A Selected Guide to Basic Business Sources

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

R027.69 BASI
BASIC BUSINESS LIBRARY:  CORE RESOURCES
4th ed.                                            c2002
Included are 177 titles which can help with business research.  Listed and explained are databases, government documents, journals, and investment sources.

R658.0016 ENCY
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BUSINESS INFORMATION SOURCES
21st ed.                                          c2006
Detailed list of factual information sources which give complete citations.  Organized by subject, geographical.  Scope is international.

 

DIRECTORIES

R011 DIRE
DIRECTORIES IN PRINT
Annual
Listed here are business directories in all fields and kinds of businesses.

R332.1025 BANK
THOMSON BANK DIRECTORY
Semi-annual
Geographical listing of banks (head offices and branches) with addresses, key officers, and financial data.  Also listed are banking associations, state banking officials, ranked lists of top U.S. commercial banks and holding companies, and largest world banks.

R381.06073 NATI
NATIONAL TRADE AND PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES AND LABOR UNIONS
Annual
Directory listing address, chief official, number of members, annual budget, publications, and annual meeting date.  Contains geographic and executive indexes.

R382.5065 DIRE
DIRECTORY OF UNITED STATES IMPORTERS
Annual
R382.6065 DIRE
DIRECTORY OF UNITED STATES EXPORTERS
Annual
Over 25,000 importers and 37,000 exporters are listed in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico.  Each entry includes date of establishment, type of business handled, officers, bank reference, port of entry or exit, custom house broker, TELEX, and cable address.  Exporters also lists U.S. ports.

MERGENT DIRECTORIES:
All of the MERGENT manuals give in-depth information on the history and finances of the companies:  (Previously Moody Directories)

R332.105 MERG
MERGENT BANK AND FINANCE MANUAL
Annual, updated semi-weekly

R338.74 MERG
MERGENT OTC UNLISTED MANUAL
Annual, updated semi-weekly

R338.8805 MERG
MERGENT INTERNATIONAL MANUAL
Annual, updated semi-weekly

R363.6 MERG
MERGENT PUBLIC UTILITY MANUAL
Annual, updated semi-weekly

R380.5 MERG
MERGENT TRANSPORTATION MANUAL
Annual, updated semi-weekly

R658 MERG
MERGENT INDUSTRIAL MANUAL
Annual, updated semi-weekly

R658 MERG
MERGENT OTC INDUSTRIAL MANUAL
Annual, updated semi-weekly

R658.42 STAN
STANDARD AND POOR'S REGISTER OF CORPORATIONS, DIRECTORS, AND EXECUTIVES
2 volumes, annual
This is another important directory.  Volume 1- Corporate listings - profiles more than 75,000 U.S. and some Canadian companies.  Information includes officers, line of business, NAICS codes, sales range, number of employees, accounting firm, primary bank and law firm, stock exchange symbol.  Volume 2 – Individual listings - profiles of over 70,000 executives and directors with brief data about each.  Information includes NAICS codes, geographical index lists, corporate family indices, obituary sections and new company additions.

R658.91 MILL
MILLION DOLLAR DIRECTORY
Annual
D & B listing of over 160,000 U.S. companies with a net worth of $9,000,000 or more than 180 employees, both publicly and privately held.  Entries include address, county and SMSA, primary and secondary SIC codes, annual sales, number of employees and names of Chief Executive Officer.

R659.1025 ADVE
ADVERTISING RED BOOKS
Annual, with 5 cumulating supplements
R659.1025 ADVE
ADVERTISING RED BOOKS - AGENCIES
3/year
The first title is a directory of more than 16,200 U.S. companies that advertise nationally and regionally and spend a minimum of $200,000, and it is arranged by 50 product classifications.  For each company data includes year founded, phone and fax, officers, products, sales and number of employees, SIC code, advertising agency, advertising expense, and media used. 

The second title lists ad agencies with specialization, officers, account executives, annual billing amount, % by media, brand name of accounts.  Ranked lists of agencies are included.

R670 THOM
THOMAS REGISTER OF AMERICAN MANUFACTURERS AND THOMAS REGISTER CATALOG FILE
16 volumes, annual
If you need to find the name of a U.S. manufacturing firm or want to know who makes a specific product, this is the best place to look.  The first 14 volumes list companies under product alphabetically.  Volumes 15 and 16 list companies alphabetically.  Thomas Register Online:  www.thomasnet.com.

R338.8025 CORP
CORPORATE AFFILIATIONS
LexisNexis Publishing Group, annual with bimonthly supplements
A 5-volume set of over 6,000 American parent companies with over 50,000 subsidiaries, divisions or affiliates.  Information on each parent company includes year founded, line of business, SIC, phone/telex/fax, approximate assets, earnings, liabilities, net worth, number of employees, top officers, stock exchange, ticker symbol, subsidiaries, divisions, and/or major affiliates.  The international volume contains 4,871 major foreign parent companies and their 69,000 U.S. and foreign holdings.  There are indexes by SIC, by geographic location, alphabetical complete list of parents and affiliates interfiled, by trade name, and by individual officer.

 

    STATE DIRECTORIES

R338.0025 ILLI
ILLINOIS SERVICES DIRECTORY
Annual
A listing of Illinois companies which provide business services.

R338.767025 ILLI
HARRIS ILLINOIS INDUSTRIAL DIRECTORY
Annual
Nearly 20,000 manufacturing, industrial, and service firms in a classified, alphabetical, Chicago zip code, state-wide alphabetical, and SIC code listing.  Each entry lists address, chief personnel, SIC code, amount of sales, and number of employees.

R338.767025 INDI
INDIANA BUSINESS DIRECTORY
Annual
This directory lists all telephone yellow page entries, both manufacturing and non-manufacturing, by type of business performed.  Each entry includes name, address, telephone, and company size.

R338.767025 INDI
HARRIS INDIANA INDUSTRIAL DIRECTORY
Annual
Directory is of manufacturers, processors, and wholesalers divided alphabetically by company and then by subject.  Each profile includes company name, address, phone/fax. Multiple executives, employment, sales, products, SIC, square footage, and headquarters location.  An alphabetical list of communities gives population, geographic location, railroads, truck lines, banks, newspapers, utilities, and more. 

 

HANDBOOKS

R658.02207 SMAL
SMALL BUSINESS SOURCEBOOK
Annual
Specific small businesses are profiled with information including start-up, associations, educational programs, publications, reference materials and handbooks, and supply sources.

 

STATISTICS

R304.60973 COMM
COMMUNITY SOURCEBOOK OF ZIP CODE DEMOGRAPHICS
Annual 

R304.60973 COMM
COMMUNITY SOURCEBOOK OF COUNTY DEMOGRAPHICS
Annual
Two excellent sources for demographic data from a prominent Washington, D.C. firm.  All statistical data are projected for five years.

R317.3 STAT
STATISTICAL ABSTRACT OF THE UNITED STATES
Annual
Gives summary statistics in industrial, social, political, and economic fields in the United States.

R330.973 BUSI
BUSINESS STATISTICS OF THE UNITED STATES
Annual
A basic desk reference for historical information about the U.S. economy.

R332.67 STAN
STANDARD & POOR'S INDUSTRY SURVEYS
2 volumes
Basic data on 20 industries with financial comparisons of the leading companies in each industry.  For each industry there is a basic analysis (annual), current analysis (several per year), and trends & projections (monthly) gives up-to-date revenue, income, and profitability data on over 1,000 leading companies arranged by the 20 industries.

R658.8 SURV
SURVEY OF BUYING POWER
Annual
This annual publication presents population estimates, buying power index, and a quality index by state and region of the U.S.

 

JOURNALS AND NEWSPAPERS

ADVERTISING AGE. Weekly.
This weekly publication gives broad coverage of current information on what is happening in advertising.

BARRON'S.  Weekly.
Indispensable business and financial weekly.   Presents articles on current developments in economics, finance, and politics as related to business.  Has a large statistical section covering stock and bond quotations.  Includes some insider transactions and current material from corporate reports.  The quarterly Lipper Mutual Funds Quarterly is an attractive addition to the newspaper.

CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS.  Weekly.
Newspaper format covers all phases of Chicago business, including articles, directories, and statistics.

FORBES. Biweekly.
A well-known business and investment magazine featuring articles on stock market outlook and trends, operations, profiles of corporations and industries, and write-ups of noteworthy business personalities.

FORTUNE.  Biweekly.
Business news is presented from a broad point of view, incorporating articles on world affairs, political questions, and new products.  A regular feature is "Businessmen in the News" with biographical information.

HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW.  Bimonthly.
Written by eminent scholars, the lengthy articles in this journal concern trends, predictions, and development in all areas of business, as well as areas that affect business.

SALES AND MARKETING MANAGEMENT. Semimonthly.
Features news and articles on sales, marketing methods, and problems.

WALL STREET JOURNAL.  Weekdays.
The most eminent newspaper devoted to business.  Provides daily news in the fields of business and finance. Has stock market quotations, commodity futures prices, Dow-Jones averages and corporate earnings.

 

SMALL BUSINESS JOURNALS

ENTREPRENEUR.  Monthly.
Popular small business start-up magazine with practical management advice and guides to starting particular kinds of small businesses.

FRANCHISING WORLD. Quarterly.
International Franchising Association journal dedicated to informing all prospective and current franchises.

INC. Monthly.
A popular magazine intended for small and growing companies containing articles on a wide range of subjects with many ranked lists, such as "The Inner City 100," "The INC. 500," "The Most Entrepreneurial Cities in America," "Report on the States," and "Best-Managed Franchises in America."

 

ELECTRONIC DATABASES

BUSINESS AND COMPANY RESOURCE CENTER
Business & Company Resource Center brings together in a single database company profiles, company brand information, rankings, investment reports, company histories, chronologies, and periodicals.  Search this database to find detailed company and industry news and information.

BUSINESS SOURCE PREMIER
As the world’s largest full text business database, Business Source Premier provides full text for more than 3,650 scholarly business journals, including full text for nearly 1,100 peer-reviewed business publications.  Coverage includes virtually all subject areas related to business.  This database provides full text (PDF) for more than 300 of the top scholarly journals dating as far back as 1965.  This database is updated on a daily basis.  Part of the INSPIRE collection of databases.

D & B’S MILLION DOLLAR DATABASE
Dun & Bradstreet's Million Dollar Database features company information on over 1,600,000 U.S. and Canadian leading public and private businesses.  Company information includes industry information, type of ownership, principal executives and biographies.

HOOVER’S ONLINE
Hoover's Online is a database of 12 million companies with in-depth coverage of 40,000 of the world's top businesses.  Use this source to uncover basic company information, investment figures and background on companies and their competition.

REFERENCE  USA
The Reference USA Business databases contain detailed information on more than 12 million U.S. businesses.  Details include sales figures, executive names and number of employees.  Searches can be performed using these categories and more.

STANDARD & POOR’S NET ADVANTAGE
Net Advantage is a quick online search source for financial and business information.  It provides access to the following S&P products: Corporation Records, Industry Surveys, The Outlook, Register of Corporations, Directors & Executives, and Standard & Poor’s Stock Reports.

 

INTERNET SITES

Internet sites change rapidly, on one day and off the next.  However, the following sites have been around a while and probably will stay.

Internal Revenue Service
http://www.irs.gov
You can find tax forms and instructions, frequently asked questions, where to file, and where to get help.

EDGAR Database of Corporate Information
http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml
Performs public company searches for all items filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including annual and quarterly reports.

U.S. Small Business Administration
http://www.sba.gov
Includes how to start your own business, finance it, and how SBA can help.

U. S. Patent and Trademark Office
http://www.uspto.gov
Full text patents since 1976, full page images since 1790.  TESS (Trademark Electronic Search System) contains more than 3 million pending, registered and dead federal trademarks.

 

The Reference Services staff at the Central Library can help you get started on research and refer you to other community agencies.  You can access business information in print or on licensed Electronic Databases.  For additional information, contact Reference Services by phone at 769-3541 or online at http://www.lcplin.org.

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