Help with Research
The Bronfman Business Library’s experienced and knowledgeable business librarians offer York University students and faculty research assistance in a number of ways:
- in person at the reference desk or by appointment
- by email
- IM chat reference service
- by phone (416-736-5139 during library reference hours)
- via online web pages
The Library’s on-site print collection includes more than 25,000 volumes, and approximately 300 print subscriptions, including journals, trade magazines and newspapers. Topics covered include but are not limited to: accounting, business ethics, finance, international business, management, marketing, nonprofit sector, operations management, organizational behaviour, and strategic planning and management. Electronic resources are in high demand by today’s business researcher and the Library provides access to an in-depth collection of electronic business resources.
The Library subscribes to an extensive collection of full-text and numeric databases, (included are approximately 5000 business journals, trade magazines and newspapers), most of which may be accessed online using your Passport York ID. However, there is no single electronic resource/database that will meet all of your research needs. The best database/resource to use depends upon the type of research you are doing. For example, if you need articles, ProQuest’s ABI/Inform suite of databases or EBSCO’s Business Source Premier database are the most helpful. If you need company information, the Financial Post Advisor, Mergent and other key databases have detailed company text and financial information. Similarly if you are looking for marketing, stock data, HR, etc, other databases/resources may be more useful. The guides listed below will help you select appropriate research electronic resources/ databases for your specific research neets.
If you are looking for materials in the catalogue e.g. print or electronic books, journals, databases etc please see the Search tips for the Catalogue & Article Databases.
The following links lead to recommended resources for frequently researched topics. Some of the links will take you to subject guides prepared by Bronfman Business Library Reference Staff; other links lead to comprehensive lists of resources.
Citing Sources
All references to websites, articles, books, data sources, or quotations used, whether published in print or electronically, must be cited. For more information please see York University’s Academic Integrity Website
For assistance in citing your sources click on either:
- Citing and Writing Guides which includes a guide created specifically for Bronfman Business Library electronic resources
- Refworks – bibliography and footnote management software
Created by Elizabeth Watson, YUL/BBL, August 2007 Revised August 2010.

