1	Information Systems Library Research http://www.csulb.edu/library
2	Susan B Jackson Business Librarian sjackso4@csulb.edu Please use email to contact me. Use one of the following subject lines in your email: research help or business student or student needs help.
3	Some Library Terminology: Abstract: summary Citation: the information you need about a journal article in order to find the entire article. It consists of the title of the article, the author(s), the title of the journal, the volume and issue of the journal, the pages the article can be found on in the journal and the date of the volume and issue of the journal.
4	More Library Terminology: Database: a collection of information that can be retrieved by a computer. Specifically, an article database contains information about the articles that are in journals. The database allows the user to get to specific articles by using subjects, keywords, or authors to retrieve those articles. Most article databases the CSULB Library subscribes to costs money. The information is not free. Peer-reviewed or scholarly journal: a journal that is written for students, scholars, and researchers. It will report original research. It will contain signed articles and the authors of these articles will be subject specialists and have credentials in that subject field. The journal will have little or no advertising, tables and charts, and contain long articles with bibliographies or reference lists.
5	CSULB Library Home Page www.csulb.edu/library Find out how to Connect From Home Access the Library’s Electronic Resources Find Books: which leads you to COAST, our online catalog Find Articles: or click on Research Databases By Topic or By Title Research Guides: See Business
6	COAST: the Library’s online catalog Contains materials that the CSULB Library owns: books, videos, ebooks, ejournals, journals, government documents, reserve material etc. COAST tells you where it is located and if it is checked out Start with keywords to find material Create a Library password on COAST and View Your Library Account
7	If you need material NOT available at the CSULB Library: Link+ (books only): allows you to search about 38 other libraries’ catalogs. You can electronically request books from Link+. It takes 3-5 working days to arrive at the CSULB Library’s Circulation Desk. ILLiad(InterLibrary Services): allows you to request journal articles or books from other libraries. It takes 7-10 days. So plan ahead.
8	Research Strategy Create a clear statement of your topic Identify concepts and keywords Use AND to narrow your search statement Use OR to broaden your search statement Think of synonyms and alternate spellings If the database uses subject headings look at them to help you find other relevant material
9	Use the following databases to find journal articles on your topic: ABI Inform Complete: is a comprehensive business database with over 3,200 journals (over 2,460 full-text titles) covering business and economic conditions, corporate strategies, management techniques, as well as competitive and product information.
10	More article databases: Factiva: a full-text database that contains nearly 8,000 publications in 22 languages- (newswires, newspapers, magazines, trade journals, and media transcripts) Lexis Nexis Academic Universe: a full-text database that contains major newspapers, magazines, and newswires. Contains international sources. Use the GUIDED SEARCH to allow more flexibility in your search request.
11	Use these databases for company imformation: Mergent Online: company records, annual reports and EDGAR files for over 11,000 U.S. public corporations and 17,000 non-US public companies. Factiva: click on Companies/Markets then click on Company located on the top of the screen. Type the name or ticker symbol in the search box. Lexis Nexis Academic: click on Business and look at the section on Company Information. You can access detailed financial data, including SEC filings.
12	Research on the Internet: The Internet offers information and data from all over the world. Because there is so much information available you need to develop skills to access or evaluate the information you see on the web. Superior resources can sit next to inferior ones.
13	Ask yourself these questions to evaluate informaiton on the web: Who wrote this? Is there contact information for the author? Where does the document you found on the Internet live? Is it attached to a government agency, university, or library? If the document contains research, does it include data and an explanation of the research methods(s) used to gather the data? Is there a bibliography attached to the document? Is the information timely? Does the document include the date the information was gathered? Is there a “last updated” date or a copyright date?
14	Citing Your Sources Using another person’s ideas, expressions, opinions, facts, or quotations has to be documented. One way to document this is to take good notes while you are conducting your research. Identify information that you are taking from your sources and write down the page number and author or title of the source. Keep a working bibliography so you will be able to go back to all your sources.
15	Citing Your Sources Cite the following: direct quotes paraphrases ideas sayings or quotations that are not familiar facts that are not “common knowledge”
16	Citing Your Sources From the Library’s web site click on Research Guides Scroll down the page to the heading: General Research and Writing Guides See the option Style Manuals and Citation Methods