Peter F. Bronfman Business Library » HRM 2600: Human Resources Management

HRM 2600: Human Resources Management

Welcome to the course guide for HRM 2600. This guide is an introduction to resources of relevance for Human Resource Management students, available through York University Libraries. It highlights some of the key research tools available, either in print (at the Bronfman Business Library, S237, Schulich School of Business), or electronically via the library’s catalogue. Sources outlined are intended to assist with identification of relevant resources for a key course assignment requiring students to find articles of relevance to Human Resource Management.

Powerpoint slides for session

General Library Information
Finding Articles on a Human Resources Management Topic

General Library Information

Library Homepage The Library’s homepage is your portal to the library catalogue, where you will find our extensive collection of print and electronic materials (Books and eBooks, journals and eJournals, databases, videos, maps, etc.), as well as to information about the libraries, research issues such as citation and finding the materials you need, and practical tasks like booking study rooms, or accessing the library’s workshop schedule.

Undergraduate Library Guide Includes basic libraries’ information including getting a library card, hours, locations, borrowing/renewing materials, library eResources links and information, connecting to eResources from home and more.

Help with Research Bronfman Business Library’s Help with Research page includes contact information for research help at the library, and access to a variety of research guides that are helpful for conducting business research. Includes a direct link to the Search Tips for the Catalogue and Article Databases page.

Finding Articles on a Human Resources Management Topic

Finding an Article When You Have a Citation or Reference

Finding an article when you have a citation: Click on the camera icon to view the tutorial.

When you have a reference or citation to a specific article, you can use the library’s catalogue to see if the journal,magazine, or newspaper is available online from the Libraries. This can be found on the libraries’ home page at www.library.yorku.ca. Here’s an example of an article citation:

Thomas, David, A. “Diversity as Strategy”. Harvard Business Review (2004). 82.9: 98-108

hbrsearch

First, select Periodical Title from the dropdown menu. Journals, magazines and newspapers are all a type of periodical publication. Make sure to enter the title of the journal or magazine in which the article appears in the search box, and not the title of the article. Hit go. In your search results, check to see if the libraries have the volume and issue you need, which in this case they do – Harvard Business Review is available from 1922 to present.

Using an Articles Database

Articles databases contain citations and full-text for articles. Many databases provide abstracts or summaries of articles as well. Nowadays most articles databases at academic libraries are available in electronic format but some exist in print format only. You can use articles databases to find a specific article (as seen above), or to conduct research and find articles on your topic. Like the library’s catalogue, articles databases can be searched using keywords, and can be refined to locate items that are useful for your work.

Accessing Articles Databases from Home

To use the Libraries’ articles databases from home, you must be a registered York student. You will need your Passport York login or a library barcode number and a PIN (see information under the Library cards link on the home page). If you are off-campus, and click on the link to any web-based library articles database, eJournal, or other eResource on the Libraries’ web site, you will be prompted to login and authenticate using your Passport York account information or your library barcode and pin. pyork

Finding Articles When You Know Which Articles Database to Use

Assume you want to use Proquest Business to search for articles on a human resource management topic. You would go to the libraries’ home page at www.library.yorku.ca, select Title Keyword from the dropdown menu, and type Proquest Business in to the search box:

Finding Articles When You Don’t Know Which Articles Database to Use

The article database you choose depends on your topic. Many databases are discipline-specific e.g. Proquest Business or Business Source Premier for business, while some are multi-disciplinary e.g. Scholars Portal Journals, which covers areas of the social sciences, hard sciences, business, and others. Some may relate to a specific discipline within business e.g. Human Resources Abstracts.

To find journal and magazine articles on a topic use the libraries’ subject research guides. Choose business to see a list of recommended databases. If your goal is to find newspaper articles rather than journal or magazine articles, visit our subject guide to business and select “Newspaper Articles” under “Finding Articles”. If you wish to see a complete list of the databases recommended for business research visit the Bronfman Business Libraries Business Resources A-Z.

However the key articles databases for HRM students are listed below. Pay close attention to their coverage as it will vary significantly among these databases. Aspects such as date coverage, coverage of certain article-types, or regional coverage, are all important to consider when undertaking your research. A database’s coverage will greatly effect the type of articles you’ll retrieve in your searching.

Sources for Journal and Magazine Articles on HRM Themes

Proquest Business Simultaneously search all business & industry periodicals available through Proquest Central, including the ABI/Inform databases, concentrated publications on the pharmaceutical, banking, computing and telecommunications industries and Canadian, Asian and European business news. Includes wide coverage of corporate governance topics. Specific databases included in the Proquest suite of business databases at York University are: ABI Inform Global, ABI/Inform Trade & Industry, CBCA Complete Business, Proquest Asian Business, and Proquest European.

Business Source Premier: Contains full text for over 7,500 business periodicals and other sources, including scholarly journals, trade and general business magazines, monographs, country economic and industry reports, industry yearbooks, and market research reports.

CBCA Complete: Provides interdisciplinary coverage of Canadian topics including the areas of business and current affairs. Offers references, and many full text articles, from Canadian journals, magazines, newspapers, and newswires. Dates of coverage vary by title but many full-text titles available from early or mid-1990s, while citations for many publications available from early 1980s onward. Consult CBCA Business, a subcomponent of the CBCA Complete database, in order to limit search specifically to Canadian business journals and magazines, but note that newspaper and newswire coverage are not offered by this product, and coverage of business topics in non-business publications is also not available.

Human Resources Abstracts: Includes citations and abstracts for journals, books and papers in the field of human resources studies including human resources management. Topics include but are not limited to: aging and retirement, career preparation, earnings and benefits, health and human resources, hiring and personnel practices, human resources practices and management, labour and industrial relations. Coverage is for 2003 onwards.

PsycInfo: Indexes journal articles, dissertations, reports, books, book chapters, and other scholarly documents including literature from over 45 countries in more than 30 languages. Coverage is from 1872 – present. Covering the literature in psychology and related behavioral sciences this database has many applications to work and research in the field of human resources management.

Sources for Newspaper Articles on HRM Themes in Canada

Canadian Newsstand – Major Dailies : A searchable full-text database of major Canadian daily newspapers. Major titles include: the Calgary Herald (1988-), the Edmonton Journal (1989-), the Globe and Mail (1977-), the Halifax Daily News (1990-), the Montreal Gazette (1985-), the National Post (1998-), the Ottawa Citizen (1985-)the Toronto Star (1985-), and the Vancouver Sun (1987-). Select the Publications tab for a full listing. There may be a 2 – 7 day delay for the most recent issues.

Factiva: Includes nearly 9,000 sources from 118 countries in 22 languages, including full-text articles from international newspapers including The Globe and Mail, The National Post, and The Toronto Star, and continuously updated newswires and general business news publications like The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, Time, Newsweek, Finanz & Wirtschaft, Satellite News, BusinessWeek.

Different Types of Articles

Different types of Business Articles: Click on the camera icon to view the tutorial and to learn about the different types of articles used in business research, and how to recognize their distinguishing characteristics.

The following is a description of the different kinds of business articles in all the key areas of business including the area of Human Resources Management e.g.:

1. Business articles in scholarly or peer-reviewed journals: These articles are written by academics and researchers, typically focus on original research, use specialized language, contain in-depth articles with specialized language and extensive bibliographies. Examples: Administrative Science Quarterly; Human Resource Management Journal.

When might one use a scholarly or peer-reviewed article?: Where an academic or scholarly perspective is required; where original research is sought; where interested in academic theory; where a review of the academic literature on a business topic is needed; where a professor has specifically stipulated that only scholarly articles may be used for a given research project.

Tip: Use Ulrichs International Periodical Directory to determine if a specific journal is refereed. You can search by journal name, and if it is refereed this symbol will appear beside the journal title:

2. Business articles in trade journals: Target members of a specific business, industry or organization. Written by practitioners or journalists who cover the field. Valued for currency. Typically focus on industry trends, new products or techniques, and organizational news. Editorial review quite common, may contain short bibliographies. Examples: People Management, HR Professional, Autoweek.When should you use an article from a trade journal?: Where a practitioner perspective needed; where industry, company, or market research being conducted with emphasis on currency; where seeking information on best practices, recent developments or other information relating to a particular profession or trade.

3. Business articles in popular business magazines: Target audience is general public and/or business professionals. Focus on general business information especially current trends and news. Examples: Canadian Business; Forbes.When should you use an article from a popular business magazine?: Where general background information is required on a business topic and information source need not be academic, specialized, or in-depth in focus; where currency is important as many popular publications are published weekly and cover business news events and recent developments.

4. Business articles in newspapers or newswires: Short articles written by business columnists/journalists. Focus on current news in business. Examples: Wall Street Journal, BusinessWire.When should you use a newspaper or newswire business article?: Typically the best (and often only) source for very recent business developments or events; useful source of political, social, economic and public commentary; useful in order to determine how an event was reported on at a particular point in time; where regional research being conducted local newspapers may be the only, or one of few, sources of information available.

Citing Business Articles (including using RefWorks)

Introduction to Academic Integrity

Once you have selected relevant business articles for your research, one important final step involves compiling an accurate list of references or citations to incorporate within your essay or project. Referencing the items you used for your research is an important part of academic work, and is paramount to avoiding plagiarism. To learn more about plagiarism and the importance of academic integrity, see the Academic Integrity Tutorial available on the York’s website.

Citing using APA Style

Note that some style guides are available on the web and the libraries’ web site offers a guide to these sources, including guides to using APA style.

RefWorks 2.0

Note that RefWorks, a citation management software, supported by York University Libraries, may also be used free of charge by registered students and faculty to build a personal database of references and to create in-text citations and bibliographies in a style of choice. More information about RefWorks is available on the York University Libraries’ Web site.

Compiled by Sophie Bury, Business Librarian, Revised September 2013