Business and Hospitality Management: Searching

Searching the library catalogue

From the Findit@ search bar on the library homepage you can discover books, eBooks and journal articles in the library collection.

You use FindIt@ by typing in your search query or keywords into the search bar and hitting enter or clicking the magnifying glass to the right.

Find out more about Findit@

Use the Advanced Search on Findit to get the results you need. Search for keywords within the area of subject, title, name of author or the journal title.

Academic vs. Non-academic

You may be asked to find academic or non-academic sources in your assignments. Here is a quick summary of the difference between these two:

You can get access to thousands of peer-reviewed journals and academic articles through the MP library.

Find these in the following ways:

• Filter for 'peer-reviewed' or 'academic journals' through the MP Library catalogue and many of the library databases.
• Search for academic journals based on subject or title in the Library's collection of publications. You can also search for non-academic publications from this collection, including Harvard Business Review and Forbes.

The first step of searching is to form your search query. This is where you identify your keywords - these are the words and terms that you will put into the search engine.

Start by looking at your assignment topic:

1. Identify the most important and relevant words from your topic - keep a record of these keywords
2. Use a dictionary or Wikipedia to make sure you understand these words
3. Try brainstorming for related words to your topic, or words that mean the same or similar thing to your keywords.
4. When you start searching try to use the same words and language that your lecturers and textbooks use

You probably won't get all the information you need on your first search. Try thinking of as many different keywords and search queries as you can and then do multiple searches. This will help you get all the information you need.

There is a lot of information available through the Library, and not all of it will be what you need. Think about your topic's scope (limits) and ways you can narrow your search down.

One way to narrow down your search results in the library catalogue and databases is to use filters. Once you have your search results, use the filters to exclude results you don't want. In FindIt@, the filters are located underneath the search bar.

Want to browse the library shelves? Look out for these numbers on the spines of books to see the subject of the book (the Dewey number). Books are ordered by subject at MP libraries, so you can find all the books on the same or similar subjects together.

You can also browse and search the library catalogue and many databases by subject. Click on the subject heading and the library catalogue will give you other resources on that subject.

Some Dewey numbers and related subject headings have been given to you below, but there are many more available.