Search tip: for very recent insight into issues in higher education -- including, for example, how colleges and universities are dealing with the interaction of pandemic problems with the topic that your group has chosen -- search for articles in The Chronicle of Higher Education (TCNJ Library database) and Inside Higher Ed (free online).
Search tip: for any public company that may be relevant to your topic (including Sodexo, Planet Fitness, Barnes & Noble; Panera; etc.)
Several other business LibGuides include guidance for finding information about a company, or information about the overall industry in which a company operates. See, for example, the Company / Industry Information tab from the ACC 498 LibGuide.
Note: All of the article databases operate on the same principles, although each has a slightly different search interface, and some will be better suited to your topic than others.
Search example: Campus food service (including Brower Student Center / The Lions Den, T-Dubs, Traditions, Eickhoff / Sodexo, the Library Cafe, Bella Ciao and other Campus Town and off-campus dining options)
ABI / Inform Global https://libguides.tcnj.edu/ABI
From the results list:
Liang, X., & Zhang, S. (2009). Investigation of customer satisfaction in student food service. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, 1(1), 113-124.
Theodore S. Glickman, Jennifer Holm, Devlin Keating, Claudia Pannait, and Susan C. White. "Outsourcing on American campuses: National developments and the food service experience at GWU." The International Journal of Educational Management 21, no. 5 (July 30, 2007): 440-452.
Search tip
Colleges & universities is a subject term in ABI / Inform. By selecting these words as a subject of an article, rather than as a phrase that appears anywhere in the article text, your results are likely to be more on point. You can combine this term with the concept or service that defines your project (e.g. "food service", which in this case is also a subject term in the database). Use the Advanced Search form and the Recent searches function to combine these terms with others related to your project:
Examples:
colleges & universities (subject) AND food service (subject) AND . . .
. . . market* (finds market or marketing) OR
. . . satisfaction OR
. . . survey OR
. . . study OR
. . . students OR
. . . undergraduates OR
. . . off-campus dining OR
. . . polls & surveys OR
. . . entertainment
From the results list:
Porter, J., Conner, D., Kolodinsky, J., & Trubek, A. (2017). Get real: An analysis of student preference for real food. Agriculture and Human Values, 34(4), 921-932. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10460-017-9785-9
Holligan, S., Yi, S., Kanetkar, V., Haines, J., Dergham, J., Royall, D., & Brauer, P. (2019). Preferences for vegetables among university foodservice users. British Food Journal, 121(12), 3338-3349. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-09-2018-0597
Search example: Library [includes library study rooms; student use of library resources]
Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text (LISTA)
https://libguides.tcnj.edu/LISTA/
From the results list:
Jameson, J., Natal, G., & Napp, J. (2019). Evolving and Enduring Patterns Surrounding Student Usage and Perceptions of Academic Library Reference Services. College & Research Libraries, 80(3), 366–385.
Dresselhaus, A., & Shrode, F. (2012). Mobile Technologies & Academics: Do Students Use Mobile Technologies in Their Academic Lives and are Librarians Ready to Meet this Challenge? Information Technology & Libraries, 31(2), 82–101.
O’Connor, L., & Lundstrom, K. (2011). The Impact of Social Marketing Strategies on the Information Seeking Behaviors of College Students. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 50(4), 351–365.
Datig, I. (2014). What is a Library?: International College Students’ Perceptions of Libraries. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 40(3/4), 350–356.
Scarletto, E. A., Burhanna, K. J., & Richardson, E. (2013). Wide Awake at 4 AM: A Study of Late Night User Behavior, Perceptions and Performance at an Academic Library. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 39(5), 371–377.
Bonus! The results from the TCNJ Library 2011 LibQual Survey have been published. The 102-page document is here. [This survey is now a bit dated, but the range of questions (and responses) could provide some useful context for your project.]
Search example: Recreation and Wellness [includes Rec Center; Physical Enhancement Center; Campus Town Fitness Center]
Sports Medicine & Education Index
https://libguides.tcnj.edu/SportsMedicineEducation
From the results list:
Miller, K. H., Noland, M., Rayens, M. K., & Staten, R. (2008). Characteristics of users and nonusers of a campus recreation center. Recreational Sports Journal, 32(2)
Behrens, T., & Dinger, M. (2003). A preliminary investigation of college students' physical activity patterns. American Journal of Health Studies, 18(2-3), 169-172.
Shaffer, D. R., & Wittes, E. (2006). Women's precollege sports participation, enjoyment of sports, and self-esteem. Sex Roles, 55(3-4), 225-232. doi:10.1007/s11199-006-9074-3
[Note that if any of the articles listed above are not available in full text in Sports Medicine & Education Index; you can follow the Search for Full Text link to see if they can be found in another online database or in print at the Library. If not, then request a copy of the article via Interlibrary Loan.]
Search tip
The college department or service you're looking at may not be an official subject term in the database, so you may have to try different terms to find what you're looking for. To get the best results from article databases and online searching, think broadly about the wording of your topic. For example, the Physical Enhancement Center is also a "fitness center", a "recreation center" and it deals with "physical fitness" or "recreation
Search example: American Marketing Association [More generally: student professional organizations]
ERIC https://libguides.tcnj.edu/ERIC
From the results list:
Russell, M. B., Holland, J., Smith, C., & Drakeford, J. (2022). Affiliates That Work: Engaging Student Members. Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences, 114(4), 52–53. https://doi.org/10.14307/JFCS114.4.52Boles, J., Rutherford, B., & Loe, T. (2019). Do Students and Faculty Understand Recruiter Criteria for Front-Line Sales Positions? Marketing Education Review, 29(4), 236–241.
Peterson, T. O., & Peterson, C. M. (2015). Educating Student Managerial Leaders: What Critical Behaviors Should Be Developed? Journal of Educational Issues, 1(1), 135–150.
Yakushko, O., Wang, S. C., & Warrior, A. M. (2012). The Future of Our Organizations: Students and Early Career Professionals. Counseling Psychologist, 40(5), 723–729. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000011432755
Betta, M. (2016). Self and Others in Team-Based Learning: Acquiring Teamwork Skills for Business. Journal of Education for Business, 91(2), 69–74.
Search example: Campus bookstore
Business Source Premier
https://libguides.tcnj.edu/BusinessSourcePremier
Search tip
For some projects, searching for results that specifically focus on college campuses may be unnecessarily limiting. The important issues in book retailing, for example, are not limited to book sales on college campuses. If you expand your search to cover topics in bookselling (e.g. consumer behavior, ebooks, online book sales, etc.) irrespective of location, you may expand the number of results that are useful for your analysis.
From the results list:
Rosen, J. (2018). Rethinking College Stores. Publishers Weekly, 265(9), 4–6.
Lin, H. (2007). Predicting consumer intentions to shop online: An empirical test of competing theories. Electronic Commerce Research & Applications, 6(4), 433-442. doi:10.1016/j.elerap.2007.02.002
For the above citation, the full text is not available in Business Source Premier; follow the Search for Full Text link to find the full article in another online database.
From the results list of a similar search in ABI / Inform:
Marjerison, R. K., Yiwen, G., & Jin, H. (2021). The dilemma of brick and mortar bookstores: An exploration of trends, consumer motives and perceptions, and possible paths to sustainability. Review of Integrative Business and Economics Research, 10(3), 39-67.
Hall, W., & Gupta, A. (2010). Barnes & noble, inc.: Maintaining A competitive edge in an ever-changing industry. Journal of Business Case Studies, 6(4), 9-22.
Wu, S. (2006). A comparison of the behavior of different customer clusters towards internet bookstores. Information & Management, 43(8), 986. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/237012511?accountid=1021
Search example: Intramurals / Club Sports (including Ultimate Frisbee, rugby, crew, ice hockey, etc.)
Sports Medicine & Education Index
https://libguides.tcnj.edu/SportsMedicineEducation
From the results list:
Fehmi, Ç., Mahmut, G., Kürsad, S., Ihsan, S., & Erdi, K. (2014). Analysis and examination of the relationship between leisure motivation and academic motivation of students of schools of physical education and sports. Journal of Physical Education and Sport, 14(1), 127-133. https://login.tcnj.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/analysis-examination-relationship-between-leisure/docview/1524242830/se-2
Simmons, S., & Childers, K. (2013). Effects of Intercollegiate Athletics and Intramural Participation on Self-Esteem and Physical Self-Description: A Pilot Study. Recreational Sports Journal, 37(2), 160-168. https://login.tcnj.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/effects-intercollegiate-athletics-intramural/docview/1673397627/se-2
Search tip
The above-cited article by Simmons includes the use of a survey instrument: Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (PSDQ). This could be used as a search term to find other articles that also report on the use of this specific instrument.
Rothwell, E., & Theodore, P. (2006). Intramurals and College Student Development: The Role of Intramurals on Values Clarification. Recreational Sports Journal, 30(1) https://login.tcnj.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/intramurals-college-student-development-role-on/docview/19369173/se-2
Vasold, K. L., Deere, S. J., & Pivarnik, J. M. (2019). Club and Intramural Sports Participation and College Student Academic Success. Recreational Sports Journal, 43(1), 55-66. https://doi.org/10.1177/1558866119840085