EXP201(Moul)

From Bentley Library Research Help

EXP201: Expository Writing II -- Doing Well by Doing Good -- Pr. Diane Moul

This Library Research Guide is designed to give students in Pr. Moul's EXP201: Expository Writing II course a starting point for their research assignment.

Some of the resources listed below are subscription databases and are only available to current students, faculty, and staff of Bentley College. (Rev. 2.12.2008 KM)

Different types of resources and access levels are indicated by:

• Print Resources are located in the Library. Some of these Print Resources are located in the Reference Collection or behind the Reference Desk.
• Electronic Resources are subscription databases. These resources are available to members of the Bentley Community on-campus. Off-campus access is available by using your Bentley e-mail address and network password.
• Websites are internet resources that are free.

If you need more information than is provided below, please ask a Reference Librarian.

Contents 1 Finding a Company to Research 2 Database Searching 2.1 Brainstorming keywords 2.2 Searching tips 2.3 Suggested Databases 3 How to track down the full text if you have a citation 4 Finding Materials not available at the Bentley Library 4.1 What is Worldcat? 4.2 What is Interlibrary Loan? 5 Web Searching & Evaluating Web Resources 6 Citing your sources 7 Terminology Defined

[edit] 1 Finding a Company to Research

Websites with business rankings

• CRO Corporate Responsibility Officer Is an association for professionals working it this field.

• See the 100 Best Corporate Citizens list located under the Business Ethics section
• Note: Corporate Responsibility Reports are also available but keep in mind that these are written by the company with the company`s viewpoint.

• GreenBiz.com is a program of The National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, a nonprofit association, that partners with the Environmental Protection Agency.

• Search for companies by name, or initiative type and/or Sector

• CSRwire is a newswire of corporate social responsibility.

• Access is available to company reports and press releases.
• Access is not available to their Independent Researching Reports.

[edit] 2 Database Searching

[edit] 2.1 Brainstorming keywords

Suggested keywords

Achievements and awards

Energy use

Environmental aspects

Ethical aspects

Labor relations

Social responsibility

Sustainability

Stakeholders (see below)

• Shareholders
• Vendors
• Employees
• Customers
• Society/Community

[edit] 2.2 Searching tips

The Library`s databases may have different interfaces, but they do share basic search principles. These Search Tips or Best Practiceswill help you to formulate better search queries. It is important to look for the "Advanced Search" option of the database as it offers you greater control over the construction of your search.

[edit] 2.3 Suggested Databases

The following databases contain articles from thousands of business-related newspapers, magazines, journals, and trade publications. Don`t restrict your search to just one database. There can be significant differences in journal coverage and full-text availability. It`s best to try your search in a few databases.

1. If you know which database you want to search, you may located it in the Databases A-Z Area of the library`s page.
2. If you don`t know where to get started, the Library has also grouped their database offerings by subject in the Find Articles by Subject Area.

Some recommended databases for your class include:

• Proquest
• Infotrac`s Expanded Academic and General Business File
• Ebscohost`s Business Source Premier and Academic Search Premier
• Lexis (Current News source)
• Factiva (Current News source)

[edit] 3 How to track down the full text if you have a citation

Let us say for the purpose of illustration that the article you want is from the Chronicle of Higher Education. --The Chronicle of Higher Education is not a scholarly journal. It is a trade newspaper. To get the full text you would start at the Bentley Library and click on Find a Journal/Magazine.

You will retrieve a listing of databases that provide access to the full text of the Chronicle of Higher Education and what dates they provide coverage for. For example, the above search will retrieve the following information with linking to the specific databases and in most cases with links to the specific journal or newspaper title within each database.

If the article is unavailable at the Bentley Library, you can still get a copy by requesting it through Interlibrary Loan.

[edit] 4 Finding Materials not available at the Bentley Library

[edit] 4.1 What is Worldcat?

• Worldcat.org

When you find a book on your topic, try using your successful search query in Worldcat.org to find other sources you may want to get through Interlibrary Loan.

[edit] 4.2 What is Interlibrary Loan?

• Interlibrary Loan or ILL is a free service that allows you to borrow books or get a photocopy of an article from another Library. For more information, to sign up for your account or to place a request click here.

[edit] 5 Web Searching & Evaluating Web Resources

Here are some General Guidelines to keep in mind when evaluating information found on a website.

Some recommended search engines for your class include:

• Government Google Search
• Librarians Index to the Internet

[edit] 6 Citing your sources

Your professor wants you to use the MLA Format for your footnotes and bibliography.

• A Writer's Reference, 6th edition provides examples for the APA, MLA, and CMS (Chicago Manual of Style) styles.
  • A print copy is available at the Reference Desk (REF DESK PE1408 .H2778 2007)
  • Companion Web Site Research and Documentation Online

• The Library also subscribes to service called RefWorks. Many of our databases allow you to download/upload your bibliographic data directly into your RefWorks account. RefWorks supports the MLA Format. You can "Sign up for an Individual Account" with your Bentley email address from any Bentley computer. Please understand that you will still need to understand the elements of the citation style. No software is 100 percent accurate.

[edit] 7 Terminology Defined

• Scholarly Publication
  • A journal that contains articles that have been reviewed by a panel of subject specialists or experts prior to their publication. Another term for a scholarly publication is peer reviewed. A scholarly article contains a bibliography or work cited section of references.
• Non-Scholarly Publication
  • A publication in which the articles are not reviewed by subject specialists prior to its publication.
• Primary Source
  • Sources that contain raw, original, non-interpreted and unevaluated information.
• Secondary Source
  • Sources that digest, analyze, evaluate and interpret the information contained in primary sources.
• Abstract
  • A brief summary outlining the main content of a journal article or other document.
• Citation
  • Information identifying a publication. Details usually include author, title, date of publication, journal title, volume and page numbers. Also sometimes called "References".