About The Resource Centre

 

Holdings: What's in the Library?

The Economics Resource Centre has a circulating collection of Books, Computer Manuals, Journals, Theses, Working Papers, and Pamphlets in the various fields of Economics. Working Papers, Books and Theses are included in our online Catalogue. To check Journal or Pamphlet holdings, please refer to one of the printed lists located in the library. If an item is not on the shelf, ask staff for assistance.

  • Books, Serials, Manuals: The Resource Centre has a growing collection of books covering the major areas of Economics. Several excellent writing and style guides may be borrowed from the Reserve collection, and a small collection of general Reference works is available for use in the library. Books are catalogued by Library of Congress classification, and are searchable on our online catalogue.
  • Journals/Periodicals: Journals are arranged alphabetically in the library stacks. Older issues may have been moved to a storage room nearby. To check complete holdings and locations, please refer to the printed list. Journals can be signed out.
  • Economics Theses: The Resource Centre is a repository for the PhD theses produced by the Department’s Graduates. These are included in the online catalogue.
  • Working Papers: Working Papers published by the Department, plus series from Academic and Economic Institutions around the world, are arranged alphabetically by issuer in the library stacks. Working Papers are included in the online catalogue. For more series, check our Worldwide Working Paper Archive.
  • Graduate Course Reserves: The Resource Centre attempts to have available for short term loan a copy of the items cited on Graduate course reading lists which are not readily available online. Course Reserves are restricted to Graduate Courses without an Undergraduate component. See staff for access to Course Reserves.
  • Economics 4400 Papers: Selected Literature Surveys and Final Papers from previous Economics 4400 classes are available for controlled circulation. See staff for access to 4400 papers.
  • Bank Reviews/Vertical Files (Pamphlets): Bank reviews and miscellaneous Economics publications are kept in 3 filing cabinets in the library. See the printed list, or look at the labels on the cabinets, to determine what is in the Vertical File collection.

Using the Resource Centre

The Economics Resource Centre is open to Department of Economics Faculty, Staff, Graduate Students and Economics 4400 Students. Once familiar with the library, borrowers generally use it on a self-serve basis, although access to the Reserve collection requires staff assistance. All library materials except Reference books circulate. There is no fixed loan period or limit on the number of journals, books and working papers which can be borrowed from the stacks. Every item borrowed, however, is subject to recall. Reserve materials are more strictly controlled, and are available for short term loan only.

  • Finding What You Want: Use the Resource Centre’s online Catalogue to find Books, Working Papers and Theses. The catalogue allows Boolean searching by Title, Keyword, Author, JEL classification and more. There are searching tips on the catalogue’s Search Page. For more tips and strategies, check the Catalogue Tips. Catalogue records provide a brief description of the item and its location in the Resource Centre. They don’t indicate, however, whether an item has been signed out. Journals are not included in the Resource Centre’s online catalogue. To check which journals we hold, refer to the printed list in the Resource Centre stacks. To search for journal articles on a specific topic, you may need to use an Economics Index (also called a ‘Database’) such as Econlit or the Social Science Citation Index. Once you have a citation for an article, you can check whether the Resource Centre has the Journal. If an item is not on the shelf, ask the Resource Centre staff for assistance. We can recall it or find another source for it.
  • Reference Help: Resource Centre staff is knowledgeable about how to find information; we can answer your library questions, and help identify appropriate tools for your research, writing and citation requirements. Please feel free to ask for assistance. If we can't help you, we can direct you to someone who can.
  • Borrowing: Borrowing privileges are restricted to Economics Faculty, Staff, Graduate Students and Economics 4400 Students. Borrowers may sign out materials from the open stacks themselves by completing a circulation slip (examples are on display). Please provide sufficient information to identify which item is being signed out. Staff assistance is required for access to the Reserve collection. All Resource Centre material is subject to recall. Please return borrowed items to the Book Return tray so that they can be processed before reshelving.

Catalogue Tips

The Resource Centre’s Catalogue is straightforward and effective. In general, a simple title or author search is sufficient, but more sophisticated searches are also possible. Searching Tips on the Search Page provide the expressions to use for Boolean searching, while more detailed information on Boolean operators, Proximity operators and Truncation can be found if you click ? (Help). The following tips highlight features which can streamline a search and offer pointers on how to avoid some problems which have been encountered by users.

  • For an Author search, start with the author’s last name only, or use the last name plus a truncation of the first name, e.g. use Keynes, J* not Keynes, J. If you omit the *, you will find no results. This is because the catalogue recognizes only exact matches to search terms, or expands terms that use truncation (*).
  • The and-or-not drop-down lists allow Boolean searching among several fields. The search results will meet all the criteria expressed on the form. And and Not will narrow your search. Or will broaden it.
  • Use the operators listed on the Search Page for Boolean searching within a field.
  • = preceding a search term will find that exact term only, not part of the term or the term with additional text, e.g. =econometrics in the title field will retrieve only items with the title Econometrics, while the same search without the = will retrieve every item with the word econometrics in the title.
  • Use / (slash) to capture variations in spelling or spacing which may be in the Catalogue, e.g. labour / labor or US / U.S./ United States. The / represents the or operator.
  • Customize the format of your search results with the drop-down list at the top of the Search Results page. Compare the different display options and select the one which suits your purpose best.
  • Remember the online catalogue includes only Monographs (Books), Working Papers, Theses and Manuals. To find journal articles, you must use an Index (Database). To see which journals the Resource Centre holds, check the printed lists in the stacks.

Staff

Jennifer Hope, Library Assistant
Telephone: 519-661-2111 ext. 85244

Hours

September - April ‡
Monday - Friday: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Closed weekends

‡ On the rare occasion when regular hours change, a notice will be posted on the Resource Centre door, and we will try to notify faculty and students via e-mail or the Website.

Summer
Monday - Friday: 8:30 am - 4:00 pm

Accessibility -- The Economics Resource Centre regrets that parts of their facility are not wheelchair accessible.  Patrons requiring individual accommodation should e-mail jghope@uwo.ca , telephone 519-661-2111 ext. 85244, or speak to staff on duty, who will be happy to assist.