Library:

Researching Topics In Economics

Reference Books

Reference books are found in the physical Library and in our e-book databases, netLibrary and Books 24x7. A reference book is a work, such as a dictionary or encyclopedia, containing useful facts or information. Because these books are consulted for brief information and not read all the way through, they do not leave the library. They are located in the reference section, that is, in the first couple rows of books in the Library. Here's some that might be helpful (though, this is not an exhaustive list):

R 330.03 ROU Routledge Critical Dictionary of Global Economics
R 330.973 ECO Economic Indicators Handbook
R 332.41 VAL The Value of a Dollar: 1860-1999
netLibrary Blackwell's Encyclopedic Dictionary of Managerial Economics
netLibrary Elsevier's Economics Dictionary
netLibrary Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography
netLibrary Routledge Encyclopedia of International Political Economy

Often, books that you can check out are published about specific companies and/or industries. Use the Library's catalog to search for such titles.

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Databases

(I need help accessing the databases)
The Library subscribes to--that is, pays for--a number of databases that contain articles, books and other information for you to use for your country research. The most useful databases for this subject are:

Hoovers Online: Provides company and industry overviews, financials, competitor lists, product lists, and more.
Business Source Premier (EbscoHost): Provides articles from respected scholarly and trade business publications, covering all aspects of economics and business. Remember that you must use Boolean operators when searching any EbscoHost database. If you need a quick tutorial in Boolean, see the Library tutorial or click "help" in EbscoHost.

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Web sites

(I need help choosing quality websites)
Because anyone can publish anything they want on the Web, you need to be cautious about which sites you choose to use. Here are sites we recommend for researching economics:

Bureau of Economic Analysis
(https://bea.gov/)
Provides economic indicators, and an immense amount of statistical information. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
(http://www.bls.gov)
BLS is the fact-finding agency of the US government for all things labor. This is a very large site with too many statistics, data sets, topics and reports to list here--this is an amazing resource.
Economic Policy Institute
(http://www.epinet.org/)
A non-partisan think tank devoted to providing "high-quality research and education in order to promote a prosperous, fair, and sustainable economy." This site includes congressional testimony transcripts, reports, the EPI Journal, and more. RSS / XML available. (what is this?)
Resources for Economists on the Internet
(http://rfe.org/)
This massive site compiles Internet resources across all sub-disciplines of economics. You will find links to data and statistics, professional organizations, working papers, ejournals, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and more.
International Trade Administration
(http://www.ita.doc.gov)
Offers a "template gallery" for business plans and financial planning, online workshops, and a free advice service.

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