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BUSINESS: GENERAL RESOURCES     

This guide is concerned with a variety of  resources dealing with a broad range of business information sources including the following: “gateways,” directories, research methodology guides, and statistical sources.  Several types of websites were utilized: federal agencies, libraries, professional associations/organizations, and commercial sites.

Although this guide was designed with free Internet accessibility in mind, some sites are commercially sponsored; they offer access to a level of free information, but require fees for higher access.

These sites were selected carefully among thousands of noteworthy sites from government sources, academia and professional associations/organizations.  Because many of these sites are comprehensive in nature, there is an inevitable amount of overlap and duplication.

Basic Business Research Methods

• Maintained by Carter McNamara, Authenticity Consulting, LLC
• Pathfinder for conducting business research utilizing a variety of resource types and procedures: appreciative inquiries, case study design, focus groups, interview design, listening, questionnaires, surveys, “analyzing, interpreting and reporting results”
• “Various Research Methods” provides an “Overview of Basic Methods of Collecting Information” (analyzes each method’s “overall purpose,” advantages, disadvantages)
• Also links to resources concerning ethical considerations in conducting research
• “Related Library Links” provides access to additional information on creativity, decision making, evaluation, innovation, planning, problem solving
• Excellent; this site is not comprehensive, but commentary is well-written and should be useful for anyone who is beginning business research

Best of the Best Business Web Sites

• Sponsored by the Education Committee of the Business Reference and Services Section (BRASS) of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) of the American Library Association (ALA)
• Guides to links to sites for the following business topics: accounting/taxation, advertising/marketing, corporations, banking, business ethics, economics, e-commerce, financial markets/investments, general management, HRM/Labor relations, insurance, international business, MIS/knowledge management, real estate, small business
• Guides consist of annotated links to “significant sites that are themselves content rich in nature”
• Each guide has been created/maintained by librarians from academia or public libraries
• All guides have been revised or updated in 2006
• Excellent; not extensive, but does an admirable job of highlighting the best links for topics in the business fields under consideration

BizLinks

• “Designed and developed by the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County” (North Carolina)
• “The mission of the BizLink Web site is to support the local, national and international business communities and others conducting business research”
• Links to a directory of links for the following topics: business forms, careers, company research, “economic conditions,” international business, taxes, investment/personal finance, entrepreneurship/small business, marketing/demographics, patents/trademark
• Most (but not all) topics are divided into sub-topics; excellent annotations accompany each link
• “Complete List of Additional Reference Resources” includes over 130 databases and electronic books; these are restricted to Charlotte/Mecklenburg County residents, but many should be available in academic libraries or large public libraries
• Outstanding; this page is one of the best general business webguides currently online; it is updated frequently and its selection of links is excellent; highly recommended

BizStats.com

• “Our objective is to provide instant access to business statistical information that is useful and meaningful”
• “Compiles raw statistical data from numerous sources, performs computations, edits the information for the most meaningful statistics, and publishers the data in a unique format useful and easily accessible for business analysis purposes”
• Consists of statistical tables for a wide range of business activity in the United States, including national statistics (size of markets by industry, largest employers by industry), profitability, operating, balance sheet and financial ratios for 16 retail/service sectors of the U.S. economy, retail industry benchmarks, additional data
• “Statistical information edited by Patrick M. O’Rourke, CPA”
• “Disclosures” includes information on the methodology utilized to compile the various types of tables
• “Sources of Information” include trade associations and the following federal government agencies: Department of Commerce, Department of Labor, Census Bureau, Internal Revenue Service, Securities & Exchange Commission, Small Business Administration
• Outstanding; this is an excellent resource for locating hard-to-find statistical information on the U.S. economy in one place

Business & Company Resource Center

• Available from the “Databases” link on the Johnson & Wales University Library homepage
• Provides in-depth profiles for thousands of companies, both domestic and international
• Profiles of public companies include the following: standard directory information (contact information, annual sales, number of employees, year founded), full-text articles about the company, history/chronology, investment reports, financials, pending suits/claims (if any), product lines
• Profiles for private companies contain most of the information listed above, but financial and investment information are not usually included
• Searching by SIC/NAICS codes provides rankings of companies within an industry by sales and allows a competitive comparison between companies
• “Industry Overviews” provides industry data (“snapshot,” organization/structure, “industry leaders,” background/development, “current conditions,” work force, additional information)
• Also links to industry/professional associations/organizations
• Outstanding; this comprehensive resource is extremely valuable for company and industry information; brings often hard-to-find information together in one place

Business Information on the Internet

• Maintained by Karen Blakeman for RBA Information Resources
• Directory of links to hundreds of sites for the following categories: company registers, country-specific information, direct marketing, directories, financials/annual reports, industry sectors (automotive, beverages, energy, food, pharmaceuticals, telecoms), market/industry research, business news, statistics, stock market/share prices)
• Includes the following for many categories: professional/trade associations/organizations, directories, educational/research institutes
• All site categories updated between August 2005 and October 2006
• Coverage is international
• Annotations accompany each site; many of these are extensive
• Identifies sites which are fee-based
• Contains significant commercial content
• Free monthly electronic newsletter (“Tales from the Terminal Room”),  which includes reviews, updates on new/revised websites
• Outstanding; this is one of the most extensive gateways to a wide variety of sites useful to business researchers; easy-to-navigate; annotations are especially useful

Business Intelligence Resources

• “Developed and maintained by Marcus P. Zillman  … Internet expert, author, keynote speaker and consultant”
• “A Subject Tracer™ Information Blog developed and created by the Virtual Private Library™”
• Directory of over 240 links to a wide variety of business research resources for the following: meta-sites, “gateways,” company/industry information, SEC filings, annual reports, rankings, statistical resources, blogs, journals, international business/trade, small business, demographics, competitive intelligence, additional resources
• Organized alphabetically by site name; no categorization or annotations
• Excellent; this is quite extensive and contains a well-rounded assortment of sites for almost every conceivable aspect of business research; be prepared to spend time browsing, however, due to the lack of categorization and descriptive material

Business Reference on the Net

• Based on a presentation for the River Bend Library System on April 10, 2002 by Marylaine Block, “Writer, Speaker, ‘Librarian Without Walls’”
• Directory of websites for the following business topics: directories, statistical data, company information, personal finance, consumer information, small business, marketing, international business, career resources, business law, “miscellaneous”
• Links to over one hundred sites; brief annotations accompany each site
• Excellent; not comprehensive, but Block, who writes/consults extensively on library references topics, has created a very useful page which includes some of the best sites for each topic which she considers; a great place for beginning research

Business Resources: The Best of the Internet

• Sponsored by the New Hampshire State Library (NHSL)
• Links to over 120 sites for the following business categories: “general” resources, directories, company/industry information, SEC/EDGAR, finance/investment, stock quotes/exchanges, business/financial news, international business, marketing, small business, calculators, statistics
• Brief annotations accompany each link
• Links to NHSL’s home page and 21 additional “Internet Resources” guides
• Excellent; although not comprehensive, this easy-to-navigate page has very useful selection of links for the topics which it covers; a great place to begin research

Business Source Premier

• Available from the “Databases” link on the Johnson & Wales University Library homepage
• Full-text for over 8,800 business journals, including full text for more than 1,100 peer-reviewed scholarly journals
• Indexes additional business journals (no full-text)
• Excellent abstracts for each citation and full text article
• Searchable by keyword; browsable by “Subject Terms”
• Ability to limit search results to full-text articles, peer-reviewed journals, specific publications, chronological parameters
• Scope is international, with a primary emphasis on the U.S.
• Includes “Datamonitor” profiles for select companies
• Updated daily
• This outstanding, comprehensive database is indispensable for anyone researching business topics

Business.gov – Official Business Link to the U.S. Government

• Sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration
• “The official resource to help business quickly find compliance information, forms and contacts from multiple government Web sites”
• “A  definitive, one-stop source to compliance assistance resources from all Federal Regulatory agencies”
• “Includes a ‘Business Resource Library’ that provides links to business information and services from across Federal, state and local governments”
• “Business Areas” links to numerous guides for 13 topical areas which affect many businesses (government contracting, information security, licenses/permits, workplace health/safety, et al
• “Industries” links to guides for 17 industry sectors
• “State Compliance Resources” for each state provide assistance with documents/forms for state taxes, state business “portals,” licenses; also links to regional business centers and local government
• Last updated January 2007
• Outstanding; the best resource for locating and obtaining official documents/forms/guides from U.S. government at all levels; it is easy-to-navigate and does an admirable job of providing direct access in one place to resources which heretofore required extensive (and sometimes frustrating) searching

CEO Express

• Sponsored by CEO Express Company
• “Designed to be the executive’s interface to the Internet,” this site provides “one-stop shopping” for a variety of business news (domestic and international), financial markets, industry information, related resources
• Most of the links are freely available; membership (for a modest fee) allows full entry to all of the site’s resources
• Also links to sites for company research, federal agencies, statistics, small business and lifestyle sites (sports, leisure, travel, general reference)
• Membership in CEO Express Select allows members to create customized pages
• Searchable
• Contains significant commercial content
• Complements “Wall Street Executive Library” (see below)
• Outstanding; this site manages to pack a lot of the best current business data/information into one, easy-to-navigate page

CNNMoney.com

• “The Internet home of: Fortune, Money, Business2.0, Fortune Small Business”
• Meta-site for a wide variety of up-to-date information on the following: business news, technology, jobs/economy, small business, markets (stock information, both general and industry-specific)
• Much of the site’s content is commercial, but also includes significant content for a wide variety of personal interest investment/financial information free-of-charge
• Updated continuously
• For best navigation, use the “Site Map”
• Outstanding; one of the best sources on up-to-date business/financial news as well as sound advice on personal finance issues (retirement, estate planning, budgeting, investments)

Digital Librarian: Business & Finance

• Maintained by Margaret Vail Anderson
• Browsable directory of 175 sites for business/finance resources, including “gateways,” advertising, annual reports, banking, business/economic history, currency/money, directories, entrepreneurship/small business, directories, government agencies, international business/trade, investments/stocks, journals, news, professional/industry associations/organizations
• Short annotations accompany most links
• International in scope, but primary emphasis is on the U.S.
• Last updated November 2006
• Excellent; a great place to begin research and for an introduction to “the basics”

ENTERWeb

• Sponsored and maintained by Jean-Claude Lorin
• Online since 1996, “ENTERWEB is an annotated meta-index and information clearinghouse on enterprise development, business, finance, international trade and the economy in this new age of cyberspace and globalization,” with a “main focus” on “ micro-enterprise, small business and medium enterprise development both in developed and developing countries”
• Directory of links to over 800 sites categorized by 26 categories pertaining to numerous aspects of business development, management and commerce
• Each  link is annotated and given a rating, making it convenient to evaluate
• Links may be browsed alphabetically or geographically, in addition to topically
• Includes a “how to use” section which suggests advice on the best way to navigate the site
• Available in French
• Last updated January 2006
• Outstanding; although this site’s primary focus is on the development of small/mid-sized businesses, many of its links are very useful for a wide variety of business topics; easy-to-navigate and with excellent site annotations; highly recommended

Free Management Library

• Developed by Carter McNamara, Authenticity Consulting, LLC
• This meta-site provides access to 675 topics in 75 management-related categories
• Covers virtually every aspect of managerial activity, including advertising/marketing, human resources management, leadership, planning, public/media relations, customer service, productivity, finance and much more
• Cross-referencing is excellent, allowing for a comprehensive search of each topic’s related links
• Outstanding; with links to thousands of websites/documents, this is one of the most extensive and one of the best sites for all aspects of management (and it’s free-of-charge!)

Gary Price’s List of Lists: Business & Industry Management

• Sponsored by Specialissues.com
• This sub-page is a directory of links to rankings for businesses in numerous categories: reputation (“most admired,” “best to work for,” “corporate citizenship,)” growth (with specific sectors), beneficial to specific populations (African-American, Hispanic, women), franchises, entrepreneurial ventures, and many more
• Scope is primarily domestic, with limited international information
• Contains over 200 rankings from 60 business/industry publications (some rankings for specific topics/categories are available for multiple years)
• Rankings date span is 2001 through 2006
• Access to most rankings is free-of-charge; fee-based rankings are identified (as are ones which are free, but which require registration)
• Links to other Specialissues.com sub-pages for 20 additional industries
• Outstanding; this is an excellent resource for determining companies’ standings within numerous categories over a period of time

General Business File ASAP

• Restricted to the Johnson & Wales University community
• Indexes over 3,400 business journals, with full-text coverage for over 2,700
• Brief abstracts accompany most citations or full text articles
• Searchable by keyword
• Ability to limit search results to full-text articles, peer-reviewed journals, specific publications, chronological parameters
• “Subject Guide Search” is especially useful; searches include sub-divisions of the subject and “Related Subjects”
• Scope is international, with an emphasis on the U.S.
• Updated daily
• This outstanding, comprehensive database is indispensable for anyone researching up-to-date articles on many facets of business topics

Internet Intelligence Index (III)

• Sponsored by Fuld & Company, a competitive-intelligence consulting firm
• This internet resources guide is “designed to help you gather information from a wide variety of public services, in support of your competitive intelligence efforts”
• “Contains links to over 600 intelligence-related Internet sites, covering everything from macro-economic data to individual patent and stock quote information”
• “General Business Internet Resources” provides links to 25 basic categories, which include personnel issues, news sources, directories, legal resources, company information and statistics
• “Industry-Internet Resources” provides links to 29 sectors for a variety of manufacturing, service, financial, and extractive/energy industries
• “International Internet Resources” provides links to 17 regional/country-specific resources for finance, trade, government, news and related information
• Annotations accompany each link
• Excellent; not comprehensive, but a great place to access these categories of business information which are not always available in one place

Internet Public Library (IPL): Business & Economics

• This sub-section of IPL links to websites for general business and 23 categories of topic-specific business sites for financial/manufacturing/service industries, international commerce, directories, news resources
• Also, includes additional links to associations and magazines for both general and topic-specific business sites
• Annotations accompany each link
• Links to IPL pages for numerous other topics
• Excellent; a great place for resources on a wide variety of business-related links; like other IPL guides, this site is great for the quality of its links, ease-of-navigation and suitability for users of varying degrees of research skills

Intute: Social Sciences: Business

• “A free online service providing access to the very best resources for education and research”
• This is the successor site to the Resource Discovery Network (RDN), one of the foremost British meta-sites for quality resources useful to researchers at all levels
• “A consortium of seven universities working with a whole host of partners bringing together the expertise of people and processes through which we can evaluate web resources and provide a structured approach to help people find and use them”
• “Business” component links to over 2,300 sites for the following sub-categories: accountancy, business history, business by country/region, company information, globalization, management, marketing/communication
• Each link is accompanied by an annotation and is identified as a “research type”
• Results are categorized by “resource type” (professional associations/organizations, government bodies, companies, journals/publications, research centers/institutes)
• Scope is international, but primarily from the UK and USA
• Excellent cross-referencing
• Also links to additional “related sections”
• Outstanding; one of the best resources of its type currently available, due to its subject breadth, excellent organization and quality of site annotations; highly recommended

Resources on the Internet for Business Journalism

• Maintained by Ira Chinoy, Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland
• Directory of links for a variety of topics concerned with business research, including  investigative reporting,  business publications, Securities and Exchange Commission, business/commerce-oriented federal agency sites, e-commerce, federal law/regulation, public records
• Also links to sites for additional topics (insurance, non-profits, professional/trade associations/organizations, specific industries (healthcare, banking/finance/real estate)
• Almost all sites are free-of-charge; fee-based sites are identified
• Complements “Web Sites for Journalists” (see below)
• Excellent; although this site’s primary focus is on resources for business journalists, much of the content is useful for researchers who are interested in general and beginning research on business

Wall Street Executive Library

• Sponsored by MSI Management Strategies Inc.
• “Over 1450 Content Rich Resources for an Informed Perspective”
• “News Center” links to numerous online newspapers (with significant business news content), broadcast media, newswire feeds, financial market news
• Also links to business journals, “Business Toolkit,” research sites for company/industry information, government, finance/investments, advertising/marketing, statistics
• Includes tutorial
• Searchable
• Contains significant commercial content
• Complements “CEO Express” (see above)
• Outstanding; one of the best sites for comprehensive business news and excellent related  sites

Web Sites for Journalists

• Created and maintained by Jonathan Oatis, professional journalist associated with Reuters
• Directory of links to a variety of topics concerned with business research, including general sites for journalists, news sources, financial news/resources (especially useful), stock exchange, “investor hangouts,” company information, “Other Places” (primarily, but not exclusively, federal agencies/regulatory bodies)
• Also links to search engines, calculators, “people finders,” language translator
• All sites free-of-charge
• Complements “Resources on the Internet for Business Journalists” (see above)
• Excellent; although this site’s primary focus is on resources for business journalists, much of the content is useful for researchers who are interested in general and beginning research on business

Websites represented on this page are for informational purposes only.  Johnson & Wales University Library is not responsible for the accuracy, content or stability of any websites linked to this page.

Compiled by Rick Keogh, 1/07; links last checked 5/07

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