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; Apple; 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 Find Company/Industry Information tab from the ACC498 LibGuide.
Note: All of the article databases operate on the same principles, although each have a slightly different search interface, and some will be better suited to your topic than others.
ABI / Inform Global https://library.tcnj.edu/search-tools/databases-a-z/abiinform-global/
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. doi: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. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-09-2018-0597
[Note that the full text of this article is not available from TCNJ; make an interlibrary loan (ILL) request to receive a copy.]
Business Source Premier
https://library.tcnj.edu/search-tools/databases-a-z/business-source-premier/
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
Education Full Text (Wilson Web)
https://library.tcnj.edu/search-tools/databases-a-z/education-full-text/
From the results list: [Use Interlibrary Loan to request copies of articles not available at TCNJ]
Maples, M. R., & Luzzo, D. A. (2005). Evaluating DISCOVER’s Effectiveness in Enhancing College Students’ Social Cognitive Career Development. Career Development Quarterly, 53(3), 274–285.
Jones, C. F. (2002). Step by step: creating a strategic management system for career services delivery. Journal of Career Planning & Employment, {v62, 21–27.
Nagle, R. A., & Bohovich, J. (2002). A report on NACE’s 2002 graduating student & alumni survey: how college job seekers view their prospects. Journal of Career Planning & Employment, v62, 28–34.
Allen, C., Collins, M., & Mulligan, B. (2000). Key trends in career services and college recruiting. Journal of Career Planning & Employment, 60(4), 24-39.
Bonus! The third article cited above refers to a survey conducted by NACE: the National Association of Colleges & Employers. You can use this as a search term to find articles that describe other reports and surveys from NACE, and see what's available from this organization's website.
Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text (LISTA)
https://library.tcnj.edu/search-tools/databases-a-z/library-information-science-technology-abstracts-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.]
ERIC: https://library.tcnj.edu/search-tools/databases-a-z/eric/
From the results list:
Apprey, M., Preston-Grimes, P., Bassett, K. C., Lewis, D. W., & Rideau, R. M. (2014). From Crisis Management to Academic Achievement: A University Cluster-Mentoring Model for Black Undergraduates. Peabody Journal of Education, 89(3), 318–335.
Edman, J. L., & Brazil, B. (2009). Perceptions of Campus Climate, Academic Efficacy and Academic Success among Community College Students: An Ethnic Comparison. Social Psychology of Education: An International Journal, 12(3), 371–383.
Education Full Text (Wilson Web)
https://library.tcnj.edu/search-tools/databases-a-z/education-full-text/
From the results list:
Baker, C. B., & Robnett, B. (2012). Race, Social Support and College Student Retention: A Case Study. Journal of College Student Development, 53(2), 325-335. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eft&AN=74030232&site=ehost-live
Donjanea, W. (2011). The Impact of Career Workshops on Freshman College Students At-Risk for Dropout: An Action Research Study. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 13(1), 37-62. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eft&AN=64884935&site=ehost-live
Academic Search Premier
https://library.tcnj.edu/research-help/search-tools/databases-a-z/academic-search-premier/
From the results list:
Routon, P. W., & Walker, J. K. (2016). Attitude Changes and Self-Perceived Skill Gains from Collegiate Greek Organization Membership. Social Science Quarterly (Wiley-Blackwell), 97(3), 807–822. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12310
Hamilton, L. T., & Cheng, S. (2018). Going Greek: The Organization of Campus Life and Class-Based Graduation Gaps. Social Forces, 96(3), 977–1008.
Peacock, J. (2022). Relationships between prosocial factors and college student health. Journal of American College Health, 70(2), 347–354. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2020.1750413
Lohani, M., Pfund, G. N., Bono, T. J., & Hill, P. L. (2023). Starting school with purpose: Self‐regulatory strategies of first‐semester university students. Applied Psychology: Health & Well-Being, 15(2), 723–739.