Ramsey Library Research GuidesMarket ResearchThis guide is a selection of Web and print resources that may be useful as starting points for research. It is not a comprehensive list. See also the chart-style guide to library research for Management 350.
Information about particular industriesSIC CodesA good first step is to determine the SIC code(s) for the type of product you are researching. SIC codes are used in many statistical data files and reference books to organize information about industries. Standard Industrial Classification Codes - OSHA. Easy to use search form. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Codes - University of Washington site. The print version of the Standard Industrial Classification Manual is located in UNCA REFERENCE HF 1042 S73 1987. (Hereafter "REF" = "UNCA REFERENCE") North American Industrial
Classification System (NAICS) - NAICS is replacing the Standard Industrial
Classification. Therefore, the 1997 Economic Census reports, when published, will be
organized by NAICS. IndexesLexisNexis Academic - Index to full-text articles in business journals, trade journals, magazines, and newspapers. UNCA users only (full-text: 1965+)Business
Periodicals Index - Print index to business journals and magazines.
Organized by subject heading. No abstracts. Holdings: 1958-July 1998. Web ResourcesEconomic Census - The Economic Census consists of several series of publications on specific sectors of the economy. Issued in years ending in "2" and "7." The 1997 Economic Census surveys 5 million businesses. Parts of it are being issued now and over the next year. When it is complete, the 1997 Economic Census will be a good source of information about number of establishments, payroll, number of employees and other data for:
Statistics of U.S. Businesses - Data by:
Click on a state, such as North Carolina, in
the USA map to get an area report. Library ResourcesEncyclopedia of Associations - Directory of trade associations, large interest groups, and professional organizations. 3 vols. REF AS22 .E5 Small Business Profiles - Start-up information for the new small business owner. REF HD62.7 .S53 1994 Standard
and Poor is the corporate author of many reference series on finance and
corporations. For an overview of 52 major industry groups see: Value Line Investment Survey Ratings & Reports of key industries. Each section is updated at 13-week intervals. REF DESK HG4501 .V26 U.S. Industry & Trade Outlook '98 - (Formerly entitled U.S. Industrial Outlook) - Forecasts of business prospects for several hundred industries. Latest issue is at REF DESK HC106.5 .A17; earlier editions are in UNCA FED DOC C 61.34: [year] . Text-only access (via Gopher) to the content of The 1994 Industrial Outlook has been made available by The Libraries of The University of Missouri-St. Louis. RMA Annual Statement Studies - Business ratios. REF HF5681.B2 R6 Almanac
of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios - REF HF5681.R25 T68 Information about specific companiesIndexesLexisNexis Academic is a Web-based comprehensive service that includes business, legal, political, and medical news and data. The information is organized by category, including Company Financial Information, Business & Industry News, and Company News. Lexis-Nexis offers Web access to many reports.
Web ResourcesSEC's EDGAR Database - Search for 10-K rerports and related information filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. EDGAR is an acronym for "the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system." EdgarScan - Price Waterhouse site that offers
"an intelligent interface to the SEC EDGAR database." Includes all of the 10-Q
and 10-K reports in EDGAR. User-friendly search engine. Enter part or all of a company
name and press Enter to search. Output is available in several formats, including Excel. Library ResourcesDirectory of Corporate Affiliations - Find the parent company or subsidiaries of public, private, or international corporations. REF HG4057 .A217 WCU-A Moody's Industrial Manual - One of several Moody's series containing financial data about specific companies. REF HG4961 .M68 Depending on the type of company you are researching, you may want to look at:
For each Manual there is an annual compilation and a binder for weekly news updates. Standard & Poor's Corporation Records - REF HG4501 .S63 Value Line Investment Survey - Ratings & Reports of key industries. Each section is updated at 13-week intervals. REF DESK HG4501 .V26 North Carolina Business Directory - UNCA REFERENCE HC107.N8 N7525 Ward's
business directory of U.S. private and public companies - Unique source of
information about 142,000 companies. The first 3 volumes list companies by name with
financial information, SIC codes, ticker symbol, main company officers, and a brief
description. Volume 4 lists all the companies by state and zip code. Volume 5 arranges
companies by SIC code and ranks them according to sales volume. You can estimate market
share within SIC code by comparing a company's totals with the SIC total. International Directory of Company Histories - REF HD2721 .I63 Hoover's Handbooks - See also Hoover's Company Reports available from LexisNexis Academic.
Online catalog - Search by Subject or Words to find titles about specific companies, such as: Market and Demographic InformationWeb ResourcesAmerican Demographics Marketing Tools - Access to Marketing Tools and several publications about demographic and business trends, including American Demographics, Marketing Tools, and Forecast. Some of the tables included in feature articles may be downloaded in spreedsheet format. Ramsey Library subscribes to the printed version of American Demographics. Excite Travel - In spite of the name, country and county information is also easy to find at this site. Pages often link to local government pages or Chambers of Commerce. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - BLS Consumer Expenditure Surveys The World Factbook - CIA compendium of facts and statistics on countries of the world. The CIA also publishes many maps, some of which are available for downloading on the Web. VALS™ (Values and Lifestyles) - Marketing segmentation system that "categorizes U.S. adult consumers into mutually exclusive groups based on their psychology and several key demographics." Take the survey. Interactive Data
Resources at SSDC - Social Sciences Data from the library of the University of
Virginia. Demographic data. Many of the resources are restricted, but the ones that are
not are excellent resources. Library ResourcesAmerican Business Climate & Economic Profiles - REF HC106.8 .A433 1994 Demographics USA - Compendium of market data, including population, number of households, retail sales, etc. Updated by special issues of the periodical Sales and Marketing Management. REF HC 106.7 S92 Official Guide to Household Spending - Based on the Consumer Expenditure Survey conducted by the Census Bureau and published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. REF HC110.C6 A666 1993 Ward's business directory of U.S. private and public companies - See description above. Volume 5 arranges companies by SIC code and ranks them according to sales volume. You can estimate market share within SIC code by comparing a company's totals with the SIC total. REF HG4057 .A575 1994 Market Share Reporter - "Annual compilation of reported market share data on companies, products, an services." The 1997 eition has 2000 entries arranged by 462 SIC codes. Gives corporate, brand, product, service and commodity market share. Information varies for each type of product. REF HF5410 .M35 [year] Survey of
Current Business - Monthly publication of the U.S. Commerce Dept. Bureau of
Economic Analysis. Reports on business activity and general economic conditions. Charts
highlights of the current situation. A statistical supplement includes a large number
of statistical series grouped by category. An important resource for current
information . Business Statistics of the United States - Biennial supplement to the Survey of Current Business. UNCA REFERENCE HC101 .A13122 Rand McNally Commercial Atlas & Marketing Guide - UNCA ATLAS G1019 .R22 National
Trade Data Bank - CD-ROM. The Web equivalent is STAT-USA.
Census DataStatistical Abstract of the United States - Summary census figures and many other types of data. Tables reference more detailed federal government statistical sources Also available in CD-ROM. Current year also in print at REF DESK HA202 [year]; backfiles in Documents collection. U.S. Census Bureau Home Page - Home of demographic data for the United States. Search census files. Offers keyword and geographic searches. Download data from the 1990 Census Lookup. Try American FactFinder for quick lookups on specific places, cities, or states. The US Gazetteer lets you enter a Zipcode and returns information about the place, generate a map and download data from the STF3B files. Census data is also available in print format in the Federal Documents collection. Please ask for assistance at the Research Services Desk. CenStats - Create custom reports by point-and-click from Annual survey of Manufactures, Building Permits, Census tract Street Locator, Consolidated Federal funds Report, county Business Patterns, Zip Business Patterns, USA counties, and International trade Data. County & City Data Book [computer file] - CD-ROM. Please ask at the Research Services Desk. The printed version of County & City Data Book is at REF DESK HA202 .A36. County Business Patterns - Annual data tabulated by industry. Good for analyzing market potential. The printed version of is available in FED DOC C 3.204/3-[state]:[year]. Also on CD-ROM. Please ask for assistance at the Research Services Desk. Current Population Survey - Monthly survey of about 50,000 households that is the primary source of information on the labor force characteristics of the U.S. population. Supplements cover specific topics such as Computer Ownership, Race and Ethnicity, or Voting and Registration. Survey of Current Business - An
important and widely used monthly compilation of key statistics by the Bureau of Economic
Analysis. North Carolina State GovernmentState Data Center - Look for County and Regional Information from Log Into North Carolina (LINC) Reports on selected variables by North Carolina county or planning region with a few clicks of the mouse. Office of State Planning - Parent agency of
the State Data Center has State Demographics
data and other resources. General InformationOther Federal Government ResourcesEconomic Report of the President, 1999 - Time series data from 1929 to the present. Spreadsheet, text or Acrobat Reader (PDF format). Print version is at REF HC106 .5 .A272 The Economic Statistics Briefing Room - White House site with access to Federal economic indicators easily accessible from one page. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Detailed labor economics statistics. Access most requested time series or search for specific data. See the Economy at a Glance page for a quick overview. Fedstats: One Stop Shopping for Federal Statistics - Maintained by the Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy. Links to statistics and information produced by 70 federal agencies, such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census Bureau, etc. If your browser supports frames, the agency, program, or other index remains available as you link to various resources. FedWorld Information Network Home Page - Gateway to U.S. government information on the Internet. Many services offered, including:
STAT-USA/Internet Site Economic, Trade, Business Information - UNCA Web access only. Mother Lode of Federal statistical sites. Has National Trade Data Bank files, Federal Economic Bulletin Board services, Bureau of Economic Analysis data, "Frequently Requested Statistical Releases," and more. Time series and cross-sectional data on major indicators and trade. U.S. Business Advisor - "...exists to provide business with one-stop access to federal government information, services, and transactions." You can browse a list of topics or search the database of Web sites by keyword. U.S. Department of Commerce - Links to many useful sites having to do with "Commerce on the Web," such as:
SBA: Small Business Administration Home Page - Visit
the Hot List for many useful links, including
the Marketing and Planning Hotlist -
Selected links, but not all of them are useful for research. Marketing and Advertising Web SitesAdvertising Age - Daily marketing news stories and feature articles. Be sure to visit Advertising Age's Marketing 100 Awards. Marketing Resources on the Net - A large and excellent selection of Web resources by Oregon State University College of Business. Advertising World - Large compilation of advertising-related Web links by the University of Texas at Austin. Tilburg University Marketing & Marketing Research - Links to Web sites of academic marketing journals, marketing departments, associations, and other resources. Nijenrode Business Webserver - Resources for students, faculty, and researchers at Business Schools from Nijenrode University, the Netherlands Business school. The Conference Board Home Page - The Conference Board is a non-profit organization that produces some respected research reports, such as the Consumer Confidence and Leading Economic Indicators, and the magazine, Across the Board. The John W. Hartman Collection for Sales, Advertising and Marketing History - "The John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History was established at Duke University's Special Collections Library in 1992. Through preserving historical records and archives and through related programs, the Center stimulates interest in and study of the roles of sales, advertising, and marketing in society." The Marketing Resource Center: Marketing Resources and Reference Material - One of many commercial Web sites that provide information to people wanting to market products on the World Wide Web, or that sell advertising packages to businesses. For several similar sites, visit the Small Business Administration and look at the list of "Hot Links." iMarketinc Produces CD-ROM marketing products. The Internet Marketing Tools link leads to free market analysis reports, but you have to register to get access. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office contains patent and trademark related information, including searchable databases of registered patents and trademarks. Links to Business Schools
A-Z directory maintained by Tuck School of
Business Administration, Dartmouth College. Other useful thingsRamsey Resources guidesNeed help finding periodicals? Want to know how to use Lexis-Nexis? Visit the Research Guides Web page for links to many helpful library guides. Browse by call number rangesBrowse in the Reference area (main floor) and general collection (upper floor) in these call number ranges:
Business periodicals will have the same call number ranges. See also the Directory
of Business Periodical Special Issues for business periodicals that have
regularly published special content or "theme" issues. This book includes
"buying guides, salary surveys, statistical supplements, advertising supplements,
trade show issues or Who's Who directories." REF HF5351 .B1 D5 1995 ABC ExpressUNCA students can request books and periodicals (bound, microfilm, or microfiche that
are available only at ASU or WCU via ABC Express. To request a
current issue (that is neither bound nor microform), you must fill out a pink ABC Express
form at the Research Services Desk. Interlibrary LoanRequest books or periodical articles not available in the Western North Carolina
Library Network (UNCA, ASU, WCU) via Interlibrary Loan. Please ask
for assistance at the Research Services Desk. Allow about two weeks for delivery of ILL requests. This page updated 4 June 2003. Go back to the top | Research Guides
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