WVU Library Resources and Services for Business Research
Fall 2008
While there is a wealth of free business information on the Web – like the
info in Yahoo! Finance - there is a significant amount that is available only
by subscription.
The WVU Libraries subscribe to electronic resources that provide company
data, journal articles, industry reports, marketing data, and consumer surveys
that are not freely available on the Web.
You’ll find the resources listed on the libraries home page at
www.libraries.wvu.edu/, under “Databases.” There is a special section for
databases most useful for business research.
As students of WVU, these resources are available to you from any location
with Web access. When you aren’t on campus, use your Mix username
(same as Master ID username) along with a password composed of your
birthday plus the last 4 digits of your 700 number to access library electronic
resources. The login screen looks like this:
Research help is available in-person, by email, by telephone, or by live IM
chat.
Reference Desk Phone: 293- 3640
Reference Email: ask_a_librarian@mail.wvu.edu
Penny Pugh Phone: 293-0334
Penny Pugh Email: ppugh@wvu.edu
Penny Pugh AIM: wvulpenny
AIM Screen name: wvulibraries
Yahoo! Screen name: wvulibraries
MSN Screen name: wvulibraries@hotmail.com
Business Source Premier (EbscoHost)
Journal and magazine articles. Also includes company profiles; industry analysis;
market reports.
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For current magazine, trade and scholarly journal articles, use keyword searches
Search results also include SWOT and industry analyses
Search broadly for: product – soft drinks; brand – Mountain Dew; industry –
beverage industry; company – Pepsico to see the latest information
Combine keywords with “and” to focus results – energy drinks AND market
Use “Find It @ WVU" to find all library copies of articles or to order via
interlibrary loan.
Use “Company Profiles” for current reports from Datamonitor – Pepsico
“Find It @ WVU” connects your search results with all the library content. If no copy
exists in the WVU Libraries, it generates an interlibrary loan request for you.
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Find additional search terms in the record – Subject Terms ; NAICS codes
“Refine Search” - for single periodical - for example, Advertising Age
Save items to a folder for printing, emailing or saving
Emailing links – only works from off-campus if you are authenticated.
ABI/Inform
Journal and magazine articles, including full-text of the Wall Street Journal
 Some overlap in coverage with Business Source Premier
 Search for products, brands, industries, companies
 Also includes management information
 Results include a copy of the full article
 Begin with broad search – leadership
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System suggests ways to narrow or refine the search
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Value Line
Up-to-date company and industry information
Reports and ratings offer 1 page snapshots
Selection and opinion provides investment advice
Searchable by industry or company
We don’t subscribe to all the modules
Mergent Online
Company financial information for 10,000+ US businesses and 15,000 international
companies
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Search for parent companies – Pepsico not Frito Lay
Search by SIC, NAICS or performance criteria to generate company list
Extensive content includes 15 years of financials
Create reports to compare companies
Predefined reports compare companies to industry
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Company Analysis list allows you to create custom reports on any criteria.
MRI MediaMark Reporter
Consumer demographic information, product and media preferences, spending
habits – from national consumer survey
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Registration (free) required – must use WVU email
Access to survey data is via small gray button
Choose a report volume and report (beverages)
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Select category (energy drinks), base, and target
Can sort by Index to identify consumer demographics and media preferences
Can save reports and/or download into spreadsheets
Total = Census Bureau data, in thousands
Proj = MediaMark survey data projected to reflect the entire US, in thousands
Index= Probability of finding a user in the group relative to finding a user in the
general population – with a base of 100.
Percent Across=out of total in this demographic, the percent who fit the target
Percent Down=out of all who fit the target, the percent in the demographic
IBIS World
Industry market research, including segmentation, supply channels, competitors, etc. Plus
extensive company data
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Searchable by key words or by NAICS codes – football;
Table of contents indicates data included in report
“See the Full Context” links to up- and down-stream reports and to reports on
factors impacting the industry
View online or download entire report
Reference USA
14 million US businesses, updated monthly. Includes executives, sales volumes,
employee size, and credit ratings.
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Use Custom Search form to generate lists of businesses by criteria such as sales,
geographic location, line of business
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Search results include competitors, even for very small businesses
Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe
Company, legal, and news information
 Search for company data, compare companies, find accounting information
 Company information includes analyst reports, intellectual property information,
links to court cases, financial information and more
 Includes all state and federal laws and codes
 Good source for WV and local news
 Extensive international and national news coverage, including broadcast
transcripts
American FactFinder
Census data for state, counties, MSAs, and other geographic areas
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American Community Survey for current demographic information
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Annual Economic Surveys includes County Business Patterns
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Create custom tables
MountainLynx Catalog
Lists books, e-books, government documents, journals, and databases. Search
by key words or subjects. Try synonyms and look for subject headings in
relevant results.
RefWorks
RefWorks can help you organize search results and easily create bibliographies
and insert notes in the text of papers. Most databases allow you to export
references to RefWorks.
 The RefWorks button is on the Libraries home page
 Sign up for an individual account to begin using the service
 Access your saved research items from any computer with Internet access
 Online tutorials and quick start guide are available if you need help
Demographics Now – On Trial through November 16, 2008
Good source for demographic information down to the local level. Similar to
American Factfinder. Also includes customer lifestyle information. We are testing
for potential acquisition.
Revised 10/24/08