BUSINESS INFORMATION SOURCES MODULE 2 SEEKING FOR BUSINESS

BUSINESS INFORMATION SOURCES MODULE 2: SEEKING FOR BUSINESS INFORMATION – SELECTED WEB-BASED INFORMATION RESOURCES En. IL 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 – – – – Alta. Vista http: //www. altavista. com/ Allthe. Web 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/ – Ref. Desk http: //www. refdesk. com/ 6

General Internet resources and services – … (III) • Deep Web / Invisible Web search tools – Complete. Planet http: //aip. completeplanet. com/ – Deep Web Research (weblog) http: //www. deepwebresearch. info/ – Incy. Wincy: The Invisible Web Search Engine http: //www. incywincy. com/default – The Search. Systems. 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/ • Open. DOAR – 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) • All. Buziness: 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/ • global. EDGE: http: //globaledge. msu. edu/ • Inomics® Econ. Directory: 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/Business. Economics 11

Business dictionaries, encyclopedias, glossaries • Finding dictionaries, encyclopedias, glossaries: – Euro. Term. Bank http: //www. eurotermbank. com/Default. aspx – Glossarist – Business http: //www. glossarist. com/glossaries/business/ – One. Look 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 • global. Edge – Glossary http: //globaledge. msu. edu/resource. Desk/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 • global. Edge – Company Directories: http: //globaledge. msu. edu/resource. Desk/company. Directorie 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/ • Thomas. Net (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. h tml • 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, 00. html • the International Monetary Fund: http: //www. imf. org/external/country/index. htm • the World Bank – Countries & Regions: http: //go. worldbank. org/9 FV 1 KFE 8 P 0 • 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 • Business. Patrol. com – Country Links http: //www. businesspatrol. com/ • Inside World, Inside. Countries http: //www. insideworld. com/, http: //www. insidecountryinfo. com/ 30