Department of Economics
Departmental Research Guide

This research guide relays some basic information on library and information resources pertaining to the concerns of this department, as provided by University Libraries and/or sites on the World Wide Web.

1. To Shelf-Browse for Books (using main Library of Congress Subject Divisions)

Books on subjects associated with this field are shelved under the call number ranges listed below. Use TOPCAT to search for specific items in the collection, or more narrowly-defined subjects.

Economics: HB1- HB3840, HC10- HC1085, HD28-HD9999---Economics, general: HB1-HB130 ------- Economics-history, HB75-HB130 ------- Economics-mathematics, HB135 ------- Economics-statistical methods, HB137 ------- Econometrics, HB139 ------- Microeconomics, HB172 ------- Macroeconomics, HB172.5 ------- Economic forecasting, HB3730 ------- Economic assistance, HC59.8-HC60.5 ------- Environmental economics, HC79.E5 ------- Managerial economics, HD30.22 ------- Economic development, HD72-HD88 ------- Economic policy, HD87 ------- Labor economics, HD4901 ------- International economic relations, HF1351-HF1359 ------- Urban economics, HT321 ------- Law and economics, K487.E3

2. To Find Journal and Magazine Articles (using indexing/abstracting/full-text services)

• TD Net Electronic Journal Finder- Accesses electronic journals, magazines, and newspapers at WKU and their TOC which are updated weekly. Individualized current awareness alerts for journal titles and keywords.
• TOPCAT-Online catalog for print and microform books, journals at WKU.

The following services are recommended for courses for first-year students and non-majors:

• ABI/INFORM Global (ProQuest)- Index with abstracts of over 550,000 articles in nearly 1500 global business periodicals; 700 full text titles with coverage back to 1991/92 and indexing back to 1971.
• Business Source Premier (EBSCOhost) KYVL- Index with full text for more than 2300 global business journals, including full text for more than 1100 peer-reviewed titles.
• ProQuest Computing KYVL- Information on computer software, hardware, e-commerce, Web site development, systems design, technology including product reviews.
• Wall Street Journal (Full-text in ABI/INFORM)- Wall Street journal articles, Eastern edition, 1984-Current. Subject/date/other indexing.

The following services are recommended for use by advanced students and researchers:

• EconLit (Journal of Economic Literature): This FirstSearch database features subject indexing and abstracts of 750 sources and over 620 collective volumes per year; also books, dissertations, and working papers. Dates from 1969 to the present. Available via password to faculty and graduate students, and undergraduates by special permission.
• Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR): A large archive of social science research data files for use with statistical software, such as SAS or SPSS. Please note that ICPSR does not provide publications, reports, or ready-made statistics, but rather the numeric raw data used to create publications, reports, and figures.
• LexisNexis Academic contains full-text news, law, business, and reference materials. Includes company profiles and business directories, accounting material, industry reports, and business news.
• LexisNexis Statistical provides statistical surveys, charts, and tables produced by federal, state, and intergovernmental agencies, professional and trade organizations, commercial publishers, independent research organizations, and universities. It also includes the online version of the American Statistics Index (ASI).
• STAT-USA/Internet (U.S. Department of Commerce)- Access to Federal Government’s information on U.S. economy, trade, international market research, country analysis, including National Trade Data Bank.
• U.S. Census Bureau- Links to 2000 Census demographic and economic statistics, including population and housing, statistics on agriculture, service industries, and manufacturing; maps; special topics such as Statistical Abstract.

3. Monographic Reference Works in Helm Library

The following are recommended for use:

• Budget of the United States Government, at Helm Library Reference Desk
• Economic Report of the President, at Helm Library Reference Desk (other economic sources are available in Reference, mainly in the Helm Business Reference area or in the HB1-HB130 part of the collection)
• Other economics sources are available in Reference mainly in the HB1- HB3840, HC10- HC1085, HD28- HD9999 part of the collection.

4. Department of Economics Faculty

Economics Faculty: http://www.wku.edu/Dept/Academic/gfcb/economics/html/faculty.html

5. Related Professional Societies (for professional news, careers/jobs, memberships, etc.)

• Agricultural Economics Society (AES) http://www.aes.ac.uk/
• American Economic Association http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AEA/index.htm
• Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (AERE) http://www.aere.org/
• Eastern Economic Association http://www.iona.edu/eea/
• The Econometric Society http://www.econometricsociety.org/
• Economic Science Assocation http://www.economicscience.org/
• Global Competitiveness Programme (World Economic Forum) http://www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/index.htm
• History of Economics Society http://historyofeconomics.org/
• Regional Science Association International http://www.regionalscience.org/
• Southern Agricultural Economics Association (SAEA) http://www.saea.org/
• Southern Economic Association http://www.utc.edu/Outreach/SouthernEconomicAssociation/
  

6. Web Sites Recommended by Economics Faculty

Teaching, Jobs, History, News

• ARGMAX [economics news, forums, data & analysis] http://www.argmax.com/
• BBC News: Economy http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/economy/default.stm
• The Dismal Scientist [news, statistics, surveys] http://www.economy.com/dismal/
• EcEdWeb: Economics Resources for University & College Teaching http://ecedweb.unomaha.edu/teach-ec.htm
• EconJobs.com http://www.hrmjobs.com/econlinks.html
• Foundation for Teaching Economics [for teachers & students] http://www.fte.org/
• The History of Economic Thought Website http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/home.htm
• Job Openings for Economists http://www.aeaweb.org/joe/
• National Council on Economic Education http://www.ncee.net/

General Gateways/Portals

• FedStats [federal statistics] http://www.fedstats.gov/
• FirstGov.gov [federal information] http://www.firstgov.gov/
• Google Uncle Sam [federal information] http://www.google.com/unclesam
• Resources for Economists on the Internet http://rfe.org/
• WebEc: World Wide Web Resources in Economics http://www.helsinki.fi/WebEc/

Miscellaneous Subjects: Subfields, Data, etc.

• B&E DataLinks: Business and Economic Statistics (American Statistical Assoc.) http://www.econ-datalinks.org/
• BUBL LINK Catalogue of Internet Resources: Econometrics http://bubl.ac.uk/link/e/econometrics.htm
• BUBL LINK Catalogue of Internet Resources: Macroeconomics http://bubl.ac.uk/link/m/macroeconomics.htm
• The Conference Board: Consumer Confidence Index, Leading Economic Indicators http://www.conference-board.org/
• Development Report Card for the States (Corporation for Enterprise Development) http://drc.cfed.org/
• EconData.net [includes regional economic activity] http://econdata.net/
• Economagic.com: Economic Time Series Page http://www.economagic.com/
• Econometric Links of the Econometrics Journal http://econometriclinks.com/
• Econometric Resources on the Internet http://www.oswego.edu/~kane/econometrics/
• EPI DataZone [recent statistics & time series data on labor & income] http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/datazone_index
• Historic Census Browser (University of Virginia Libraries) http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus/
• International Trade Web Resources (FITA)http://fita.org/
• John Stuart Mill http://www.utilitarian.net/jsmill/
• The Library of Economics and Liberty [philosophy of economics] http://www.econlib.org/
• RePEc: Research papers in Economics http://repec.org
• Nouriel Roubini's Global Macroeconomic and Financial Policy Site http://www.stern.nyu.edu/globalmacro/
• World Bank Data http://www.worldbank.org/data/

Federal Government Sites: General & Miscellaneous

• American Census Fact Finder http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html
• The Beige Book [current economic conditions of the 12 Federal Reserve Districts] http://www.federalreserve.gov/FOMC/BeigeBook/2003/
• Bureau of Labor Statistics http://stats.bls.gov/
• Census Bureau on Children & Family Economics http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/children.html
• Economic Census (U.S. Census Bureau) http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/econ97.html
• Energy Prices (U.S. Energy Information Administration) http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mer/prices.html
• Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago [time series of financial markets, economic indicators, and banking statistics; daily CD rates; bond yields; GDP; CPI; & much more] http://www.chicagofed.org/
• Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia [Research Department's evaluation of economic issues] http://www.phil.frb.org/
• Federal Reserve Board Statistics: Releases & Historical Data http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/
• Federal Reserve System http://www.federalreserve.gov/
• FRED: Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRB of St. Louis) http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP; U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis) http://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm#gdp
• Labor Force Statistics from Current Population Survey (CPS) http://www.bls.gov/cps/home.htm
• National Bureau of Economic Research http://www.nber.org
• National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) http://www.bls.gov/nls
• Producer Price Index (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) http://www.bls.gov/ppi/home.htm
• Retail Sales (U.S. Census Bureau) http://www.census.gov/svsd/www/advtable.html
• Statistical Abstract of the United States http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/
• U.S. Bureau of Labor http://www.bls.gov/
• U.S. Census Bureau http://www.census.gov/
• U.S. International Transactions Accounts Data (U.S. BEA) http://www.bea.gov/bea/international/bp_web/list.cfm?anon=72
• White House Economics Statistics Briefing Room http://www.whitehouse.gov/fsbr/esbr.html

Federal Government Sites: Specifically Concerning Money & Banking

• Congressional Budget Office http://www.cbo.gov/
• House Committee on Budget http://www.house.gov/budget/
• House Committee on Small Business http://www.house.gov/smbiz/
• House Committee on Ways and Means http://waysandmeans.house.gov/
• Joint Committee on Taxation http://www.house.gov/jct/
• Joint Economic Committee http://jec.senate.gov/
• Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee http://banking.senate.gov/
• Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship http://sbc.senate.gov/
• Senate Budget Committee http://budget.senate.gov/
• Senate Finance Committee http://finance.senate.gov/

University Libraries Liason: Gay Helen Perkins (x6176 / gay.perkins@wku.edu) Last updated 4/12/2008
page maintained by Charles H. Smith