Week 2: Finding journal articles

Finding journal articles can be a little daunting.  That's why we have put together this guide to talk you through the process of finding a specific journal article (from your reading list for example) and how to find journal articles on a topic.  For the latter, Business Source Complete is a great source to use and in the guide you will find a video describing how you can access and use Business Source Complete.

Picture: artiewhite on Flickr

Looking for journal articles?

We've had a number of enquiries from Business students who are looking for journal articles on a particular topic.  As a starting point we suggest that one of the best ways to find business/management journal articles is to use Business Source Complete- an online resource which contains full-text trade and scholarly journals in all aspects of business.

To access Business Source Complete on or off campus:
1. Go to Library Search http://www.westminster.ac.uk/librarysearch 
2. Type Business Source Complete into the search box.
3. Click on the link to open Business Source Complete.
4. If you are off campus you may be asked to sign-in: look for a link that says 'shibboleth' or log-in via your institution- click on it and then choose University of Westminster from a drop-down menu.

To search:
1. Search using keywords for your topic.  If you add more keywords with AND you will get fewer results (narrowing your search).  [See also: Improving Search Results]
2. The results are presented in date descending order.  To change this click on 'date descending' and change to relevance.  
3. Those that are marked 'academic journal' are from scholarly journals, those marked 'periodicals' are from trade journals.  In the left hand column you can filter your results to see just scholarly (peer-reviewed) journals.  [See also: What's the difference?]
4. You can also filter your results by date using the menu on the left hand side of the results page.

To access the article:

Any with a PDF Full Text Link you can click on that link to get the full article.  Any with the LinX icon you can click on that to see if we have full text available.

Click on this- if it says 'full text available' click on the go button

Further help:

• Contact the WBS Librarians using the 'contact' tab on the blog to book an appointment with one of us to guide you through using Business Source Complete.
• Look at the Business Source Complete help guides.  Click 'help' in the top right hand of the Business Source Complete interface.

Where else to look for journal articles on a topic:

• There are other resources available which allow you to search for journal articles on a topic. Emerald is another good one for Management topics.  To see all our e-journal resources click on the 'e-resources' link in the top right hand corner of Library Search, and from the e-resources by type drop-down menu choose 'e-journals'.  You can click 'show info' next to any resource to find out what it covers.  
• Library Search also has a quick search for articles- click on the 'articles & more' tab to search.  This is good for general topics but not great for specific business topics.

Looking for case studies?

Here's how to search for case studies in Business Source Complete...

(You can access Business Source Complete via Library Search)

Not sure where to look for journal articles?

Business Source Complete is an excellent place to start looking for journal articles.  It contains over 10,000 full text journals covering all areas of business.  Search on your topic and find articles from trade journals and academic, peer-reviewed journals. It also contains some company, industry and country profiles so is a great place to start your search.  Marylebone library will be running drop-in sessions on locating articles using Business Source Complete from 1-2pm Monday to Friday next week (24th-28th October 2011) in Marylebone library training room.  

How do I access Business Source Complete?

In Library Search type Business Source Complete into the books, journals and more search box and click search.  Click on Business Source Complete to open it.  

Do I need a password to access it off campus?

You will need to sign into Library Search with your university username and password (make sure your name appears in the top right hand corner of Library Search).  Once you click on Business Source Complete you should be taken to the screen below.  Choose UK Higher Education and University of Westminster. 

If you are taken to the screen below make sure you choose the Shibboleth login link to take you to the screen above.

Where can I get help using it?

Come along to one of the drop-in sessions:

24th-28th October 2011 1-2pm Marylebone Library Training Room

Contact one of the WBS Librarians for help:

http://www.westminster.ac.uk/study/library-it-services/support-and-training/liaision-librarians

Click on the help button in the top right hand corner of Business Source Complete to see EBSCOs help topics.

Where else can I find journal articles for business?

Emerald is a good resource to use particularly for management, human resources and marketing topics.  Search for Emerald in Library Search.  Off campus you will need to log in by clicking Athens/institutional login (underneath the username and password box) and then UK Federation.  Try also the "Articles and More" tab in Library Search.  If you want to find a particular journal, search for it by name in the Library Search "books, journals and more" search box.  Click on the e-journals link in Library Search to browse our full collection.

Search, save and read articles from Business Source Complete on your iPhone/iPod Touch with EBSCO's new app

EBSCO have recently released an iPhone app which allows you to search Business Source Complete and EconLit from your device.  You can save articles on your device to check later, read them there and then as PDFs or email them to yourself (if full text of the article is available you can choose to send the PDF with the email or just send the article details).  You can also save your searches if you want to search again at a later date.  

Learn more about the features here.

To get full access:

1. Go to Library Search

2. Search for Business Source Complete and click the online access button

3. If off campus you will need to select University of Westminster as your institution

4. Scroll to the very bottom of the EBSCO search page where you will see a link to EBSCOhost iPhone/iPod touch application

5. This will then allow you to enter your email address

6. Download the app to your device from the app store (search ebscohost)

7. Open your email on your device and click the validation link sent to you

8. Your iphone EBSCO app should now give you access to our subscriptions

An app for the android market is still in the making but in the meantime you can use the mobile version of EBSCO by using the URL http://m.ebscohost.com/ You will need to select "shibboleth login" in the top right hand corner and then select University of Westminster and enter your university username and password to login.  You can then click the EBSCO mobile icon to use the mobile version. 

Resource in focus: Business Source Complete: how to export to RefWorks/EndNote

If you use a RefWorks or EndNote account to store your references, exporting them from Business Source Complete is very easy as you can directly export from this e-resource:

1.    Go to http://www.westminster.ac.uk/librarysearch
2.    In “books, journals and more” search for Business Source Complete and click online access to open it

3.    Search on your topic

4.    Click on the Add folder icon of any results you want to save.

5. When you have finished adding results click on the folder view (top right hand corner)

6.  In folder view select the items you want to save in your RefWorks/EndNote account by ticking the box next to each one

7. Now click the Export button

8. Choose direct export to RefWorks or EndNote and save

Don't forget to export them regularly if you are using a temporary folder in BSC to avoid losing any references, alternatively see our previous post on creating an account with BSC to save your results to a personalized account.

Resource in focus: Business Source Complete- how to save results

Accessing Business Source Complete via Library Search allows you to access articles from over 10,000 full text journals.  Once you have accessed Business Source Complete you can also register for a personal account which allows you to: save preferences, save your results and organize your research into folders, save and retrieve your search history and create email alerts/RSS feeds.

1. Access Business Source Complete via Library Search (search for it in the books, journals and more tab)
2. If off campus you will need to "sign in via your institution" by choosing Uni of Westminster from a drop-down menu
3.  Once you are in you can click the sign in button in the top right hand corner 
4.  Click Create a new account and fill in the necessary details, you will then be sign in to your personalized account

 

Now when you search and click the "add to folder" button next to your results, they will be saved in your personalized folder (make sure you are logged in).  You can then view and organize your saved results by clicking the folder button next to the sign in button.

Alternatively....

You don't have to create a personalized account. If you prefer to save your references to a Refworks or Endnote account, you can use the "add to folder" button for temporary storage and then export to RefWorks/EndNote from that temporary folder.  But remember this is only a temporary folder so your results may be lost if you close down or the system crashes, so remember to export frequently to your RefWorks/EndNote account.  We will be posting instructions for that soon- keep an eye on the blog!

You can also search for articles using "articles and more" on Library Search.  Click the little star next to any results to save them to your e-shelf.  Click on the e-shelf button (top right hand corner) to view your saved results, organize them into folders and export to RefWorks.

Topical pick: sweet like chocolate

Photo by Sifu Renka on Flickr.com used under the creative commons license

According to this report from the BBC life is looking sweet for chocolate-maker Thorntons as they have reported a rise in profits. The sale of Cadbury to Kraft foods has also left chocolate (melting) in the spotlight recently. If you are interested in this hot topic, there is plenty of research to be done:

~Find out about the UK chocolate market, including its size, share and forecast from the Mintel report 'Chocolate confectionery- UK- April 2008', which includes a new market re-forecast. 
~Get a company report for Thorntons PLC on the financial database Fame
~Find out how much UK households spend on confectionery from the latest Family Spending report from the National Statistics.
~Borrow the book "Cadbury’s purple reign : the story behind chocolate’s best-loved brand" by John Bradley from Marylebone library. 
~Explore Cadbury's advertising techniques by viewing memorable ads such as the creme egg ads via the ad archive database Creative Club
~Research how the Kraft-Cadbury tale out played out in newspapers and journals by searching the databases Business Source Complete and Factiva for articles. 

And that's just the start.....