You know how enjoyable it can be to read (and re-read!) a popular fiction series? Each time you finish a title, you look forward to the characters, and perhaps even the story, continuing in further volumes. There's a mix of suspense and comfort in plowing through an entire series such as Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, Discworld, or the Aubrey–Maturin books that I'm currently reading.
Nonfiction series may not offer much in the way of suspense between volumes, but finding a good academic series that touches on your specific research area can certainly be rewarding. Each new title is both familiar and new, with different aspects and perspectives of the topic explored in every volume.
I thought I'd highlight just a few of the academic book series I've been keeping an eye on lately...
A couple years ago I collaborated with our Interactive Arts & Technology Librarian on a series of posts about one of the "wicked problems" of our modern world: sustainability in the textile & fashion industries.
That series was published to support an interdisciplinary cohort of students in our Business of Design program, all of whom were working on projects to change the way fashion and its materials are designed, produced, purchased, and discarded... change of the sort that our world so desperately needs.
The word "change" is key here. The Business of Design program has changed to Make Change Studio, but the students involved are still trying to change the world, and they've returned to the topic of fixing fast fashion.
One of our marketing classes (BUS 345 E100) is going to be doing some primary research on alternative protein products& consumers again this semester.
In support of that class, I've listed some key resources, but students in other classes may also want to use this post as a case study to learn about some of the powerful market research tools available to SFU researchers. Bon appetite!
If I were to ask you to do some research for an essay, you'd probably assume I was referring to digging up some academic journal articles, right? The connection between scholarly articles and essays is undeniably strong, and with good reason: the peer review process involved in publishing such articles ensures their high quality.
Nevertheless, there is a vast world of information beyond journals. For many assignments it may be acceptable to cite government reports, think tank analysis, ebook chapters, and even news articles...
A couple of our graduate business classes this term are exploring Indigenous business and economic development -- a theme that we expect will appear in more classes at all levels in the coming years.
We wrote a post recently about Business and BC's Indigenous Communities to explore some of the many resources available to help students who are working on such assignments.
Today we thought we'd add some additional resources, but this time with a focus on sources that go deeper into the topic and provide more comprehensive information than is typically available on web pages and in articles: ebooks and books! For instance...
When it comes to finding inspiration, designers (including product designers) and artists still turn to books and magazines. Whether it's a feature in a glossy magazine or an in-depth interview with a contemporary artist, such resources are easy to browse, sample, flip through, and explore in depth, and they can jumpstart your creativity.
From Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations to Karl Marx's Capital.. our library is full of classic writings in economics and business.
Such publications are the bedrock of much that you are learning in your classes, so it's important that you understand them. Given your time constraints, why not start with a volume from The Macat Library series?
Have you ever been at a party (or in a tutorial... same thing...) when someone brought up a peripheral topic -- not core to your usual research area, but apparently relevant to your studies?
As a seasoned scholar who understands that knowledge doesn't live in isolated silos, you certainly want to learn a bit more about such peripheral topics.
As always, though, time is tight. As much as you love the depth of the millions of books in our collection, you really just need a reasonably brief overview of the topic...
I've mentioned before that the giant umbrella of economics seems to cover almost every other subject, and I've discussed the fact that pretty much anything that involves means & ends, desires & decisions, or creation & consumption has an economics perspective.
That broad definition is obvious from a quick scan of the titles listed below. These new books and ebooks -- all available for SFU researchers -- touch on the economics of everything from love, art & happiness all the way through to war, nuclear proliferation & natural disasters.
