Reference materials are an excellent starting point for acquiring a broad overview of your topic. Items with REF call numbers are reserved for in-library use only. Those with links are available online to registered Portage College Library users. Depending on your topic, you may want to consult the following tools:
BUSINESS: The Ultimate Resource - Dictionary of Business and Management
World business terms, abbreviations, acronyms, mini-essays to explain more complex concepts, biographical entries of key business thinkers, listings of international stock exchanges and trade organisations, business slang.
Canada Year Book - annual source of statistics and political, social and economic information.
REF 317.1 CAN 2008
Canadian Almanac & Directory - annual guide to Canadian information, including a section on Business & Finance and a Web site directory.
REF 971.0025 CAN 2005
The Canadian Business Guide - contact information for Canadian businesses, corporations and government departments.
REF 338.7025 CAN volumes 1-6
The Canadian Dictionary of Business and Economics defines standard business and economics terms in a Canadian context.
REF 330.03 CRA
Collins Dictionary of Business
Covers all the main areas of business theory and practice: marketing, production, finance, personnel, business policy and international business.
Comprehensive coverage of everyday business terms such as cash flow and patent, and such increasingly quoted terms as hedge funds.
International Directory of Company Histories - provides histories of existing companies, organized by industry.
REF 338.74 INT Volumes 1-6
Oxford English Dictionary [20 volumes]
REF 423 OXF 1989
Scott’s Canadian Sourcebook - annual source of Canadian information, including financial and business information, also provides directory information for organizations and associations.
REF 971.0025 SCO 2004
Thesarus national directory of Canadian business
338.7025 THE 2003
See Credo Reference for more Business e-books.
If off-campus, contact Public Services Librarian for username/password.
Canadian Markets provides market data for Canadian cities, towns, census divisions & provinces.
REF 330.9710021 CAN
Comprehensive annuities consists of projection tables for anyone who invests or borrows money.
REF 332.80212 SOL
Business plans handbook: a compilation of actual business plans developed by small businesses throughout North America [volumes 13 &14]
REF 658.4012 BUS 2008A & B
Searching the Portage College Library catalogue
The Library's online catalogue is the listing of books, videos, and journals available in the Library. You can locate material on specific topics by performing a Subject Heading search. Portage College Library uses Library of Congress Subject Headings.
Some sample headings for Business you can perform a search on in the online catalogue:
Accounting
Advertising
Employees
Management
Marketing
New business enterprises
Occupations
Public relations
Small business
Auditing
Business communication
Business law Canada
Corporations finance
Income tax
Leadership
Management information systems
Managerial accounting
Taxation law and legislation
The Library uses the Dewey Decimal Classification System to group books and videos together by subject on the library shelves. The call number on the online catalogue corresponds to the number on the label on the spine of the book (e.g. 155.4 BEE). Most business materials are shelved in the 650 section.
Examples
657 – Accounting
658 - General Management
659.1 - Advertising
658.15 - Financial management
658.4092 - Leadership
658.45 - Business communication
Periodicals are published at regular intervals, generally more frequently than annually. Each issue is numbered and/or dated consecutively, and normally contains separate articles, stories, or other writings. Scanning current issues of periodicals in your subject area can be useful when you are trying to think of a topic.
The Portage College Library has a diverse collection of daily and weekly newspapers, magazines and Academic Journals, including back issues, found in the Periodicals section of the Library.Here are some titles in our collection:
Business Week
Canadian Business
Consumer Reports
The Globe & Mail Report on Business
Harvard Business Review
Bank of Canada Review
Ask staff for assistance in finding online periodicals, or see below.
An electronic database is an index of articles in magazines, journals and newspapers. Portage Library subscribes to a number of Web-based electronic databases. For a complete listing of these databases, please see this list and consult with a library staff on the appropriate database(s) to use for your research needs. The databases that you will find useful for your studies are:
Business Source Complete contains far more active, peer-reviewed, business related journals than any other database currently available. As part of the comprehensive coverage offered by this database, indexing and abstracts for the most important scholarly business journals back to 1886 are included.
Canadian Newsstand offers unparalleled access to the full text of Canadian newspapers.
CPI.Q. (Canadian Periodicals) provides access to articles from Canadian magazines, newspapers and journals including Globe and Mail, Canadian Biographies, Alberta Venture, Alberta Business, etc. Full-text articles are available.
MasterFILE Premier
Covering virtually every subject area of general interest, MasterFILE Premier also includes nearly 500 full text reference books, biographies, primary source documents, and an Image Collection of photos, maps and flags. This database is updated daily.
Regional Business News provides comprehensive full text coverage for regional business publications. Regional Business News incorporates coverage of 75 business journals, newspapers and newswires from all metropolitan and rural areas within the United States. This database is updated on a daily basis. Full text articles are available.
Research Starters - Business topics were chosen through careful analysis of the course offerings of major business schools at colleges and universities. Subject matter experts holding advanced degrees in business, law, political science, psychology, and economics were also consulted to ensure that the articles encompassed current trends and hot topics in the business world.
Access to databases is restricted to the Portage College students, faculty and staff
The Internet is a rich source of material. The sites listed here are just a starting point. If you are looking for a specific piece of information, try typing keywords into one of the basic search tools such as Yahoo, AltaVista, Google, etc.
Alberta First
Created by Alberta Economic Development and a number of Alberta municipalities to promote business and community development across the province. Links, information and profiles are provided on key business and industry sectors, regions and communities in Alberta.
Alberta Learning Information Service-OCCINFO
Occupational descriptions for over 1000 careers, with particular reference to Alberta data. Outlines duties, educational requirements, working conditions, salary, and employment trends and lists contact information.
Brint Biztech Network
Emphasis on Business, Technology and Knowledge Management. Provides links to forums, articles, events, resources, analyses and news. Especially useful for its listing of business magazines and journals on the WWW.
CCH Business Owner’s Toolkit
Focuses on information for the small business owner. Provides access to sample business documents, including business plans. U.S. emphasis, but useful general information.
CIBC Aboriginal Banking
Dedicated to serving the needs of Aboriginal people in Canada, this site focuses on financial management information, lending guidelines, products, services, programs and small business information.
Government of Alberta
Access a variety of Alberta Government information. Click on “Business in Alberta” to link to financial, business & investment, international trade, resources, and labour information.
Harvard Business School Publishing
Visit this site to view abstracts from the current issue of Harvard Business Review and search the archive.
McKinsey Quarterly
The goal of McKinsey Quarterly is to offer new ways of thinking about management in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors.
