Post on 19-Dec-2015
Finding Information for Economics
November 2008
Aims of the session
To help you to:
• Find information relevant to your needs from the Library’s web pages
• Create a search strategy to locate relevant information in library resources
• Make academic use of the Internet
• Know where to go for help
Library Web pages
http://www.dur.ac.uk/library
Search strategies – to widen
• Definitions and synonyms e.g. evidence, information, data, facts, statistics
• Truncation e.g. econom* will find: economy, economic, economical, economist, econometric etc.
• Wildcards e.g. organi?ation
• Combine synonyms with OR to widen search, e.g. (global OR international)
Search strategies – to focus
• Use phrases with “ ” e.g. “International Monetary Fund”
• Combine search terms with AND
e.g. credit crunch AND loans AND UK
• Proximity e.g. EU WITHIN 3 growth
• Advanced search option/ help
Keyword search strategy
AND
OR
loans
UK
Britain
AND
Hous*“Credit crunch”
United Kingdom
Analyse the effects of the UK credit crunch on the housing market
Financ*
mortgages
OR
Estate agen*
Which sources of information will you need for your research?
Library Resources
• Books & E-books
• Journals & e-journals
• Internet pages
• News sources
• Statistics
• Official publications
• Specialist reports
• Organisations/Contacts
• Academics & librarians
Catalogue home page
http://library.dur.ac.uk/
Book References
Bodie, Z. (2008) Investments. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Foster, G. (1994) ‘Briloff and the capital markets’ in Lofthouse, S. (ed.) Readings in investments. Chichester: Wiley, pp. 67-78.
Catalogue search
Journals
• Print and/or electronic versions– Check date coverage for online journals
• Use databases to locate bibliographic information and some full text articles – See online resources or subject pages for
listings– Use ConneXions to check access
Journal reference
Mora, T. and López-Tamayo, J. (2005) ‘Are wages and productivity converging simultaneously in Euro-area countries?’ Applied Economics, 37(17) pp. 2001-2008.
Catalogue search
Database search
Websites
• Why evaluate?– Anyone can be a web author– No controls over what is posted on the web– Very little material is peer-reviewed or edited– Much of the information may be out of date
• Gateways via Subject Information Pages
• Intute for Economics
References and Bibliographies
• ALWAYS keep a full and accurate record of your information sources
• E-mail references for saving from Library catalogue or databases
• Make sure you refer correctly to other authors within your work
• Avoid plagiarism
Where to get help
• Enquiries Desk, Level 2
• On-line enquiry service:
http://www.dur.ac.uk/library/use/enquiries.htm
• Academic Support Team:
Richard Pears
What Happens Next
• From the University home page click on:
Current Student Gateway | Library | Subject information | Economics | Information skills | Level 1 training
• Or go directly to www.dur.ac.uk/library/economics/info_skills/ug1/
• Please fill in the evaluation survey at the bottom of the page