Finding Books:  QUEST, our computerized catalog, provides access to the materials in our library.  Use the Library of Congress Subject Headings (large red books near QUEST) to identify the best subject headings for your topic.  Subject headings that may be relevant to your topic include:

  Business Enterprises    Organizational Effectiveness
  Competition     Corporations
  By the name of the company (ex: IBM)
  By the name of the corporation (ex:  Computer Industry)

FINDING ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS/JOURNALS

Periodical indexes provide the most efficient subject access to journals, magazines, and newspapers.  Indexes relevant to your topic include:

ABI/INFORM/GLOBAL(Access via PLU network)(For off campus use: Account:  bppvb2wxsf; Password:  welcome) : A business and management database covering U.S. and international professional publications, academic journals, and trade magazines. Also includes information on 60,000+ companies. Covers 1971 to present with full text 1991 to present..

Business Periodicals Index, 1958+(Index Area, ref Z7164.C81B983 & via PLU network)
A business index similar to ABI/Inform.  It provides citations of articles without abstracts.  Annual volumes cumulate the print volumes.

Disclosure Corporate Snapshots (via PLU network): Corporate and financial information on corporations whose shares are traded in the U.S.

EBSCOhost Academic Search FullTEXT Elite (via PLU network)(For off-campus use: User:  pacluth; Password:  pacsre):  Comprehensive index to over 3,100 scholarly journals and general periodicals in all subject and interdisciplinary areas. Coverage prior to 1990 is sparse. Some full text for 1,000 publications.  Includes some regional business data.

National Trade Data Bank (via PLU network):  The National Trade Data Bank (NTDB) provides access to Country Commercial Guides, Market Research reports, Best Market reports, U.S. import and export statistics, and other various reports and programs. The full text of all documents are searchable by keyword, country, and product.

Wall Street Journal Index, 1965+(Index Area, ref HG1.W26)
The Wall Street Journal newspaper is a good source for timely information on companies.  (Use the “Corporate Index”).  For information on other topics, such as industry information, use the “Topical Index”.
 

LOCATING PERIODICALS/JOURNALS

Use QUEST to obtain the call number of the journal you need.  Current issues of journals are shelved on the first floor.  Older issues (bound volumes and microfilm) are on the second and third floors, shelved with the books.
 

OTHER HELPFUL SOURCES:

Business Information Sources (ref HF5351.D36x 1993)
Encyclopedia of Business Information Sources (ref HF5351.R53x)
Handbook of Business Information:  A Guide for Librarians, Students, and Researchers
(ref HF5351.S77x 1988)
Contain details about databases, government documents, and other sources of business information.  Good source for titles PLU’s library may not own.

Directory of Corporate Affiliations (ref HG4057.A217)
Covers major parent companies and lists all their subsidiaries for public and private U.S. companies and a separate volume for international companies.  Has indexes by company name, brand name, geographic area, SIC Code, and personnel.

Hoover’s Handbook of American Business (ref HG4057.A28617)
Profiles 500 major U.S. companies and provides lists of top 10 or top 200 companies according to various characteristics.

Industry And Company Information : Illustrated Search Strategy And Sources (HF54.5.H387 1991)

International Directory of Company Histories (ref HD2721.I5x )
A multivolume set which describes the founding and development of major companies within various industries.

Manufacturing USA (ref HD9723.M3x)
Presents statistical data on 448 manufacturing industries.  Coverage includes over 2,000 products, 400 occupational groupings, and nearly 17,000 companies.

Standard & Poor’s Corporation Records (ref HG4501.S76)  Covers corporate histories, earnings, stocks, and bonds issue, and other data for 11,000 companies.  Older issues are available on microfiche.  Ask at the Reference Desk.

Standard & Poor’s Industry Surveys (ref HC106.6.S74)
Standard and Poor’s focus is on the current outlook of an industry from an investor’s point of view.  50% of the coverage is in the retail and service industries.  S & P’s includes data on some 1,200 companies and is updated quarterly.

Standard & Poor’s Register of Corporations (ref HG4057.S785)
Alphabetical list of over 55,000 private and public corporations.  Each listing includes addresses, names of directors and officers, SIC code, sales, number of employees, parent companies, and more.  Includes indexes for region and SIC codes.

Standard Industrial Classification Manual (ref HF1042.S73 1987)
Commonly called the “SIC”.  The federal government assigns a SIC code to every industry in the U.S.  Most of the business reference tools on industries are arranged by SIC Codes.

U.S. Industrial Outlook (ref HC101.U54)
Provides information for over 350 industries.  Includes brief descriptions of the industry, its current situation, the outlook for the coming year and long term prospects for the next five years.  80% of the coverage is in the manufacturing and mining industries.

Value Line Investment Survey (located at the reference desk)
An investment service that includes detailed information on 17,000 companies.  An excellent source for industry and company analyses.

Walker’s Manual of Western Corporations (ref HG5128.C2W2)
Covers more companies west of the Mississippi than national sources.  Gives 2 pages of background and financial information for each company.

INTERNET

@Brint: http://www.brint.com/Business.htm#Company
Companies Online: http://www.companiesonline.com/
Company Lookup: http://www.companylink.com/companylookup.cfm
Wall Street Research Net: http://www.wsrn.com/home/companyResearch.html
Yahoo--Business & Economy:  Companies:  http://www.yahoo.com/business_and_economy/companies

Or, search for the name of your company on AltaVista or one of the other Search Engines (ex.  “IBM home page” or +ibm +"annual report")
 

BEYOND PLU

PLU belongs to a consortium of small private colleges and universities.  This consortium includes: St. Martin’s College, Northwest College, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle University, and University of Puget Sound.  You may check materials out from these libraries using your PLU ID.

You may also order articles and books from PLU’s Interlibrary Loan.  (Most libraries won’t loan reference books).  Staff at the Reference Desk will assist you with your ILL orders.
 
 

If you have questions while doing library research, ask for help at the reference desk or make an appointment with me for personal research assistance.
 
 

gle-9/98
 

http://www.plu.edu/~egbersgl/busa590.html