Services to Alumni -- Business Information Links
Factiva is an excellent source of business intelligence, but it may not always provide you with all the information you need. The Goizueta Business Librarians have created the following list of additional recommended business resources. The goal is to direct you to some of the best collections of links to business content on the Internet, with a balance of free and for-pay web sites. There is a great deal of free business information on the web, but access to critical information that is also reliable and timely often requires paying a fee.
Google Tips
General Business Research Recommendations
SEC Filings
Associations
Rankings and Lists
Market Research
Investment Banking
Google Tips
Google's power is that it quickly searches millions of websites -- but scrolling through the thousands of results can be timeconsuming. Here are some tips to retrieve more targeted results with Google.
Site:org
Are you looking for information from an organization, and want to eliminate the commercial website results? Add site:org (for organizations) or site:gov (for government sties) to the end of your search. Google will only retrieve information from URLs with that ending. For example, real estate site:gov retrieves information from the BLS, HUD and other government departments.Synonyms (~)
If you are searching for a word that has several common synonyms, use the tilde sign before the term to include synonyms. For example, ~equity - retrieves pages with matches to: stocks, investments, and capital. You can also combine this with other search terms.Define:
Want a quick definition to a word or acronym? Google will search glossaries, dictionaries and thesauruses. For example, define:msa will give you several definitions as to how the census defines a metropolitan statistical area, as well as other things MSA could stand for.For more timesaving tips using Google, check out the Library’s Google Tutorial.
You may also want to review Google’s advanced search page, which offers many ways to target your search.
General Business Research Recommendations
Why turn to them?
- Experienced information professionals have already identified many of the best sources for business research.
- Why reinvent the wheel?
- Created by Goizueta's Business Librarians, these recommend sources, tips, and research strategies for industry, course, career, and subject-specific topics
- Industry and Topical Research Guides
- Job Search Research Guides
- WR specializes in business and competitive intelligence research. On this site, they share many of their strategies and techniques for conducting the most effective research
- Look at Research Tips, Research & Analysis Techniques, Research Industry Sites, Competitor Research & Analysis, and Market & Industry Assessments
- Click on Free Resources to view WR's collection of recommended business research sources
New York Public Library Science, Industry & Business Library (SIBL)
- The documents in the Research Guides section ask and answer the questions relevant to formulating good research strategies (for example, is the company U.S. or foreign-based; is it public or private), then provide links to the most relevant sources
- If you have access to the NYPL or an NYPL library card allowing remote access, they have a vareity of business plan information avaialble.
Harvard Business School Working Knowledge Featured Web Site Recommendations
- For a range of business topics (Entrepreneurship, Finance, Globalization, Innovation, Leadership, Marketing, Operations, Organizations, Social Enterprise, Strategy, Technology, and more), you will find excellent sites, each with a substantial description of what you will find and why you would use it
- Under Topics in the left frame, click on a link, then click on Web Sites
- Follow these links: Reference Center >Subject Collections >Business & Economics
- One of the best collections of links to current business news and research
- The issue of this monthly electronic newsletter includes an annotated list of recommended resources and web sites on industries and countries
- Created by information professionals and other seasoned searchers
- Although U.K. based, it contains a balanced list of global resources
- NOTE: The newsletters date back to 1998; some of the links may no longer be current
SEC Filings
Why turn to them?
- Filings required of U.S. public parent companies by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC)
- Identify the financial statements from a company
- Free SEC filing web site
- Access to U.S. company SEC filings (20Fs not included)
- Hyperlinked Table of Contents for easy navigation
- Financial statements tagged for downloading into Excel
- Downloads filings in Word .rtf
To learn more about SEC Filings, review the Finance Industry -- SEC Filings & Annual Reports Guide.
Associations
Why turn to them?
- Great sources of industry facts, statistics, and trends
- Select data often posted on Association's home page; look for links to "Industry Facts"
- Look for links to publications and recommended web sites
- Don't stop at the web site; call and speak with someone to identify additional sources of information
- Easy search interface provides associations for a variety of industries and topics
Special Issues, Rankings, and other lists
Why turn to them?
- Many trade and business journals publish "special issues," such as industry forecasts, rankings of top companies, lists of the best places to work, and more
- Examples: ABA Banking Journal, Top Performers annual ranking; Chemical & Engineering News, Global Top 50, worldwide chemical producers
- Directly links you to special issues available on the web, saving you the time of identifying particular lists and locating them
- In case you're wondering, Gary Price is a librarian
Market Research Reports
Why turn to them?
- In-depth analysis across broad industries, market niches, companies, products, and services
- Check out web sites (Gartner, Forrester, etc.); some post free reports and data
- Tip: When you see a report you want - grab it; it might not be there tomorrow
KnowThis.com, Marketing Virtual Library
- Market Research section
- Sources of Market Research Reports http://www.knowthis.com/research/online/onlinedata.htm
Investment Banking Reports
Why turn to them?
- In-depth, timely analysis of U.S. and international public companies and their industries
- Excellent sources of intelligence about corporate strategies, operations, performance, challenges and risks, and future outlooks
- Unfortunately, most of these are not available for free; following are some options for accessing reports:
- If you currently have a relationship with an investment broker, speak with them about making arrangements to access that firm's reports
- Factiva - search for articles which might glean some information from these reports; locate Fair Disclosure Wire stories on a particular company
- Look into subscribing to one of these products: Investext, Multex, Wall Street Transcript
