Business

Introduction

This guide is designed to help CU students get started on their business research. In it you will find links to specific resources, like dictionaries, journals, and databases. On the Search Tips page, you'll find information that should be useful to you in conducting your own searches for resources on particular topics. 

If you have questions or suggestions for this guide, contact us at library@carolinau.edu!

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Reference works like dictionaries and encyclopedias are excellent sources of general information about a topic. They contain brief articles about basic terms, ideas, and people that are important in their subject. The library offers access to several online encyclopedias on business-related topics, including these:

Scholarly Journals

The library provides access to content from thousands of business journals through database subscriptions and individual journal subscriptions. The following list includes some of the highest quality, peer reviewed business journals available to CU:

Open Access Scholarly Journals

Open Access journals are designed to make scholarly research freely available to a large population of viewers. They are usually published online, where they can be read for free. The following list includes links to some of the top Open Access journals in the field of business:

A great source for more open access resources is the Directory of Open Access Journals.

Other Periodicals

This list includes important resources for keeping up with the latest developments in business. They are not peer reviewed or scholarly journals, but instead are trade publications and popular magazines: 

Library Databases

Almost everything that is in the Manuel Library's collection can be found through a search using the Discovery search bar at the top of our website. However, more refined searches can be conducted by selecting specific databases within Discovery. Several of the library's databases are specifically related to the subject of business:

Advanced Search Strategies

Typing your search terms into the search box of any of our library databases or our discovery service will perform a basic search, but you can click "Advanced Search" beneath the search box to make your search more narrow or more broad. Here are a few tips to make the most of your advanced searching: 

  • Use Boolean operators

The words “AND”, “OR”, and “NOT” can be used to broaden or narrow your search. Use these by placing them in between your search terms in all caps. “AND” will bring back results that use both search terms, “OR” will bring back results with either search term, and “NOT” will bring back results with the first search term but not the second. 

  • Search within specific fields

You can use the dropdowns to the right of the advanced search boxes to specify which part of the item the search terms should appear in. So if you wanted to search for the word “business” in the title of the article, you would select “TI Title” in the dropdown. Other fields you can search include journal title, author, subject terms, and abstract.

  • Use limiters

The limiters underneath the advanced search boxes can help you narrow you search results in lots of different ways. For example, if you are only interested in online resources, you can select “Online Full Text Only” and your search results will exclude physical books in the library. If you select the “Peer Reviewed” box, your search results will only include articles that are included in peer reviewed journals. 

See the picture to the right for an example of what an advanced search might look like.
 

Advanced Search Example

 

  • The first search box includes the terms “marketing OR advertising”. This will search for either one of those terms in any part of the item records. 
  • The second search box says “Harvard Business Review” and “SO Journal Title/Source” is selected in the field dropdown. This means only articles from the Harvard Business Review should be returned. Also note that because “Harvard Business Review” is in quotation marks, the search will only return results with all three of those words together in that order. 
  • Note that the “AND” to the left of “Harvard Business Review” means results must have one of the terms from the first search box and also be from the Harvard Business Review.
  • Under “Search modes”, “Boolean/Phrase” is selected to let the search know you are using Boolean operators.
  • Under “Limit your results”, the box under “Online Full Text Only” is checked, so the search will only include online resources, not print materials. 
     

Subject Headings

When searching the library's discovery service, it's sometimes helpful to use subject terms in your search. Here are some subject terms related to business, along with links to pre-made searches for the subject in our discovery service: 

Call Numbers

If you are looking for print books in the physical library on business topics, try browsing the following call numbers: 

  • HB - Economic theory
  • HC - Economic history and conditions
  • HD - Industries / Land use / Labor
  • HF - Commerce
  • HG - Finance
  • HJ - Public Finance