Getting Started
As a starting point for conducting library and Internet research on topics related to companies and industries, please see the Company & Industry Research Guide or the Company Research tip sheet.
To find company profiles and financial information
To find this type of information you will want to access the library's company & industry data databases by taking the following steps:
1. From the library's homepage, click on the Find Articles & More link in the blue banner near the top of the page.
2. Then select Databases by Type.
3. From the jump to list select Company & Industry Data to be taken to databases that contain information about companies and industries.
While all of these databases contain useful information about company and industry data, some standout resources include Mergent, Business Insight Global, and Nexis Uni.
To find newspaper reports or scholarly journal articles that discuss a particular company
When including a company as part of a search (such as ethical issues in Best Buy or Sears) you can use that company name as a search term, along with a term that you think would be used in articles that discuss that aspect or topic, like ethical issues, or monopoly, or HR Recruiting. Remember that many companies may be a subsidiaries of a larger corporation. For example, KFC and Taco Bell are part of Yum! Brands. You may want to search for the larger corporation as well or instead.
Subject searching can be an effective way to make sure that an article is about that company and does not just mention the company in passing. Looking at the subject of an article can also help you find the standardized business name or parent corporation.
To find the standardized business name or subject heading,
1. Run a quick search to get results.
2. Look at the Subjects listed under each article to determine the standardized business name. These names are very specific, so to use these just copy and paste the name you see in the Subjects field into the search box.
If you want to search for articles that have this term listed as one of the subjects, meaning the article will focus on that company, copy and paste that term into an advanced search box, and change the drop-down box on the right from All fields to Subject Terms SU.
If you still have questions you can chat in real-time with a librarian here.