1

BUSINESS INFORMATION SOURCES

MODULE 2: SEEKING FOR BUSINESS INFORMATION –

SELECTED WEB-BASED INFORMATION RESOURCES EnIL International School on „Business Information Literacy”,

13-17 October 2008, Rome, Italy

Dr. Sabina Cisek Associate Professor

Institute of Information and Library Science, Jagiellonian UniversityKrakow, Poland

2

The Module 2 structure and content

• Seeking for business information – selected Web-based information resources

• Part A: Getting started

• Part B: Company information

• Part C: Financial information

• Part D: Markets, marketing and international trade information

3

Part A: Getting started

• Web searching tips

• General Internet resources

• Business information „starting points”

• Business dictionaries, encyclopedias, glossaries

4

Web searching tips• Do not rely on a single source

– You need to cross-check information

– What if it would be out of service?

• There are millions of search engines and other search services – global and local, general-purpose and specialized – not only Google

• Do not believe in everything – evaluate information and Websites

• Use searching functionalities – advanced search, Boolean connectors, help, operators (+, -, define), phrase searching, etc.

• Discussion: How to decide whether a website contains reliable information? Criteria for information evaluation?

5

General Internet resources and services (I) – may be useful for business information

• General-purpose, global in scope, search engines/services– AltaVista http://www.altavista.com/

– AlltheWeb http://www.alltheweb.com/

– Dogpile http://www.dogpile.com/

– Google http://www.google.com/

– Mamma http://www.mamma.com/

– Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com/

– and many, many more …

6

General Internet resources and services – … (II)

• Quality-controlled subject/information gateways – Digital Librarian: a librarian's choice of the

best of the Web http://www.digital-librarian.com/

– Intute http://www.intute.ac.uk/

– Librarians’ Internet Index http://lii.org/

– RefDesk http://www.refdesk.com/

7

General Internet resources and services – … (III)

• Deep Web / Invisible Web search tools– CompletePlanet http://aip.completeplanet.com/

– Deep Web Research (weblog) http://www.deepwebresearch.info/

– IncyWincy: The Invisible Web Search Engine http://www.incywincy.com/default

– The SearchSystems.net Public Records Directory http://www.searchsystems.net/

• Scholarly search services– Google Scholar http://scholar.google.com/

– INFOMINE http://infomine.ucr.edu/

8

Open Access full texts – archives, digital collections, full-text databases,

e-journals, repositories …

• DOAJ – Directory of Open Access Journals http://www.doaj.org/

• Fulltext Sources Online http://www.fso-online.com/home_login.cfm?sid=14099995

• OAIster: http://www.oaister.org/

• OpenDOAR – Directory of Open Access Repositories http://www.opendoar.org/index.html

9

Business information „starting points” – specialized search engines, subject

gateways and Web directories – business, economics, management (I)

• AllBuziness: http://www.allbuziness.com/

• BRINT the World's No. 1 Resource for Business Technology Management and Knowledge Management: http://www.brint.com/

• Business.com: http://www.business.com/

10

Business information „starting points” – … (II)

• CEOExpress: http://www.ceoexpress.com/default.asp

• European business directory: http://www.bizeurope.com/

• globalEDGE: http://globaledge.msu.edu/

• Inomics® EconDirectory: http://www.inomics.com/cgi/econdir

11

Business information „starting points” – … (III)

• Intute: Social Sciences: http://www.intute.ac.uk/socialsciences/business/

• Krislyn’s Strictly Business Site: http://www.strictlybusinesssites.com/

• RBA Business Information on the Internet: http://www.rba.co.uk/sources/

• The WWW Virtual Library – Business and Economics: http://vlib.org/BusinessEconomics

12

Business dictionaries, encyclopedias, glossaries

• Finding dictionaries, encyclopedias, glossaries: – EuroTermBank http://www.eurotermbank.com/Default.aspx – Glossarist – Business

http://www.glossarist.com/glossaries/business/ – OneLook Dictionary Search http://www.onelook.com/

• About.com: Economics http://economics.about.com/• About.com: Business and Finance http://about.com/money/ • Answers.com – Business http://www.answers.com/main/business.jsp • globalEdge – Glossary

http://globaledge.msu.edu/resourceDesk/glossary.asp

13

Part B: Company information

• Information about different types of organizations: – publicly trade companies (listed on stock exchanges)

– private companies

– state-owned companies

– not-for-profit organizations

– government bodies

• Information about:– Company background – name, address, website, contacts,

identification number; managers; line of business – products, services; legal status and type of a company; size, number of employees; corporate affiliations; basic financial data (income, profit or loss, turnover)

– More in-depth information – company finances, competitors, history, perspectives, policies (ecological, social, etc.)

14

Company information sources

• Directories, yellow pages, databases

• National/official registries

• Business/industry/product classifications

• Lists/rankings

• Annual reports and other formal documents

• Stock exchanges’ websites and services

• Trade magazines, journals, news services

• Companies’ websites

• …

15

Company directories, yellow pages, databases

• globalEdge – Company Directories: http://globaledge.msu.edu/resourceDesk/companyDirectories.asp

• Central & Eastern European Directory On-Line: http://www.ceebd.co.uk/ceebd/industdi.htm

• Hoover’s: http://www.hoovers.com/free/

• Europages, the European Business Directory: http://www.europages.com/ , http://www.europages.net/

• Kompass: http://www.kompass.com/

• ThomasNet (USA): http://www.thomasnet.com/

• Short assignment: find on the Web the yellow pages / business telephone book for your country and describe its information content

16

Company identification numbers – come from:

• official / governmental company registers (in most countries companies and other organizations have to be registered with a government agency or a court or a statistical office – and get a national registration number); examples –

• Company registration around the world (links to registers) http://www.commercial-register.sg.ch/home/worldwide.html

• RBA – Official Company Registers http://www.rba.co.uk/sources/registers.htm#general

• UK Companies House – Worldwide Registries http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/links/introduction.shtml#reg

• commercial information providers; the most important is DUNS Number by Dun & Bradstreet

17

Global, international, local lists/rankings of companies

• Gary Price's List of Lists http://www.specialissues.com/lol/

• Forbes http://www.forbes.com/lists/

• Fortune http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/

• Short assignment: What type of information one can get from rankings? Check Forbes and/or Fortune lists and their information content.

18

Part C: Financial information

• Financial information ≠ company finance

• Financial information = investment information

• Financial info: stock exchanges, quotes, charts; financial instruments – securities, bonds, shares, etc.; investment funds; bank products, credits; currencies, money, rates of exchange; insurance, retirement

• To understand financial information one needs to know specialized, technical terminology – importance of glossaries!

19

Financial information in general-purpose search engines

• Google Finance: http://finance.google.com/finance

• MSN money: http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp

• Yahoo! Finance: http://finance.yahoo.com/

20

Securities, stock exchanges, quotes

• NYSE, New York Stock Exchange http://www.nyse.com/home.html

• Quote.com http://new.quote.com/

• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – Investor Information http://www.sec.gov/investor.shtml

• World Federation of Exchanges http://www.world-exchanges.org/WFE/home.Asp

21

Currencies, currency converters

• OANDA, The Currency Site http://www.oanda.com

• FXConverter – multilingual currency converter for over 164 currencies and 3 metals http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic

• Universal Currency Converter http://www.xe.com/ucc/

22

Dictionaries, glossaries and investor education

• Investopedia http://www.investopedia.com/

• NYSE – Glossary http://www.nyse.com/glossary/Glossary.html

• NYSE – Investor Education: http://www.nyse.com/about/education/1022630233386.html

23

Part D: Markets, marketing and international trade information

encompasses:

• information about markets – local, national, international, global – background, people (demographics, consumer behavior, income), economic indicators and statistics, etc.

• information about industries, market sectors and market share of a brand, firm, product

• information about market research, marketing, advertising, promotion, etc.

• information about international trade, exports/imports

24

Markets, marketing and international trade information (I):

• National markets – countries and their economies

– country background

• geography, climate, environment, natural resources, etc.

• government, administration, political system

• people – demographics, population, age structure, geographical distribution (urban? rural?), ethnic groups, family income and consumption, etc.

• culture, tradition, religion, ethics and values, lifestyle, healthcare, social problems

25

Markets, marketing and international trade information (II):

– country economy

• economy basics – type of economy, level of development, unique areas of specialization, major economic events, currency, fiscal year

• national accounts, indicators and statistics – GDP, inflation rates; labor force, unemployment; budget, investment, public debt; risk; etc.

• industries – structure and characteristics

• international trade – exports/imports, balance of trade, trade partners

26

Markets, marketing and international trade information (III):

– country infrastructure and technology

• communications (internet, phones, radio, TV)

• transportation (airports, railways, roads, etc.)

– country legal system

• advertising regulations

• copyright and intellectual property regulations

• fiscal policy, taxes

• labor laws

• patents, standards, trademarks

27

Countries’ background – finding local search tools

• Search Engine Colossus – International Directory of Search Engines http://www.searchenginecolossus.com/

• European Search Engines, Directories and Lists http://www.netmasters.co.uk/european_search_engines/

• Baltic Sea States – Web directory for the Baltic Sea region and Eastern Europe http://bibl.sh.se/baltic/

28

Official sources offered by international organizations

• EU – Eurostat: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page?_pageid=1090,30070682,1090_33076576&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

• OECD: http://www.oecd.org/countrieslist/0,3351,en_33873108_33844430_1_1_1_1_1,00.html

• the International Monetary Fund: http://www.imf.org/external/country/index.htm

• the World Bank – Countries & Regions: http://go.worldbank.org/9FV1KFE8P0

• the World Bank Group – Doing Business: http://www.doingbusiness.org/

29

Official sources offered by national authorities

• CIA – The World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html

• Chambers of commerce and industry:– World Chambers Network

http://www.worldchambers.com/default.asp

• National statistical offices: – ISI – International Statistical Institute – Directory of Official

Statistical Agencies & Societies http://isi.cbs.nl/directory.htm

– National Statistical Offices – data sources and links: http://www.stat.gov.pl/gus/2206_ENG_HTML.htm

– Statistical Sites on the World Wide Web: http://www.bls.gov/bls/other.htm

30

Non-official but useful information sources

• BusinessPatrol.com – Country Links http://www.businesspatrol.com/

• Inside World, InsideCountries http://www.insideworld.com/, http://www.insidecountryinfo.com/