FINDING INFORMATION ON COMPANIES AND INDUSTRIES
LIBRARY RESOURCE PAGE
LIBRARIAN: Dr. Darlene Ann Parrish
The selected sources listed below are useful for finding information about
public and private companies and industries.
ELECTRONIC DATABASES
Electronic databases are available from the FAU Libraries home page at
(http://www.fau.edu/library) by selecting “Research Resources” and
then "Indexes/Databases." When accessing the databases remotely,
select the link for the “EZproxy” server.
ABI/INFORM
Dateline
Contains information on local and regional business news topics, public
and privately held companies, and industries.
ABI/INFORM Complete
Gives references to journal articles on companies, industries and human
resource management issues from several ABI/INFORM databases including
Dateline, Global, Archive and Trade & Industry. It contains some full text
articles.
Business & Company
Resource Center
This is an excellent starting point for conducting a SWOT analysis of a
company. This database includes detailed information about companies,
such as the history and financial data. There is also a list of articles
on legal and management issues.
Business
Dateline
This database is helpful for finding information on private companies that
are difficult to find. When searching this database it is best to use
a “keyword” search, which is a broader approach.
Hoover’s Company Capsules & Profiles
Provides basic facts on 15,000 companies including some private companies.
The names of the “top competitors” and any rankings (i.e.
S&P 500) are also given.
LEXIS-NEXIS Academic
Includes current articles from newspapers, magazines and journals in the “Business
News” section of this database. Most effective way of searching is
by typing in company name or keywords in the “Headline.”
MarketLine Business Information Centre (MBIC)
This database
is helpful for finding information on global issues that would impact
companies. It gives access to current business information about companies
(including those that are foreign owned) and industries in 50 countries.
Mergent Online
This database is especially useful for locating detailed financial information
on public companies. There is also a section of the database that includes
the SEC filings.
Newsbank
Provides access to articles in national, regional and local newspapers.
Plunket Research
The most useful feature of this database is the access to reports dealing
with “Marketing Research and Trends.” These reports include
information on domestic and international markets for various industries.
Another useful feature is the glossary of business terms.
ProQuest Newspapers
In addition to the Wall Street Journal, this resource gives access to articles
in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post.
Standard & Poor’s (S & P)
Netadvantage
Provides reports on companies and the industries in which they operate.
Information includes industry trends, company rankings within an industry,
and industry statistics.
Wall
Street Journal 1984-Present
Provides full text access to articles, which can be searched by company
name or keywords.
WEB SITES
EDGAR Database of Corporate Information (SEC)
This is the official WEB site of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The latest and historical filings can be located by selecting the link “Search
for Company Filings.”
EVALUATING INFORMATION
If you are not using one of the “Electronic Databases” listed
above or other databases via the FAU
Libraries Electronic Collection, you
need to consider some of the following questions when evaluating information
from the Internet:
1. How authoritative is the source of the information?
2. How accurate is the information?
3. How reliable is the information?
4. How current is the information?
5. How relevant is the information to my topic?
CITING REFERENCES
BF76.7.P83 2001 Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
5th ed. Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association, 2001.
APA Style Electronic Formats
