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Business Research: Which Business Database Should I Use?

This guide highlights Business Research Resources that are available via the Fordham University Libraries

Database List

If you need:

Try using:

A Good Place to Start
S&P Global Net Advantage, Gale Business Insights  and Mergent Online provide a variety of company information in an easy to use format. 
Annual Report
For annual report (10K) required by SEC, use Edgar, S&P Global Net Advantage or Mergent Online. For glossy annual report for shareholders, see the company’s website
Background Information
Encyclopedias and Ebooks: Britannica Academic, Encyclopedia of Business Information Sources, Making Sense of Business Reference, Guide to Reference in Business and Economics, The Basic Business Library
Business Plan Information
How To Write A Business Plan: A Step By Step Guide, How to Write A Business Plan
Case Studies
Business Source Complete or ABI/Inform Collection and limit results to "case study" under document type and add search terms
Chief Officers
Company's 10K, Mergent Online, S&P Global Net Advantage, Gale Business Insights
Company Profiles
Mergent Online, S&P Global Net Advantage, Gale Business Insights Business Source Complete
Competitor information
Mergent Online, Gale Business Insights At the company profile page
Country Reports
Mergent Online Under tab "Country Insight", Nexis Uni
Customer Demographics/ Consumer Market Segmentation
Mergent Online, Mergent Intellect, Census.gov Also check  Industry Reports for segmentation information. 
 
Employee Information
Gale Business Insights, You can also check the company's annual report
 
Financials
Mergent Online, Gale Business Insights S&P Global NetAdvantage 
Harvard Business Review
Business Source Complete and search under "Publications"
Harvard Business Cases
Order through InterLibrary Loan
History (company)
Gale Business Insights Business Source Complete (Market Line Reports), Mergent Online
Industry reports
S&P Global NetAdvantage, Mergent Online, Gale Business Insights , Business Source Complete
Investment reports
Investext (Included in Mergent, Tab on Top of Main page) S&P Global NetAdvantage, Gale Business Insights
Lawsuits and legal actions
Lawsuit section of company 10k from website. Nexis Uni
Long Term Plans
10K, company website
Market Share information
Gale Business Insights 
Market reports
Investext (Included in Mergent, Tab on Top of Main Page) Business Source Complete
Marketing information
Advances In Global Marketing: A Research Anthology : also search the library catalog for books on Marketing
News and articles from trade journals
ABI/Inform Collection, Business Source Complete, Wall Street Journal, Nexis Uni
Operations information
Gale Business Insights, Mergent Online, company web site
Parent/subsidiary companies
Gale Business Insights, Mergent Online, Business Source Complete, company web site
Regulatory information
Business.gov, the SEC, OSHA, the FDA and other government websites
Scholarly research
Academic, Scholarly or Peer-reviewed journals; electronic from databases ABI/Inform Collection, Business Source Complete, Academic Search Complete, Gale Business Insights 
SEC filings (10K, 8K, Def14A, etc.)
The SEC’s search site Edgar, S&P Global Net Advantage, Mergent Online, the company’s web site
SEC Violations
SEC Litigation, Nexis Uni 
SIC or NAICS Code
Naics.com, Business Source Complete 
Statistics
Census.gov, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis 
Stock prices
S&P Global Net Advantage, Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg, or company web site
SWOT analyses (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
Business Source Complete (Marketline Report or Advanced Search), Gale Business Insights  (Link is on Company Profile page)
Wall Street Journal fulltext online
The Wall Street Journal via ProQuest

Reference & Instruction Department

Reference & Instruction Department
Fordham University Libraries


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