Business Research Basics | U.S. Company Information | Industry Information |
News and Articles | Additional Research Resources
Business Research Basics
Public v. private companies.
Definition of a subsidiary.
Search Strategy Chart 
U.S. Company Information
Basic Facts and Financial Information
Factiva
University of Iowa access only
http://purl.lib.uiowa.edu/factiva
— Try Factiva for business news from nearly 8,000 sources from 118 countries in 22 languages. Same-day full-text articles and indexing of The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times and local newspapers from around the globe. Includes newswires from more than 120 industry, press release and local newswires. Also contains short profiles along with financial statements for U.S. companies.
Mergent Online
University of Iowa access only
http://proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/login?url=http://www.mergentonline.com/compsearch.asp
— Mergent Online offers 15 years of data on U.S. public companies and includes company archives, equity and corporate bond portraits and more. This service corresponds to a print source, the Mergent/Moody's Manuals — older copies of which may be found in Reference.
SEC Filings & Forms (EDGAR)
Free online resource
http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml
— Electronic versions of forms filed by foreign and domestic corporations with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission from 1996 through the present. Find information on how to read financial statements.
Analysis
Business Source Premier: Datamonitor
University of Iowa access only
http://purl.lib.uiowa.edu/ebsco/bizpremier
— Business Source Premier offers access to Datamonitor (select "Company Profiles" link in the center section of the page). Contains profiles and analysis on global companies. Provides key facts, history, products/services, competitors and location of subsidiaries.
Investext Plus (Thomson Research)
University of Iowa access only
http://proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/login?url=http://research.thomsonib.com/gaportal/?ExpressCode=univeriowa
— Investment, company, and industry reports from over 500 brokers in North America, Europe, Asia/Pacific, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. All company and industry reports are provided in full-page .pdf format.
NetAdvantage (Standard & Poor's)
Pappajohn Business Building access only
http://purl.lib.uiowa.edu/sandp/netadvant
— This site offers access to the S&P Stock Reports. These two-page reports are updated quarterly on over 4,600 companies. Reports include all NYSE and ASE issues, as well as over 1,600 NASDAQ issues. Data available encompass ten years of per-share data on earnings, cash flow, tangible book value, dividends, payout rates, high and low prices, and P/E ratios.
Value Line Investment Survey
Book: Information Desk, HG 4501 .V26
— In-depth coverage of 1,700 companies grouped into ninety industries. Updated weekly. Back issues kept in paper and microfiche. See also Value Line Mutual Fund Survey for analysis of mutual funds.
Industry Information
Overviews and Analysis
Economic Census
Free online resource
http://www.census.gov/econ/census02/
— The Economic Census provides a detailed portrait of the nation's economy once every five years, from the national to the local level. Includes key industrial statistics such as the number of establishments, number of employees, payroll and measure of output. A list of Economic Census Industry Series can be found at: http://www.census.gov/econ/census02/guide/INDSUMM.HTM.
Industry Studies
Book: Reference, HC 106.8 .I53 2002
— Contains detailed studies by leading scholars on the following 14 industries: automobiles, beer, broilers, pharmaceuticals, steel, airline service, retail commercial banking, casino gambling, electric power, health insurance, motion pictures, nursing homes, microcomputer platforms and telecommunications.
Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys
Book: Reference, HC 106.6 S7
— This three-volume set covers 52 major industries. Each survey includes a discussion of the current environment, an overall profile of the industry as well as a glossary of terms and a list of references to additional resources. Many charts and tables are included. Also available online through:
NetAdvantage (Standard & Poor's) http://purl.lib.uiowa.edu/sandp/netadvant
Value Line Investment Survey
Book: Information Desk, HG 4501 .V26
— Includes industry overviews for 90 different industry groups.
Market Research
MarketResearch.Com Academic
University of Iowa access only
http://proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/login?url=http://academic.marketresearch.com
— Visitors to this site find access to extensive, detailed market-research reports ranging from 200 to 400 pages in length. The reports contain charts, tables, graphs, and key facts about the topic areas. Coverage includes business-related subjects such as consumer products, demographics, food, beverages, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, etc.
Mintel Reports
University of Iowa access only
http://proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/login?url=http://academic.mintel.com
— Mintel presents over 600 published market research reports on European, U.K.-specific, and U.S. consumer markets.
Industry and Trade Associations
Associations Ulimited
University of Iowa access only
http://purl.lib.uiowa.edu/gale/au
— Contains descriptions of approximately 120,000 international and U.S. national, regional, state, and local membership organizations in all fields.
Associations on the Net
Free online resource
http://www.ipl.org/div/aon
— This is a guide to the websites of prominent organizations and associations assembled by the Internet Public Library (University of Michigan).
ASAE (American Society of Association Executives) — Gateway to Associations
Free online resource
http://www.asaecenter.org/Directories/AssociationSearch.cfm
— Searchable database with links to the current website of each association listed.
News and Articles
ABI/INFORM Global (ProQuest)
University of Iowa access only
http://purl.lib.uiowa.edu/proquest/abi
— Search 1000 premier worldwide business periodicals for information on advertising, marketing, economics, human resources, finance, taxation, computers, and more. Also, information is available on 60,000+ companies.
Business Source Premier
University of Iowa access only
http://purl.lib.uiowa.edu/ebsco/bizpremier
— Includes full text articles from over 3,000 journals in the fields of business, management, economics, finance, banking, accounting - including all issues of the Harvard Business Review. This database is on the list of EbscoHost databases.
Factiva
University of Iowa access only
http://purl.lib.uiowa.edu/factiva
— Try Factiva for business news from nearly 8,000 sources from 118 countries in 22 languages. Same-day full-text articles and indexing of The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, Financial Times, Handelsblatt, Les Echos, South China Morning Post, Australian Financial Review, Sydney Morning Herald, Straits Times, Yomiuri Shimbun, and local newspapers from around the globe. Newswires include Dow Jones, Reuters, The Associated Press, Asia Pulse and more than 120 other industry, press release and local newswires. More than 800 sources are available on or before the date of publication.
Lexis Nexis: Academic Search
University of Iowa access only
http://purl.lib.uiowa.edu/lexis/universe
— A full-text database covering over 5,000 publications.
Note — Other magazines/journals have special issues devoted to industry coverage. See Directory of Business Periodical Special Issues (Book: Reference, Z7164 .C81D56 1995) or Guide to Special Issues and Indexes of Periodicals (Book: Reference, Z6951 .S755 1994).
Additional Research Resources
Evaluate Resources on the World Wide Web
http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/ref/documents/howevalweb.pdf
How to Recognize a Business/Marketing Web Page
http://www3.widener.edu/Academics/Libraries/Wolfgram_Memorial_Library/
Evaluate_Web_Pages/Checklist_for_a_Business_Marketing_Web_Page/5718/
Citing Sources (Duke University Libraries) — Citation Examples (APA, MLA, Turabian, etc.)
http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/cite/works_cited.htm
Last update: December, 2006.
Send mail concerning this publication to: bus-lib@uiowa.edu.
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