To solve challenges, you need answers. But finding those answers may be as difficult as the questions being asked. That is where the search comes in – and not all search is created equal. How you search, and with what tools, can make the difference between solving your problem and creating a new one.
Welcome! The purpose of this guide is to help Macroeconomics 102 students find reliable sources of economic data as well as credible published sources for your assignment.
1. Identify Search Terms
The first and very important step in searching for information for your topic is identifying keywords/search terms. Library databases require you to enter keywords into the search box because entering an entire essay topic/question will not be as effective and may likely return poor or even no results at all. The search terms you use are critical in determining the relevance of the results that you will retrieve.
Examples of the search terms you may use are:
"informal economy" OR "informal sector"
"employment opportunities"
"government policy" OR "government strateg*"
2. Creating a Search Statement
To retrieve the most relevant search results, you need to construct a search statement.
A search statement is a combination of keywords that you enter into the search box of a database.
You can use Boolean operators between the search terms. Boolean operators are the words used to connect search terms and to define the relationships between the search terms. These include AND, OR and NOT. To make your search more effective, the following techniques can be used:
e.g. “informal trade”
e.g. "government polic*" will retrieve government policy and government policies
& organi*ation will retrieve organisation and organization
Search statement examples:
("informal economy" OR "informal sector") AND "South Africa" AND (employment OR livelihood)
"informal trade" AND (effect* OR consequence*) AND poverty
"informal sector" AND challenge*
("government policy" OR "government strategy") AND ("informal sector" OR "informal trade") AND "South Africa"
3. Using Search Statements
These Search Statements can be used to find appropriate textbook sources and articles for theory and background information on Search All as well as data on the South African Economy on the suggested websites and Commentary in the Financial Press.
Use the prescribed textbook and lecture notes for the "theory". If you like, you can supplement this with references to other textbooks as well (Please see the presentation "Finding Textbooks using Search All & ProQuest Ebook Central").
"COVID-19 and the informal economy" is an Open Access publication that can be found using Search All.
Tips: Avoid blogs, Wikipedia and other online sources that don't make it clear which (credible) organisation they represent.
Referencing: When referencing data sources, please follow the Economics Referencing Guide.
HOW TO LIST: Books and Edited Books
BASIC FORMAT FOR BOOKS
AUTHOR/Editor’s Surname(s), Initials, Year. Title (edition). City of publication: Publisher.
E.g.: SACHS, JD, 2005. The End of Poverty. London: Penguin Books.
One author
SACHS, JD, 2005. The End of Poverty. London: Penguin Books.
Two authors
FRANK, RH and BERNANKE, BH, 2001. Principles of Macroeconomics. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
More than two authors
PARKIN, M, KOHLER, M, LAKAY, L, RHODES, B, SAAYMAN, A, SCHOER, V, SCHOLTZ, F and THOMPSON, K, 2010. Economics: Global and Southern African Perspectives. Cape Town: Pearson.
Corporate author/Government agency as author
DEAT, 2008. The State of the Environment. Pretoria: Department of Environment and Tourism (DEAT).
WORLD BANK, 2011. African Development Indicators 2011. Washington, D.C: The World Bank.
[Note that ‘WORLD BANK’ is the way in which the source will be referenced both in the text and listed in the ‘List of References’. In the List of References the publisher must be indicated, as in this example, ‘The World Bank’ must again be part of the listing.]
BOOK CHAPTERS from MULTI - AUTHORED BOOKS
AUTHOR(s) of chapter/article, Year. Chapter no. and title of chapter/title of article. In: Authors/Editors. Title of book. City of publication: Publisher.
Title: in italics [only if handwritten, underlined]
LEISTRITZ, FL, 1995. Economic and Fiscal impact assessment. In: Vanclay, F and Bronstein, DA (eds). Environmental and Social Assessment. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
E-BOOKS AVAILABLE THROUGH THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
For e-books accessed through a password protected database from the University Library the required elements for a reference are:
Author, Initials, Year. Title of book. [e-book] Place of publication: Publisher. Followed by Available through: Rhodes University Library website <https://www.ru.ac.za/library/> [Accessed date].
FISHMAN, R, 2005. The rise and fall of suburbia. [e-book] Chester: Castle Press. Available through: Rhodes University Library website <https://www.ru.ac.za/library/> [Accessed 12 May 2010].
CARLSEN, J and CHARTERS, S (eds). 2007. Global wine tourism. [e-book] Wallingford: CABI Pub. Available through: Rhodes University Library website <https://www.ru.ac.za/library/> [Accessed 9 June 2008].
WOOD, P and CHESTERTON, W (eds). 2018. Global warming and the oceans. 4e. [e-book] Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available through: Rhodes University Library website <https://www.ru.ac.za/library/> [Accessed 9 June 2008].
The following are useful sources of data & information on the South African Economy:
South African Country Profile on the World Bank Website
The National Treasury of South Africa
South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Quarterly Bulletins
Hint: Use the search box (usually located in the top left hand corner of the screen) to refine your search eg."informal trade", "informal sector" etc.
Tips: Avoid blogs, Wikipedia and other online sources that don't make it clear which (credible) organisation they represent. Remember data needs to come directly from the World Bank or SARB, not from secondary sources such as newspapers or online data banks like Investopedia
When deciding if a webpage is reliable, you should ask yourself the following questions.
| Question | Reasoning |
| Who? | Only cite authors who have some credentials that qualify them to talk about the subject. |
| What? | Identify the type of research you need--most online forums, blogs, or presentations are not peer reviewed. |
| When? | Use research from websites that are regularly maintained to insure that the information isn't outdated. |
| Where? | Material should be available on academic websites--pay attention to the quality of the website. Avoid .coms and .nets. |
| Why? | Know why you need the information, and also why the information was published. Avoid biased websites. |
| How? |
Webpages should cite their information so you know how the information was gathered. |
AUTHOR (if given) or INSTITUTION. Year of posting or update. Title of the site. Name of organisation. [Type of medium]. Available: electronic address or URL. [Date accessed].
e.g. NATIONAL TREASURY, 2010. 2010 Budget Review - Treasury. [Online]. Available: http://www.treasury.gov.za/documents/national%20budget/2010/review [Accessed 16 January 2011].
e.g. WORLD BANK, 2011. Global Economic Prospects 2011. [Online]. Available: http://www.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0 Washington, D.C: World Bank, [Accessed 16 January 2011].
Refer to the Financial Press for commentary on "informal trade" in South Africa:
NB: Online Access to Financial News Sources is possible via PressReader but to search across multiple news platforms, use Access Global NewsBank (Please see presentation)
Tip: Make sure that the articles that you use are recent (2022, 2023, 2024) and properly referenced.
Referencing: When referencing newspapers, please follow the Economics Referencing Guide.
HOW TO LIST: Journals, Newspapers, and Magazines
AUTHOR or PERIODICAL, Year. Title of article. Title of Journal. Volume (and number): page numbers. DOI if given.
e.g. FINANCIAL MAIL, 2007. The price of gold. Financial Mail 2 February: 34
e.g. NAIDOO, P, MUNSHI, R and MABANGA, T, 2008. Municipalities: corrupt and moribund.
Financial Mail. 26 September: 52 and 54.
e.g. SACHS, JD, 2009. The case for bigger government. Time 173 (3): 18 - 20.
e.g. ECONOMIST, 2011. Pollution in Teheran: the smoggiest capital. Economist. 1 - 7 January: 28.
[Note: In a list of references ‘The Economist’, ‘The Herald’, etc., must be listed as ‘Economist’ or ‘Herald’]
General format, distinguished by adding ‘a’ ‘b’ etc to the year, e.g. 2011a, 2011b, etc.
e.g. SUNDAY TIMES BUSINESS, 2011a. Sactwu stays firm on wages. Sunday Times Business. 16 January: 10.
e.g. SUNDAY TIMES BUSINESS, 2011b. SA’s motor sector is putting foot. Sunday Times Business. 16 January: 5