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Internet Resources Directory
Simple Search
Advanced Search
Full Texts
Full Texts in Business Studies
Full Texts in Economics
Electronic Journal Library (EZB)
EconPapers
Catalogues and Databases
Metasearch
Services
EconDesk
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Feedback
Suggest a Site
Recommend this Page / this Resource

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If you need help with other parts of the Website please send us your question using our Feedback-form. We will answer as quickly as possible.

Please select the right hand in the light blue bar on the top of each page for obtaining help for the part of EconBiz that is currently opened in your browser. The help concerning single areas of EconBiz are excerpts of the helptext you find below.



INTERNET RESOURCES DIRECTORY

Search

Subjects can be searched in the internet resources directory of EconBiz with a simple search ( Help for using simple search) or with an advanced search ( Help for using advanced search). Your search term is then compared with the dataset, that the EconBiz-Team produced. The result is a list of entries that include your search term.

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Browsing

Besides the possibility of searching, you can browse through the structure of the internet resources directory. You may choose a subject division (business studies, economics or types of industry), the geographical systematics or the resource type systematics and follow the links in order to constrain your results by and by. The number found beside the entry, (for example: Italy (40)) shows how many internet resources are available in a certain category.

TIP: If you find browsing too laborious, choose a country, a subject-area or a resource type in the advanced search. The List of results will contain all the internet resources available in the chosen category.

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Lists of results

The internet resources directory offers different ways of sorting a list of results:

  • Alphabetically by the title of resource,
  • According to resource type
  • By subject division (business studies, economics or types of industry),
  • By country,
  • By date last checked (last revised by the EconBiz-team),
  • By language.

You may also chose different types of output formats for your lists of results. The short format includes title and URL of every internet resource in the result list. The long format additionally contains abstracts and subject headings. To confirm your change of the output format or sorting, please use the "Change" button at the top of the list of results.

TIPS:

  • If your result list is too wide, you can search within your result list. Please select "search in search results" in the pulldown menu below the search field.
  • Clicking the title of an internet resource in a list of results will bring you the detailed description written by a member of the EconBiz-Team. Choosing the URL will bring you directly to the web pages.
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Simple Search

The simple search uses the descriptive entries in the internet resources directory and not the content of the websites. To use the simple search please enter your search word and click the "go" button or use the enter or return key.

Your search word will be compared to the descriptive entries in the internet resources directory, which are written by EconBiz staff members. Included in the search are: titles of websites, URLs, authors and publishers, abstracts, table of contents and subject headings.

Search Tips

You can enlarge your result list by truncating your search term with an asterisk (*). Your search for Mark* will find resources that contain the term Mark as well as those containing the term Marketing or similar. If you search without the asterisk, you will find only resources that contain exactly the term you entered.

To narrow down your result list you can enclose several search terms with quotation marks and search as phrases. If you search for "internet marketing" with the quotation marks, the two terms must appear next to each other in the results.

If your result list is too wide, you can search within your result list. Please select "search in search results" in the pulldown menu below the search field.

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Advanced Search

Using the advanced search helps you reduce the size of results-lists and filter out unwanted information. For example you can reduce your search for just one resource type, one country or one specific subject area of economics.

The following topics can help you in your advanced search:

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Reduce the search to certain categories (for example: title, institution...)

The advanced search allows you to search all categories or specify just one category:

  • Title: Search for a certain title of websites, for example "New York Stock Exchange".

  • Institution: Search for  institutions, groups of people or other organisations that are responsible for the contents of websites, for example "Hans-Böckler-Stiftung" or "Universität Kiel". Corporate bodies of Germany are entered in this category with their German titles, all others are given in English language. Please search in this category with the full name of a corporate body, not with the abbreviation (for example: search for "World Trade Organization", do not search for "WTO").

  • Subject heading: Subject headings are words that describe content. They can be individually chosen or belong to a systematic thesaurus. In EconBiz subject headings are taken from the "Standard Thesaurus of Economics" (STW), the "Schlagwortnormdatei" (database of standardized subject headings) (SWD) and from the "Thesaurus Sozialwissenschaften" (thesaurus of social sciences) (TSW).

  • URL: Searching for a certain URL (Internet address) for example "http://www.wto.org".

Search Tips:

You can enlarge your result list by truncating your search term with an asterisk (*). Your search for Mark* will find resources that contain the term Mark as well as those containing the term Marketing or similar. If you search without the asterisk, you will find only resources that contain exactly the term you entered.

To narrow down your result list you can enclose several search terms with quotation marks and search as phrases. If you search for "internet marketing" with the quotation marks, the two terms must appear next to each other in the results.

 

 

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Refining the seach with "AND", "OR", "AND NOT"

You can choose via a pull-down menu, if all search terms (choose "AND"), any of the search terms (choose "OR"), or just the first word but not the second one (choose "AND NOT") shall be included in your results. Using "AND" / "AND NOT" reduces the number of results in the list, whereas using "OR" increases the number of results.

Please note: Please do not use more than one search word in each field, if you want to combine the words with "OR" / "AND NOT".

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Examples:

AND-Combinations:

A search for "Ministry and Finances" retrieves only results in which both words are found.

Possible results: Ministry of Finance of British Columbia, Minstry of Finance and Customs, Malta ...

OR-Combinations:

Searching for "Ministry or Finance" would retrieve results in which either Ministry or Finance were found as well as results in which both terms are contained. Searching with "or" creates longer results-lists than searching with "and".

Possible results: American Finance Association, Tanzania Ministry of Education, Liberia Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Finance of British Columbia ...

AND NOT-Combinations:

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Searching with "Ministery and not Finance" would retrieve a list of results in which the word "Ministry" is contained but in which the word "Finance" was not found.

Possible results: Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Austrian Agrarian Ministry, Ministry of Economics of Baden-Wuerttemberg ...
Not in the result-list included are: Ministry of Finance of British Columbia, Minstry of Finance and Customs, Malta ...


Reducing the results to a certain country, subject area or resource type

If you use the advanced search you can limit your search to a certain subject classification (Economics, Business Studies, Types of Industries), a certain country or a resource type.

 

Limit your results to a subject area
Select or deselect the checkboxes in front of the three subject areas "Business Studies", "Economics" and "Industries" with mouseclicks. Please select at least one subject area.

Limit your results to a country
Click on the Button "Countries" and choose the relevant country from the list. By selecting or deselecting the checkboxes you decide whether the country should be the "topic of the resource" (e.g. a website dealing with the Indian economy) the location of an institution (e.g. search for universities in the USA) or whether you want to search for both types of resources.

TIP: By clicking the button "Countries" again after already having chosen one country or geographical area, you can select more countries. With the button "reset" you deselect all countries from your list.

Limit your result to a resource type
Here you can decide whether to search only for full-texts, homepages of institutions or similar. Please choose a resource type by clicking the button "resource type" and select from the list.

TIPS: To limit your search to full-texts, please select the resource type "individual publications".
By clicking the button "Resource Type" again, you can select several resource types. With the button "reset" you deselect all resource types from your list.

 

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Other ways of refining your list of results

  • You can limit your results to resources in certain languages. Please select the language from the respective pulldown menu.
  • Limiting the search to a year of publication will find only full-text documents because websites of institutions or similar do not contain a year of publication in their description.

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    FULL TEXTS

    Full Texts in Business Studies

    If you want to restrict your search to full texts related to business studies, you can use the section full texts -> full texts in business studies. Select the link "Working Paper, Preprint". You will receive a list of titles and can restrict your search to this category.

    TIP: The full texts related to business studies are included in the internet resources directory. When searching the internet resources directory or browsing by subject, country or resource type, all full texts in business studies will be considered.
    The internet resources directory itself is integrated into the EconBiz Metasearch, so the full texts related to business studies can also be found there.

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    Full Texts in Economics

    The full texts in economics are not included in the internet resources directory. You find them in the document server of the German National Library of Economics (ZBW) and in the library's online catalogue ECONIS of the ZBW.

    Help for searching in ECONIS can be found here.

    TIP: The database ECONIS (it contains all titles stored on the ZBW document server) is integrated into the EconBiz Metasearch and will be considered automatically when you search there.

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    Electronic Journal Library (EZB)

    In EconBiz you can find a section of the Electronic Journal Library (EZB) that contains only journals from economics and business studies.
    Help for using the EZB can be found here.

    TIP: The Electronic Journal Library (EZB) is integrated into the EconBiz Metasearch and will be considered automatically when you search there.

    EconPapers

    The internet pages of EconPapers are not a product of EconBiz. If you have problems using EconPapers, please see the help pages found there.

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    CATALOGUES and DATABASES

    The links in the section "Catalogues and Databases" in EconBiz lead to external websites that are not compiled by the EconBiz team. If you have problems using a certain catalogue or database, please see the help pages found on the respective website.

    In the category other catalogues you can find academic catalogues and bibliographical databases that are contained in the EconBiz internet resources directory. When you select this category, you will receive a list of all listed catalogues and bibliographical databases. You can search this list by using the search field at the top or you can sort the list by various criteria.

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    METASEARCH
    Assistance for Searching
    Database Selection
    Information about included databases
    Basic Search
    Default: Boolean operator AND
    Boolean operator OR
    Truncation
    Search for phrases
    Advanced Search
    Assistance for individual fields of the advanced search
    Settings of the advanced search
    Assistance for the result list
    "Selected databases"
    Result list
    Symbols with the individual records and their meaning:
    Display of an individual record
    Contained links
    Check availability
    Bookmarks
    Recall more hits
    Error message


    Database selection

    Using the database selection (to the left hand of the search slot) you can select which databases are to be searched. Click on the plus or minus signs in order to open or close the list of the available databases. You can choose a database by clicking the associated box.

    Information about included databases

    To receive information about a database (type of contained sources, temporal cover, access etc.) click on the icon next to the name of the database in the database selection.

    Basic Search

    You can search the selected databases for terms by means of a basic or an advanced search.

    Please enter your search term(s) into the search slot and click the button "search" or confirm your inquiry with the input key (Enter or Return key). If the term you entered is found in one of the fields (title, author, key words etc.) of a data record, this record is displayed in the result list.

    Default: Boolean operator AND

    If you enter more than one term in the search box, they are automatically linked with the Boolean operator AND. This means that only data records which contain all of your search terms are displayed in the hit list.

    Boolean operator OR (not available for all databases)

    If you link more than one search term with the Boolean operator OR, you receive records containing either one or more of your search terms.

    For example: search terms: politics OR economics

    Finds records containing either the term "politics" or the term "economics" or both terms. You can use this feature for a crosslingual search.

    For example: search terms: Wirtschaft ODR economics

    Truncation

    You can enlarge your result list by truncating your search term with an asterisk (*). Your search for Mark* will find resources that contain the term Mark as well as those containing the term Marketing or similar. If you search without the asterisk, you will find only resources that contain exactly the term you entered.

    Search for phrases

    In order to refine your result list, you can enclose several terms within quotation marks and search them as phrases. The search terms "term1 term2" must stand directly next to each other to generate a hit, e.g."balanced scorecard".

    Advanced Search

    In contrast to the basic search, in which all fields are scanned for your search term, in the advanced search you can determine exactly which field should be scanned.
    As with the basic search, the default setting is the boolean operator "AND".

    Assistance for individual fields of the advanced search

    Author: Please enter a personal name in the following syntax: surname, forename. Please note that not all included databases support a search for personal names.
    Corporate name: Please note that not all included databases support a search for corporate names.
    Subject: Please note that not all included databases support a search for subject headings.
    ISBN/ISSN: For searching for ISBN / ISSN you can enter the number with separator (e.g. 978-3-89965-294-9) or without (e.g. 9783899652949). Please note that not all included databases support a search for international standard book numbers.
    Year of Publication: Please enter a four-digit date (YYYY). Please note that not all included databases support a search for year of publication.

    Settings of the advanced search

    In the advanced search you can additionally choose,

    >>    how many hits per database should be displayed in your result list (10, 25 or 50 hits) and

    >>    how long your search should take.

    Please decrease your search timeout if the search takes too long. Please note that this may cause more timeout errors from individual databases.

    Please increase your search timeout, if - by using complex searches - you receive too many timeout errors from individual databases.

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    Assistance for the result list

    The result of your query is displayed in the result list. This list is subdived into two columns: "Selected databases" (left) and result list (right).

    "Selected databases"

    If the results of all the databases have been received or if the given time limit (timeout) for the search is exceeded, the database names and the number of obtained hits are displayed. Clicking the name of a database causes a jump to the hits from that database.

    Result list

    In the result list your search term is highlighted within an individual data record.

    Symbols with the individual records and their meaning:

    The available resource is a printed book or newspaper, which can be borrowed in the particular library or by inter-library lending, or be obtained by document delivery (see: Check availability).

    The available resource is a printed article contained in a newspaper or in a compilation, which can be borrowed in the particular library or by inter-library lending, or be obtained by document delivery (see: Check availability) or can be acquired from the provider using the contained link.

    The available resource is an electronic document or a resource of the internet. This is a website, the online-issue of a newspaper, an article, a database or similar. These resources are mostly free, in some cases you only get access if a license has been acquired by your institution.

    Display of an individual record

    In your result list you can click on an individual record to get detailed information about the resource.

    Contained links:
    >>> Click on the link "Reference" (not available in all databases) to display the resource in the database of origin.
    >>> Click on the link "Location" (not available in all databases) to display all libraries (with signature) which possess this resource.
    >>> The URL which is displayed under "Link" (not available in all databases) leads you
    a) directly to the fulltext or
    b) - if the resource is not freely available - to the Website of the provider, , where you can buy the resource or
    c) to the Table of Contents of the selected resource.
    >>> Click on the link "Collective title" (not available in all databases) to display the data record for the collective title.

    Check availability:

    Click the button "Check availability" in an individual data record to find out, whether the resource is possessed by your local library or has been found by a search engine.
    If you call the Availability-check for the Search in german libraries ("Suche in verschiedenen Bibliotheken deutschlandweit") for the first time, you are asked to identify yourself in order to use the corresponding licenses of your institution. Please select the type of institution (1.) and their name (2.). Now you can choose, if your settings should be stored (permanently) or not (3.).
    Click the button "Verfügbarkeit prüfen"(Check availability). Now you attain the display of the libraries which possess the resource. From there you can order the resource at your local library or by inter-library lending.

    Alternatively you can use the Link "Reference" or  "Location" (not available in all databases) in an individual data record to go to the database of origin. In some databases you can order the selected resource there.

    Bookmarks:

    A single click on "Bookmark record" adds the selected resource to your personal bookmarks.
    You can open your bookmarks by clicking on "Booksmarks" in the menu bar (light blue). Now you can delete the list of booksmarks, print the list or send it by e-mail. For transmission you can choose between three different formats (TXT, Bib TeX or CSV).
    Click on the icon "trash" next to a record to delete this record from your list.

    Click on "Last Search Result" (light-blue menu bar) to go back to your result list (Please note, that you will now be shown hits 1-10 of your result list).

    Click on "Search" (light-blue menu bar) to start a new search.

    Call more hits:

    To begin with every database displays max. 10 hits. If the number of hits is bigger than that, click on the link "Next" at the bottom of the page. Hits 11-20 of the selected databases will now be displayed.

    Error message:

    Databases which answer a query with an error or which do not send records at all show through "error" in the area "selected databases". In the result list the cause of the error is displayed after the name of the database.
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    SERVICES


    EconDesk

    Help with using the website

    Sending a question to EconDesk

    Please choose what kind of question you want to ask on the homepage of EconDesk:

    If you want to ask questions via chat or e-mail please fill in the form on your chosen site. Filling in the fields marked with an asterisk (*) is mandatory. All other fields can be left blank. Before sending us your personal information, please read the terms and conditions of EconDesk and check the box in front of the “I have read the conditions of use und agree” checkbox. Only if you check this box can EconDesk process your questions.


    How can I give feedback?

    The feedback form of EconDesk allows you to send us your comments concerning the use of EconDesk. Furthermore you can complain if our answers were unsatisfactory or insufficient. Please fill in at the least the field “message” and send us your feedback with the button “send”. If you fill in the field “e-mail address”, we will be glad to reply to your feedback.

    Please note: If you want to complain about an answer, please supply the question ID, so we can find the question in our system. You will find the question ID in the subject line of your e-mail from EconDesk.


    Why haven’t I got an answer?

    All questions you send to EconDesk via e-mail or chat are answered via e-mail (after a chat you get the chat transcript via e-mail). Unfortunately some e-mail services interpret e-mails of EconDesk as spam e-mails (e-mails with advertisements or similar) and sort them into the spam folders of mailboxes automatically. If you do not receive a confirmation about putting a question immediately after sending it or an answer from EconDesk, please check the spam folder of your e-mail account.

    If you do not find your answer even in your spam folders after two business days, please contact EconDesk via feedback form or via telephone.


    Help with using the chat


    Starting a chat

    To start a chat, please fill in the form on the EconChat site. Filling in the fields marked with an asterisk (*) is mandatory. All other fields can be left blank. Before sending us your question, please read the terms and conditions of EconDesk and check the box in front of the “I have read the conditions of use und agree” checkbox.

    As soon as you send your question via the send button, a new window opens. The window is split into three parts. In the left upper part the dialogue with the EconChat team will appear. In the left lower part you can enter your new chat messages. On the right side you will find some technical information concerning the chat. This space will also display websites that the EconChat team recommends to you in regard to your question. As soon as someone from the EconChat team picks up your call the message "Librarian has joined the session" will appear in the dialogue area on the top left side.


    Sending chat messages

    Type your message into the entry field and send it with the “send” button or the enter key on your keyboard.

    TIP: A sent message disappears from the entry field and will reappear in the upper dialogue part of the window. This lets you know that your message was transmitted.


    Ending sessions

    You can end the session at any time by selecting the link “Exit Chat”. The chat transcript will be sent to the e-mail address you entered. We request that you do not leave your PC while a chat is active because we assume that you are still present and that there is a technical problem if you do not reply any longer.


    Why doesn’t the chat work?


    > Opening hours

    The chat is available on workdays from 10.00 to 17.00h. At all other times the chat cannot be started. In this case please send us your question via EconMail. It will be answered within two business days.

    > Activate JavaScript in your browser

    To start the chat, JavaScript must be activated in your browser. If it is not, you can make the following changes in your browser settings:

    • Microsoft Internet Explorer
      In the menu bar > Tools > Internet options > Security > Internet > Modify settings > Scripting > Active Scripting choose "activate". Confirm your changes with a click on “ok”.
    • Mozilla Firefox
      In the menu bar > Tools > Settings > Web-Features > select "activate JavaScript ". Confirm your changes with a click on “ok”.

    > Pop-up-blockers

    To start the chat, your browser must be able to display pop-ups. In order to allow pop-ups, please activate JavaScript in your browser (help for activating JavaScript in your browser). There are browsers and software that suppress pop-ups, which often contain only advertisements. Pop-up-blockers are e.g. available in:

    • Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (SP2) or higher
    • Firefox and other browsers of Mozilla
    • Toolbars for Internet Explorer e.g. from Google or Yahoo
    • Firewalls e.g. Zone Alarm Pro
    • Special filter software e.g. Webwasher
    The enormous variety of pop-up-blocking software makes it impossible for us to give detailed instructions to you. Normally your browser software contains a help module providing information on how to deactivate pop-up blockers in general or only for single internet sites (www.econbiz.de, www.questionpoint.org).

    >> Deactivate/reset pop-up blockers:
    • Microsoft Internet Explorer
      In the menu bar > Extras>Pop-up blocker>Pop-up blocker settings enter the URL (www.econbiz.de and www.questionpoint.org) under “allowed sites” or deactivate the pop-up blocker under >Extras >Pop-up blocker >deactivate pop-up blocker.
    • Mozilla Firefox
      In the menu bar > Tools > Settings > Web-Features > deactivate "block pop-ups " or add the URLs you want to allow to display pop-ups (econbiz.de, questionpoint.org) in the section "allowed sites".
    > Firewalls

    Please note that your firewall may disable the chat.

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    DIALOGUE

    Feedback

    We would be happy to hear from you. Please send us your suggestions, questions, or comments about EconBiz using our feedback form. Name and email address are optional. Please enter your message and send it using button "send".

    If you include your email address we will gladly answer. It is important for us to learn about your opinion of EconBiz and we will try to put your suggestions into practice.
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    Suggest a site
    If you miss an important internet resource in economics in EconBiz, please let us know about it. Your recommendation will be checked by the EconBiz-team and added to the internet resources directory, if it meets the quality criteria and fits in the collection profile of EconBiz.

    Information about the title, the description of the internet resource as well as giving your name and email address are optional. Important is the URL (internet address) of the resource, so the EconBiz-team can identify the resource correctly.

    Please send us your recommendation using the button "send recommendation".

    If you give us your email address we will inform you as soon as the internet resource is available in EconBiz.
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    RECOMMEND THIS PAGE / THIS RESOURCE
    Using this function, you can recommend the internet page that is opened in your browser to a friend or send it to your own email address.

    Just use the link "recommend this page" in the light blue bar in the top of the EconBiz Website and the URL (internet address) of the site opened in your browser will be sent to an email address of your choice.

    The pages with descriptions of individual internet sources (full view) include, right top, a link "recommend this resource". If you recommend a single internet resource the complete text viewed will be sent per email.

    In filling out the fields please note that "email address of the recipient", "your email address" and "your name" are compulsory. Optionally you can add a message to the recipient.

    Personal data entered in the form will not be stored or given to third parties or used in any other way.

    Chose the button "send", to send the recommendation on the email address of the recipient.
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