MSBA Toolkit
Welcome to Goizueta! Your Business Librarians are looking forward to working with you as you begin your MSBA coursework.
Emory database licensing agreements allow student usage for coursework, career preparation and personal enrichment.
See our examples of appropriate and inappropriate use of Emory Libraries databases.
Complying with Emory's Honor Code & Code of Conduct
According to Emory's Copyright Infringement Policy, students, faculty and employees are required and expected to adhere to US copyright law, which restricts reproduction, distribution, and other uses of copyrighted materials.
- According to Emory’s Honor Code you must always attribute accurately and completely all data and excerpts or direct references you include in course research, articles, etc.
- According to Emory’s Code of Conduct, you can never provide anyone who is not currently an enrolled GBS student access to any GBL electronic resources (i.e. log them in); you can never allow anyone who is not currently enrolled at Emory University access to any electronic resources that are subscribed for use to Emory communities.
- According to Emory’s Code of Conduct, you can never share your Emory username/id and password with anyone attending Emory or outside of Emory
You must abide by Emory University's Library Licensed Electronic Resources Conditions of Use Policy.
Vendor Licenses Prohibit Scripts
Current Emory Libraries’ database licensing agreements strictly forbid using any type of scripts to generate searches and mine content; examples of these databases would be Nexis Uni (a LexisNexis product) and Factiva. Vendors are very diligent about watching for activity which indicates scripts are being used and they will not hesitate to turn off all access to their database without prior notification. Running scripts not only puts the university at risk due to noncompliance with the licensing agreement, but it may also result in the vendor denying Emory any future access.
Noncompliance: Intent vs Method
Just to clarify, this is not a question of the intent or purpose for the research; running searches for academic research is not the issue. The noncompliance issue is the method by which you are searching the database’s content, e.g. using a script.
Harvesting Data Legally
If you have a need to harvest data for your research, please contact Ron Harris in order to explore alternative options; for example, Nexis Uni does allow you to pay for a separate licensing agreement that is specifically intended for harvesting content.
One additional point of clarification: While our licenses do allow for manual searches, most of the vendors do have a record limit, and if you exceed it, they will also turn off access. It is recommended that even if you are going to conduct manual searches, if your need is a large amount of data, speak with Susan Klopper, Director of the Goizueta Business Library in advance of running your searches so she can let the vendor know.
Free Web Resources
- Google Scholar & Advanced Google: Learn how to maximize the power of this tool but be aware of its limitations, too.
Curated Statistical Datasets
- Data Freeway Resources - ECDS statistical data sources. This site lists in one place a plethora of statistical data sources in areas such as: Census, Economics, Healthcare and Criminal Justice. We recommend you explore this site to see if there might be a quantitative data source of relevance to a project you are working on.
Additional Subscription Sources for Business Quantitative Data
- Data-Planet - Create custom tables, charts, maps and graphs from over 35 billion data points sourced from U.S. Federal agencies, NGOs, and research firms.
- PolicyMap - GIS mapping tool that allows users to manipulate and plot data by geographical location.
- Simply Analytics - Create thematic maps, rankings and tables using demographic, marketing, and consumer behavior data; includes Nielsen, MRI and Census data.
- TDM Studio - Create and analyze datasets from a selection of ProQuest newspapers.
Research Methodology
- Sage Research Methods Online - Full content access to SAGE’s publications covering the wide range of quantitative, qualitative and mixed methodologies being used in social science research today.
- Locating Psychological and Educational Measurement Instruments
Business Writing Center (BWC)
Goizueta's Business Writing Center offers consultations as you work on research papers throughout your time here. These appointments are with BWC consultants who are either graduate students or experienced business professionals.
We recommend starting here. This curated data collection from the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship (ECDS) covers topics including Census, Economics, Health, Public Opinion, and Social Indicators. This resource also includes information about applying statistical and mapping software, such as Python, R, SAS, SPSS, Stata, and ArcGIS for analysis of this data.
Emory Libraries’ Databases
A number of library databases also include data. We recommend reaching out to one of the business librarians (gbsaskalibrarian@emory.edu) to explore which databases are best suited for your research. Examples include:
- Data-Planet - Create custom tables, charts, maps and graphs from over 35 billion data points sourced from U.S. Federal agencies, NGOs, and research firms.
- PolicyMap - GIS mapping tool that allows users to manipulate and plot data by geographical location.
- SimplyAnalytics - Create thematic maps, rankings and tables using demographic, marketing, and consumer behavior data; includes Nielsen, MRI and Census data.
- TDM Studio - Create and analyze datasets from a selection of ProQuest newspapers.
Don’t Plagiarize! Remember your ethical and legal copyright obligations; cite all sources you use in your presentations and reports.
Giving credit to the sources you reference in your presentation is not only about compliance with copyright laws (database vendors require complete citations as part of their licensing agreements); it’s also a critical part of building credibility and trust with your client.
For guidelines for correctly citing sources in your decks and bibliographies, see the GBL Citation Guide for PowerPoint presentations and the GBL Citation Guide for papers.
Your Business Librarians are invested in helping you with your studies. Email to gbsaskalibrarian@emory.edu to schedule a one-on-one consultation or email support.
The Woodruff Library Building has several areas where you can go for quiet study space.
The Matheson Reading Room is the ultimate quiet space; it is a very large, open area full of large wooden tables with plenty of outlets for devices and chargers. It is located on Level 3, across the bridge.