Ten Steps to Business Research

 Getting the Most Out of the Business Library

This Tour shows you how to get the most out of the Business Library. You’ll learn how the Web site is organized, how to navigate around it, how to find the right Databases to use and how to get help when you need it. Click on the Remote Access page to find out how to use the databases when you are off-campus.

1) Navigate with the Banner & the Breadcrumbs

Let’s start with the Library Banner at the top of every page. On the left-hand side there are hotlinks to the University of Florida and the Library Home pages. On the right-hand side are links to key Library resources including the Library Catalog, Databases and the Help Page. Just beneath the Page Banner are "Breadcrumbs", links that show you where you are in the Business Library and provide links back to the Home Page. There are also navigational links at the bottom of each page and an email link and telephone number for the Business Librarian.

2) Quick Links to the Most Useful Databases

Just below the page banner on the Home Page is a hyperlink to the Quick Links page that has hyperlinks to the most useful databases in the Business Library. Most of these are subscription databases that are only available to UF faculty, staff and students. You can connect directly to ABI/INFORM, EBSCO, Factiva, Thomson Analytics™, Hoover’s Online,  Lexis-Nexis, OneSource, Standard & Poor's, and EIU's ViewsWire among others. There are some additional links to free sites that provide good content such as CEOExpress, CNNMoney and Morningstar, as well as Internet search specialists Google and Yahoo. Alongside the Quick Links are links to the Remote Access Page that explains how to connect to our subscription databases off campus, a link to the Business School and a link to the What's New Archive, where you can learn about developments that were featured on the Business Library Home Page.

3) Keep Up with What's New & Learn More About the Business Library

Stay informed on the latest developments: new databases, trial databases, tutorials, and other important news is featured in the center column. The About page tells you more about the Business Library as well as Who Visits, Citations and  Statistics. The Essays provide perspective on how the Internet has changed the business research process and give overviews of key databases including the EIU Databases and OneSource.

4) Find the Articles & Journals You Need

The Articles Guide provides links to leading business news sources on the Web such as Bloomberg.com, CNNMoney, and  ft.com. You can do more comprehensive and specialized searches for articles using  the Articles Guide to locate and link to subscription databases that index, abstract and provide full-text and full-image articles. These databases include megasites such as Factiva and Lexis-Nexis that have the full-text of thousands of business news sources, wire services, industry and trade journals, magazines and academic research titles. There are more specialized business sources such as ABI/INFORM, Business & Industry and Business Source Premier and databases that are subject-specific such as EconLit on EBSCO that indexes the economics literature. The Journals page has Core Journal Collections in  Accounting, Business, Business Law, Economics, Finance, Information Systems, International Business, Management, Marketing, Production & Operations Management, Real Estate and Tax. There are also finding aids including links to our Electronic Journals, an A - Z List, and Ulrichsweb. Among the leading academic journal publishers that now make their journals available in full-image format are Blackwell's Synergy, Cambridge University Press, Elsevier's Science Direct, Kluwer Online. Oxford Journals and Springer LINK. The JSTOR  database is a full-image archive of leading academic journals. You can use the Electronic Journals page to find out which databases have the full-text of a particular journal. You may also search the Libraries' Electronic Journals database by title. There are catalog records with links for many electronic journals in UF Libraries' Catalog. The ISI Web of Knowlege includes ISI Web of Science,  the foremost citation index to science, social science, and humanities journals, and ISI Current Contents Connect, a companion table of contents service with abstracts. The Articles Guide provides links to all of these sources.

5) Browse Core Collections of Business Books and Access eBooks

Business Books: Core Collections & More includes core collections of business books in over seventy subject areas including Accounting, Business Ethics, Economics, Finance, Globalization, International Business, Investment, Human Resources, Management, Marketing, Negotiation, Strategy and the U.S. and World Economies. These book lists have been specially selected to provide thorough, up-to-date coverage of each subject. All of the books are available in the library. The Collections now include many eBooks from Books24x7, netLibrary, and the World Bank e-Library. You may wish to browse the New Business Books list to see some of the Library’s recent acquisitions. netLibrary is an online library of thousands of eBooks including many business and economics titles that can be accessed on the Web. You may also search UF Libraries' Catalog by author, title, subject or keyword for books of interest. Or use OCLC's WorldCat and RLIN's Eureka to search the collections of libraries worldwide. You can order materials we don't own using ILLIAD, our Interlibrary Loan Request Service.

6) Identify the Best Business Databases

The Business Databases page is a complete A – Z list of all of the business-related subscription databases in all formats that the Library purchases with hyperlinks to those accessible through the Web. Each entry begins with the title, followed by a brief description and access information. The listing includes online services such as Bloomberg and Datastream available on the Business Workstations and databases on WRDS: Wharton Research Data Service such as Compustat, CRSP and CRSP Link. Faculty and PhD students can request an account on WRDS to access these research databases. Undergraduate and Masters students may access the service if they are sponsored by a faculty member. The CD-ROM databases Compact D SEC, Morningstar Principia Pro and Worldscope are included. Subscription databases may only be used by UF faculty, students, and staff. The Remote Access page explains how to access the World Wide Web-based databases off campus.

7) Use the Subject Guides to Find Databases, Articles & Journals, Web Sites & Books

The Subject Guides are listed on the left-hand side of the Home Page and on the Subjects page. These guides are designed to lead you to appropriate subject-related Databases, Articles & Journals, Web sites, Books and other reference materials. There are Quick Links at the top of the Subject Guides to related Tutorials, Case Studies and Journals. You can access the Web-based sources directly from the guide. There are also lists of traditional print business reference materials with call numbers and locations available in Business Reference and Reference. The Bookmarks provide quick links to Business Book Publishers, Investment Websites and Gainesville Business Websites.

8) Let the Tutors Show You the Steps to Successful Research

The Tutors are step-by-step tutorials that show you how to use the information sources in the Business Library to answer common business reference questions. These are great places to start if you are generally unfamiliar with the subject-related databases. They are also helpful in learning how to combine various sources to fully research a topic. Currently there are five tutorials: the Accounting Tutor,  the Company Tutor, the Industry Tutor, the International Business Tutor and the Tax Tutor. More are in the works.

9) Case Studies Illustrate How to Use the Business Library

The Cases are examples of using the information sources in the Business Library to find specific information about particular topics. There are currently thirteen cases: All About Bonds, Commercial Real Estate, Dell Computer, Doing Business in China, The Enron Debacle, Globalization, the Golf Industry, Goodwill Accounting, London, the Marriage Penalty, the Stock Market, marketing Uruguay's Punta del Este resort area, and the US Economy.

10) Putting It All Together

The Business Library enables you to conduct much of your research from your computer over the World Wide Web, guiding you to the appropriate Subject and Article Databases and Web sites. You can connect locally from off-campus by using your GatorLink account. You may also connect to Library databases from anywhere in the world using one of the Proxy Servers, or the University of Florida VPN Service. You'll find instructions on the Remote Access page. The Tutors give you step-by-step instructions on how to use the information sources in the Business Library to solve common business research problems. The Cases provide specific illustrations. And remember that  you can always get help by using the Help page or by emailing or calling the Business Librarian or using Ask a Librarian.