Does this situation sound familiar?  --   You need to understand a topic for your paper/project/class.  Your ideal resource is one that...

Hey all you entrepreneurship students!  Did you know that you have online access to hundreds of real business plans from throughout North America via the SFU Library?  We've recently purchased a few more volumes in the online Business Plans Handbook series -- bringing us up to 29 volumes in total. Here's a description of a typical volume from the publisher:

I just noticed that Statistics Canada has a new monthly publication:  Canadian Megatrends (11-630-X).

"In 2018, Statistics Canada will celebrate its 100th anniversary. As we count down to this important milestone, we would like to use our data to highlight some of the sweeping changes that have had a lasting impact on Canadian society and economy."

Judging by the ranks of serious faces peering at the many computers here in the library, we've hit that magical time of term when folks really focus on their studies. Due dates and exams are looming large, and stress levels are getting high.

Those who have been part of one of our class presentations may have heard us talk about the need to "go to the source" when doing research -- always try to figure out who has the most direct access to the data you need AND would be likely to make it public.

When it comes to  data on the Canadian economy and society, that source is often Statistics Canada. Which brings me to today's Buzz item...

With just days to go until that special spooky night, it seems a good time to resurrect an old post: On the business of Hallowe’en.  Check it out for reports, analysis, and more on the monetary implications of all those ghosts, ghouls, and gremlins.

We mentioned the Boston Consulting Group (aka "BCG") earlier this year in a post about hidden treasures on research firm sites, but thought it deserved a post all its own.

The SFU Library has a couple new database trials underway. Neither are purely bus/econ-focused resources, but I'm sure we can all agree that both business and economics have very wide scopes -- almost anything is potentially useful to a good bus/econ researcher!

So, with that in mind, maybe kick the doors on these databases and let us know what you think:

One of our marketing classes is going to be working on a project involving online dating markets/consumers this term, so I thought I'd make a short list of some key resources and search strategies likely to be helpful for them. For those SFU researchers who aren't in the class involved: You, too, are welcome to try the resources below. Sometimes such focused exploration can help you learn our resources faster than just random browsing. Enjoy! (The resources and tips below are in no particular order -- I'm just listing them as they come to mind.)

As I mentioned in my last post on researching online daters, one of the marketing classes is doing some very focused primary research this term. One of the topics they will be working on will be car sharing services such as Car2Go and Zipcar. As with most primary research projects, there's a strong need for some secondary material to understand the context, demonstrate the need for further research, and gather some methodology details.