Happy Easter!
Topics coming to the reference librarians This Week in Reference include:
- New Urbanism
- Affordable Care Act
- Prison Reform
- Liar’s Dice
And, an in-depth look at some conversations we’ve had via IM, in person, through email, or over the phone:
A student asked for help with an assignment to develop a marketing plan for an interior design firm in Chicago. The librarian pointed the student toward the Companies and Industries Research Guide, specifically starting with Business Source Complete. They searched for “interior design” (in quotes), and the librarian explained how to limit to Industry Profiles and Market Research Reports using the facets on the left — under Source Types. They also limited geographically to the United States, removing any international reports. One of the results they found was the “Interior Design Services Industry (United States) Capital and Expenses Report from 2014,” helping the student out greatly.
A researcher was looking for articles about the effect of physical exercise on well-being. The librarian helped the student narrow down her topic to psychological well-being and suggested starting with Academic Search Complete. Searching with the terms exercise and well-being didn’t find too much. The librarian was able to help the student discover a better search strategy: (exercise or physical activity) as a subject term and “happiness”. The results from that search were just what the student was looking for.