English 302: Business

Library Research Strategies & Sources

The Basics

• Fenwick Library: Virtual Tour
• Basics of Library Research
• Library Research Basics Online: WebCT Course (username = library password = basics)

What's your timeframe for this project?

• Assignment Calculator

Define Your Topic

• How to Narrow/Broaden a Topic

Think:  What type of sources do you need for your topic?

• Primary, secondary and tertiary sources

Find:  Background information on your topic

• Economics & Business (Oxford)

Find: Books

• How to read a call number
• How to find a book
• Item not at your Mason campus library? Try another library

Find: Articles

• E-Journal Finder
  • Basic Databases (ProQuest, Expanded Academic, etc.)
  • Business & International Commerce Databases
    • ABI-Inform Advanced Search (Online help)
• Choose indexes and formats best suited to your topic
• Know the difference between a scholarly (research) journal and a popular magazine
• Find the periodical articles
• Item not at your Mason campus library? Try another library

Think: Use Internet sources wisely

• Web is not indexed; sheer volume can overwhelm you
• Evaluating web sources

Think: Evaluate what you find

• Evaluating bibliographic citations
• Evaluating content from bibliographic citations
• Evaluating web sources

Cite: Give credit where credit is due

• Plagiarism is knowingly representing the work of others as your own
• The Fraud of Plagiarism (Tutorial)
• Mason Honor Code
• Use a style manual to cite your sources in a standard format