Run Run Shaw Library
City University of Hong Kong
Business Source Complete
What is Business Source Complete?
Business Source Complete is a scholarly business database, providing bibliographic and full text content. Indexing and
abstracts for the most important scholarly business journals back to 1886 are included. It also indexes the cited
references for more than 1,200 journals and contains detailed author profiles for the 20,000 most-cited authors in the
database. Additional full text, non-journal content includes financial data, books, monographs, major reference works,
book digests, conference proceedings, case studies, investment research reports, industry reports, market research
reports, country reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses and more.
Access
1. At the Library Home Page ([Link] select E-Resources.
2. Select Databases: Title List.
3. Select Business Source Complete from the alphabetical list of databases.
Search
Select a search method:
- Basic Search provides both the ability to keyword search and a "lookup" feature that lets you search
within the Indexes and Authority Files. The links below the Basic Search box also let you browse
Company Profiles, Industry Reports, Country Reports and Market Research Reports.
- Advanced Search is the default search mode which offers multiple text boxes, searchable fields, and
various search options allowing you to create a well-focused search. You can also build a search using
search history, specific limit and expand options.
Basic Search
1. Enter search
term(s) 2. Click to start
search.
If a radio button other than Keyword is selected, the particular index will be
displayed at the closest match to your search term.
Business Source Complete 1
Advanced Search
1. Enter search If desired, you can ask
term(s). the system to suggest
an appropriate subject
2. Select a field. term:
i) check the
3. Select operator* “Suggest Subject
to combine terms Terms” box
entered in multiple ii) enter a word or
text boxes. phrase in the
“Find:” box
iii) Click the Search
4. Set limit options, button.
if desired.
(Limiting results to
Full Text is not
recommended as
you can use the
SFX button in the
results to find full
text from other
sources.)
5. Click to start
search.
* Note that “and” takes precedence over “or” when grouping items together.
Search Tips
Boolean and Proximity Operators
Operator Example Finds articles containing...
AND shopping and internet shopping and internet in the same document
OR survey or research survey or research, or both, in the document
NOT television not cable Television, but not cable
N# business N3 business within 3 words of reengineering, i.e.,
reengineering “business reengineering”, “reengineering of business …”,
etc.
W# quality W4 management quality within 4 words of management, in the order
specified
where # is a number
Use of Parentheses:
Use parentheses to specify the order of Boolean operations, e.g., enter (online shopping or electronic
commerce) and (marketing strategies or business planning) to search for documents containing the
phrase “online shopping” or “electronic commerce”, and also the phrase “marketing strategies” or “business
planning”.
Wildcard and Truncation Symbols
Symbol Function Example Finds articles containing...
? to substitute a single character wom?n woman or women
* Searches for words containing a manage* manage, manager, managers,
common word root management, etc.
Business Source Complete 2
Display Results
Click to go back to the Add the search statement Display the link to the search, you Click to create a RSS
Search page and refine to the folder for later use. can then copy the link and paste it search alert ^.
your search statement. to a web site, document, or email.
Select to sort
results in
different order,
Click on a title to if desired.
view full record.
Display full text of Click to add
the article **. records to a
folder for later
Click to check viewing on
availability of full screen, saving,
text via SFX. printing or
e-mailing.
Click to display
the list of
references cited
in this article.
Click to display
Click and select to the list of articles
display results in this database
from a particular that have cited
publication type, if this article.
desired.
** Full text can be available in different formats:
Full text of the article Complete article text in HTML format, Scanned images of articles Full text of the article
in HTML format along with photographs, illustrations, in Portable Document provided by other
figures, charts, or other images that can Format (PDF) EBSCOhost databases or
be viewed and saved as separate files subscribed e-journals
^ A pop-up screen displays with the search alert information. Copy the Syndication Feed URL into your newsreader.
Print/E-mail/Save/Export Search Results
To print/e-mail/save/export a single record:
Click on the links at the top of the citation/full-text record.
Use the Print/Save button in Adobe Reader to print/save articles in PDF.
To print/e-mail/save/export marked records in folder:
i) Click on the link at the top of the screen to display all marked records.
ii) Click on the links at the top of the marked records list.
à You can e-mail/save citations in a format that can be used in a bibliographic management software
(such as RefWorks) by using the Export Manager.
Save Searches and Alerts
(for Advanced Search only):
Searches can be saved and retrieved later. If a search is saved as Alert, the search will be run automatically
and notification can be sent to you via e-mail when there are results retrieved. A personal account is
required:
1. Click on the Search History / Alerts link in Advanced Search.
2. Click on the Retrieve Searches or Retrieve Alerts or Save Searches/Alerts link, you will then be
directed to the Login page.
3. Click on I’m a new user and create a personal account.
Reference Section
September 2008
Business Source Complete 3