C204: Business Communications Drop-in Sessions
Business/SPEA Information Commons
Monday-Thursday: 7:30 a.m. to Midnight
Friday: 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Saturday: 10:00 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday: 11:00 a.m. to Midnight
Need Research or Library Help?
E-mail: Christina Sheley: cmwilkin@indiana.edu or Melanie Groth: mgroth@indiana.edu
Call: 812.855.1957
Chat: Enter a question in the chat box below for immediate help.
C204 Research Consultation:
Need targeted research assistance for your team's final recommendation analysis? Schedule a personalized C204 research consultation at http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=530000159.
Where to Search?
The library resources below can be used to find information for the C204 Target case assignment and its components. This is only a select list; additional suggestions can be found using the Business/SPEA Information Commons Research Guides.
Researching Target, its competitors and industry:
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Business Insights is a library database that contains a Target company report and SWOT analysis and a general merchandise industry report. It also contains similar reports for Target's competitors. | |
| MarketLine Advantage MarketLine is a library database that contains a Target company report and SWOT analysis and a food retail industry report. It also contains similar reports for Target's competitors. |
Researching eCommerce (in general and specific to Target and its competitors):
Library Databases:
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Target's company report and the online retail industry report provide company and industry ecommerce activities/strategies. | |
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Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage Standard & Poor's "Retailing: General" and "Computers: Consumer Services and the Internet" industry surveys contain online retail information and data. |
Websites (good sources for supporting data and statistics):
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Internet Retailer - see their list of internet retailers and sales here. |
| comScore |
| eMarketer |
| Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) |
| Think with Google |
| United States Census E-Stats |
Researching Online Consumers:
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Mintel Reports contains an online shopping report that provides consumer use, behaviors, and data. NOTE: You will need to create an account (username and password) the first time you use this resource. Use your indiana.edu email address. |
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MARKETRESEARCH.COM contains several reports that detail online shopping behaviors for differing consumer groups and product categories (food, electronics, etc.). |
Finding Articles (for various aspects of the project):
| ABI Inform Complete Use the articles from over 2,000 news, magazine, trade journal, and scholarly sources to find data and information for various parts of your project. |
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| RDS Business Reference Suite Use the articles (specifically those from trade journals) to find data and information for various parts of your project. |
How to Search for articles?
Searching large multidisciplinary/multi-publication databases requires efficient and effective strategies to obtain manageable and useful search results.
Keywords/Search Terms:
Each database can use different terms to describe the information available in them. You may need to come up with several different terms (keywords) that describe your topic in order to find appropriate articles. To create a list of keywords, start with the key concepts from your research question, then, try to think of synonyms and related words and phrases.
Search Techniques:
You will need to string numerous keywords together in differing combinations using boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) to obtain a useful set of search results. Using truncation (*) and phrasing ("") can also help.
What & How to Cite?You need to cite sources if they are directly quoted and/or paraphrased in your work. In addition, you should cite if reading a source contributed to the ideas presented in your paper. Citations allow readers to locate and further explore the sources you consulted, show the depth and scope of your research, and give credit to authors for his/her ideas. APA, Chicago, and MLA are the most frequently used documentation styles. Use the Business/SPEA Information Commons Business Citation Guide for citation examples from business sources and databases.
Other Resources:
| AP Images An electronic library containing the AP's current photos and a selection of pictures from their 50 million image print and negative library. |
