Introduction
There is an enormous amount of information available on companies, industries, and business strategy. Because business is a broadly defined discipline of study, research, and human activity it would be best from the onset to narrow your area of research as much as possible. For example if you are looking for company information, knowing the complete name of the company is essential. This may not be obvious. For instance, 3M is also Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing. To perform an industry analysis you must clearly define the industry you are researching.
General information sources available in reference
AMA Management HandBook (R/HD 31.A418)
Business: The Ultimate Resource (R/HD 38.15.B878)
Encyclopedia of Banking & Finance (R/HG151.M8)
Encyclopedia of Business (R/HF 1001.E466)
Company Directories are important sources for finding company information such as full company name, history of the company, names of CEOs, company address and major locations, what the company produces or services it provides, key competitors, and key financial data such as sales, income, annual growth.
Company Information print sources available in reference
Hoover's Handbook of American Business (R/HG 4057.A28617)
Notable Corporate Chronologies (R/HG 4009.N68)
Standard & Poor's Register (R/HG 4057.A4)
Standard & Poor's 500 Guide (R/HG 4057.A4758)
Industry Information print sources available in reference
Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios (R/HF 5681.R25T68)
Annual Statement Studies (R/HF 5681.B2R6)
Business Rankings Annual (R/HG 4050.B88)
Encyclopedia of Careers and Vocational Guidance (R/HF 5381.E52)
Encyclopedia of Global Industries (R HD2324.E53)
Market Share Reporter (R HF 5410.M35)
North American Industry Classification System (R/HF 1042.N6)
Occupational Outlook Handbook (R/HF 5381.A1O36)
U.S. Industry & Trade Outlook (R/HC 106.82.U16)
Searching for books on business topics in Lambuth Library
To find books in the Lambuth Library collection, go to the library's web site (URL below) and click on "Find Books, CDs, Videos." Since the discipline of business covers such a broad body of work it is important to narrow your focus to the most relevant topic. When you are not sure of the official subject heading for the topic you wish to research, select “Anywhere” to do a broad search. For instance, to search for books about the corporate strategy you could use the phrase "corporate strategy." Notice that you will receive a large number of results that will be listed in alphabetical order. Not all the books returned by using the keyword method would be on topic so you must inspect the titles closely to find the titles that you need.
For a search that is more comprehensive and on target use the Library of Congress Subject Headings. These are the four large red books shelved at Z 695.Z8L524a in the reference area. These books are arranged like a dictionary. Looking up corporate strategy in the first volume refers you to the term Business planning as the official subject term for corporate strategy. Using Business planning in the subject search field will give you more comprehensive results than the keywords corporate strategy. The catalog is available at the library's web site.
Lambuth Library web site http://www.lambuth.edu/academics/library/library.html
Lambuth Online Catalog http://lambuth.mlasolutions.com/m4/opac/m4opac.dll?installation=Lambuth
Industry and Company information is available online from Business Source Premier, Lexis-Nexis, and Tennessee Electronic Library's General Business File International database. These databases contain current articles from trade journals. Additionally, Lexis-Nexis is very strong in company financials and industry information. They can be searched by keyword and subject heading like the library catalog. As with company information the most current industry information is available from these electronic databases. General Business File International and Business Source Premier can be accessed from the library's web site. http://www.lambuth.edu/academics/library/subjectdirectory.html
Statistics
Business statistics can be found in Handbook of U.S. Labor Statistics (R/HD8051 .H36) and in International Trade Statistics Yearbook (R/HF91 .U473).
International business information
Gathering information to develop country profiles or doing background studies on foreign countries can be important aspects of business research. There are a variety of paper and online sources where you can find this information. Country profiles and statistical information are available from Lexis-Nexis, The Statesman's Yearbook (R/JA51.S7), CIA World Fact Book (R/G122.U56a, also online), and the Virtual International Business & Economic Sources web site (see list below for URL).
Selected Web Sites for Business Information
BRINT http://www.brint.com/
CEO Express http://www.ceoexpress.com/default.asp
Company and Industry Research http://www.virtualpet.com/industry/howto/search.htm
Corporate Information http://www.corporateinformation.com/
Free Management Library http://www.mapnp.org/library/
Locating Company Information on the Internet http://www.llrx.com/features/company.htm
Research Companies Online http://www.learnwebskills.com/company/
EDGAR Database http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm
Last Updated August 2010