This guide will help you get started on research in your program.  There are resources for finding:

• Articles, both scholarly and trade
  • Scholarly journals:  use scholarly articles when you need analysis or background on a topic or problem
  • Trade publications:  use trade mags when you need recent news about a company, an industry, or a profession.
• Company information
• Industry profiles

And just in case, here are the basics about off-campus access to library resources.

Since your program is online only, there are library services especially for you! 

  –  We will scan print articles for you
  –  We will mail books (that we own) to you

Of course you have to register for this service:  below are links you'll need for it.

The following databases provide the strongest coverage of scholarly journals in business. However, they include more than just scholarly articles: you'll also find articles from some trade, news, and popular magazines, but honestly it is easy to limit your results to scholarly only in both databases.

Use these databases especially when you're researching business issues or theories.

Scholarly articles usually ...

• provide analysis of a topic / issue, exploring it in greater depth
• are considered the most authoritative
• can be very narrow in scope, technical or theoretical

Some of these databases also contain more than just trade journal articles, some scholarly, some popular, even some newswires. But their strength is in their coverage of the trades.

Use these databases when you're researching specific companies or industries.

Trade journal articles usually ...

• are written by people who work in or specialize in a particular industry / profession, but are not scholars
  
• provide current news and information about the industry and the companies in it
  

Here's a short video showing how Find it @ MU works. (About 4 minutes long.)

Two common ways to find out if the Libraries have access to the articles you need:

1) You are searching in an article database, but it doesn't have the full-text:  

Click on  in the article citation. Another window / tab opens with two possible options:

• Links indicating Find it @MU may have located one or more sources for full text of the article. Click on the links and follow the trail to the article. 
• Links to search MARQCAT by the journal title or its ISSN number. The journal may be available in print or electronically through a source not searchable by Find it @MU.

2) You already have a specific citation and aren't currently searching in a database:

• Use MARQCAT's Advanced Search to search for the journal title.

The MARQCAT record will indicate what years we have in print and/or online, providing call number locations for the print and links to the e-journal.  Once at the e-journal, navigate to the volume, issue and page that you need.

Questions:

Didn't find the article/journal using Find it @MU or MARQCAT?  Request the article through Interlibrary Loan (ILL) by clicking on the link at the bottom of the Find it @MU window or tab.  Learn more about ILL here.

Ever wonder why the full-text isn't there?  Watch this short video about the Business of Information.