Suggested Library Resources for Business Technology
Students may choose from six Associate of Applied Science degree programs and five Certificate of Applied Science programs. Degree programs include Accounting Technology with a concentration in Computer Support; Administrative Management with a concentration in Social Media Management; Food Service Management; Medical Information Technology with concentrations in Health Information Coding Specialty and Medical Administrative Assisting; Paralegal Studies; and Management with concentrations in Entrepreneurship, and Sales and Marketing. Certificate of Applied Science programs include Business Media Design, Culinary Arts, Customer Relations, Medical Reception, and Sales and Marketing. The library has a variety of resources in both print and online to support these programs.
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Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Full text of thousands of scholarly journals, trade publications, market research reports, company profiles, and industry analyses. It covers key disciplines such as marketing, management, accounting, finance, and economics.
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Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Continuously updated full text collection of over 1,300 general and subject specific titles from 121 publishers with particular emphasis on encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and reference handbooks.
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Nexis Uni (formerly LexisNexis Academic) This link opens in a new window
Full text content from over 15,000 sources, including print and digital journals, newswires, blogs, and broadcasts from television and radio. Coverage spans local, regional, national, and international newspapers. Also included are legal resources featuring federal and state case law and statutes, along with detailed business information on U.S. and global companies and executives.
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O'Reilly for Higher Education (formerly Safari Books Online) This link opens in a new window
A digital learning platform that provides access to more than 50,000 ebooks, 2,600 audiobooks, and over 30,000 hours of video content. It features interactive learning tools such as case studies, expert-curated playlists, and live training sessions. The content spans topics in computing, technology, and business, and is sourced from over 250 respected publishers including Pearson, Wiley, and Harvard Business Review. To log in, a NetID is required. Upon first login, the user will receive a welcome email from O'Reilly. No additional steps are necessary.
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West Proflex This link opens in a new window
Legal research system consisting of legal and business-related databases, which are all full text searchable. Primary and secondary materials, including case law, statutes, administrative materials, treatises and more. Database is only for Paralegal students and instructors at Missoula College. A special account is needed--contact your Paralegal instructor or the Missoula College Librarian. Click on the Help '?' icon for contact options.
Finding Books and Other Items in the Library
Many items in the library are arranged by call number (the number on the sticker on the spine of the item). Try browsing the call numbers in these ranges for business technology:
- Business/Office Technology, Management, Marketing: 650-659
- Culinary Arts: 641-642.8
- Legal/Paralegal: 342, 344.01, 344.041, 345.01-07, 346.01-07, 347.01-09
The library also has some health care journals in print, though most are available only online.
For Business:
- Business Week
- Fast Company
- Forbes
- Fortune
- Kiplinger Tax Letter
- Kiplinger's Personal Finance
- Kiplinger's Retirement Report
- Montana Business Quarterly
- OfficePro
For Culinary Arts:
- Bon Appetit
- Cooks Country
- Cooks Illustrated
- Fermentation
- National Culinary Review
- Simply Gluten Free
For Paralegal:
- Fact and Findings
- Montana Law Review
- Montana Law Week
- National Paralegal Reporter
Developing a Research Question
- Select a topic that interests you and do some pre-research. If you need ideas:
- Look at course readings and class notes.
- Find information using Google, Wikipedia, CQ Researcher, or Credo Reference.
- Consider the scope of your topic. If it is too narrow, you might have trouble finding enough information. If it is too broad, you can be overwhelmed with information.
- Think about your assignment prompt while determining the scope of your topic. It is important to consider the size of the assignment and the length of time you have to complete it in thinking about scope.
- Find more on narrowing your topic.
- Turn your focused topic into a research question. Know that your research question may change slightly depending on what sorts of resources you find. While you should have a topic or question in mind, allow the sources you find, along with your interests, to help shape and refine your topic further.
Questions to guide the development of your research question:
- Is it focused enough to be covered in my paper or project?
- Is there enough literature available on this topic?
- What is the question that my research is answering?
- Am I genuinely interested in this topic?
- Is my topic going to be new and interesting to my audience?
- How do you determine if a resource has quality, useful information?