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Economic Research Resources - LPC Library Research Guide

Pease ask a reference librarian for assistance at any time. We will be glad to help!

 

Reference Sources

Use reference sources for background information, broad overviews and summaries. The reference collection includes general and subject dictionaries and encyclopedias, biographies, directories, bibliographies, almanacs, atlases, etc. Many also contain bibliographies for further research. Reference books cannot be checked out from the library but may be photocopied.

Subject Specific

There are many reference materials dealing with the various areas of study in economics at the LPC library. Here are just a few examples of subject-specific materials that you will find of use.

American Marketplace: Demographics and Spending Patterns Ref HF5415.33.U6 A4 2005

Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management. Managerial Economics Ref HD30.15.B455 2005 v.8

Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History   Ref HC102.G35 1999

Guide to Economic Indicators Ref HC103.F9 2000

Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History Ref HC15.O94 2003 v.1 – 5

 

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Books & Audiovisuals

Use the library catalog to find materials in the library. This will show you all the books and audiovisual materials LPC Library owns. You can search for a book or video by the author, title, subject, or keyword. A subject search allows you to find books about a topic or a person. You may also ADD LIMITS to your search, such as "audiovisual," to find only videorecordings.

 

Examples of subject headings:

 

Economics is a broad term to use in searching a catalog by subject.

Business forecasting
Economic forecasting and California
Economic history
Economic indicators
Econometrics
Macroeconomics
Microeconomics
United States economic policy

Call numbers for economics: Most books and other materials on economics reside in the "H" sections in the reference area and the stacks.

HB - Economic theory
HC - Economic history and conditions
HD - Industries, land use, labor
HE - Transportation and communication
HF - Commerce
HG - Finance
HJ - Public finance

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Periodicals & Electronic Print Resources

Periodicals provide in-depth analyses of events and trends, research studies on particular subjects, and professional literature. When conducting research in both the social and physical sciences, it is important to know the difference between "popular" periodical literature and more scholarly publications. LPC Library offers Scholarly Journals or Popular Magazines: What are the Differences? LPC Library Short Guide to help you identify whether your source is from a popular magazine or scholarly journal.

Las Positas College subscribes to several excellent journals in the fields of business and economics as well as some popular magazines that may report on research that is of interest to you. Please consult the Library Catalog or ask a librarian for assistance.

In addition, you may want to find articles by using an online database. These electronic print resources can be accessed in the LPC Library or from home at the LPC Library Homepage.

Examples of Periodicals Databases and Search Strategies

 

Academic Search Complete, Business Source Premier, and/or Regional Business News. EBSCO – These and 13+ databases contain thousands of citations and full-text articles on social, scientific, health, historic, business, economic, political, and global issues from magazines, journals, and newspapers. Under Search Options you can also limit your search in order to retrieve materials from scholarly, peer-reviewed journals or full-text articles. If you are looking for something from a specific publication you can limit your search by entering the name of the magazine or journal.

 

America's Newspapers. Newsbank - Complete full-text content of local, regional, and national news, including community events, schools, politics, government policies, cultural activities, local companies, state industries, and people in the community. Includes The New York Times, San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, The Sacramento Bee, and The Washington Post. Click on America’s Newspapers to see the entire list of newspapers.

 

GenderWatch, Ethnic NewsWatch, Opposing Viewpoints, and CQ Researcher - These reference databases contain full-text articles exploring many issues, including economic issues from domestic and international newspapers, magazines, journals and U.S. government publications.

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Internet Resources

You may want to explore some Internet resources to supplement or enhance your research. Always be cautious of information you find on the Web since the quality of sources varies tremendously on the Internet. It is always a good idea to check the information against another source. As with all information resources, whether in print or on the Internet, you evaluate its quality based on the following criteria:

  • Accuracy  (Is it free from mistakes and errors?)
  • Authority  (What are the qualifications of the author?)
  • Objectivity  (Is there any strong bias?)
  • Currency  (Is the information up to date?)
  • Coverage  (To what extent is the topic explored?)

Examples of Relevant Web Sites:

2002 Economic Census for California <http://www.census.gov/econ/census02/guide/02EC_CA.HTM>

 

The Federal Reserve Bank Beige Book: 2008 Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions National Bureau of Economic Research <http://www.federalreserve.gov/fomc/beigebook/2008/>


Guide to the 2007 Economic Census – Information about results being posted to the Internet starting in 2009 as well as links to 2002 Census data  <http://www.census.gov/econ/census/guide/index.html>

 

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – Global group committed to the development of the world economy, the OECD contains statistics on development, economic growth, and social trends. <http://www.oecd.org/>

 

Economic Indicators, 1995 - Forward <http://www.gpoaccess.gov/indicators/index.html>

U.S. Census Bureau: Economic Indicators- U.S. Federal economic indicators <http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/briefroom/BriefRm>

 

Issue: Economy - The White House <http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/economy/>

 

How Much Is That? Calculators for inflation rates, the Consumer Price Index, and purchasing power of the dollar <http://eh.net/hmit/>

EPI DataZone - economic data from the Economic Policy Institute <http://www.epi.org/resources/datazone_index/>

About.com Guide to Economics - a comprehensive environment built around economics, including the best new content, useful student information, and other relevant links <http://economics.about.com/>

 

Infomine: Scholarly Internet Resources Collection   At the home page click on Business and Economics. To browse the Business and Economics collection, click on Table of Contents under "Browse Options." <http://infomine.ucr.edu/>

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Citation of Sources

Keep the printouts of your sources, or write out all pertinent information on author, title, publisher, date, Internet location, or whatever is necessary to identify where you got the information. Follow the format recommended by your instructor or ask a librarian to show you a "style manual". There is a link to instructions for MLA and APA, as well as the online resource, NoodbleBib, a bibliography composer, on the LPC Library Homepage: Citation Style Guides.

Charlotte Bagby, Alison Finch, and Stephanie Fish--Reference Librarians

 

Updated: September 10, 2009

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Email a Librarian

Library Telephone: 925.424.1150
Library Fax: 925.606.7249

Page last modified: August 30, 2012