Research Guides: Business: Library Resources and Search Strategies

Library Resources and Search Tools

-- BUS 160W Resources Center

-- QC & CUNY Library search tools

-- Useful accounts for research

Wall Street Journal Academic Pass This link opens in a new window
The Wall Street Journal is an American business-focused, English-language international daily newspaper based in New York City.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch
Note: Use your Queens College email to create an account.
Professors and staff retain WSJ access for one year after activating and will be asked to re-activate in one year. Students creating accounts are required to input graduation date and year. This becomes the account expiration date. Students who graduate later than expected and lose access can always re-activate accounts. If you already have an account, call 1-800-568-7625 to switch from paid account to a Queens College account and receive a balance refund.

-- World-wide Resources

Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. Please sign to QC Library when prompted to browse articles within the Queens College Library collections.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Remote access to Google Scholar may not always work. In such cases we advise that you follow the steps below or review the FAQ on Google Scholar
How to access QC subscribed articles via Google Scholar:
1.Access Google Scholar via the un-proxied version: Google Scholar
2. From the Menu Icon on the Top Left select Settings then Library Links
3. In Library Links, search for Queens College then select "Queens College --> Fulltext at QC"
4. SAVE and return to the Google Scholar Homepage
5. You should be able to search for articles. When you see the "Queens College --> Fulltext at QC", select to either be re-directed to the Library Catalogue, OneSearch or asked to login to the library proxy in order to access articles.
6. Please review the FAQ on logging into the library proxy.
Should you have any additional questions, please contact our Electronic Resources Librarian by completing the Electronic Resources Access Form.
WorldCat FirstSearch This link opens in a new window
Searchable online catalogue containing library holdings from around the world, especially in the United States and Canada. Find books on certain subjects, identify subject headings, learn which libraries have books and other materials, and borrow items by linking through to the Library's Interlibrary Loan service.Catalogue Link: OneSearch.

Worldcat: the world's largest library catalog

Recommended Databases & E-book Collections

Gale Business: Insights This link opens in a new window
Detailed company and industry profiles including SWOT reports, market share reports, and financial reports.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch
Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
An essential tool for business students that covers all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, accounting, banking, finance, and more.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Communication & Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new window
A robust database that provides full-text, indexing, and abstracts for many top communication journals covering all related disciplines, including media studies, linguistics, rhetoric, and discourse.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Emerald Insight This link opens in a new window
Emerald Insight is home to articles across the fields of business, management, economics, engineering, computing, technology and social science.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
Access encyclopedias and reference sources within the Gale eBooks platform.
Mergent Market Atlas This link opens in a new window
Mergent Market Atlas offers a wealth of detail on company financials, ratios, business segments, descriptions, sustainability, officers and directors. Powerful and intuitive search capabilities combined with an easy to learn and use interface provide quick access to a multitude of company, industry, index, ESG and economic data views and reports. NOTE: The Mergent Online interface remains accessible through Spring 2025.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.

Search Strategies & Tips

Here are some strategies and tips to find peer reviewed scholarly journal articles using Database "Business Source Complete", you can use similar tips to find other resources.

"Limit your results"

Most of databases have similar interfaces which generally contain such components as one search box for "Basic Search" vs. multiple search boxes for "Advanced Search," "Limit your results" and other features. Properly limiting your results can help you find relevant results more effectively and efficiently. For example, to find peer reviewed journal articles published in recent 5 years, you can make the following options: (1) Scholarly (Peer Reviewed), 2. Publication Date (2015- 2020), Publication Type (Journal), Doc Type (Article), and Language (English).

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Query

- Initial keyword search - general search vs. specific search
- Iterate your search – broadening vs. narrowing down

Browsing

- Browsing titles/abstracts/Subjects – take notes
* Subject Terms under the title/abstract of an article interested
* Subject (filter)
* Subject: Thesaurus Term
- Filter results
- More relevant articles
* “Cited References”
* “Times Cited in this Databases”

More Tips

- Phrase searching – use quotation marks
e.g., “captains of industry” or “United States”
- Boolean – AND, OR, NOT

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Searching "Thesaurus" is a good start if you want to investigate your topic to gather more information.
Performing a general key term searching is also a good start
Use "AND" to combine search terms if you want to narrow down to get more specific or fewer results; Use "OR" for more results; Use "NOT" to exclude certain results.
Use quotation marks to have your terms shown up tied together as a word or a phrase
Use the default setting of the option as you will have a lot of ways to filter your results later.

More examples (i.e., searching Mergent Online database to find company profiles)