BUSINESS INFORMATION
SOURCES
FOREWORD.
MODULE 1: INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS INFORMATION
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 University
Krakow, Poland
sabina.cisek@uj.edu.pl
1
FOREWORD: THE COURSE
OBJECTIVES, STRUCTURE,
CONTENT AND TRAINING
METHODS
2
Business Information Sources: the
course objectives
• Familiarize participants with the concept and
domain of business information
• Give an overall presentation of the business
information industry, services, sources and
uses
• Introduce selected business information
resources – focusing on free-of-charge and
Open Access Web-based services and sources
• Show how to use business information sources
(mainly – international in scope, in English) and
provide opportunity for hands-on training
3
Business Information Sources: the
course structure and content
• Module 1: Introduction to business
information
• Module 2: Seeking for business
information – selected Web-based
information resources
• Module 3: Web 2.0 for business
information
4
Business Information Sources: the
course teaching-learning approach
and training methods
• Demonstration, discussion, elements of
lecture, group-work, hands-on practice
5
Business Information Sources: very
selected additional readings
• Research guides and tutorials
– BERA: Business and Economics Research
Advisor. A Series of Guides to Business and
Economics Topics by Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/rr/business/BERA/index.html
– Intute: Virtual Training Suite
http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/
• Journals and weblogs
– „Business Information Review”. Quarterly by Sage
[paid]
– ResourceShelf http://www.resourceshelf.com/
[free]
6
MODULE 1: INTRODUCTION TO
BUSINESS INFORMATION (BI)
7
The Module 1 structure and content
• Meaning, definitions, terminology,
characteristics and importance of
business information
• Business information needs and users
• The business information industry:
producers and providers of BI
• General description and categorization of
BI resources
8
Meanings of the term „business
information”
• Business Information is a domain of activity
that:
– involves – preparing/producing information sources;
collecting, managing and giving access to them;
finding, evaluating and using information, etc.;
– includes – products (i.e. business information
resources), services, systems, professionals,
organizations, needs, users and uses, etc.
• Business information is a type of information
9
Definitions of business information
• (1) Information FOR (doing) business
– to make informed decisions – short-term,
long-term, strategic
– to enhance business, products, technology
with current information
– to gain profit, recognition and success
• (2) Information ABOUT business (and
economics, and related issues)
10
Terminology
•
•
•
•
Business information
Business and economics information
Business intelligence
Competitive intelligence
• nearly synonyms
11
Business information features
• Business information should be reliable,
trustworthy, authenticated, current, up-todate; but – historical data and
controversial issues may also be needed
• Business information is based on
resources that are already published and
made available
– Note a: that does not mean – these sources
are always easily available
– Note b: of course there are exceptions 
12
Business information areas
• General business information resources
= „starting points”
• Company information
• Financial information = investment
information
• Product and service information
• Markets, marketing and trade
information
• Other
13
Business information needs, users
and uses
• Who needs business information? What
for? Why business information makes a
difference? Why business information
literacy is an advantage – for
organizations and for everybody?
• Discussion with the course participants
14
Business information needs, users and uses –
who needs business information?
• In professional life
•
•
•
•
•
•
business enterprises
associations, not-for-profit organizations, NGOs
central and local governments, authorities
journalists, writers
researchers, scientists, students
advisers, brokers, lawyers
• In private life: everybody
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
anybody who wants to set up a business
buyers
credit takers
complaining clients
investors
job seekers
tax payers
15
The Business Information Industry:
producers and providers of BI (I)
• Non-commercial:
– International organizations, like European
Union, OECD, United Nations, for example
• Your Europe – Business (by EU European
Commission)
http://ec.europa.eu/youreurope/nav/en/business/index.
html
• Enterprise Europe Network (by EU European
Commission) http://www.enterprise-europenetwork.ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm
– Governments’ bodies, administration, local
authorities
16
The Business Information Industry:
producers and providers of BI (II)
– Libraries (academic, government, public),
librarians, for example
• Buffalo & Erie County Public Library – Reference Desk –
Business and Finance
http://www.buffalolib.org/refdesk/index.asp
• Harvard Business School Baker Library
http://www.library.hbs.edu/guides/
– NGOs
– Professional associations, chambers of commerce
– Universities, other educational/research
institutions, scholars, students
– Volunteers, enthusiasts
17
The Business Information Industry:
Producers and Providers of BI (III)
• Commercial:
– Commercial publishers and providers of BI
resources, for example –
• Dun & Bradstreet http://www.dnb.com/us/
• Internet Securities, Inc. (trading as ISI Emerging Markets),
http://www.securities.com/
– Corporate intelligence centers
• see The Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals
(SCIP) http://www.scip.org/
– Information brokers = independent information
professionals
• see the Association of Independent Information
Professionals (AIIP) http://www.aiip.org/
– Journals, for example
• „The Economist” http://www4.economist.com/countries/
18
The business information sources
• There exists a great amount of
business information sources
• Where and how to find them?
• How to read and understand them?
• How to evaluate them?
• How to use them?
19
The business information sources:
categorization (I)
• By financial barriers / availability of information
– Free information, for example:
• CIA World Factbook
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/index.html
• Intute: social sciences: business
http://www.intute.ac.uk/socialsciences/business/
– Commercial information – sold to the public, for
example: Business Source Complete (EBSCOhost)
– Proprietary information – not available, trade secrets
20
The business information sources:
categorization (II)
• Note
– There are numerous commercial sources –
databases, directories, etc. that are available
online:
• partly free – basic information
• partly free – but you have to register or subscribe
• partly as paid services, for fee
– Examples:
• http://www.corporateinformation.com/
• http://www.kompass.com/en/
21
The business information sources:
categorization (III)
• By producer/provider status (formality)
– official (by government)
– non-official (by commercial provider)
• By format
– electronic (online and offline), print, people
• By level of processing
– primary sources
– secondary sources
– tertiary sources
22
The business information sources:
categorization (IV)
• Online electronic sources – by type of website
– General-purpose (global and local) search engines,
meta-search services, catalogs, portals
– Specialized search tools (for example – „harvesting”
services, Deep Web directories)
– Quality-controlled subject/information gateways,
vertical portals
– Full-text resources – archives, e-journals, digital
libraries, repositories
– Web 2.0 forms – blogs, wikis, etc.
– Databases online
– Institutions’ and organizations’ Websites
–…
23