Category Archives: School of Management

Want to access exam papers? We’ve got your back…

So you’re looking for some past exam papers? Well, the College institutional repository is the place to find them, but if you forget that URL, you can always find a link to the Exam Papers on the Library homepage:

Before you try searching for the exam paper of your desire, do make sure you log out as a guest at the top right hand side and log in with your Royal Holloway username and password…

To find exam papers, you can either search for the course code, e.g. IY5501 or you can browse by Department.

And the good news? All exam papers can be downloaded as PDFs!

If you have any questions, please let us know! Happy revising and good luck in all of your exams!

via GIPHY

How can I find my Reading List stuff?!

So, term has started and you know you’ve got some reading to do and you need to start finding those books and articles. Well, the Library is here to help! We have a fabulous reading list systems which stores all the reading lists we receive from the department. It then links directly to the Library Catalogue to show you how many copies we have and where to find them!

This post will show you how to:

  • Find reading lists for your course
  • Use reading lists to find library resources
  • Download your reading lists

Reading List Guide

Check out our PowerPoint here to find out all you need to know about accessing and using reading lists.

Have a go yourself!

 

Check out one of your own reading lists for your course here: readinglists.rhul.ac.uk 

TIP: Try using the Course code e.g. GL1460 or the course title Igneous and Metamorphic Geology

Need help?

If you get stuck, we’re always happy to help. You can either email your Information Consultant, the Reading List Team or the Library.

How to access Exam Papers

Very good luck in your exams! Here are some tips for reading past papers:

1. Are you on campus? If yes, carry onto 2.
If no, please use CampusAnywhere (If you don’t do this, you might not be able to see the papers.)

2. If you’re using Moodle: click on the Past Exam Papers link on the right to go through to past papers for that course code only.

past papers

3. To search the Past Papers database directly, go to the Library homepage, and click Exam Papers.

past papers homepage

4. Check you are logged in by looking in the top right hand corner – if it says log out your are logged in. If not then please log in.exam papers login

You can browse by Course Code, Department, and Year – and all exam papers can be downloaded as PDFs.

accesspaper

If you have any questions, please let us know!

Marketline

Marketline profiles major companies, industries and geographies, MarketLine is one of the most prolific publishers of business information today. They were primarily a Market Research company but they have  expanded their offering to include the following:

The Financial Deals Tracker provides information on mergers & acquisitions, private equity, venture finance, & private placement transactions; IPOs; and partnerships – across the various industries and countries covered by MarketLine.

The Company Prospector is a list builder tool that enables you to generate prospect lists for specific industries and geographies, and perform competitor and vendor analytics on them.

The Company Report Generator too enables you to generate customised company reports including analytical texts and charts on demand.

The Industry & Advisory Prospector is an analytical tool that draws from the Financial Deals Tracker and allows you to custom generate lists of advisory & investment firms operating in specific industries.

They are an excellent resource for Company Information.

This short video introduces some of the things Marketline does:

To access Marketline go to the E-Resources A-Z list and go to M.

Searching by keyword

  • To search for information using a keyword, type your selected word(s) into the empty search bar and click on Go.
  • You will be taken to a results page containing all content matching your keyword search.
  • Arrange your results using the Sorted by button at the top of your results list.
  • Click on the arrow to sort by relevance, publication date, or title (which lists the results alphabetically).
  • Alternatively (or in addition), you can refine your search results with an additional keyword search or by using the list in the right-hand column of the page.
  • You can narrow by industry, geography, subject, topic, company information, or publication date.
  • To further refine your search results to one information type (news; financial deals; opinion; reports & briefs; databooks; companies; countries; or industries), click on the relevant tab running across the top of the page.
  • The tabs are color-coded and change color when you hover your mouse over them.
  • To retrace your current search trail, click on the small drop-down arrow at the top left of the page, next to the text that reads ‘Your search has returned’.
  • This will reveal the various search parameters that you have selected for that particular search (this is known as a breadcrumb trail).
  • You also have the option to view your results as a list or as a group using the two-sided button at the top right of the page. ‘List’ will sort your results according to the parameters you have chosen using the ‘Sorted by’ button, while ‘group’ will arrange your results by information type.

Downloading

  • Depending on the information type, MarketLine Advantage allows you to download content in one of three formats: PDF, Excel, or PowerPoint
  • Once you have clicked through to your chosen information item, your download option(s) are reflected at the top left of your screen.
  • Click on the button and select to download or save the file to a location on your computer.

Euromonitor Passport

Passport is a global market research database providing statistics, analysis, reports, surveys and breaking news on industries, countries and consumers worldwide.  Passport connects market research to  analysing market context, competitor insight and future trends impacting businesses globally. Passport covers more than 200 countries and regions. It is useful for company information too.

Passport covers the following areas:

1) Industry data – multi-country relational database of market and category sizes, market shares, distribution patterns, sales forecasts and other measurements relevant to each sector.

2) Country reports – in-depth analysis reports on both developed and emerging national markets. Each report provides qualitative commentary on sales trends, new product and marketing developments, consumer preferences, national company and brand competition and market strategies, and the views and assumptions underlying national sales forecasts.

3) Global reports assessing the key issues affecting international market performance, with a focus on important developments by product sector and big picture competition strategy.

4) Company profiles – analytical profiles of the top international players in the industry, compiled in a standardised format for cross analysis. 5) Comment – articles and presentations on key themes and discussion topics around the dynamics of the category.

This video (aimed at their corporate clients) describes what Passport does.

How to use Passport

Logon 

(You can access Passport from the library subject guides,  the Eresources A-Z or by searching for Euromonitor Passport on Library Search)

Search by Keyword

You can search by Keyword from the main page by entering your keyword in the search box in the top right hand corner.

Keyword search

The symbols next to each result indicate the type of content found e.g. statistic or
category briefing report.

results passport

Tree Searching

If you click on search in the top left hand corner something called tree searching appears.

tree results

tree searching

Using the search tree involves :

  • Choosing a category e.g. alcoholic drinks. By clicking on the + you can be more
  • specific within that sector e.g. beer and/or cider.
  • You then choose world region or countries.
  • You can then run your search or decide to only display the data/statistics.

If you run your results you can then choose to filter the results by category, geography,
statistics or analysis and date.

 

Industry Searching

Under Industries, select the sector you’re looking for. This where you’ll see various options:

Industry search
You can then start to think about the different types of data you might be interested in for the
alcoholic drinks market. E.g:

  • Which countries are largest by size?
  • Which ones might grow in the future? (so you can get predictions based on the research)
  • Which are the top companies in this sector?

Dashboards

The Dashboards visualise Passport data and help users see the information in a different way. You can explore trends in a visual format using the interactive world map. This data can also be downloaded using the options above the map.

dashboard

Searching for companies or brands

Clicking on Search to reveal different options. If you click on Companies or Brands you can be more specific with searching.

tree results

Printing and Saving.

Depending on the report type displaying you’ll see different options. You can either open the file in excel, export as a PDF or save to My Pages or print.
By creating a separate account with Passport you can set up alerts via emails or RSS feeds
and return to saved saved or downloads.

 

Further help

Once logged into
the platform please see the help section which has some good FAQs and videos. Further
information is also available on their social media accounts:

  •  Global Market Research Blog: http://blog.euromonitor.com
  •  @euromonitor
  •  https://www.facebook.com/euromonitorinternational
  •  http://www.youtube.com/user/euromonitor

 

 

Using Key Note for Job Searching

Key Note is very useful for searching for companies to apply for.

To find Key Note go to the Databases A-Z page on the subject guides and go to K.

To see a list of the databases that contain company information visit the company information page in the subject guides under Management – Finding E-resources

This is how to find a list of companies in a particular area or industry.((You can also search for market reports – see this blog post)

1. Select Company Information from the main front pageKeynote

 

2. From the company information section select list builder

Keynote company information

3. Four options will appear (if you are unsure what the sub-headings mean hover over them to get a definition or see what is covered):

  • Fundamentals (Information including company type or currency the company reports in)
  • Financials ( including profit and loss, cash flow)
  • Geographic (where the company trades or their ultimate parent is based)
  • Advisors (the auditors or bankers the company uses)

4. click on one of the four options shown (Fundamentals, Financials, Geographic or Advisers).
5. Click “Search” on an option from left panel.
6. The “Enter Criteria” box will open to the right, Select/Enter your values.
7. Click “Count” to check the number of matches for your selection.
8. Click “Apply” to add the criteria
9. * Repeat for all the search options of your choice until complete
10. Click “Output” for all the fields you wish to output as columns in the data (this is done automatically where you have searched and applied the count)
11. Click “Export” to receive your spreadsheet or Click “Benchmark” to compare the performance of your selected companies.

To find  Telecommunication companies in the South East and London with a turnover of between £100,000 and £100,000,000 and a very strong credit score do the following search:

Fundamentals – Principal Activity search for Telecommunications

Financials – Turnover search for Min 1000 Max 1000000 (the search is for thousands)

Financials – Credit score Select very strong credit score

Geographic – Trading office address click on the map for your regions (you can click postcode areas or select the whole region buy clicking Add entire region) to select more than one region click back in the top left hand side of the map.

Select Benchmark to compare your list of companies with each other.

benchmark keynote

You can then sort your list by criteria under the following headings:

  • Size
  • Profitability
  • Liquidity
  • Gearing
  • Efficiency
  • Employee (including pay per employee)
  • Growth

 

 

 

 

Using Key Note to find Market Research reports

To Access Key Note

  1. Go to the library website: http://www.rhul.ac.uk/library 
  2. Select the Subject Guides
  3. Select the Databases A-Z tab 
  4. Select K
  5. Scroll down to find Key Note and click on the link
  6. Off campus: Enter your College username and password and click Login

Keynote

 

Select Market Research from the left hand menu.

The following options appear:

Key note market research

  •  Overview: Explains more about Key Note
  • A-Z Reports: Provides an A-Z list of all market reports
  • Market Sectors: Lists categories of reports so that you can browse by sector. For example, look under the category ‘Clothing and Personal Goods’ to find a report on ‘Sportswear’.

Key note search
Quick Search: You can also search by
keyword in the search box at the top right of
the screen. Your search will find any report
that mentions your keyword.

Key Note Report Search

 

Select Advanced Search beneath the search box for a number of options to narrow your search, such as by sector or date published. You can also search within a specific report by typing the name of the report in the ‘Report title’ box and entering your search words in the
‘Full text search’ box.

 

 

Results will be displayed as a list of report titles. You can sort results alphabetically by clicking Report Title, by date by clicking Date or by type by clicking Report Type. I

f you are browsing the A-Z list, the most recent report for each title will be shown.

Click the Key not button button to view older reports with the same title.

To view a report, click on the report title.

If you are searching by keyword, click the Key not button button to view the specific chapter where your keyword(s) appear.

Keywords will be highlighted in yellow.

Click on the main report title to go to the first page of the report, or click the chapter heading to go directly to the chapter section.

To view the report in full, go to the icons at the top right of the report:
Key note icons
To return to the results list when viewing a chapter or report click:

Key note search results

 

To save or print a report, click on the PDF icon in the top-right to open as a PDF. Save the whole PDF or print specific chapters.

Key Note

Have you seen our great new resource? It’s called Key Note and it provides market reports and company information. Even if you don’t think this resource is relevant to your studies please read on because the information contained within it could help you in that all important job search.

KeynoteResearch that works for you…

  • Analyse industry leaders
  • Substantiate business plans, marketing ideas and concepts
  • Examine current issues, market trends/developments, market size, competitive structure and marketing activity
  • Focus on a specific target market using exclusive buying behaviour and consumer research
  • Support business plans/strategies utilising Key Note’s market forecasts
  • Discover a market’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT Analysis)
  • Assess how trends in politics, the economy, society and technology are having an impact on a specific market (PEST analysis)

Keynote have a helpful guide to how to use the resource which we recommend people look at.

How to use Key Note to get a job

  • Research companies in the industry or region you want to work in
  • Incorporate a fact or figure from researching a company or organisation when responding to, or asking a question at, a job interview.

Meet the Library Liaison Team: Helen Westwood

We wanted to find a way to introduce the Academic Liaison team to all students, both new & returning so we have created a series of videos for you to watch!

The first interview is with Helen Westwood, she is the Head of Academic Liaison whilst also supporting Information Literacy, European Studies, Geography,Politics and International Relations departments.

Watch Helen’s video  

We hope you enjoy it!

Find out more about your subjects through our subject guides.

 

5 top tips for Kaplan students

manwithbooks_218552cWelcome to Royal Holloway!  To succeed on your course you will need to be able to search and find information quickly and effectively.  To get you off to a good start here are 5 top tips:

1.  Finding ebooks

We have a growing number of ebooks which you can access at any time.

To access ebooks you first need to search LibrarySearch.  Search by author or keyword in the search box and then narrow your search by selecting RHUL Library Catalogue Only and Limit to Items with Online Full Text Available on the left hand side of the screen.  Have a look at the short video below for a demonstration.

2. Searching for scholarly journals

Business Source Complete is a good place to start as it contains thousands of scholarly articles covering all aspects of business and management theory. You can search by keyword, subject, or for a specific article if you already have the details. Both databases also allow you to set-up alerts on topics that interest you.

You may prefer to use Google Scholar to find articles for your assignemts.  You can configure Google Scholar to show an access link where full text access through a Royal Holloway subscription is available.  To do this follow the steps below:

  • Go to http://scholar.google.co.uk/
  • Sign in to your Google account if you have one. This will allow you to set the preferences so that you can access articles through the Royal Holloway access link on any computer
  • Click on the ‘Settings’ link in the top right corner
  • Under Library Links search for Royal Holloway and check the box next to ‘Royal Holloway, University of London – Find it @RHUL’
  • Finally click the ‘Save’ button
  • When using these links you will be prompted for your Royal Holloway logon

3. Finding newspaper articles in Nexis

Nexis is a great resource for finding full text newspaper articles and it includes hundreds of UK and international newspapers.  You can browse Nexis to see which newspapers are covered or you can search for specific newspapers or groups of newspapers.

Browsing Nexis

To see a list of all UK newspapers covered by Nexis:

  • Select the Sources tab (at the top left of the screen)
  • From the tabs beneath this select Browse Sources
  • Change Filter by country to the country you are interested in (e.g. United Kingdom).
  • Select the News folder under publication type
  • Select the Newspapers folder.
  • A list of titles will now appear, and you can search these individually or in groups.

Searching Nexis

To search for articles, first check that you have the Search and News tabs selected from the options in the top left of the screen.

Enter your keywords into the search box and select a time period. Using In the Headline or Major Mentions options from the drop-down menu ensures that your hits will be more relevant. This is useful for when your search is likely to retrieve a great number of articles.

nexis 5

The list of results displayed gives only brief details. To view the full article, click on the highlighted title of the article.

As well as newspaper articles you can use Nexis to gather information about a company, industry, country and people.

4. Developing effective research skills

Knowing how to effectively search online resources will enhance your academic work.  Take a look at one of our library skills courses IS223 How To Research Your Assignment for a step by step guide.  This course will help you to identify the key concepts from a given assignment, select the best keywords and show you how to put them together to form an effective search strategy.

For a bit of fun take a look at this video!

 

5.. Avoiding plagiarism

You will hear the word ‘plagiarism’ referred to alot so what is it and how can I avoid it? Plagiarism involves the process of using or copying someone else’s work and pretending that you thought of it or created it.  Plagiarism is viewed as a form of cheating and is a serious academic misconduct.

The most common forms of plagiarism are:

  • cut / copy and pasted material from the Web
  • copying the work of another student (past or present) including essay material, laboratory data or computer source code
  • copying course material or lecture notes
  • copying material out of a textbook or journal

You can help avoid accidental plagiarism through the proper attribution of source material (i.e. correct referencing). Always make sure you take time to reference accurately and don’t be afraid to ask for help!

There are a number of college resources available to help you understand plagiarism and how to avoid it. The Academic Support Team provide useful and interactive guides on how to understand and avoid plagiarism. See the section ‘Study Resources’ on their web pages.  The Library also has a self study course IS226 Introduction to Referencing, Citing and Biliographies course which will get you started.

Correct referencing to avoid plagiarism

Through the use of correct referencing you can avoid ‘accidental plagiarism’.  Referencing, also referred to a ‘citing’, is the process of adding ‘references’ (or ‘citations’) an a ‘bibliography’ within your course work. A reference is a clearly identified ‘note’ that states that you are referring to someone else’s work and what the work is that you are referring to.

Referencing must be carried out in a specific ‘style’ as required by the School.  The School of Management uses a style of referencing called Harvard.  The Harvard Referencing Summary Sheet from Judge Business School is a useful guide which will help you with both your in text citations and bibliography.