Guide to Library Resources

Strategic Management—BA 499

Information about Companies

Standard & Poors Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives. Ready Ref. HG 4057 .A4 2005 (3 vols.) Also available online through Standard & Poor’s NetAdvantage.

Ward’s Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies. Ref. HG 4009 .W37 2004 (8 vols.)

Hoover’s Handbook of American Business. Ref. HG 4057 .A28617 2002
Hoover’s Handbook of World Business. Ref. HF 3010 .H65 2001

The Hoover‘s books contain information sheets on companies, providing an overview, history, chart of key financial information for the past 10 years, list of major products, rankings, and competitors. Also available online at Hoover’s.

MarketLine Business Information Center – accessible from Library Indexes & Databases  

A Reuter’s database which includes detailed information on over 10,000 companies both U.S. and international, over 2000 industries and over 50 country profiles.  This database is particularly helpful for finding global business information.

Mergent Online – accessible from Library Indexes & Databases

Mergent Online (formerly FIS Online/Moody’s) database contains extensive financial and historical information on over 10,000 U.S. public companies, 11,000+ non-U.S. public companies, and 17,610 municipal entities, as well as corporate and municipal bond, and dividend information. Users can build custom reports on companies, compare companies based on financial performance, and export data into spreadsheets.

Standard & Poor’s NetAdvantage – accessible from Library Indexes & Databases

S&P’s NetAdvantage is another gateway to in-depth company information, geared particularly toward investors. It incorporates a number of classic S&P publications, including their Register of Corporations (discussed above) and their Corporation Profiles, which gives detailed financial information. S&P Industry Surveys, which contain current analyses for 21 industries and approximately 1000 companies, are an important component of this database. The weekly publication, The Outlook, is also available and contains financial information about selected companies. Much other stock, bond and mutual fund information is also included in NetAdvantage.

Business and Company Resource Center. 1980 - present

Business and Company Resource Center is a fully integrated resource bringing together company profiles, brand information, rankings, investment reports, company histories, chronologies and periodicals. Search this database to find detailed company and industry news and information.

Annual Reports

The 10-K financial reports that public companies are required to file with the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) are full of potentially useful information. To access these reports, search the SEC Edgar Database at http://www.sec.gov/edgarhp.htm. The annual reports companies issue to shareholders can also be excellent sources of information. Many companies make their annual reports available on their web sites, usually under a link called something like “investors.” If you are looking for a company’s web site and the URL is not obvious, try doing a web search.

Information about Industries

Encyclopedia of American Industries
.
Ref. HC 102.E53 2001 (2 vols.)

Provides comprehensive information on every industry recognized by the SIC system. Covers both  manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries and includes historical information as well as significant business trends and statistics

Mergent’s Industry Review. Ref. HG4961 .M69

 

Contains key financial information, operating data and ratios for around 3500 companies. The information is arranged by industry in 137 industry groups. Statistics are updated twice a year for each industry.

U.S. Industry & Trade Outlook. Ref. HC106.5 .A17 2000 (previous years in GovDoc C61.48: )

 

Gives brief industry reviews and forecasts for the year in question, for numerous industries. Includes tables and charts. Updated information is available at the U.S. International Trade Administration’s Trade Development website: http://www.ita.doc.gov/td  

Many of the databases listed below also provide analysis by industry, including EbscoHost Business Source Premier and Infotrac General BusinessFile ASAP. 

Indexes to Articles and Other Information

All of the databases listed below are accessible from the Library’s Indexes & Databases page. Many of these databases also provide analysis by industry, including LexisNexis Academic and Infotrac General BusinessFile ASAP.

ABI Inform. 1971 – present

 

This premier business database covers over 1,000 journals in the areas accounting, business conditions, management, trends, and industry-specific topics.  Information on over 60,000 companies as well as executive profiles, reports on market conditions, and in-depth case studies of global business trends can be found.  Over 500 journals provide full-text articles, while the others have abstracts only.

Business Full Text 1995- (continues Business Periodicals Index, 1962-2000)  (Index shelves)

Provides indexing and abstracting for around 500 international English-language business magazines, with information on companies, industries, and subjects. 

Business and Company Resource Center. 1980 - present

Business and Company Resource Center is a fully integrated resource bringing together company profiles, brand information, rankings, investment reports, company histories, chronologies and periodicals. Search this database to find detailed company and industry news and information.

EbscoHost Business Source Premier. 1984 - present

This database provides full text coverage for over 960 journals in the areas of business, management, economics, finance, banking, and accounting.

Infotrac General BusinessFile ASAP. 1994 - present

Covers business and management topics, some articles available in full text. “Includes directory listings for over 150,000 companies as well as Investext investment analysts’ reports on major companies and industries.” To see available search options, choose Advanced Search.

Lexis Nexis Academic, Business section. 1974 - present

Retrieves full-text company news and financial information, business articles from newspapers, magazines, journals, wire services, and transcripts (as far back as the 1970s in some cases). Lexis Nexis Academic (News section) also indexes the Wall Street Journal back to 1973, with abstracts for articles provided since 1989.  Options to search for information by industry and access to SEC reports and filings are also provided.

ProQuest Direct Research Library Complete. 1992 - present

In-depth business coverage; full text articles from the Wall Street Journal and some other publications. Searchable by company name and product name, as well as by keyword, personal name, etc.

Business Newspapers, Journals and Magazines

 

The Library subscribes to many business journals and magazines, and many more are available full-text through the indexes and databases listed above. To see if an article is available full-text in a database, or if it’s available in print or microfilm format in the Library, please consult Periodicals @ BSC on the Library home page.

1/2008