There are two primary types of articles that you need to search for an economics paper. The first are peer-reviewed journal articles. The best databases for them are EconLit and Business Source Premier. Both of these can be searched by date, by author, by subject, and by geographic terms. EconLit is also searchable by JEL Classification Code. (More on this below.) Business Source Premier can be searched by keywords. These are both very helpful search tools.

The best way to search in these or other databases is to go to the ADVANCED SEARCH option. This allows you to control your search terms and do a better, more controlled and in-depth search. Search by the author or subject or geographical term you find best. Combining them using the terms offered, AND, OR, and NOT, can narrow or widen your search depending upon the results you get.

In EconLit, using the “CC” option, allows you to focus your search to particular classification codes used within the Journal of Economic Literature. These codes can be found here.

To search, for example, for articles that talk about boom and bust cycles in business, you would:

• Choose “CC Classification Code” as the option in the drop box
• then Enter E320 into the search box – you chose E320 from the JEL classification code as it covers “Business Fluctuations and Cycles.”

There are times when a database will find the articles you are searching for in both PDF and HTML format. Always choose the PDF. Articles in any data-supported field usually have graphs and charts in them. HTML does not give you these in the format the author wants you to see them in. 

The other major type of article you will look for are Working Papers. These are papers that are being readied for submission to peer-reviewed journals and frequently are the most timely in their subject matter. While they can be searched in EconLit, it is better to look for them in the databases that specialize in them: SSRN (Social Sciences Research Network) and NBER: The National Bureau of Economic Research. Neither has a sophisticated search engine, but both can searched by author, keyword and title.

If you’re searching a citation database like the EconLit or Business Source Premier, you’ll need to see if the library subscribes to the journal the article you want is in. Open up another window to our homepage and click on our Journals link. Type in the title of the journal, click on the Search button and then click on the links (if any) listed below.

 
If we do not subscribe to the journal you’re looking for, use ILLiad to request the article.

For more information on ILLiad, and to set up your account, click here. Once your account is set up, you can automatically populate the article request form from EBSCO databases – just click on the button. From other databases, or from citations you find in printed sources, type in the information.

In our catalog and in ConnectNY always search the economist’s name as an author (last name first), as a subject heading (again, last name first) and as a keyword. A keyword search is important in our catalog and in ConnectNY because keywords search across the entire book description, including the contents and notes information. For some artists, there may not be a whole books devoted to their works, but there might be an essay in a book that is about a larger idea or movement or group exhibit. So the artist’s name might appear in the Contents or Notes section, and nowhere else in the description. Note any appropriate subject headings, they can be used for searches in other databases, like WorldCat and Project MUSE.

Many economics books are located in the Library at the Levy Economics Institute.  While that library is not open for personal visits, the vast majority of its books are available to you to use through a special InterLibrary Loan procedure.  Just go to the Reference Desk in Stevenson and ask the librarian there to help you fill out a request for a Levy Library Book.  Generally you will get the book you are looking for in just a day or two.

 
If a book is not available in our library or in Levy, or if the subject you’re researching is not adequately covered by the holdings in these collections, the next place to look is in the ConnectNY catalog.

Search ConnectNY as you would our catalog. When you find a book you want: make sure the status is “Available” then click “Request this Item” choose Bard from the drop down box then key in your last name and barcode number.

The book will be delivered in two to six business days and may be picked up from  Reserves Desk on the third floor of Stevenson. You’ll be notified by e-mail. The borrowing period for these books is three weeks with one three week renewal. ConnectNY books should be returned to the Reserves Desk.

 
If a book is not available in our library or in ConnectNY, check WorldCat.

WorldCat is a catalog of thousands of library catalogs, including all the major research libraries. Repeat the searches you performed in our catalog and ConnectNY. If you find a book you want to read, use our ILLiad system to request it.

For more information on ILLiad, and to set up your account, click here. Once your account is set up, you can automatically populate the book request form from WorldCat – just click on the button.

The Reference Collection of the library contains encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks pertaining to particular subject areas, sometimes very particular subject areas. This section is organized by call numbers that mirror the call numbers in the general collection, so if you have a book in hand about a particular subject, you can go the section of the Reference Collection with a similar call number and see consult the reference works on that subject.

The Reference Collection starts on the shelves by the Rugby Field on the first floor of Stevenson and continues into Kellogg.

Some reference works in Economics include:

The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics (three volumes)
HB61 .N49 2008

An Eponymous Dictionary of Economics: A Guide to Laws and Theorems Named After Economists
HB61 .E66 2004

An Encyclopedia of Keynesian Economics
HB99.7 .E528 1997

The Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy (two volumes)
HF1373 .P75 2009

Most books on Economics are shelved together on the 2nd floor of Stevenson. Here is the breakdown of the Library of Congress classification for economics:

H	Social Sciences in general
HA	Statistics
HB	Economic Theory; Demography
HC	Economic History and Conditions
HD	Industries. Land use. Labor
HF	Commerce
HG	Finance
HJ	Public finance
HN	Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social Reform.
HT	Communities. Classes. Races.
HV	Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
HX	Socialism. Communism. Anarchism

RFE: Resources for Economists on the Web

WebEc: World Wide Web Resources in Economics

RePec: Ideas

New York Times From 1851 to 3 Years Ago is a great source for reviews and articles. It’s helpful to choose the document type when searching. If you’re looking for an obituary or review, try that document type, but if you can’t find anything, try “article”. For newspaper articles after 1985 for cities other than New York, try LexisNexis Academic.

For older newspaper and magazine articles, our collection of the index The Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature extends back to the 1890s. It’s located on first floor of Stevenson, on the shelves closest to the rugby field. C19: The Nineteenth Century Index indexes newspapers and magazines from the 19th century.

To follow what’s happening today, try The Economist, and the Financial Times, Interesting economics Blogs include:  Paul Krugman’s,  The Angry Bear, and/or The Baseline Scenario.

NoodleBib is an excellent online utility for both generating a Chicago Style bibliography and footnotes and for organizing your research. Zotero is a similar database that downloadable from Firefox and has the added advantage of pulling the bibliographic data straight from the source into your research folder.

Style Guides:

The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
LB2369 .G53 2009 (in the Reference Section and in Ready Reference behind the Reference Desk)

Concise Rules of APA Style
BF76.7 .C66 2005

Rules for Writers by Diana Hacker
PE1408.H277 2008

The Chicago Manual of Style
LB2369 .T8 2007 (in the Reference Section and in Ready Reference behind the Reference Desk)

A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations : Chicago Style for Students and Researchers by Kate Turabian
LB2369 .T8 2007 (in the Reference Section and in Ready Reference behind the Reference Desk)

Cite Right: A Quick Guide to Citation Styles -- MLA, APA, Chicago, the Sciences, Professions, and More by Charles Lipson
PN171.F56 L55 2006 (in Ready Reference behind the Reference Desk)

In economics, one of the main difficulties is finding statistics. Following are the best places to look for good, usable statistics. The cardinal rule to remember when deciding where to look for data is, if you can think of an organization that would NEED to know these facts and figures, then that is the place to look first. So, if you are looking for figures on unemployment in different nations around the world, rather than looking at the World Bank, look at the International Labor Organization. Similarly, if looking for data on Global Finance, try the World Bank before looking at statistics from the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization.

UNdata
You can search both by dataset or by nation.

The World Bank
Many of the statistics you might need to find will be under World Development Indicators, which is one of the choices in the Drop Box under Data.

National Statistical Offices
Unfortunately, not all nations make their statistics known – or reliable.

International Central Banks
Not all central banks release the same information or level of information, but they are useful as a check against the central statistical agencies.

Population
Detailed information is available.  (To make multiple selections in a PC, hold the CTRL key down while clicking on the selections desired.  In a Mac, hold the Command key down while you click on the selections.)

Military
SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Reasearch Institute) conducts research on questions of conflict and cooperation of importance for international peace and security, with the aim of contributing to an understanding of the conditions for peaceful solutions of international conflicts and for a stable peace.

Labor
The ILO’s major database is LABORSTA and you will find a link to it on this page.   You can search by topic or country or region.

OECD
The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development is comprised only of the most economically developed nations in the world, but offers an incredible wealth of information on each of them.