Reference books and online resources like Britannica Academic and Salem Online are great for improving your background knowledge on almost any topic. These resources also provide images and videos, which you can use to liven up your papers and presentations.
Here are some useful guides to help you evaluate information you find on the web:
- Evaluating Information: How to evaluate information, from social media to scholarly articles (Johns Hopkins University)
- Evaluating Print vs. Internet Sources (Purdue University)
- Evaluating Resources (UC Berkeley)
Write Your Paper
The Center for Student Success offers tutoring to all DCTC students, including help with writing your paper and citing your sources. You can schedule an appointment by calling 651-423-8420 or visiting room 2-101.
Cite Your Sources
There are different styles for citing the sources you use in your assignments. Your instructor will let you know whether to use APA, Chicago, MLA, or some other style.
Here are some introductory guides to these styles from the Purdue Online Writing Lab:
- Purdue OWL: APA Formatting and Style Guide
- Purdue OWL: Chicago Manual of Style 17th Edition
- Purdue OWL: MLA Formatting and Style Guide
Our catalog and most databases provide citations for the books, videos, and articles you find in them. Just look for a link that says Cite or Citation, then select the appropriate style. It's easy to copy and paste citations into your bibliography!
Avoid Plagiarism
"Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, the use, by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgment. It also includes the unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials."
This definition of plagiarism comes from page 1 of DCTC's Student Code of Conduct. See how easy that was?
Citing your sources is an essential step in the research process. This allows others to verify your information and gives credit to previous researchers and writers for their hard work.
Fall & Spring Semesters:
Monday - Thursday:
7:30 AM to 5:00 PM
Friday:
7:30 AM to 3:30 PM
Summer Sessions:
Monday - Thursday:
8:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Welcome to the DCTC Library's Marketing subject guide. This guide will help you to
- find online reference resources
- find books, videos, ebooks, and streaming videos
- find magazine, journal, and newspaper articles
- identify trustworthy information on the web
- and cite your sources
Our Catalog: OneSearch
Use our catalog, OneSearch, to find books, ebooks, and videos in our collection. OneSearch includes ebooks about marketing from our EBSCO eBooks Collection and streaming videos from Films On Demand.
The best way to begin your search is to enter one or two keywords on your topic. To narrow your results, use the Modify My Results options on the left side of the screen. You can also click on a relevant title and click on one of its subject headings to focus your search on that particular topic.
Our collection is organized by Library of Congress call numbers. If you like to browse, most books and videos about marketing are shelved in the HF5410-5417.5 call number range. Ask a librarian if you need help finding anything.
Interlibrary Loan
If we don't have what you're looking for, you can expand your search to include all libraries in the Minnesota State system or even all libraries in Minnesota. You can request items from other libraries through interlibrary loan (ILL). You'll receive a notice when the items are ready to pick up here at the DCTC Library. Ask a librarian if you have any questions.
Below you'll find just a few of our many Online Resources for finding magazine, newspaper, and journal articles. The best way to begin your search is to enter one or two keywords on your topic. Each database is different, but there will be ways to limit and focus your results so that you find the most relevant and useful articles available.
Our EBSCO databases are an excellent place to start your search for magazine and journal articles. One of these databases, Business Source Premier, offers full-text articles from more than 2,100 business journals, company profiles, country reports, industry profiles, and market research reports.
Our Gale databases are another great place to find magazine and journal articles.
Search nearly 2,800 newspapers, newswires, and news sites with ProQuest Global Newsstream.
Please visit the Library or contact us if you have any questions about our databases or if you'd like help finding articles on your topic.
LearningExpress Library is an outstanding resource for academic and career development with hundreds of online tutorials, practice tests, and ebooks.
The Computer Skills Center module includes video courses on Microsoft Excel, Word, and other Office programs.
The Career Preparation module includes ebooks to help you with your job search, interviewing, networking, and workplace skills.
The College Students module can help you develop your math, reading, writing, and science skills.
Check out our Business Marketing board on Pinterest! Feel free to send us pins that you think would benefit the DCTC community and check back often!
Business Insights: Global features detailed company and industry profiles including SWOT, market share, and financial reports; thousands of company histories and industry essays; and case studies, scholarly journals, and business news for deep research coverage of global economies.
Business Source Premier features the full text for more than 2,100 journals in all business disciplines. Coverage includes marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance, and economics. Additional non-journal content includes company profiles, country reports, industry profiles, market research reports, and SWOT analyses.
Business Source - Basic Searching on EBSCOhost - Tutorial
Business Source - Advanced Searching on EBSCOhost - Tutorial
The U.S. Census Bureau provides a vast amount of demographic and economic data at local, state, and national levels.
QuickFacts provides statistics for all states and counties and for cities and towns with a population of 5,000 or more.
The Census Bureau produces economic data across the entire economy on a monthly, quarterly, yearly, and five-year basis, which you can find under Business and Economy.
data.census.gov (formerly known as American FactFinder) is the primary way to access Census Bureau data.
GreatNonprofits is a directory of nonprofits with reviews.
GuideStar has lots of information about U.S. charities and nonprofit organizations. Some of the information requires a free account; other data is available for a price.
The U.S. Census Bureau has resources for small businesses.
The U.S. Small Business Administration has a guide to market research and competitive analysis.
Here are just a few of the ebooks you'll find in our collection:
What Customers Crave: How to Create Relevant and Memorable Experiences at Every Touchpoint
Nicholas J. Webb, 2017
Retail Business Market Research Handbook 2017-2018
Richard K. Miller, 2016
Sociometrics and Human Relationships : Analyzing Social Networks to Manage Brands, Predict Trends, and Improve Organizational Performance
Peter A. Gloor, 2017