Industry Overviews
When you conduct industry research on a specific topic, you are able to see understand a market, technology, service, product or company in the context of its environment. There are many specialized industry sources, for instance about retail, healthcare, hotels, high technology to numerous to mention on this beginning research guide. Be sure to ask for more help if you need it beyond this starting document.
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- Top Databases
- Books, Reference & Print Resources
- Internet Resources & Websites
- Related Research Guides
- Additional Information
Top Databases
Associations UnlimitedHere information can be found on nonprofit membership organizations in all fields. It covers major international organizations and U.S. national, regional, state, and local organizations. Entries for each organization include contact information, descriptions of the organization, number of members, budget and other information. The database allows searching by association name, acronym, keyword in name, location, subject terms, SIC codes, etc. Trade associations in particular can be a very valuable resource for data about an industry. Check their descriptions to see if the association collects statistics or if they have a library that collects data. [more]
Business Insights
Business Insights, formerly known as Reuter's Business Insight, provides market studies on 5 broad industry sectors: Consumer Goods, Energy, Finance, Healthcare, and Technology. Some reports are global while others are specific to a region. Each report, which varies in length from 50 to 200 pages, is compiled by in-house market analysts and provides forecasting to explore all major issues, threats and opportunities. The reports also provide incisive and actionable strategic recommendations. The majority of reports in this database are available for download through our subscription without additional charges. Prices included for the reports indicate the cost for non-subscribers. [more]
MarketLine Business Information Center
Locate detailed company, industry, and country profiles published by Datamonitor Market Research. This database includes 10,000 reports on public and private companies, both U.S. and international. Reports feature: business description, history, major products and services, locations and subsidiaries, top competitors, SWOT analysis (top 1,000 companies only). The industry profiles contain: Market overview, value, segmentation, share, and forecasts, competitive landscape, and leading companies. [more]
Mergent Online
Mergent Online (formerly FIS Online) provides access to detailed corporate financial histories (including capital changes) and operational histories for international public companies. Mergent has company financial reports (income statement, balance sheet, cash flow, and retained earnings reports) dating back 15 years/quarters and includes financial ratios. Mergent also provides company overviews, joint venture information, property descriptions, subsidiaries, officers/directors, long-term debt, and capital stock. Customized reports on a company or multiple companies can be created and data can be downloaded into Excel. The database also includes newswire headlines and annual reports (most recent 15 years). The industry reports are updated regularly. A new addition to this database are country reports containing statistical data. [more]
OneSource
Use this database for in-depth details on companies and industries whose operations span the globe. It includes 80,000+ international companies and their executives as well as 350,000+ U.S. and Canadian public and private companies and their executives. Company data includes financials, subsidiaries, trade and business news, and research reports. With the Company Insights Add-On Module, export company data for further comparison and analyses. You may also search for and export contact data on more than 3M executives and managers across the globe. [more]
Reuter's Research on Demand
Reuter's Research on Demand, formerly MultexNet, provides access to research reports created by analysts from top brokerage houses, investment banks, and financial research firms. These reports cover a wide array of information including detailed analysis of market share, projected sales and earnings, current and projected financial performance, and companies' research and development expenditures. These are also a good source for current industry information and projections. It does not include reports from Merrill Lynch. [more]
S&P NetAdvantage
Standard and Poor's Net Advantage provides fulltext access to a variety of S&P publications including the electronic full text versions of the Standard & Poor’s Industry Surveys. Covers 52 different industries (usually the larger industries like Retail, Apparel and Footwear, Airlines, Computers, Biotech, Pharmaceuticals, etc) and the reports are updated every 6 months. The surveys contain information about current trends, how the industry operates, key ratios and statistics for each industry, and then how to analyze a company in a particular industry. The last section provides comparative financial data in tabular format for the top companies in the industry. S&P NetAdvantage also includes Stock Reports, Corporation Records as well as detailed information on mutual funds, bonds, dividends, earnings, and a directory of corporations and executives. [more]
Special Issues
This database tracks trade and business magazines which publish special issues on various topics. Often the special issue will have either an industry or company focus. The content covers: industry outlooks, overviews, or surveys; statistical issues; company ranking lists; buyers guides; salary surveys; product/industry focus issues; membership directories; who's who registers; tradeshow specials; etc. Also, the magazine's website content includes: buyers guides, calendars of trade fairs and events, industry website link lists, statistical information, interactive databases, glossaries, encyclopedias, dictionaries, acronym lists, etc. [more]
Search for more Business Databases
Books, Reference & Print Resources
Business Rankings Annual REF HG 4061 .B875
If you have an industry or a specific company is already known, this source will often identify other competitors for further research.
If you have an industry or a specific company is already known, this source will often identify other competitors for further research.
Small Business Sourcebook
REF HD 2346 .U5 S66
Gives similar information to the Encyclopedia of Business Information Sources also listed here yet focuses on smaller industries.
Gives similar information to the Encyclopedia of Business Information Sources also listed here yet focuses on smaller industries.
Encyclopedia of Business Information Sources
REF HF 65351 .E538
Search for more books in the ACORN Catalog
Internet Resources & Websites
NAICS.com This site allows you to identify NAICs and SIC codes for specific products and services, which can be used to search many of the company and industry databases.
BizMiner
Free Industry Reports, including industry average financial ratios, balance sheets and income-expense statements.
I.R.S.
US Market Segment Specialization Program – Internal Revenue Service. This site is intended for IRS examiners yet for the industries covered, has a wealth of information about them
US Market Segment Specialization Program – Internal Revenue Service. This site is intended for IRS examiners yet for the industries covered, has a wealth of information about them.
White Papers
This site contains White Papers on a number of detailed topics.
Librarians' Internet Index
This is a free website created and maintained by librarians with sources you can trust.
Resource Shelf
Another free website created and maintained by librarians with sources you can trust.
Related Research Guides
- Market Research Reports
- Food & Beverage Industry
- Industry Financial Ratios
- Market Share & Size
- Public Companies
- Private Companies
- View all Research Guides
Additional Information
- Use of the databases implies acceptance of our Copyright and Licensing Restrictions.
- Need help accessing a resource from off-campus? Take a look at the Troubleshooting Tips page.
- Don't know where to begin? Check out the How do I begin my research? page for information on how to get started researching various topics and use citation information.
- Do you know the name of a database that you'd like to use? Use Databases (A-Z) to locate a known resource and get more information.
- The Databases by Subject page can help direct you to similar resources by topic.
- Additional databases are also available through the Jean & Alexander Heard Library.
- Want to browse electronic journals? Check out the E-Journals (A-Z).
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