Business Research

In order to find articles in a database, you must effectively communicate your information need to the database.

General Guidelines:

1. Keep your first search simple
2. Avoid using long phrases, sentences, or sentence fragments
3. Use quotes (" ") to distinguish between phrases and keywords
4. Use the search operators to form your search
5. Observe the subject headings used by the database to group together articles, etc. on a given topic

Instead of simply typing in masses of keywords into a database search screen, take a moment to examine the following search operators that are common to many business databases.  Remember, you will need to formulate a search statement rather than simply typing a question or extensive phrase.

AND    

 Mandates the inclusion of the word or phrases somewhere in the record.

                        Example:          entrepreneurs and bank lines 

OR      

 Used to account for variety in expressing an idea. Records will contain any one of the words or phrases in the set, not necessarily all.

                        Example:          (learning or instruction or training) and (web or internet or online)

NOT    

 Excludes records containing a specified word or phrase. When using “not,” one must put “not” at the end of one’s search statement.

                        Example:          online learning not CD-ROM

Truncation      

 Utilized to account for varieties of a desired word.  The database will find records containing words beginning with the word chunk you provide.

For example, a search for manag* would retrieve records containing any of the following:

Management, managing, managers, etc.

Keep in mind that the truncation symbol may differ from database to database.  For example, EBSCO databases use the asterisk (*).  Consult a database's HELP screen to learn the truncation symbol for the given database, or use Ask Us to ask a librarian.

Need Help with your Research?

For the Spring 2022 semester, I will be available for research consultations in the Sutliff Hall Center for Financial Analysis (SH 123).

Mar 4 - April 29

Fridays

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM