The RES-ECON 362 Course Guide lists books, databases, and internet sites that support consumer protection research. This guide is designed to help you become a self-sufficient library researcher. For more help, contact Mike Davis, Business Librarian at 545-6822, or Barbara Morgan, Law Librarian at 545-6850.

• Book Collection - Books to Borrow
• Reference Books - Consumer Issues
• Reference Books - Consumer Legislation
• Library Research Databases
• Internet Sites - Consumer Protection

Book Collection ...

Books to borrow about consumer protection are located on several floors in the W.E.B. Du Bois Library. Use the Library Catalog to locate books by subject. Here are five direct links to relevant subject headings in the Catalog:

• Consumer Protection Laws and Legislation
• Consumer Protection United States
• Product Safety
• Product Liability
• Consumption Economics
  

The Library also provides books and government publication in electronic format. Electronic books are listed in the Library Catalog. Here are E-book examples:

• Consumer Product Protection Act of 2002 : Report to accompany H.R. 2621, including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office (Congressional Report).

• Ethics for a small planet: new horizons on population, consumption, and ecology, by Daniel Maguire and Larry Rasmussen. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
  

• Product safety evaluation handbook, edited by Shayne Cox Gad. New York: Marcel Dekker.
  

• Safety & you, by Nancy Harvey Steorts. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
  

Reference Books ...

The reference titles listed below provide information on consumer protection, American laws, and legislative histories. Reference books are located on the Main Floor of the W.E.B. Du Bois Library. Visit the Reference Desk for help.

• CQ Researcher. Call # H35.E352 - at Reference Desk. Chapter length reports on public policy topics. This is the best place to find different perspectives and the history of a consumer issues. Ask for the CQ Researcher cumulative index at the Reference Desk to locate the section about your consumer issue.

• Consumer Protection and the Law. Call # Ref. KF1607.5.K76. Explains in common sense terms the concepts that underlie the law pertaining to consumers.

• Consumer Protection Law in a Nutshell. Call # Ref. KF1610.M33. Brief profiles of current consumer protection laws at the State and Federal level.

• Encyclopedia of the Consumer Movement. Call # Ref. HC79.C63E53. A topical approach to the history of consumer protection legislation - its institutions, leaders, activities, and impacts.

• U.S. Consumer Interest Groups. Call # HC 110.C63B95. Profiles of major consumer interest groups that have had an impact on consumer protection policy.

• West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Call # Ref. KF165.W47. Multi-volume history of American Law. Check Volume 3 under heading "consumer protection". All major laws and court decisions are cited.
  
  Reference Books about Consumer Legislation
  
  

• CIS Index: Legislative Histories of U.S. Public Laws. Located on 6th floor, Government Documents Reference Collection, Call # Ref. KF49.C62. Use the CIS Index to locate laws, bills, and legislative histories. All Congressional documents are available in the Government Documents Department.

• Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report. Call # Ref. JK1.C741. Weekly journal of legislative news about the U.S. Congress. Provides in-depth analysis of key issues soon to be debated by Congress, plus a comprehensive wrap-up of all Congressional activity.

• Congressional Quarterly Almanac (Call # JK1.C74). Annual review of Congress. One volume per year. Library holdings from 1948 to present. Use the subject index in the back to locate consumer protection laws.

• Massachusetts General Laws Annotated (Call # Ref. KFM 2430.1958 W4). All current MA State Laws. Subject index at end of collection.
  

Library Research Databases...

The Library database collection is licensed for on-campus access by all and remote access by OIT Account holders.
Good starting places are ABI/Inform Global and Expanded Academic ASAP. To search additional journal databases, review the Guide to Articles, Journals, Periodicals.

Matter of Fact Database
The Matter of Fact Database provides statistical facts excerpted from magazines and government reports on all aspects of public policy. You can quickly locate consumer protection data and facts using this database.

ABI/Inform Global
ABI/Inform Global covers consumer protection from a business and management perspective. ABI provides full-text articles from 1,600 leading business and management journals. Article Example. Coverage from 1971 to present, plus the Wall Street Journal, 1889 to present. Title List.

Academic Search Premier
Academic Search Premier covers consumer protection from a "multidisciplinary" perspective. The Library's largest full-text journal database indexes 7,900 journals and delivers 4,500 journal titles in full-text. Article Example. Title List.

Environmental Issues & Policy Index
Environmental Issues & Policy Index provides citation/abstract information for articles from 1,000 scientific, technical and popular journals, spanning the whole range of environmental topics. Coverage from 1973 to present.

Expanded Academic ASAP
Expanded Academic ASAP covers consumer protection from a "multidisciplinary" perspective. It provides full-text articles from 2,800 journals and magazines. Coverage for 1980 to present. Article Example. Title List.

Food Science and Technology Abstracts
Food Science & Technology Abstracts (FSTA) provides citation/abstract information on food science, food technology and food-related human nutrition. FSTA covers journal articles (approximately 80%) plus patents, theses, standards, legislation, books, reviews and conference proceedings. Coverage from 1969 to present.

LexisNexis Academic
LexisNexis provides in-depth profiles of legal issues from law review journals. Follow these steps to search law reviews: Go to LexisNexis and click "Legal Research" - in the left column. Then, from the top category called Secondary Literature, click Law Reviews. Expand the date range (at bottom of screen), then search with keywords.

PAIS International
PAIS covers consumer protection from a public and social policy perspective. PAIS provides citations to journal articles, books and book chapters, government documents, statistical directories, research reports, and conference proceedings. Coverage from 1970 to present. Title List.

Internet Sites - Consumer Protection..

• Federal Trade Commission - Consumer Information. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) works to ensure that the nation’s markets are vigorous, efficient and free of restrictions that harm consumers.
  
  
• FirstGov for Consumer. U.S. Government "gateway" site links to a broad range of federal information resources. Provides consumer information on food, health, product safety, personal finance, and transportation. Each category has subcategories to direct you to areas within individual federal web sites.
  
  

• General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts). Massachusetts State legislature website contains a searchable index to current bills and laws from 1997 to present.

• Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs. Massachusetts state "watchdog" agency charged with educating, informing and protecting Massachusetts consumers.
  

• Thomas - U.S. Congressional website provides an index to all Congressional bills and Public Laws from 1973 to present.