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Business Research

This guide was designed to help business students understand the basics of how to perform academic research.

Access Databases for Business Research

Learn how to use the library's databases.

Welcome to William G. Squires Library!  When you are new to a library, it can be difficult to figure out where all the resources you need are located.  This brief guide will help you know where to look for particular types of resources. You may watch the instructional videos or follow the steps listed below the videos. Please feel free to contact the library with any research questions you may have; we are here to help!

1. The library homepage can be accessed at http://www.leeuniversity.edu/library/.

2. Students can search through almost all of the library’s resources by searching through the EBSCO Discovery Service.  This is a great place to start if you are new to the library and its resources.

3. Students will be prompted to enter in a username and password to access the databases.  This information is the same username and password you use to login to Portico, Moodle, and your Lee email.  Please contact the library should you have any trouble accessing the databases (library@leeuniversity.edu).

4. If you know the Title of the work or the Author’s name, choose Title or Author from the drop-down menu and enter in your info.

5. If you want to perform a search for a specific topic or subject, we suggest you perform an advanced search.  Click on the “Advanced Search” link.

6. Your results will tell you certain things about the resources:

  • Type of Resource 
  • Title of Resource
  • Author and Citation Information
  • Subject of Resource (note this will help you determine if the resource actually deals with your topic.
  • If the resource is available through the library collection. Look for resources that have “PDF Full Text” access, “Linked Full Text” access, or a “Full-Text Finder” option. 
  • Lee students can request journal articles and books through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). 

8. Click on the title to view move info about the resource.

9. Or click on the full-text link to access the resource directly.

Gale Business: Insights

A combination of authoritative information and statistical data with analytical tools enable you to explore real-world applications.  Use this database to find investment research/brokerage reports, SWOT reports, corporate chronologies, full-text periodicals, market research reports, industry research reports, company histories, and company profiles.

 

Business Source Ultimate

Includes market research reports, industry reports, country reports, company profiles, and SWOT analysis. In addition, it is a collection of full-text journal articles from some of the industry's top business journals. You may use this resource to find scholarly works pertaining to business.  You may also access articles from the Harvard Business Review through Business Source Ultimate. Click on the next tab to learn more about Harvard Business Review.

 

Begin searching for resources! 

  • To search, enter your search terms into the boxes provided and then click search.

 

  • Once you have a list of results, you may choose to limit those results by using the limiters on the left hand side of  the screen.
  • "Full Text" will limit your search to only those resources that are available electronically in full text to you.
  • "References Available" will limit your results to those resources that provide references, works cited, or a bibliography.  
  • "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals" will narrow your results to only those articles that are published in a peer reviewed academic journal. 

  • "Publication Date" will allow you to limit your results by the date of publication.

  • "Source Type" will allow you to choose results that are a specific format.

  • You may also limit by Subject: Thesaurus Term, Subject, Publication, Publisher, Company, Language, Geograph, or NAICS/Industry.

  • To access a resource:
    • Click on the magnifying glass to see the resource's abstract (description).
    • You may also click on the title of the resource to view more information.
    • Click on the HTML Full Text link or PDF Full Text to view the resource.
    • For articles not available in full text through the library, you may request the resource through Interlibrary Loan (ILL).  This is when the library borrows the resource from another library for you.  Click here to learn more about ILL

 

The library has access to the Harvard Business Review, a popular resource for business students and professionals.  Follow these directions to find articles in this publication.

Harvard Business Review can be accessed through the Business Source Ultimate Database. 

  • If you want to search through the Harvard Business Review for a specific topic, begin your search on the landing page for Business Source Ultimate.
    • In the first search box enter in Harvard Business Review and then choose "SO Publication Name" from the drop down menu.
    • In the next search box(es), enter in your search term(s).
    • Click Search
    • Your results should all be articles published in the Harvard Business Review.

  • If you know the specific issue you want to browse, you may choose "Publications" from the top of the page.
    • In the "Browse" box, type in Harvard Business Review and click Browse.
    • Choose Harvard Business Review from the list.
    • You may now browse this publication by issue date.

Don't pay to access a journal article! Search our databases to access academic journals; this is a service provided to students through the library's database subscriptions. If the full text isn't available directly through one of our database providers, we can request the item through our Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service which allows us to borrow the item from a different library for you. Listed on this page are some of the many databases that are available to you for research