1200 A-Z entries, the coverage encompasses the full range of issues, concepts, and institutions associated with IPE in its various forms. Comprehensively cross-referenced and indexed. Each entry provides suggestions for further reading along with guides to more specialized sources.

Most printed reference material related to business and corporations can be found at the Management Library in Sage Hall.

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Finding Books

Click on the image to connect to the Cornell Library online catalog:Cornell Library Catalog

  • About the CU Library Catalog
    The Cornell University Library Catalog includes the holdings of 19 Cornell University libraries. (The Weill Cornell Medical Library, located in New York City, has a separate catalog.) The catalog contains records for books, computer files, government documents, manuscripts and archives, maps, musical scores, periodicals, serials, sound recordings, and visual materials. There are also records for items that are on order or in process.

  • CU Library Catalog Help Pages
  • Library of Congress Classification
    The Cornell University Library uses Library of Congress subject headings as the standard for subject searching. Unlike searching by keyword, where any term or wording of a topic can be entered into the computer, subject searching requires you to use the exact wording of an official Library of Congress subject heading in order to retrieve search results.

    • Library of Congress Subject Headings for this class:

      INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ENTERPRISES
      GLOBALIZATION
      CORPORATIONS--ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS
      SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF BUSINESS
      BUSINESS ETHICS

  • Library Catalogs Worldwide
    Use other online catalogs to find materials not in the CU Library Catalog.
  • Interlibrary Loan Services
    Use ILLiad (InterLibrary Loan Internet Accessible Database) to borrow materials from other libraries.
  • Borrow Direct
    A new rapid book request and delivery system that enables Cornell faculty, staff, and students to search the combined library catalogs of Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton and Yale, and directly request expedited delivery of circulating items.
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Finding Articles

Indexes, Abstracts, and E-Journals

Periodical indexes and abstracts are resources that identify and locate articles in journals, magazines, and newspapers. Increasingly, indexes are available as online databases that will often provide access to the full text of the articles.

Find It! Databases provides access to over 1000 online indexes and abstracts, almanacs, catalogs, dictionaries, directories, and encyclopedias. Entries for these resources provide descriptive information, dates of coverage, and links to the databases. You can find databases in your areas of interest by either searching by title or keyword or browsing through the subject menus.

All of the resources in Find It! Databases can also be found in and accessed through the CU Library Catalog.

Find It! Articles allows you to search for journal article citations in more than one database simultaneously. In many cases, these citations will provide links directly to online full text of the articles themselves.

Note: The number of databases available for simultaneous searching is a selective subset of the number of resources available in Find Databases.

Finding Periodicals and Periodical Articles

Online Periodical and Newspaper Indexes

    ABI/Inform
    ABI/Inform, an extensive international business and management database begun in 1971, contains bibliographic citations, abstracts, and full text of articles appearing in professional publications, academic journals, and trade magazines published worldwide. ABI/Inform covers the areas of accounting, banking, computers, economics, engineering management, communications, finance, health care, human resources, insurance, international trends, law, management, marketing, public administration, real estate, taxation, transportation.

    Access World News

    Access World News from NewsBank provides full-text information and perspectives from over 600 U.S. and over 700 international sources, each with its own distinctive focus offering diverse viewpoints on local, regional and world issues.

    Business Source Premier

    The Business Source Premier database is a comprehensive, business periodical database that includes scholarly journals and business periodicals covering topics such as management, economics, finance, accounting, international business and much more. It contains content from full text sources ranging from general business periodicals such as Business Week, Forbes, Fortune, American Banker, etc. to academic journals such as Harvard Business Review, Journal of Management, Academy of Management Review, Review of Economics & Statistics, etc. It provides cumulative indexing and abstracts for 3,010 business journals and cumulative full text for over 2,470 journals. This database also includes Country Monitor and Industry Yearbook Reports from WEFA, 35 country reports from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and Wall Street Words. The peer-reviewed full text content in Business Source Premier is unmatched, and full text backfiles are available for many journals back to 1990. Additionally, Business Source Premier includes embedded images for many of the full text journals.

    EconLit

    Produced by the American Economic Association, EconLit indexes books, journal articles, dissertations, and articles in books published since 1969. Subjects covered in EconLit include economic theory and history, fiscal theory, econometrics, agricultural economics, public finance, demography, monetary theory, international economics and others.

    Factiva.

    Factiva provides access to global news and business information, including local newspapers, same-day newswires, company reports, and media programs.

    International Political Science Abstracts. 1989- .

    International Political Science Abstracts is a bibliographic database that indexes and abstracts articles from periodicals published throughout the world. The abstracts summarize the source articles.


    LexisNexis Academic

    LexisNexis Academic provides access to full-text documents from over 5,900 news, business, legal, medical, and reference publications, including national and regional newspapers, wire services, broadcast transcripts, international news, and non-English language sources; U.S. federal and state case law, codes, regulations, legal news, law reviews, and international legal information; Shepard's® Citations for all U.S. Supreme Court cases back to 1789; and business news journals, company financial information, SEC filings and reports, and industry and market news.

    PAIS

    Contains citations to public policy literature of economics, government, law, international business, political science, public administration, and other social sciences. It includes references to journal articles, books, government documents, reports and pamphlets in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese.

    Proquest Research Library

    Indexes and abstracts approximately 2000 general interest magazines and scholarly journals. It also includes citations and abstracts to selected television and radio programs. Many of the articles found by searching in this database are available in full text electronic formats. Pull down menus allow you to customize your searches. Also included is a limit for peer-reviewed articles (scholarly articles).

    Sociological Abstracts

    Contains records from 3,000 journals covering sociology, social work, anthropology and other social sciences.

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    Internet Resources

    Portals, Search Engines, and Subject Guides

    Use web portals, search engines, or Internet subject guides to find resources or sites on the World Wide Web on your topic. Search Engines are software programs that allow you to search the contents of web pages and Subject Guides are web pages that use menus and lists to sort and classify web sites.

    Question and evaluate the information that you find on web pages. As you would do with books and journal articles, look to see who is responsible for producing the web page or site that you are accessing. How objective is the information? How accurate or truthful? How authoritative? Go to the Evaluating Sources section of this page for more information on how to assess the web sites you have accessed.


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Evaluating Sources

Evaluating the sources you find is a crucial step in the process of library research. The questions you ask about books, periodical articles, or multimedia sources are similar whether you're looking at a citation to the item or have the item in hand.

How to Critically Analyze Information Sources
Lists some of the critical questions you should ask when you consider the appropriateness of a particular book, article, media resource, or Web site for your research.

Distinguishing Scholarly from Non-Scholarly Periodicals: A Checklist of Criteria
Shows how to evaluate periodicals by looking at their format, intended audience, and appearance.

Evaluating Web Resources
Lists ways to analyze the Web sites you find.

Evaluating Web Sites: Criteria and Tools
See this page for additional suggestions specific to Web sites.

Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Sites
Offers a table of suggestions.

How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography



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Citing Sources

APA citation style
(American Pyschological Association)

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.)

Africana, Hotel, Management, Olin, and Uris Libraries
BF 76.7 .P83x 2001x
(located at the Reference Desks)

Also in ILR and Mann Reference at BF 76.7 .A51 2001.

APA citation style (CUL Gateway Help pages)

APA Reference Examples for Electronic Source Materials (Excerpted from the 5th edition of the Publication Manual)

APAStyle.org (APA's web site)

MLA citation style
 (Modern Language Association)

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th ed.)

Olin and Uris Libraries Z253 .M68 2003
(located at the Reference Desks)

MLA citation style (CUL Gateway Help pages)

MLA Style (MLA's web site)

 
Managing Information using Bibliographic/Citation Software

RefWorks is a web-based program that allows you to easily collect, manage, and organize bibliographic references by interfacing with databases. RefWorks also interfaces directly with Word, making it easy to import references and incorporate them into your writing, properly formatted according to the style of your choice. Click here for more information about RefWorks and to sign up for an account. RefWorks workshops are offered at Uris Library, Mann Library and ILR Library.

EndNote allows you to build your own database of bibliographic references from a variety of resources, including library catalogs and periodical indexes. EndNote interfaces with several standard word processing programs and provides direct connections to resources, making it easy to import references and incorporate them in your writing. EndNote (or RefWorks) is highly recommended for researchers. EndNote workshops are regularly held on campus at Uris Library and Mann Library.



Research and Reference Help

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3/26/08
Fred Muratori, fmm1@cornell.edu
Reference Librarian


Olin and Uris Libraries, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853
PSA: Public Services and Assessment
Information and reference: 607-255-4144, okuref@cornell.edu
Circulation: (Olin) 607-255-4245, (Uris) 607-255-3537, olincirc@cornell.edu