Contact info

For Library research help, please contact Moninder Lalli, Librarian for Labour Studies by email moninder_lalli@sfu.ca or Ask a librarian.

Essay  

Start Your Research Here - This page gives you an overview of the research process, or in other words how to find materials for your essay.

Background information

Use encyclopedias and handbooks to obtain an overview of a topic and to identify key authors and resources on a topic.

• Routledge companion to employment relations

Find journal articles

Canadian

• Communication & Mass Media Complete  Indexing & abstracts for over 550 journals in the fields of communication, mass media studies
• Sociological Abstract  Check their "Thesaurus" for appropriate "subject" term for more relevant search results.  E.g. Use "Unions" to search for "Trade Unions."
• Social Sciences Full Text
• Political Science Complete
• ECONLIT Index to economics journals and working papers.
• Academic Search Premier
• CANLII -
  • Access to legal documents from Canada's federal, provincial and territorial governments for both legal practitioners and the general public. 
  • Access to provincial and federal labour laws.

For more,  try Labour Studies Information Resources.

Find books on a topic

Library Catalogue search guide

Search the SFU Library Catalogue: Advanced keyword

• (labor or labour) AND (union* OR organizing OR movement*)
  • Limited to "Resource type" of Books, and several "Subjects
• ("labor union*" OR "labour union*") AND (media OR television OR broadcasting OR "popular culture")

From the results list, choose a book that looks relevant. 
Click on the "subject" link for more books on the same topic.

Combine different concepts using AND
Combine same concepts using OR
Use quotation marks to search for a phrase
Use brackets for synonyms
Use asterisk (*) for different endings of words

NOTE: For Catalogue Search, "OR", "AND" MUST be in capital letters

Browse by subject

To search for books by subject heading, use the Browse Search option in the SFU Library Catalogue, then select Subject browse from the drop-down menu.

Change "Title" to "Subject" and enter:

• Collective bargaining -- Canada
• Labor movement
• Labor movement -- Canada
• Labor Unions

Government information

Search using  "Google" search engine for "government" reports

 site:gov 

temporary foreign workers site:gov

Canada

• Links to  federal organizations  
• Canada Industrial Relations Board
• Citizenship and Immigration Canada
  • Employment and Social Development Canada
  • Labour Program
• Health Canada -  For health issues, search both Statistics Canada and Health Canada website.  For more, check the guide Health Sciences
• Industry Canada
  • Industry Canada's Strategis: Economic and Market Research/Statistics
    • Includes Monthly Economic Indicators and Regional Economic Observer.
• Justice Canada
  • Canada Labour Code
  • Consolidated Statutes and Regulations
• Statistics Canada  
  • Advanced Search Engine
  • Topic-based tabulations Tables based on topics: housing and shelter costs, immigration & citizenship
  • National Household Survey
  • Labour
  • Thematic maps – Labour
    • Selected Reports
      • Labour Force Information (71-001-X)
      • Tables by subject: Labour

How to Cite Statistics Canada Products.

British Columbia

Work related

• British Columbia Employment Standards Act - the provincial legislation that ensures that employees in British Columbia receive at least basic standards of compensation and conditions of employment.  
  • See the regulations for Specific Industries.
     
• British Columbia Labour Relations Code - the provincial legislation that protects the right of employees in British Columbia to be a member of a trade union and to participate in its lawful activities. The Code further delineates the rights of employees and employers.
• British Columbia. Labour Relations Board
  • Pre-Strike and Pre-Lockout Notice - Process Requirements
  • Regulations
  • Rules
• British Columbia Arbitration and Mediation Institute (BCAMI)
  • Includes pdf document: ADRIC Arbitration Rules (Dec 2014) used by arbitrators

Statistics

• WorkBC - Industry Profiles  Industry information from perspective of potential employees: wages, factors that affect employment, workforce demographics
• BC Statistics - focus is on BC, taken from Canada Labour Force Statistics
• Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training (also responsible for Labour)

Occupational outlooks

• Job futures: an occupational outlook (Canadian government). 
  • The latest edition is available online and is now part of the Working in Canada site.
• Occupational Outlook Handbook (US government).  The latest edition is online.
• Work futures, British Columbia occupational outlooks  (BC government).  
  • The latest edition is available online via the Library's catalogue. 

Websites

• BC Federation of Labour
• BC Employment Standards Coalition
• Canadian Labour Congress
• Canadian Labour Reporter
• LabourStart
• Labour Watch
• Miller Thomson: Canadian Labour & Employment Law Blog

Guides and Tutorials

• What is plagiarism? 
• Understanding and avoiding plagiarism 
• How to Write an Annotated Bibliography
• Evaluating sources
• Peer review (referee) process
• Google power searching
• Internet research: Finding and evaluating resources
• Library Research Skills [interactive tutorial]
• Popular versus scholarly sources [video]
• Research concepts worksheet [guide]

Help With Writing

• Student Learning Commons
  • Writing for University
  • Book an appointment