Niagara University Library: Guide to Financial Accounting Research for ACC 111, ACC 223 and MBA 603

Niagara University Library
Guide to Financial Accounting Research for
ACC 111, ACC 223 and MBA 603.

This guide is intended to help you find articles for your paper assignment in Professor Oddo's Accounting Principles I, Intermediate Accounting I and Advanced Accounting Theory courses.

You will be pointed to databases that you can search from anywhere on campus. If you are connecting from home, you will need a user id and password, which you can obtain from a reference librarian. Call 716-286-8022, stop by the reference desk, or send an email request to reflib@niagara.edu (please make sure to include your name and student ID number in your message).

Choose a Topic

Sometimes the most difficult part about writing a paper is selecting a topic. If you can't think of a topic, try browsing through some current business newspapers or journals. You can also browse through the Library's book collection for ideas. The financial accounting books are located on the second floor of the Library and can be found between call number HF5635 and HF5686. You might also surf the Web for ideas. Try Google's accounting page (directory.google.com/Top/Business/Accounting/).

Search ABI-INFORM Global

ABI-INFORM Global is available via ProQuest Direct (www.niagara.edu/library/pquest.html). It lists articles from about 1,000 business, economic, and management journals.

After connecting, you will be presented with a list of databases. Click ABI-INFORM and click the Continue button. You will then see a screen that looks like the one below. We recommend that you choose the Guided Search page by clicking the Search Methods icon.

Let's say that you are researching auditor independence. You might construct your search like this:

Note the following about the search:

The box labeled Show results with full-text availability only is checked. This will limit your search to articles that can be viewed on your computer.
The default date range search is 1999 to the present, though you can choose to search earlier dates using the drop-down menu.
Note how the connectors OR and AND are being used.

OR: retrieves synonyms or variations of a word.
AND: coordinates the different aspects of your search.

Searching in this way employs something called Boolean Logic (www.lscc.edu/library/guides/boolsea.pdf)

Search Business Source Premier

If you found what you needed in ABI-INFORM, you may be done. But you might also want to search the Business Source Premier database via EBSCOhost (www.niagara.edu/library/ebsco.html). After you enter the system, you will see the Business Source Premier link. Click on it. Then once you see a search box, click the Advanced Search tab at the top of the screen. This will display a screen very similar to the one you used above. You will also be able to limit your search to full-text articles if you wish.

Here is a search of the same topic.

Search Newspaper Articles

Newspapers often do a good job covering significant stories, like the Enron accounting investigation.

By far the best source of U.S. and International newspapers is Lexis/Nexis (www.niagara.edu/library/ltrial.html).

Cite Your Articles Properly

The articles you will be retrieving originate in print publications, though you will have to cite them as the online versions.

Here are some examples, using MLA style as a model:

Journal Articles

Borman, W. C. et al.
   "Role of early supervisory experience in supervisor
   performance." Journal of Applied Psychology
   78 (1993): 443-449. Business Source Premier.
   EBSCOhost. Niagara University Library. 12 Sept. 2002
   < http://www.ebsco.com/ >.

Magazine Articles

Kerwin, K. "Bill Ford's Long Hard Road."
   Business Week 7 Oct. 2002: 88-92.
   ABI-INFORM Global. ProQuest Direct.
   Niagara University Library. 12 Sept. 2002
   < http://www.umi.com/proquest/ >.

Newspaper Articles

Pacelle, M. "Lawsuit Reveals a Tangled Enron Web."
   Wall Street Journal 25 Sept. 2002: C1.
   ABI-INFORM Global. ProQuest Direct.
   Niagara University Library. 7 Oct. 2002
   < http://www.umi.com/proquest/ >.

If no author is listed in a newspaper article, start with the title.

Additional information about citing electronic resources and web sites can be found at the MLA web site.

www.mla.org/

You can also try the "Research and Documenting Sources" by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab.

owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/index.html

Search the Library Catalog

To search for books at Niagara University Library, connect to the Library Catalog (www.niagara.edu/library/catalog.html). We recommend that you keep your search simple. For example, you could search "auditing," which is the main concept, and then try searching variants like "audit" and "auditors." You will usually find a reasonable number of books you can look through.

If You Did Not Find Everything You Need,
Ask a Reference Librarian For Assistance

If you need assistance, please stop by the Library reference desk, or contact David Schoen, the librarian specializing in business, at schoen@niagara.edu or 716-286-8001.