BUSINESS INFORMATION
SOURCES
MODULE 2: SEEKING FOR BUSINESS INFORMATION –
SELECTED WEB-BASED INFORMATION RESOURCES
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
The Module 2 structure and content
• Seeking for business information – selected
Web-based information resources
•
•
•
•
Part A: Getting started
Part B: Company information
Part C: Financial information
Part D: Markets, marketing and international
trade information
2
Part A: Getting started
• Web searching tips
• General Internet resources
• Business information „starting
points”
• Business dictionaries, encyclopedias,
glossaries
3
Web searching tips
• Do not rely on a single source
– You need to cross-check information
– What if it would be out of service?
• There are millions of search engines and other search
services – global and local, general-purpose and
specialized – not only Google 
• Do not believe in everything – evaluate information and
Websites
• Use searching functionalities – advanced search,
Boolean connectors, help, operators (+, -, define), phrase
searching, etc.
• Discussion: How to decide whether a website contains
reliable information? Criteria for information evaluation?
4
General Internet resources and
services (I) – may be useful for business information
• General-purpose, global in scope, search
engines/services
– AltaVista http://www.altavista.com/
– AlltheWeb http://www.alltheweb.com/
– Dogpile http://www.dogpile.com/
– Google http://www.google.com/
– Mamma http://www.mamma.com/
– Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com/
– and many, many more …
5
General Internet resources and
services – … (II)
• Quality-controlled subject/information
gateways
– Digital Librarian: a librarian's choice of the
best of the Web http://www.digitallibrarian.com/
– Intute http://www.intute.ac.uk/
– Librarians’ Internet Index http://lii.org/
– RefDesk http://www.refdesk.com/
6
General Internet resources and
services – … (III)
• Deep Web / Invisible Web search tools
– CompletePlanet http://aip.completeplanet.com/
– Deep Web Research (weblog)
http://www.deepwebresearch.info/
– IncyWincy: The Invisible Web Search Engine
http://www.incywincy.com/default
– The SearchSystems.net Public Records Directory
http://www.searchsystems.net/
• Scholarly search services
– Google Scholar http://scholar.google.com/
– INFOMINE http://infomine.ucr.edu/
7
Open Access full texts – archives,
digital collections, full-text databases,
e-journals, repositories …
• DOAJ – Directory of Open Access Journals
http://www.doaj.org/
• Fulltext Sources Online http://www.fsoonline.com/home_login.cfm?sid=14099995
• OAIster: http://www.oaister.org/
• OpenDOAR – Directory of Open Access
Repositories
http://www.opendoar.org/index.html
8
Business information „starting points”
– specialized search engines, subject
gateways and Web directories –
business, economics, management (I)
• AllBuziness: http://www.allbuziness.com/
• BRINT the World's No. 1 Resource for Business
Technology Management and Knowledge
Management: http://www.brint.com/
• Business.com: http://www.business.com/
9
Business information „starting
points” – … (II)
• CEOExpress:
http://www.ceoexpress.com/default.asp
• European business directory:
http://www.bizeurope.com/
• globalEDGE: http://globaledge.msu.edu/
• Inomics® EconDirectory:
http://www.inomics.com/cgi/econdir
10
Business information „starting
points” – … (III)
• Intute: Social Sciences:
http://www.intute.ac.uk/socialsciences/business/
• Krislyn’s Strictly Business Site:
http://www.strictlybusinesssites.com/
• RBA Business Information on the Internet:
http://www.rba.co.uk/sources/
• The WWW Virtual Library – Business and
Economics: http://vlib.org/BusinessEconomics
11
Business dictionaries, encyclopedias,
glossaries
• Finding dictionaries, encyclopedias, glossaries:
– EuroTermBank http://www.eurotermbank.com/Default.aspx
– Glossarist – Business
http://www.glossarist.com/glossaries/business/
– OneLook Dictionary Search http://www.onelook.com/
• About.com: Economics http://economics.about.com/
• About.com: Business and Finance http://about.com/money/
• Answers.com – Business
http://www.answers.com/main/business.jsp
• globalEdge – Glossary
http://globaledge.msu.edu/resourceDesk/glossary.asp
12
Part B: Company information
• Information about different types of organizations:
–
–
–
–
–
publicly trade companies (listed on stock exchanges)
private companies
state-owned companies
not-for-profit organizations
government bodies
• Information about:
– Company background – name, address, website, contacts,
identification number; managers; line of business – products,
services; legal status and type of a company; size, number of
employees; corporate affiliations; basic financial data (income,
profit or loss, turnover)
– More in-depth information – company finances, competitors,
history, perspectives, policies (ecological, social, etc.)
13
Company information sources
• Directories, yellow pages, databases
• National/official registries
• Business/industry/product classifications
• Lists/rankings
• Annual reports and other formal documents
• Stock exchanges’ websites and services
• Trade magazines, journals, news services
• Companies’ websites
• …
14
Company directories, yellow pages, databases
• globalEdge – Company Directories:
http://globaledge.msu.edu/resourceDesk/companyDirectorie
s.asp
• Central & Eastern European Directory On-Line:
http://www.ceebd.co.uk/ceebd/industdi.htm
• Hoover’s: http://www.hoovers.com/free/
• Europages, the European Business Directory:
http://www.europages.com/ , http://www.europages.net/
• Kompass: http://www.kompass.com/
• ThomasNet (USA): http://www.thomasnet.com/
• Short assignment: find on the Web the yellow pages /
business telephone book for your country and describe its
information content
15
Company identification numbers – come from:
• official / governmental company registers (in most
countries companies and other organizations have to
be registered with a government agency or a court or a
statistical office – and get a national registration
number); examples –
• Company registration around the world (links to registers)
http://www.commercial-register.sg.ch/home/worldwide.html
• RBA – Official Company Registers
http://www.rba.co.uk/sources/registers.htm#general
• UK Companies House – Worldwide Registries
http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/links/introduction.shtml
#reg
• commercial information providers; the most important
is DUNS Number by Dun & Bradstreet
16
Global, international, local lists/rankings
of companies
• Gary Price's List of Lists
http://www.specialissues.com/lol/
• Forbes http://www.forbes.com/lists/
• Fortune
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/
• Short assignment: What type of information one can
get from rankings? Check Forbes and/or Fortune lists
and their information content.
17
Part C: Financial information
• Financial information ≠ company finance
• Financial information = investment information
• Financial info: stock exchanges, quotes,
charts; financial instruments – securities,
bonds, shares, etc.; investment funds; bank
products, credits; currencies, money, rates of
exchange; insurance, retirement
• To understand financial information one needs
to know specialized, technical terminology –
importance of glossaries!
18
Financial information
in general-purpose search engines
• Google Finance:
http://finance.google.com/finance
• MSN money:
http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp
• Yahoo! Finance:
http://finance.yahoo.com/
19
Securities, stock exchanges, quotes
• NYSE, New York Stock Exchange
http://www.nyse.com/home.html
• Quote.com http://new.quote.com/
• U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission – Investor Information
http://www.sec.gov/investor.shtml
• World Federation of Exchanges
http://www.worldexchanges.org/WFE/home.Asp
20
Currencies, currency converters
• OANDA, The Currency Site
http://www.oanda.com
• FXConverter – multilingual currency
converter for over 164 currencies and 3
metals
http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic
• Universal Currency Converter
http://www.xe.com/ucc/
21
Dictionaries, glossaries and investor
education
• Investopedia
http://www.investopedia.com/
• NYSE – Glossary
http://www.nyse.com/glossary/Glossary.ht
ml
• NYSE – Investor Education:
http://www.nyse.com/about/education/102
2630233386.html
22
Part D: Markets, marketing and
international trade information
encompasses:
• information about markets – local, national,
international, global – background, people
(demographics, consumer behavior, income), economic
indicators and statistics, etc.
• information about industries, market sectors and market
share of a brand, firm, product
• information about market research, marketing,
advertising, promotion, etc.
• information about international trade, exports/imports
23
Markets, marketing and international trade
information (I):
• National markets – countries and their
economies
– country background
• geography, climate, environment, natural
resources, etc.
• government, administration, political system
• people – demographics, population, age structure,
geographical distribution (urban? rural?), ethnic
groups, family income and consumption, etc.
• culture, tradition, religion, ethics and values,
lifestyle, healthcare, social problems
24
Markets, marketing and international trade
information (II):
– country economy
• economy basics – type of economy, level of
development, unique areas of specialization,
major economic events, currency, fiscal year
• national accounts, indicators and statistics – GDP,
inflation rates; labor force, unemployment;
budget, investment, public debt; risk; etc.
• industries – structure and characteristics
• international trade – exports/imports, balance of
trade, trade partners
25
Markets, marketing and international trade
information (III):
– country infrastructure and technology
• communications (internet, phones, radio, TV)
• transportation (airports, railways, roads, etc.)
– country legal system
• advertising regulations
• copyright and intellectual property regulations
• fiscal policy, taxes
• labor laws
• patents, standards, trademarks
26
Countries’ background – finding
local search tools
• Search Engine Colossus – International
Directory of Search Engines
http://www.searchenginecolossus.com/
• European Search Engines, Directories and Lists
http://www.netmasters.co.uk/european_search_
engines/
• Baltic Sea States – Web directory for the Baltic
Sea region and Eastern Europe
http://bibl.sh.se/baltic/
27
Official sources offered by international
organizations
• EU – Eurostat:
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page?_pageid=1
090,30070682,1090_33076576&_dad=portal&_schema=P
ORTAL
• OECD:
http://www.oecd.org/countrieslist/0,3351,en_33873108_3
3844430_1_1_1_1_1,00.html
• the International Monetary Fund:
http://www.imf.org/external/country/index.htm
• the World Bank – Countries & Regions:
http://go.worldbank.org/9FV1KFE8P0
• the World Bank Group – Doing Business:
http://www.doingbusiness.org/
28
Official sources offered by national
authorities
• CIA – The World Factbook:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/index.html
• Chambers of commerce and industry:
– World Chambers Network
http://www.worldchambers.com/default.asp
• National statistical offices:
– ISI – International Statistical Institute – Directory of Official
Statistical Agencies & Societies http://isi.cbs.nl/directory.htm
– National Statistical Offices – data sources and links:
http://www.stat.gov.pl/gus/2206_ENG_HTML.htm
– Statistical Sites on the World Wide Web:
http://www.bls.gov/bls/other.htm
29
Non-official but useful information
sources
• BusinessPatrol.com – Country Links
http://www.businesspatrol.com/
• Inside World, InsideCountries
http://www.insideworld.com/,
http://www.insidecountryinfo.com/
30