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SPA 302 — Business Spanish

ATTENTION: This research guide was last modified on September 09, 2010, before the January 2012 redesign of the library's home page. Information on how to access journal articles, databases, and other library resources may be inaccurate or outdated.

For up-to-date instructions on accessing materials, please visit our tutorial pages instead.

Globe of spanish speaking countries

Contacto

Carol Dales
cdales@csudh.edu
(310)-243-2088
LIB SOUTH 2037K

Navegación

Using the CSUDH Library in person---where is everything?

Glossary

Search Tips and Suggestions

Country Information and Overviews

Business Communication and Cultural Information

Additional Resources

Acknowledgements

Using the CSUDH Library in person---where is everything?

For a visual guide to locations of services and resources in both wings of the CSUDH University Library, click this link : http://library.csudh.edu/info/guides/prezi.shtml .

(Note: put your cursor over "More" on the RH side of the screen to enlarge the display by clicking on "Full Screen").


Glossary

DATABASE: An organized collection of electronic information, such as photographs, addresses, or journal articles.

ONLINE JOURNAL INDEX: A database that contains magazine, newspaper and journal articles, e.g: Academic Search Premier. AKA Subscription Database.

SCHOLARLY JOURNAL: Also called academic or refereed journal. Articles usually reviewed by experts in the field before publication, published for a research audience, narrow focus, e.g.; International Journal of Advertising.

MAGAZINE: Publication of general interest: popular interest and broad subjects (e.g: Sky & Telescope)

SUBJECT HEADINGS : Also called descriptors. Official terms used to classify items in a database.

ABSTRACT: a brief summary of the main content of an article

CITATION: The basic information you need to find the full text of an article. It includes the title of the article, the author, the name of the publication, the date, the volume and issue number and the page numbers.


Search Tips and Suggestions
  • Most databases work essentially the same way and have similar features.
  • Keywords - creating an effective search:
    • Take your research question and circle the "important words".
    • Think of two or three synonyms for each important word.
    • Use these words in various combinations to get a good result (between 15-40 results is best) .
  • Find index descriptors attached to useful article citations- redo your search with these "Official Database Topic Terms".
  • USE THE HELP SCREENS!!!
  • If you can't find anything: don't give up and go to Google!
    Instead, ask a reference librarian for help.

Combining Keywords:

  • AND requires all words appear in every result: Honda AND marketing
  • OR allows one or more words to appear in every result: Honda OR Toyota
  • NOT eliminates results with the word: Honda NOT automobiles
  • Phrase searching--use  " ": "Nike Sportswear of America"

     


    • Country Information and Overviews

    University Library:

    • To find books on doing business in specific countries: search the CSUDH Library Catalog,  TOROFIND , for books with doing business in or doing business with  and the name of your country listed in the title. Look not only for that specific call number, but also check out the other books in that section.
    • If you don't see your country listed, or want more titles, try an on business and your country (in separate boxes).
    • If you still don't see your country listed, ask a reference librarian.

    Country Overviews:

    • University Library Reference Books:
      • Statesman's Year-Book [Ref JA51.S7]
      • Europa World Year Book [Ref JN1 .E85]
      • World Almanac [Ref and 3rd floor AY67.N5 W7]
      • EIU Country Commerce series: In looseleaf binders, one for every country [Ref HG4538 C68]
      • Perspectivas Económicas; Washington, D.C. : Fondo Monetario Internacional, 2008 (electronic book)
    • Journal Article Databases:
    NOTE: These are subscription journal article databases, selected and provided specifically for CSUDH students. To access from home, please see our How to Log in to the Databases from Off-Campus guide for instructions.
      • ABI/Inform Global: International business articles in magazines, scholarly and trade journals, newsletters and reports.
      • Business Source Premier: Indexes business articles from a variety of sources.
      • Lexis-Nexis: Indexes business, legal and news articles from global sources (can be confusing to search - consult a librarian)
      • Business Full-text:  indexes articles on global economics and business.
      • Factiva: Choose a free text search, or you may limit by region or subject. Excellent information, but can also be tricky to search - consult a librarian.

    These general databases are not specifically business-related, but can be good for information on country information and current news:

    • Internet Resources:

    US Government sites and academic resources:

      • Country Studies: Area Handbooks : Prepared by the Library of Congress for U.S. military and foreign service personnel, these offer a brief history of a country, describe its culture and survey the country's economic and political environment. They are book length reports which can be retrieved a section at a time.
      • Market Research Library and Country Commercial Guides : Prepared by the U.S. Commercial Service. Detailed summaries of political and economic conditions. Provides guides for marketing U.S. products and describe potential sectors for U.S. investing and exports. Change Report Type to Country Commercial Guides [CCG]
      • Background Notes : Produced by the U.S. State Department. Contains brief overviews of countries, their governments and history.
      • Travel Warnings & Country Specific Information : Briefings for U.S. travelers and expatirates about conditions they might encounter when traveling in other countries.
      • globalEDGE : Hosted by Michigan State University, a portal to information on international business.
      • World Factbook: From the CIA, an annual summary of basic intelligence on all countries of the world.
      • International Economic Trends: From the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. A compilation of data on the G-7 countries and the euro area, including output, inflation, labor markets, interest rates, government budgets, international trade, and more.
    • International Information:
      • HINT: Most countries interested in international trade and development will have a website dedicated to promoting trade. Try a search on international trade or direct foreign investment to find the closest match.
      • United Nations Conference on Trade and Development -- "Working toward the integration of developing countries in to the world economy." Many useful reports and statistics, and a very user-friendly search engine. Available in English, French and Spanish.
      • World Development Indicators: From the World Bank. Search on 54 timeseries indicators for 208 countries and 18 groups, spanning the latest 5 years available.
      • World Bank Countries and Regions: Economic overview and current news. Search by country.
    •  Commercial and private sites:

    Business Communication and Cultural Information

    University Library

    • Use TOROFIND: the CSUDH Library Catalog and click on the tab. Search on intercultural communication (as a subject) and (in Any Field) in separate boxes.
    • The Doing Business In... series has some information on cultural norms and communication etiquette: go to TOROFIND and search on the title doing business in or doing business with, and look for your country listed in the title.
    • If you still don't see your country listed, ask a reference librarian.

    Some suggested titles:

     

  • Journal Article Databases:
    NOTE: These are subscription journal article databases, selected and provided specifically for CSUDH students. To access from home, please see our How to Log in to the Databases from Off-Campus guide for instructions.
      • ABI/Inform Global: International business articles in magazines, scholarly and trade journals, newsletters and reports.
      • Business Source Premier: Indexes business articles from a variety of sources.
      • Lexis-Nexis: Indexes business, legal and news articles from global sources (can be confusing to search - consult a librarian)
      • Business Full-text:  indexes articles on global economics and business.
      • Factiva: Choose a free text search, or you may limit by region or subject. Excellent information, but can be confusing to search - consult a librarian. .

     These are general databases, not specifically business-related, but very good for information on communications, etiquette and current news:


    • Additional Resources

     

    World Wide Web: Generally Available Resources

     


    Acknowledgements
    This page was compiled with information from the USC Crocker Business Library and the UCLA Rosenfeld Library, with help from Michael Oppenheim, Charles Varga and Julie Kwan.