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GENERAL
BUSINESS SUBJECT GUIDE
In
the past, it was not
entirely clear that business was in
fact an academic discipline; after all, some of the best businessmen of
all
time never went to college. However, the sheer importance of
business in
our modern economy demands that special attention be paid to it,
especially
since better understanding in this subject can be translated into
dollars.
This
subject guide is
meant for business in general (that’s
both Business and General Business). The closely related
subjects, Management, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Economics, Finance, Accounting, and Marketing
have their own subject guides, but should still
think of this guide as a base or foundation. Paradoxically, this
guide
leans on them also for more specific information.
DATABASES
EBSCO
As ever, EBSCO is
a great
way to do research. It is
actually an aggregator, and that means that it searches lots of
different
databases at the same time. For business-related information, one
might
want to select these particular ones (to avoid getting irrelevant
hits):
Academic Search
Premier
Business Source
Complete
Legal Collection
Newspaper Source
Regional Business
News
Vente et
Gestion
(business journals in French)
Economia y
Negocios
(business journals in Spanish)
Hospitality &
Tourism
Index
Academic Search
Complete
Electronic
Journals
This allows you to
browse
ULM’s available journals by name,
so you can know very quickly whether or not we have the publication you
want.
JSTOR - The
scholarly journal archive
There are many
journals
on JSTOR-- it means "Journal
storage." You can search by issues and genres, and inside the
article text itself. JSTOR brings you journal pages just as they
appear
in print-- and just about as usefully.
LexisNexis
Academic Search
LexisNexis has
devoted a
specific part of its powerful
database interface to Business research (accessible by clicking the
corresponding link on the left of the front-page). Using it will
be
extremely useful as it has detailed company information, news,
journals, and
more. Also, don't forget the general news or the Legal Research
option.
Mergent
Online
This resource can
produce
a lot of things, including very
detailed profiles of companies with codes, numbers, recent stocks,
contact
information, summaries of what they are, financial info, competitors,
and
more.
Do remember, though, that it only goes back as far as 1997. If
you want
to dates earlier than that, you'll have to use the print. As this
time,
they are shelved in the stacks.
GOVERNMENTAL
INTERNET RESOURCES
Business
in Louisiana
This is the
official
state web site for doing business in Louisiana, and it offers useful
links to other state websites and information on how to accomplish
goals such as opening a business or getting a job.
Business.gov
"Business.gov, the
official business link to the U.S.
Government, is managed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)
in a
partnership with 21 other federal agencies." It provides quick
links
to government information related to business. It doesn't appear
to focus
on any particular size of business, offering help for large and
small.
This site can help someone do things like find money for a business for
find
out what are the latest regulatory laws passed concerning the
workplace.
City-Data.com
This website
offers quick
statistics of large and small
cities on sundry topics, including graphs, maps, weather, and even
pictures. The most specific reason I've placed this site on this
guide is
its discussion forum.
This makes
it possible to see more than only data about locales (the "why"
behind it). But don't expect what you read there to be academic
or
reliable.
U.S. Census Bureau
This is great
place to
find statistical data about the U.S. The American
Fact Finder brings
such
demographic information as age, race, income, education, employment,
and more.
The U.S. Dept.
of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics
This site can be
useful
in numerous ways, beginning with
Demographics, the Consumer Price Index, unemployment rates, The
Occupational
Outlook Handbook, and much more.
United States Patent
and Trademark Office
This site allows
you to
search for patents, learn about what
they are, and more. There are also extensions of the site that
are meant
for advocacy on the issues of patents and their protection.
Louisiana
Legislature
State legal
resources
vary from state to state. Louisiana rather generously allows one
to view information on bills and acts voted on, who
voted on them, committee, legislative histories, and more. It is
also
searchable, which is helpful.
INTERNET
RESOURCES
Better Business Bureau
Surely you're
heard of
them somewhere: "...or else I'll
report you to the Better Business Bureau!" It is a private
nonprofit
organization and not a government bureau, but complaints found here
reflect the
concerns and desires of the public.
The
International Business Ethics Institute
Forgetting about
business
ethics is so 80s. The
International Business Ethics Institute (IBEI) is a nonprofit
organization
devoted to its namesake. Its web site has resources including a
primer
explaining ethics, links to ethics web-pages of businesses and
organizations,
and a bibliography with more books on the subject.
JURIST
One does not
necessarily
need to be a lawyer to need legal
news, and one doesn't need to be a lawyer to get it, either.
JURSIT is a
free resource with a very pleasing interface made by The University of
Pittsburgh School of Law. It covers US and world legal news, and
can be
searched, browsed, and watched.
Melissa
DATA
Melissa DATA's
free
"lookups" page takes the
information from the U.S. Census and packages it differently, so that
you can
find what you need faster and compare data more easily. You can
find
latitude & longitude coordinates, verify addresses, find zip codes,
use
zips, and much more. This site is as fun as it is useful.
The
Official Guide to Doing Business in Louisiana
This website
offers
information on how to conduct business
in the state of Louisiana, including contact information for state
offices,
news, maps, and more.
Internet
News…
CNBC
This is a very
famous
website attached to a TV Network
covering business (and finance, and all else related) news only.
Its name
stands for "Consumer News and Business Channel."
Yahoo! Finance
Yahoo, being a
portal
site, has something for
everyone. It's not as comprehensive as CNBC, but also isn't as
loud. It is most useful when you already have a yahoo! ID you are
using
for email, IM, groups, dating, etc. and integrate it into your e-life
with "My
yahoo."
Google
Finance
This is Google’s
ultra-quiet, straightforward approach to
reporting finance and business news. If you use Google, you
already use
Google finance; enter a stock name (DLTR, AAPL) into a search and
Google will
immediately tell you about it. Its news comes in the same manner
that
Google News does, so it brings you material from many different
business
websites related to whatever you search for.
...Or
you can just
use
whatever your favorite is for news.
Business news can come from a variety of sources; People generally
favor some
news outlets over others, although they are basically the same (so long
as it
is not particularly silly). For local-area business news,
however,
your choices are obviously much fewer.
Speaking
of
locations,
this is a global economy, so of
course there are other countries to consider. This, for example,
is about
doing
business in the United Kingdom. Southeastern
Europe
Business Brief (SEEBB)
disseminates business news via email that is
specifically about Southeastern Europe. Provided in this guide is
only a
smattering of the available websites you can visit. Since
business is of
great size and importance as a subject, there's much more. To
begin,
there is an excellent collection of links here at Rutgers
University Libraries, and
more at the familiar LSU.
The more specific
your
research needs are, the more
specialized your resources are going to be. Focusing on a single
industry
or country can be one way of narrowing your search greatly. The
same is
true of print…
BOOKS
AT ULM
Reference
Books
These
are
located in the reference section on the first floor
Strauss's
handbook of business information : a guide
for librarians, students, and researchers
Author:
Moss, Rita W.
Publisher:
Libraries
Unlimited,
Pub
date:
2004.
Call:
Z7164
.C81 S7796 2004
This as great a
resource
for me as it is for you, and thus receives
top billing. This points out a great amount of resources an
incredible
variety of resources by type and subject, complete with detailed
annotation
explaining what they are, what they do, and how to use them.
Black's
Law
dictionary : definitions of the terms
and phrases of American and English jurisprudence,
ancient
and modern
Author:
Black, Henry Campbell, 1860-1927.
Publisher:
West,
Pub
date:
c1979.
Call:
KF
156 .B534 1979
A standard legal
resource, this can satisfy a variety of
quick reference needs with a pronunciation guide, list of common
abbreviations,
the U.S. Constitution, a bibliography, and a very large number of
entries. Some of them are even famous cases or laws.
Business
plans
handbook : a compilation of actual
business plans developed by small business throughout North America
Publisher:
Gale Research,
Inc.,
Pub
date:
c1995-
Call:
HD62.7 .B865
This 4-volume set
was
published some time ago, but for
examples of business plans, it should be more than sufficient.
The plans
are arranged in alphabetical order by subject and are many pages
long.
There is a bibliography, list of contacts, and a glossary.
Dictionary
of
International Business Terms
Author:
Capela, John J.
Publisher:
Barron's,
Pub
date:
1996.
Call:
HD62.4 .H373 1996
This works like
any other
dictionary you know, but it is
about business worldwide. It compact and concise, and has an
abbreviations section and some key phrases printed in English, French,
German,
Spanish, Italian, and Japanese.
Directory
of
corporate affiliations of major
corporations
Publisher:
National
Register Pub. Co.,
Call:
HG4057 .A219
Subtitled "who
owns
whom," this resources tells you
just that. It covers public and private companies, and has extra
information like international major holidays, mergers, name changes,
and
more. Entries give basic contact information and tell what the
company
does.
Encyclopedia
of
business
Author:
Maurer, John G., 1937.
Publisher:
Gale research,
Pub
date:
1995.
Call:
HF1001 .E466 1995
Even if you're not
in a
business major, this can be a good
way to find quick, accurate information. Entries are highlighted
by black
bars and large ones are sub-divided with bold headings. There are
"see" referrals, and "further reading" at the end of some
articles.
Encyclopedia
of
business information sources
Publisher:
Gale Research
Co.,
Call:
HF5353 .E52
Business is a wide
subject, so every type of it could not be
included in this subject guide-- but fortunately, there is a big heavy
book
that can find more specific subjects. This book lists information
resources by industry (like grocery, firearms, etc.) and by resource
type (index,
abstract, database) and shows citations for them.
French
dictionary
of business, commerce and finance
Publisher:
Routledge,
Pub
date:
1996.
Call:
HF1002 .F75 1996
This is a
business-specific dictionary in English and
French; the first half is French to English, and the other half is the
opposite. There is also quick information about how to write
letters,
countries, and capitals in the back of the book.
Rand
McNally ...
commercial atlas & marketing
guide
Publisher:
Rand McNally,
Pub
date:
c1983-
Call:
G1019
.Q1 R3 126TH ED.(1995)
This very large
book
seems to not only have sufficient maps,
but also has a huge amount of information about the places on the maps,
like
population data and other statistics.
Standard
&
Poor's register of corporations,
directors and executives
Publisher:
Standard &
Poor's Corp.
Call:
HG4057 .A4
This very useful
resource
is available through LexisNexis
under the link "Company Profiles" on the Business Search page (it is
not called Standard & Poor's there, because it searches other
resources at
the same time). It shows the basic information about companies
such as
who is in charge of it, ticker name, sales, and more.
The
Wall Street
journal, index
Publisher:
Dow Jones &
Co.,
Pub
date:
1957-
Call:
HG1
.W26
You know The Wall
Street
Journal, of course. This
index allows you to search it by year, all the way back to 1957.
West's
encyclopedia of American law
Publisher:
West Publishing,
Pub
date:
c1998-
Call:
KF154
.W47 1998
WEAL is meant for
users
unfamiliar with the law and is
arranged and formatted like a traditional encyclopedia, with
un-abstruse
language and occasional illustrations in color (although it is not too
simple). This makes it useful while still staying ahead of Google
by
wielding the credibility of Thomson/West. The articles also contain
citations
to proper law resources (usually West's, of course). There are
"In
Focus" articles to enhance entries with expanded issues.
Yearbook
of
labour statistics
Pub:
International Labour Office.
Pub
date:
1936-
Call:
HD4826 .I63
ULM
has a lot of these, stretching decades into the past. Do note the
"u" in "labour"; this is an international statistics
resource, and displays text in English, French, and Spanish. It
shows
statistics for major countries of the world, like unemployment
statistics (by
education, economic activity, work hours, etc.). It also comes
with
references, index, and other helpful features.
Books
.
. . located
in the stacks
The
available
materials
in the ULM library alone are
numerous (the information landscape is even more vast after you figure
in the
collections of other libraries). If you have a topic, it has
likely been
written on. Again, narrowing your search (to real estate, for
example)
can help you find what you need faster. All the same, listed are
here a
few materials that can be used as general introductions and quick
references to
the subjects that they cover.
Basic
business
statistics : concepts and
applications
Author:
Berenson, Mark L.
Publisher:
Pearson Prentice
Hall,
Pub
date:
2004.
Call:
HA29
.B395 2004
This is a rather
large
textbook that explains statistics,
what they mean, and how to read and use them effectively. There
is much
detailed information on how to use statistics with Microsoft Excel and
SPSS,
complete with color screenshots. There are problems and questions
to do
between chapters, answers, and an index also.
Business
Author:
Griffin, Ricky W.
Publisher:
Prentice Hall,
Pub
date:
c2004.
Call:
HD70
.U5 G73 2004
This is a textbook
that
could be a nice place to
begin. Paragraphs are clearly divided, it's illustrated, in
color,
important terms appear in bold and are defined in the page
margins. There
are questions and activates at the ends of chapters, a glossary, and
index.
Handbook
of
industrial and organizational psychology
Author:
Dunnette, Marvin D.
Publisher:
Consulting
Psychologists Press,
Pub
date:
c1990-c1994.
Call:
HF5548.8 .H250 1990
Understanding how
people
think and work together as a group
and why they do is a big part of understanding why businesses succeed
or
fail. This book is detailed and dry and has charts, a references
section,
and index.
International
business : environments and operations
Author:
Daniels, John D.
Publisher:
Prentice Hall,
Pub
date:
c2004.
Call:
HD2755.5 .D35 2004
A textbook
covering all
aspects of international business in
color with detailed contents pages and separate contents listed for
maps and
cases (which are real-life situations used to explain concepts).
It is
illustrated and has extra summary information next to paragraphs in the
margins, as well as a glossary and separate indices (indexes) for
names,
subjects, and companies.
The
legal
environment of business
Author:
López, Victor D.
Publisher:
Prentice Hall,
Pub
date:
c1997.
Call:
KF889
.L67 1997
This is about
business
and the law. It is black and
white with sparse illustration, and being for businessmen and not
lawyers,
explains the basics of the American legal system in the first
chapters.
Paragraphs are separated by bold headings and questions are asked of
the reader
at the ends of chapters. The Uniform Commercial Code is in the
back of
the book, and there is an index.
West's legal
environment
of business : text, cases, ethical, regulatory and international issues
Author:
Cross,
Frank B.
Publisher:
West Pub. Co.,
Pub date:
c1995
Call:
KF1600 .C76
1995
This textbook is a
bit older than I would like, but still useful, as it
is a West product. Each chapter is on a business law subject,
beginning with the most fundamental (court systems, international law,
etc.) and moving on to more specific ideas (contracts, labor law, land
use, etc.) Cases are used frequently, with citation
information. Important terms are in bold and there are questions
for the reader throughout. There are many appendices with
excerpts of the law, an English to Spanish dictionary of legal terms,
glossary, and indices by case and subject.
…Of
course, that’s not everything ULM has. For suggestion on
materials that should be added to ULM’s collection, contact me.
I would be a
cretin not to
acknowledge the assistance of
these resources; they are extremely useful:
http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/rr_gateway/research_guides/busi/business.shtml
http://www.lib.lsu.edu/bus/index.htm
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