Business and corporate

information literacy: Mining the

web for business and
information tools
Barbie E. Keiser
October 2006

The premise
Knowledge workers typically spend 25% of
their workweek seeking and analyzing
information
How much more productive could your
organization be if workers were better
prepared?
What opportunities has your organization
lost?
As a company, what could/should you do?
2

The solution
Cultivate information literacy
What this does for your organization
For your industry
For your country

What is information literacy?

The ability to recognize when there is a
need for information
To determine what information is needed
to make the decision
To be able to identify, locate, evaluate,
and effectively use that information for the
issue or problem at-hand

Socio-economic and political

development are best advanced by

People who recognize their need for

information and can identify, locate,

access, evaluate, and apply the needed
information
Entities that organize and manage
information so that their employees,
suppliers, customers, and joint-venture
partners can easily access and use it
5

In an information literate society

Benefits
Citizenry that can
actively participate in
government decisionmaking
Ability to use egovernment
opportunities

Value
Media-literate,
informed voters
Productivity
Citizens
Government

An informtion literate industry

Benefits
Easy access to
industry from those
abroad
Informed potential
pool of investors

Value
Increased foreign
trade and foreign
direct investment

An information literate entity

Benefits
More efficient
workforce,
experiencing less
frustration
Individual companies
able to take
advantage of
opportunities in an
expeditious manner

Value
Productivity of
workers
Options for
teleworking
(telecommuting)

If the premise is
Knowledge workers typically spend 25% of
their workweek seeking and analyzing
information
Then your job must be to reduce the time
it takes for knowledge workers to find and
analyze information

How do you accomplish that?

Support, encourage, and invest in lifelong
learning
Build industry-specific portals with an information
literacy component
Customize generic education/training programs
for your specific industry
Organize and maintain organizational caches of
information
Understand that policies can influence practice
10

What can we do today?

Provide a framework for identifying what
business information is needed concerning
markets, industries, companies, products, and
services
Review what information is available (and what
is not), which resources have value-added
content and unique data, and how to get the
most for your money (trade-offs)
Demonstrate techniques for finding quality
resources and identifying key alerting
mechanisms
11

Three questions you should ask

Where should I go first?
Where is what I want/need most likely to
be?
Who has done this already?

12

Objectives for any business

intelligence program
Improve your ability to
recognize changes
that are occurring in
the environment
Improve monitoring
efforts
Deepen your
knowledge
Anticipate activities

Be aware of shifts in
focus or emphasis
Interpret & clarify
Determine trends and
interrelationships
Provide insight and
understanding

14

Whats required for success

An organized approach
Keeping up with the
industry

Knowledge of sources

available, source
availability options/
access requirements

Use of secondary sources

that lead to primary
Authentication of quality
content and reputability of
authorship

Negotiation skills
(licensing)
A network of people
Organization of
information from the users
point of view
Distinguishing information
ownership from
management responsibility
Focused on the needs of
the client
Ability to manage
15
expectations

Research associated with BI can

be complex
Topics may be targeted or broad
Often time-sensitive
Involving a combination of environmental
scanning and monitoring
Requiring attention to detail and innovative
research strategies, with knowledge
of/access to a wide range of resources,
both primary and secondary
16

When considering new tools

Diverse types
Complementary (back-ups)

Perils of an Internet start-up

Why the good ones get acquired (and
what happens afterwards)
Finding aids and monitoring tools
Whats right for you
17

Cultivating information expertise

Determine the intelligence requirements
Understand what information is available
(and what is not)
Highlight the best
Educate others & manage expectations
Present business intelligence designed to
initiate ACTION
18

Segment the industry and for

each segment
Acquire lists/directories of companies
participating within each industry segment
Target particular geographic areas
Set financial characteristics (e.g., sales) for
screening purposes
Build company files; construct company profiles
Compare targets qualitatively (strengths/
weaknesses; management styles; markets) and
quantitatively (financials)
Devise strategy(ies)
19

The payoff
Delivery of more timely, more accurate, more
focused information to those who can make the
best use of it
Better decision-making capabilities
Reduced information source redundancy and
minimal duplication of effort
Savings in time, money and effort

20

The simple business intelligence

model
Collect data using a wide variety of sources and
formats
Organize information (and resources) for
multiple uses and users
Judge the value (of information and resources)
Analyze the information
Disseminate information, but communicate
intelligence that leads to ACTION
21

Typical problems
Responsibilities for information gathering are
unclear
Not comprehensive
Ill-equipped information gatherers (and
recipients
Lacking focus
No historical perspective
Data by the truckload (and mostly incomplete)
Lack of support (from senior management)
Resistance (no time or desire to read material collected)

Time mismanagement (too much on gathering,

not enough on analysis)
Unwillingness to share

22

Understanding client needs

What the client does
Where information
plays a role
What type of
information
Ongoing interest vs.
ad-hoc request

Which sources and

tools
Personal preferences
Level of detail
Modes of delivery
Frequency/timing of
delivery
Importance of a stream
of information
(particularly for
discerning trends)
23

The Internet both changes and

helps
How information enters Providing access to
the public domain (and
(global) information
how quickly)
resources
How information is
Timeliness of
distributed (and how
data/updates
quickly)
Economics
What decisions need to
be made regarding the
acceptance of
information
What actions need to be
taken by the recipient

24

Changing your mindset

Dont just look for electronic versions of
print publications
Demand added-value from each site
Be aware of who is responding to
questions

25

Fee-based resources vs. free via

the WWW
Structured (fielded)
data
Special features
(tables, lists, rankings,
multicompany, case
studies, forecasts)

Historical framework
Trend analysis
Future-oriented
(projections)

Contact with sources

Time-sensitive activities
Flexibility
Situation-specific
May be worth the $ in
terms of:
Time spent
Frustration levels
Advanced search
capabilities
Ease of manipulating data
Ability to download
Permission to share with
26
others

How to reach these resources

WWW search engines
(& what you need to
know about how they
work)
Traditional information
sources
Web-based business
information
directories,
databases, portals,
and pathfinders
Selected news
aggregators and feeds

Bibliographies, guides,
journals & books
Personalized news
sources/services
Web channels & industry
servers
Malls and gateways
Portals and vortals
Global business, finance,
investment & trade
Industry-specific sites and
searches
Go direct (single sites)
Virtual everything
Social networking tools

27

Search engines
Indexed search services
Subject directories
Meta-search engines
Toolbars

Region & country-specific

Image handling
Voice (audio) and video
Pods and vods

Metasearch engines
Discussion boards and
chats, wikis and blogs

Caveats
Some are better than
others
Size isnt everything
The freshness test
Handling frames
Dynamically-generated
page search capability
Relevancy & links
Subject specificity
Adding features all the
28
time

Malls & gateways

Resource Discovery Network for Business
Studies
(http://www.vts.rdn.ac.uk/tutorial/bus) is
now Intute (http://www.intute.ac.uk/)
Academic Info Business Administration
(http://www.academicinfo.net/bus.html)
Social Science Business and Management
Information Gateway
(http://www.sosig.ac.uk/business/)
33

Add-ins that will help

WebWhacker
(http://www.bluesquirrel.com)
Copernic
WebFerret by FerretSoft
Bookmarklets
List All Links
(http://www.bookmarklets.co
m/tools/data/index.phtml)
Tool bars
Alert systems
Google Alerts
(http://www.googlealert.com)

Web change notification

Autonomy &Verity
Watch That Page
Infominder
Watch360
ChangeDetect
TrackEngine
Karnak
Website-Watcher
(http://www.aignes.com)
Trackle

34

Keeping up with it all

Locator tools

Current awareness
alerting services

Internet Scout Report & NSDL

(http://scout.cs.wisc.edu)
Freepint (http://www.freepint.com)
Internet Resources Newsletter
(http://www.hw.ac.uk/libWWW/irn/irn.html)
Librarians Index to the Internet
(http://www.lii.org)
Argus Clearinghouse
(http://www.clearinghouse.net)
BUBL (http://www.bubl.ac.uk/l)
The Virtual Chase
(http://www.virtualchase.com/)
LLRX.com (http://www.llrx.com)
ResearchBuzz
Infotogo.com
CyberSkeptics Guide
(http://www.cyberskeptic.com/cs)
AcademicIndex
(http://www.academicindex.net/tools.html)

Clipping services
Reputation monitoring
Personal
Distributed

Sources for these

services
Traditional online
services
Initial Web-based
services (now acquired)
Web-based services

Using colleagues as a
35
resource
BusLib-L

Improving with age

Personalization & mass customization
Globalization & media diversification
Web-based search tools & technology
On the Web
Via the Web
The Invisible Web
CloserLook (http://www.bizinfofinder.com/indsearch/)

Subject specificity
Media-specific

36

Why employ these tools

Identify good sources that
you didnt know before
Global & local
New publications as they
are released
Commentary

Convenience
Incoming formatting
meets your personal
needs
Reformatting for
customized delivery to
others

Personal options
Small Town Papers
Desktop or email
DesktopNews
WorldFlash (ticker)
Pop-up Alerts (TriggerNews)
Headlineviewer
Summary with link to full-text
Web page (NewsIndex)

Sharing your personal

news clips with others
Crayon.net
Web page
Blog
40

Options that make reputation monitors

different from alerting services
What they monitor (sources and media)
How they monitor (and how often)
How well they improve their monitoring
efforts
Search & deliver functionality
Flexibility
Back-end support for further analysis
41

When choosing a news delivery

service
The type of
information you
need
Cost limitations
Presentation format
Headlines
Summary
First paragraph (with
link to full-text)
Full-text

Delivery
mechanism(s)
Scroll ticker vs. email
Push vs. pull vs. cast
Security issues
Redistribution rights

Personal & shared

Clipping services
Current awareness
Reputation
monitoring services
42

What is reputation monitoring?

What people are saying
Press coverage (positive & negative)
Official vs. Web-based
Printed vs. real-time
Editions vs. continuous updates

Competitors, customers, suppliers, employees

To whom (& how many)

How quickly and frequently is this repeated
Effect of the Web
Using these same services to diffuse rumors
43

Blogs
Threads are not enough:
Blogspace needs more
Explicit mechanisms of
clustering and group
formation
Indexing and advanced
classification
Easy shift from headlines
to abstract to first para to
KWIC
Hyperlinking to full-text

Interconnectedness of
Weblogs, bulletin boards,
and chats
Repetitious information
when blogs use similar
feeds
Strength of
moderators/facilitators
Activity of blog
Timeliness of chat
Watch who comments
on what
44

Discussion groups: Lurking &

using
Using Online Discussion
Groups
Post product information
To gain insights on
brand reputation, ways
to improve services,
diffuse erroneous
information
Know that not every
posting warrants a
response
Learning the etiquette of
a group will help you
appreciate how best you
can influence it

Tools for Monitoring (&

More)
Internet FAQ Archives
(http://www.faqs.org/faqs)
TalkCity
Web.icq.com
Socialtext

45

Tools for content integration &

management
Personal content
managers

Collecting, organizing,
publishing, and sharing with
ease

Snippy
(http://www.researchage
Onfolio
nt.com/snippy/)
Traction Software
SurfSaver
firstRain
Tinderbox
Relegence FirstTrack
(http://www.eastgate.co
(http://www.enow.com)
m/Tinderbox/index.html)
InMagic Gatherer & Profiler
(http://www.inmagic.com)
Spurl.net
Furl.net
HTTrack
ContentSaver
Principles of ECM
(http://www.aiim.org)

46

Making sense of that which you

retrieve
Discover & harvest using
intelligent bots
BrightPlanet
Envisional

Intelligent navigation
Endeca
InQuira
Siderean

Text extraction &

analytics
Cymfony
IBMs Webfountain

Content mining
Data, text, & Web
Netowl

Email messages Privacy

& ownership issues
Languistics
Island Duck (for customer
feedback)
Google your email with
Interwingle (http://zoe.nu)
Googles Gmail
(http://gmail.google.com)

47

Different technologies, approaches,

& purposes
Data transformation
Retrievalware & text
categorization
(Convera)
Intelligent tagging
(ClearForest)
CAI (nStein)
Automated
summarization
SurfWax

Decision support
Knowledge.Works
(http://www.ciphersys.com)
Predictive modeling &
scoring
Intelligent Results

48

Reality vs. opinion

Sci/tech proceedings and conference presentations
Government releases
Communism
Revisions
Floating ideas through unnamed sources

Advocacy groups as part of the grassroots community movement

Bias often unstated; sometimes unclear

Newspapers
Corrections
Editions
Ombudsmen

News vs. opinions

Mixing editorial content with news (http://www.opinionpages.org/international.htm)
Separating editorials from news
Editorial analysis within a political campaign
49

Opinion tracking
Polling
Services/Organizations
Topics

New tools for polling

Ease of online voting & sharing results

Consumerism

50

Thinking logically for quality

Pay attention to extensions
Basic information & freshness
Alexa
Bookmarklets

Follow the links (forward & backchaining)

Fagan Finder
Bookmarklets

Visualization tools

Semagix
WebBrain
Anacubis
Grokker
(http://www.groxis.com/service/grok/)
Kartoo
Touchgraph

Excellent regionspecific business sites

Emerging nations and
markets
Reputable world trade
sites
Expanded news sites
Interested parties with
name recognition
Management
consultants
Accounting firms
Commercial &
investment banks

52

Web site evaluation criteria

Source credibility
Purpose
Coverage and scope
Date of creation
Quality

Output options
Documentation
Customer support
Value-to-cost ratio
Privacy
Site map

53

Look for academic curricula & support

Course syllabi
Published articles & working
papers (past & ongoing research)
Dissertations/theses
Case studies
University-based research centers
Databases
Self-archiving
(http://opcit.eprints.org/explore
archives.shtml)
Economics
(http://repec.org)
Open Access Repositories
http://www.opendoar.org/
http://repositories.cdlib.org/esc
holarship/

Subject-specific libraries (e.g.,

business)
Bibliographies & pathfinders
BizEd
(http://www.bized.ac.uk/learn/lea
rn.htm)
Subject Finder Business
Studies
(http://www.subjectfinder.com/ca
tegory/business.asp?q=Busines
s+Studies&s=Search&mode=all)
Scholarly Societies Project
Business, Economics &
Mathematics
(http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/soci
ety/genbuseconmath_soc.html/)
Very Large Database
(http://www.vldb.org/)
54

Three categories of research

Market
Industry
Company

Background
General business climate
Risks
Trade issues, barriers,
statistics
Population, demographics &
social/lifestyle issues
Health, education & religion
Ethics & values
Technology & infrastructure
Legal/regulatory
environment
56

Three categories of research

Market
Industry
Company

Statistics
Legal & regulatory
issues
Technology
Trends & forecasts
Current activity
Structure

57

Three categories of research

Market
Industry
Company

Background data
(Corporate
description)
Financial
performance
Products and services
Markets (and
customers) served
Operations
Employee data
58

Caveats at the market-level

Country
classification
Geographic region
Type of economy
Stage of economic
development
Political
organization

Comparing country
data
Tips
Problems

59

Competition at the country level

Global Competitiveness Program

(http://www.weforum.org)
Competitive Institute
(http://www.competitiveness.org)
International Budget Project
(http://www.internationalbudget.org/resources/si
tes/dev_econ.htm)
Competitive Indicators (World Bank)
World Competitive Yearbook (IMD - Lausanne)
Competition Policy UK
(http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics.htm)
Berkeley Roundtable on the International
Economy (http://brie.berkeley.edu/~briewww/)
Globalization
(http://www.enterweb.org/whatnew.htm)
Index of Economic Freedom - Country Guides
(http://www.heritage.org/research/features/inde
x/countries.cfm)
Competitive Alternatives - KPMG's guide to
international business costs
(http://www.competitivealternatives.com/default.
html)
Doing Business Guides
Deloitte/EIU (www.deloitte.com/tax)
World Bank Benchmarking Business
Regulations
(http://www.doingbusiness.org/)
http://rru.worldbank.org/DoingBusiness
Commercial Guides (US Department of
Commerce)

International Business Reports for Corporate

Intranets! http://www.worldbiz.com/library.html
http://www.foreign-trade.com/reference/ccg.cfm
Country Briefings
(http://www.countrybriefings.com/)
EIU Online Store (http://store.eiu.com/) World
Investment Service
Country Commercial Guides
(http://www.foreigntrade.com/reference/ccg.cfm)
Economist Country Briefings
(http://www.economist.com/countries/)
Library of Congress

Country studies
(http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/bdtoc.html)
Portals to the world
(http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/portals.html)
Country profiles
(http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles.html) &
http://countrystudies.us/ &
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html &
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/csquery.html

EarthTrends Country Profiles

(http://earthtrends.wri.org/country_profiles/index
.php?theme=5)
Country Watch (http://www.countrywatch.com/)
World Economic Forum Country Guides
(http://www.weforum.org/site/knowledgenavigat
or.nsf/Content/KB+Country+Profiles)
60
InfoShop at the World Bank
(http://web.worldbank.org/wbsite/external/public
ation)

Emerging nations and markets

InfoNation
Institute of International Finance Emerging Markets (http://cyberschoolbus.un.org/infonation3/menu/
advanced.asp)
Research (http://www.iif.com/emr/index.quagga)

International Data Base

World Economic Forum (http://www.weforum.org/)
(http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbnew.html)
Regional organizations

Emerging Markets
North-South Institute (http://www.nsi(http://www.emergingmarkets.org)
ins.ca/ensi/index.html)

Snapdata (http://www.snapdata.com/)
Transitions Online
(http://www.tol.cz/look/TOL/home.tpl?IdLanguage=1

Fund Research

International agencies

&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=76)

Governments

Directory of Development Organizations

(http://www.devdir.org/)
S & P Emerging Markets
ISI Emerging Markets - Internet Securities
(http://www.securities.com )
World Marketing Data and Statistics
(http://www.euromonitor.com/womdas.aspx)

Emerging Portfolio http://www.gipinc.com )

Investment Banks

Pangaea Partners
(http://www.pangaeapartners.com/)
Commercial Banks

Wachovia/First Union
(http://www.wachovia.com/corp_inst/page/0,,13_54_
3987_1068,00.html)

Libraries

Canadian International Development Agency

(http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/webresources.htm)
Background Notes (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn)

Commercial databases

International Country Studies Exceptional

links
(http://library.websteruniv.edu/country.html)
http://grove.ship.edu/econ/develop
Igostats (http://www.igostats.com/) Free
trial

Virtual Library on International Development

(www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/virtual.nsf/pages/index_e.htm)

Licensing Digital Information

(http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/develop.shtml)

61

Emerging nations and markets

Libraries
Virtual Library on International Development
(www.acdi
cida.gc.ca/virtual.nsf/pages/index_e.htm)
Finding International Statistics Online
(http://www.lib.umd.edu/MCK/GUIDES/intstat.ht
ml)

GlobalEdge Country Insights

(http://globaledge.msu.edu/ibrd/ibrd.asp)

VIBES (http://library.uncc.edu/vibes/)
Everything International Company & Industry
Data
(http://faculty.philau.edu/russowl/industry.html)
Resources for International Business &

Marketing
(http://www.csuchico.edu/%7Ewd6/classes/intlm
ktg2.htm)

Research Guides Baker Library

(http://www.library.hbs.edu/guides/#3)
Least developed country report
(http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Page.asp?intItemI
D=3073&lang=1)
Investment Promotion Network Direct Foreign
Investment (http://www.ipanet.net/infores)

Development Gateway
(http://home.developmentgateway.org/)

ABCNews.coms Country Profiles

Oxford Economics (http://www.oef.com/)

(http://www.gale.com/reference/archive/20000
2/abc22gif.html)
Economics, Business, and Environment
Country Profiles
(http://earthtrends.wri.org/country_profiles/ind
ex.php?theme=5)
Economist Country Briefings
(http://www.economist.com/countries/)
Eldis Statistics Guide
(http://www.eldis.org/statistics/index.htm)
Finding International Statistics Online
(http://www.lib.umd.edu/MCK/GUIDES/intstat.
html)
Global Knowledge for Development
(http://notes.edc.org/GLG/GKD/repo.nsf/searc
h)
Global Gateway
(http://international.loc.gov/intldl/intldlhome.ht
ml)
Resources for International Economic
Development
(http://grove.ship.edu/econ/develop/)
OneWorld NationsOnline
(http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/)
62
UNIDO
(http://www.unido.org/data/regions.cfm?area=

Problems with comparing

country data

Base years
Methods of estimating
Methods of data collection
Extent of coverage*
Precision of definition
Scope of territory
Margins of error
Currency conversion
Updates & revisions*

63

Tips for comparing country data

The more detailed the publication, the
greater the time lag
The more accurate the statistics, the
greater the time lag
Appreciate how the Internet changes
the equation

64

Economic and trade data

National accounts
Measures of inflation
Labor statistics
Financial statistics
Risk
Foreign trade
65

Economic data
Dont limit your search to government sites
for the country in which you are interested
Try international agencies, other
governments (3rd countries), commercial &
academic sites

66

Economic data collection issues

Measuring National
Accounts
Effect of inflation
Measures of inflation
Use GDP deflator for
macro analysis
Use PPI or CPI, as
appropriate

Political environment
Exchange rates

Purchasing Power
Parity Index (PPP)
tries to factor in the
underground
economy and other
intangibles
For a truer cost of
living, try the Big Mac
Index
Relocation services
67
Hotel costs

Labor
Issues
Employment &
unemployment statistics
Labor laws & regulations
Temporary help,
outsourcing, & offshoring
http://www.epinet.org/cont
ent.cfm/issueguide_offsho
ring
Outsourcing Institute
(http://www.outsourcing.co
m/)

Sources
International
Organizations
Governments
Labor unions
Think tanks
Advocacy groups

74

Risk issues

External factors affecting country

Internal groupings (points of power)
Political parties (in and out of power)
Other important groups
Internal factors
Specific projects

78

Foreign trade data collection

issues

Classification of goods
Place of final destination
Valuation
Discontinuities and revisions
Lack of regionalized definitions

80

Trade data & opportunities

LexMercatoria (http://lexmercatoria.net/)
Revised Guide to International Trade Law
Sources on the Internet
(http://www.llrx.com/features/trade3.htm)
International Trade Statistics
(http://www.intracen.org/tradstat/)
Harmonized tariff schedule
(http://www.itds.treas.gov/)
Agency for International Trade Information &
Cooperation
(http://www.acici.org/aitic/index.html)
GATT Digital Library through 1994
(http://gatt.stanford.edu/page/home)
WTO & GATT Research
(http://www.law.nyu.edu/library/wtoguide.html)
Free Trade Area of America (http://www.ftaaalca.org/Alca_e.asp)
Summit of the Americas
(http://www.americasnet.net/)
International Chamber of Commerce
(http://www.iccwbo.org/)
US Chamber of Commerce
(http://www.uschamber.com/International/defa
ult.htm)

Federation for International Trade

Organizations (http://www.fita.org/) is
the source for international import
export trade leads, events, and links to
8,000 international trade (export import)
related Websites
International Business Resource Center
(http://www.ibrc.business.ku.edu/)
Bridge Between NAICS and SIC
(http://www.census.gov/epcd/ec97brdg/)
http://www.melissadata.com/LookUps/si
c.asp
Conversion to NAICS
(http://stats.bls.gov/ces/cesnais.htm)
Industry trade data
(http://www.macalester.edu/research/ec
onomics/PAGE/HAVEMAN/Trade.Reso
urces/TradeConcordances.html#FromN
ACE)
Concordance NAICS NACE
(http://www.statcan.ca/english/Subjects/
Standard/concordances/naics2002-tonacerev1-1.htm)
81

Trade data & opportunities

Trade Statistics Overview (http://docs.lib.duke.edu/maps/guides/trade_overview.html)

Danish Exporters (http://www.krak.dk/scripts/danishexporters/danishexporters_forside.asp)
BizEurope
Global Trade Center Trade Leads (www.tradezone.com)
UK Trade & Investment (https://www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk/ukti/appmanager/ukti/splash)
UK Trade Info Data & Prices (http://www.uktradeinfo.com/index.cfm?task=tradedata)
Holland Exports (http://www.hollandexports.com/)
Indian Exporters Directory (http://www.infodriveindia.com/)
Doing Business Abroad (http://www.infoexport.gc.ca/ie-en/MarketReportsAndServices.jsp) & Trade
Data Online (http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_mrkti/tdst/engdoc/tr_homep.html)
International Business Forum (www.ibf.com)
Manhattan International Development Corporation
(http://www.manhattanidc.org/marketplace/resources/default.cfm?clientID=11002&typeID=3)
TradeExpress International Directory (www.trade-express.com) the most complete product
directory for volume buyers to find suppliers, exporters and OEM manufacturers.
Tradematch (www.tradematch.co.uk) provides international trade opportunities through new
markets, partners and customers overseas
Inform Katalog & Export (http://www.inform.cz/inp/main.html) database of profitable and export
companies ready to offer their products and services on Czech and international market
World Trade Markets (www.wtm.com) SEARCH system to cater for the capturing, dissemination
and searching of Trade Point Trade Leads (ETO's-Electronic Trade Opportunities) throughout the
world
Statistical Tradeflow Database (http://mkaccdb.eu.int/cgi-bin/stb/stat/comext.pl?action=search)
UN Trade Statistics Database (http://unstats.un.org/unsd/comtrade/) & Crosswalk
82
(http://www.unspsc.org/)
Market Access & Compliance (http://trade.gov/mac/)

Web help for firms seeking

overseas trade

International Trade Administration (US Department of Commerce) www.ita.doc.gov

US ITC Tariff & Trade Database (http://dataweb.usitc.gov/scripts/tariff.asp)
US International Trade Statistics are available from the Foreign Trade Division, US
Census Bureau (www.census.gov/ftp/pub/foreign-trade/www)
National Trade Data Bank (www.stat-usa.gov)
Export USA Publications (www.exportusa.com)
U.S. Customs Rulings (http://rulings.customs.gov/)
Export.gov & BuyUSA.gov
Market Access & Compliance (http://www.mac.doc.gov/)
TradeNet Online (http://www.tradenet.com/)
Outsourcing & Offshoring (http://www.outsourcingoffshore.us/)
Port Connecticut (http://portconnecticut.com/webring.html)
TradersCity Index (http://www.traderscity.com/board/)
Export Services China (http://www.exportservices.be/china.htm)
Foreign Trade Information System (http://www.sice.oas.org/)
Cato Center for Trade Policy (http://www.freetrade.org/)
Dialog TradeStat (http://www.tradstat.com/)
TradeStats Express State Data
(http://tse.export.gov/SEDHome.aspx?UniqueURL=d4mlwl45qujiisqmbqjcn5ry-2005-21-12-52-24)
http://www.buyusainfo.net/
Virtual World Trade Reference Room (http://www.ita.doc.gov/td/industry/otea/ref- 83
room.html)

Demographic data & data

collection issues
Population
Age distribution
Urban & rural

Income (& income

distribution)

Methodology
Collection time
Definitions

Per capita

84

Where to find it (and who can

help)

International agencies & NGOs

Government sources (national & local levels)
Associations & not-for-profit organizations
Market, industry, & company research reports
Conferences, events, & exhibitions
Universities, research centers & think tanks
Identification
Collections
Case studies

Experts
Libraries: Public, academic & virtual libraries with
excellent business collections, research guides, or
links
Press

89

International (and regional)

agencies and NGOs
United Nations (http://www.un.org)
UN System
(http://www.unsystem.org)

Agencies within the UN

Office of the High Commissioner

on Human Rights
(http://www.unhchr.ch/)

Commissions

Links to agencies
(http://www.unece.org/stats/links.
htm

UN Economic & Social

Commission of Asia & the Pacific
(http://www.unescap.org)

Specific publications

Government Gazettes Online

(http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/
gazettes/index.htm)
EuroStat (part of Europa site)

World Bank Group

(http://www.worldbank.org)
International Monetary Fund
(http://www.imf.org)
Regional Development Banks (ADB,
EBRD, CDV)
Regional Conferences and Cooperatives
OAS, OECD, ASEAN, PAHO
European Union
(http://www.europa.eu.int)
Directorates General
(http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs_en.h
tm)
Aid agencies, rescue missions,
humanitarian efforts
Official Government Servers
(http://www.gksoft.com/govt/en/)
Statistical agencies
(http://www.ssb.no/english/links)
US Census Bureau Statistical Agencies
International
(http://www.census.gov/main/www/stat_i
90
nt.html)

Global and regional

resources

Economist Intelligence Units EIUs latest (www.eiu.com)

Central European Business Daily (www.cebd.com)
NewsBase (http://www.newsbase.com/)
Transitions Online
(http://www.tol.cz/look/TOL/home.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4
&NrIssue=161)
East Europe and Russia News
(http://khan.interaccess.com/intelweb/eeurope.html)
Central Europe Online (http://www.einnews.com/centraleurope/ )
Corruption Perceptions Index (http://www.transparency.de)
CIA World Factbook
Country Information with sample country report
(http://www.countryreports.org/)
EmbassyWorld.com
BBC News Country Profiles
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles/default.stm)
Foreign Government Resources on the Web
(http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/foreign.html)
Local Economic Development Initiatives (http://www.ledis.co.uk/)

91

Associations & not-for-profit

agencies
Trade associations
International
Regional
Single country

Advocacy groups

News
Membership lists
Online magazines &
e-newsletters
Statistical data

National level
Cross-border
cooperation
Local community
groups

Topic-specific
96

Who issues market & industry research

reports (and how do I locate them)?
International agencies,
governments, & NGOs
Government agencies
Associations
Research organizations &
think tanks

Management consultants
Accounting firms
Securities analysts
Investment banks
Commercial banks
BestCalls.com & CallStreet.com

NIRAs World Directory of Think

Tanks
(http://www.nira.go.jp/linke/ttlink/index.html)
US (http://www.nira.go.jp/linke/ttlink/lec/lec-179.html)
Collections

Research from multiple

institutions

PolicyFile
Index of Urban Documents
(http://www.urbdocs.com)

Individual firms
Stock trading/data sites
Sci/tech

ResourceShelfs DocuTicker
(http://www.docuticker.com/)

Thomsons Research Bank

Investext
(http://research.thomsonib.co
m/)

97

Sci/tech research is different

R&D
NTIS
Federal R & D (http://www.osti.gov/fedrnd/)
Battelle
http://www.saibooks.com/rnd.html
Conference proceedings
Interdok
Quality/Benchmarking Best Practices
American Productivity & Quality Center
(http://www.apqc.org)
American Society for Quality
(http://www.asq.org)
Baldridge National Quality Program
(http://www.quality.nist.gov/)
British Quality Foundation (http://www.qualityfoundation.co.uk/)
EFQM.org
Institute of Quality Assurance
(http://www.iqa.org)
Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers
(http://www.juse.or.jp/e/index.html)
Online Quality Resource Guide
(http://deming.eng.clemson.edu/onlineq.html)
Qualitymag.com
Best Manufacturing Practices
(http://www.bmpcoe.org/index.html)

Standards

ISO
(http://www.iso.org/iso/en/isoonline.fro
ntpage)
American National Standards Institute
(http://www.ansi.org/)
Standards Australia
(http://www.standardsaustralia.com/)
British Standards Online
(http://www.bsonline.bsiglobal.com/server/index.jsp)
HIS/Global (http://global.ihs.com/)

TechSavvy.com

IFAC.org (accountancy)
Standardization resources
(http://thinkstandards.net/resources.ht
ml)
ASTM Standards Worldwide
(http://www.astm.org/cgibin/SoftCart.exe/index.shtml?E+mystor
e)
Techstreet.com (Thomson)

100

Patents & trademarks

Official government sites

Intellectual Property Digital Library
(http://www.wipo.int/ipdl/en/index.jsp)
European Patent Office
(http://www.european-patentoffice.org/onlinelinks/)
UK Patent Office
(http://www.patent.gov.uk/)
Japan Patent Office
(http://www.jpo.go.jp/)
Canada
(http://strategis.gc.ca/sc_mrksv/cipo/
welcome/welcom-e.html)
http://patents1.ic.gc.ca/intro-e.html

US
(http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/i
do/oeip/catalog/products/cassis.htm)

http://www.uspto.gov/patft/
Patent Classification homepage
(http://www.uspto.gov/go/classification/)

Reputable databases
http://www.llrx.com/columns/rou
ndup21.htm
Micropat.com
http://www.questel.orbit.com/ind
ex.htm
http://www.thomsonpatentstore.
net/derwent/index_ipr.html
IFI Claims Patent Database
(http://www.ificlaims.com/)

Commercial patent search

services
Patent attorneys
FreshPatents.com
PatentLawLinks.com
Patent Pending Blogs
101
(http://patentpending.blogs.com/)

Industry & company-specific case studies,

& management discussions
Darden Case Collection (http://www.darden.edu/)
Thunderbird Case Series (http://www.tbird.edu/faculty_research/case_series/index.htm)
Harvard Business School case studies
(http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/products/cases/collections.html) and
(http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu)
INSEAD (http://www.insead.fr/facultyresearch/)
COLIS/European Case Clearing House database
(http://www.ecch.cranfield.ac.uk)
CasePlace.org
Babson College Case Collection
(http://www3.babson.edu/Publications/Cases/Catalog/ )
IMD Case Studies (http://www02.imd.ch/research/publications/)
Knowledge@Wharton (http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu)
HSB Working Knowledge (http://hbswk.hbs.edu/)
Business Case Analysis (http://www.solutionmatrix.com/)
Knowledge@Wharton (http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu)
102

Conferences, events, &

exhibitions
Program
Topics
Speakers

Exhibitors
Schedule
Alerts

Associations
Journals/newsletters
Individual publishers
(http://www.wkap.nl/home/confsched/)
Academic institutions

International Association of Fairs &

Exhibitions
Exhibition halls in major cities
(http://www.fairsandexpos.com)
Trade show organizers
All Conferences
Country-specific
(http://www.allconferences.com)
Industry-specific
Meetingsnet
Finance (http://www.financial(http://meetingsnet.com)
conferences.com/)
Kalends from Reuters
ExpoWorld
(http://www.kalends.com/dotcom/th
(http://www.expoworld.net)
isweek.htm)
Papers Invited
Business technology
(http://www.techvenue.com/)
103
(http://www.papersinvited.com/sear
ch/Search.asp)
Conference Alerts
(http://www.conferencealerts.com)

Sites with conference calendars

Experts

Subject listings
Regional listings
Experts.com
Expert Witnesses (http://jurispro.com/expertList.asp)
Yearbook of Experts - US
(http://www.yearbook.com/)
Scholaruniverse.com
Scholarly Societies Project (http://www.scholarlysocieties.org/)
FANET News Sources
(http://www.facsnet.org/sources/newssources/)
Experts & Services
(http://resources.martindale.com/mhes/index.jsp) 104

Academic business libraries

Resouces on international Business

(http://caxton.emich.edu/guide/guide.php?id
=191)
Academic Library Business Pages
(http://www.lib.washington.edu/business/abl.
html)
Business History
(http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/history/res/bush
is/)
Guide for Researching Business Topics
(http://business.library.wisc.edu/Research_
Guides/index.html)
Guide to Company Information Using Only
the Internet
(http://www.ithaca.edu/library/biblio/compan
ynet.htm)
International Business Resource
Connection
(http://www.ibrc.bschool.ukans.edu/country_
resources/country_resources.htm)
Virtual International Business & Economic
Sources
(http://library.uncc.edu/display/?dept=refere
nce&format=open&page=68)

International Business Internet Links

(http://www.tarleton.edu/~library/internatvus_il.html)
InfoMine (http://infomine.ucr.edu/cgibin/search?category=busecon)
MSU-Ciber
(http://globaledge.msu.edu/ibrd/ibrd.asp)
International/Country Studies
(http://library.websteruniv.edu/country.html)
Internet Resources UC at Berkeley
(http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/BUSI/bbg18.html)
Rutgers University Research Guides
(http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/rr_gateway/rese
arch_guides/busi/business.shtml)
Company Research (http://tinyurl.com/m6cg)
International Business (http://tinyurl.com/m6cj)
Simon Fraser University Research Guides
(http://www.lib.sfu.ca/researchhelp/subjectguides/bu
s/business.htm#3) &
(http://www.lib.sfu.ca/researchhelp/subjectguides/bu
s/intlmkt.htm)
University Libraries University at Albany SUNY
(http://library.albany.edu/subject/business.html)
Penn World Tables
(http://datacentre.chass.utoronto.ca/pwt/index.html)
105

Virtual libraries
Wall Street Executive Library
(http://www.executivelibrary.com)
Krislyns Strictly Business Sites
(http://www.strictlybusinesssites.com/)
Phil Bradleys Company & Business Information
(http://www.philb.com/bizlink1.htm) out of date
Martindales Reference Desk
(http://www.martindalecenter.com/)
Washington Researchers International Information
(http://www.washingtonresearchers.com/public/InternetG
uide/InternetGuide.html)
Library Spot (http://www.libraryspot.com)
Virtual Pet Industry Research Desk
106
(http://www.virtualpet.com/industry)

What journalists uncover (and

where they publish)

Wire services
General news + business wires
Company News Group
European Corporate Press
Releases
(http://www.companynewsgroup.c
om/)
Traditional broadcasters & news
programs
Newspapers
Magazines
Business journals
Management
Trade journals (magazines &
newsletters)
Scholarly journals
Open Access

Traditional database options &

the Invisible Web
Database producers
Database vendors
Content aggregators

Commercial sites with

business data & links
e-zines
Newsgroups, bulletin boards,
chats & blogs
Scholarly discussions
Bloggator.com/business

Personalized news services

Clipping services
Current awareness alerts
Corporate reputation monitors
107

Wire services
Individual Web sites
Search engine indexing
and directory services
http://dir.yahoo.com/business_
and_economy/companies/new
s_and_media/news_services/
press_releases.html

Personalized news
services
Business Web sites
with feeds & links
Traditional online
databases

BusinessWire.com
USNewswire.com
AP
Reuters
PRNewswire
Canadian Press
News Service
(http://www.cp.org/)
108

Audio & video

American Rhetoric Online Speech
Bank
(http://www.americanrhetoric.com/spe
echbank.htm)

Federal News Service

(http://www.fnsg.com/)

CNN
(http://www.cnn.com/video/netshow/)
Online NewsHour
(http://www.pbs.org/newshour/video/)
OnDemand Global Voices

(http://www.wrn.org/listeners/stations/i
ndex.php?CurrentLetter=1)

Salon Audio
(http://dir.salon.com/topics/audio)

Shadow TV
(http://www.shadowtv.com/mo
nitoring_2.html)
Singingfish
(http://www.singingfish.com/)
MediaChannel
DocuSeek
(http://www.docuseek.com/wc
.dll?docprocess~startsearch)
Television News Archives
(http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/)
Gary Price Speech &
Transcript Center
(http://www.freepint.com/gary/
speech.htm)
109

Think global, act local

Television/radio networks

News & Information via Streaming

Audio & Video
(http://www.freepint.com/gary/audio.
htm)
NewsIQ

BBC Online (www.bbc.co.uk)

BBC World News
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/)

BBC News Programmes

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/program
mes/default.stm)

BBC Radio On Demand

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/inde
x.shtml)
BBC News Advanced Search
(http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/engli
sh/static/advquery/query.htm)
BBC Monitoring
(http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk/)

Specific news programs on those

networks
Joint ventures
MSNBC business video
(http://www.cnbcdowjones.com/)

Blinx.tv
Feedroom

Transcripts

Links to stations
Live Radio & Television from
Around the World (http://broadcastlive.com/)
Web Radio Online (http://www.webradio.com/in_list.cfm)
World Radio Network
(http://www.wrn.org/)
Radio Locator
vTuner
NewsSearchPortal
WorldLinkTV
World News Network
(http://www.wn.com)

World News Business

(http://www.businessjournal.com/)

110

Newspapers
International
International Herald
Tribune

Regional reputation
Wall Street Journal
(Asian edition)

National
Business
Financial Times

Local
Go direct

Collections of links
Academic
Commercial

Traditional online
databases
Content aggregators
Tools for Journalists
(http://powerreporting.c
om/category/Alerts_for
_journalists)
111

Magazines & newsletters

Electronic versions of
print products
Abbreviated versions of
print (selected articles
from print edition)
Print version plus
Interactivity

Archives & full-text

Access to multiple titles

with sophisticated
search capability
Traditional databases
Web-based services

Created for the Web

MagPortal
FindArticles
(Looksmart)
MetaPress
Questia
Biblioalerts
Digital Librarian
(http://www.digitallibrarian.com/)
Newsletter Access
Alternative Press
(http://altpress.org/)
Kiplinger Forecasts

112

Business & management journals

Access to multiple titles
Worldclass
(http://web.idirect.com/~tiger/n
ews.htm)
Intellisearch
(www.intellisearchnow.com)
Business Publications Search
Engine
(http://www.bpubs.com)

Value-added business data

available from print journals
you know
Business Week Online
Global Business
(http://www.businessweek.co
m/globalbiz/index.html)
Forbes

Available from
travel/promotional sites
Resources for
management
MeansBusiness.com
Bestofbiz.com
Small businesses
Women-owned
Entrepreneurs
Special issues
(http://www.specialissues
.com/lol/)
113

Scholarly journals

Peer review
Individual publishers
Content aggregators
Individual universities
Consortia
Open access
Directory of Open Access
Journals (http://www.doaj.org)
Lists Related to the Open
Access Movement
(http://www.earlham.edu/~peter
s/fos/lists.htm#actions)

American Scientist Open

Access Forum (http://amsciforum.amsci.org/archives/) or
mirror
(http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~
harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/inde
x.html)

Association of
Learned and
Professional Society
Publishers
(http://www.alpspcollection.org/)
Highwire
(http://highwire.stanfo
rd.edu/)
Project Muse
(http://muse.jhu.edu/)
114

E-zines & discussion groups

Serials in Cyberspace
(http://www.uvm.edu/~maclenn)
American NewJour

(http://gort.ucsd.edu/newjour)
Electronic Journal Miner
(http://ejournal.coalliance.org)

CataList

(http://www.lsoft.com/catalist.html)
Kovacs Directory of Scholarly and

Professional e-conferences
(http://www.kovacs.com/directory)
PhDWeblogs

(http://phdweblogs.net/)

Yahoo! Groups
(http://groups.yahoo.co
m) formerly Egroups
Google Groups
(http://groups.google.co
m) formerly Dejanews
Tile.net
Liszt
(http://www.topica.com)
Beaucoup!
(http://www.beaucoup.c
om/2comeng.html)
NetNews Tracker
(Usenet groups)
116

Trade publications
Directories
General business
directories

Global
Regional
Country-specific
Local

Industry specific
Industry Web sites with
company
listings/directories

Traditional vs. created

for the Web
Comprehensive?
Accurate?
Up-to-date?

Journals, magazines,
& newsletters
Annual reviews
Index to special issues
Lists & rankings
Databases that permit
field screening

117

Structure of an industry

Companies
Market analysis
Products
Customers
Trends
Import/export activity
Distribution methods

118

Typical questions: Marketing and

industry overview
Which firms are the competition and what
are their comparative market shares,
growth prospects, and overall marketing
strategies?
What trends/developments are taking
place within the industry and what is their
(likely) impact on each company?

119

Industry data collection issues

Definition of an industry
Description/line of business
International and national codes
Product/Vendor codes

Measure performance
Terminology employed

Accounting standards
Characteristics of a company set
Ratios
http://www.bized.ac.uk/compfact/ratios/index.htm

Statistics for benchmarking

BizStats.com
120

Industry & manufacturing favorites

Industrial News Alerts

(http://www.industrialinfo.com/index.jsp)
TheManufacturer.com
Alacra Industry Spotlights
(http://www.alacrawiki.com/index.php?title=Alacra_In
dustry_Spotlights)
Current Industrial Reports
(http://www.census.gov/cir/www/alpha.html)
Industry Profiles 2004
(http://www.itds.treas.gov/commodityprof.html)
FirstResearch.com
BizMiner.com
ValuationResources.com
IndustryLink
IndustryWeek.com
WWW Manufacturing Sites
(http://www.twi.co.uk/j32k/unprotected/band_1/manu
flinks.html)
ResearchConnect.com
Global Industry Analysis (http://www.strategyr.com/)
Material Data Sheets
(http://www.matweb.com/index.asp?ckck=1)
Trade.gov Manufacturing & Services
(http://www.trade.gov/mas/)
Industry & Market Reports from Thomson-Gale
(http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/page_subscribe_in
dustries)

and Snapshot International Industry Search

(http://www.snapshotsinternational.com/index.ph
p?mmodule=industry)
CorpTech
Industries Reuters
(http://www.investor.reuters.com/IndSectList.asp
x?indtrgpage=%2findustries%2findhighlights%2fi
ndustrycenter&target=%2findustries%2findhighli
ghts%2fbrowseindustries%2findbysectors&indsc
rpage=%2f%2findustries)
Resources for Industry Analysis
(http://www.lib.duke.edu/reference/subjects/busi
ness/industry.htm)
Industry Data Finder
(http://www.rh.edu/library/industry/industry.htm)
Industry Sector Information from RBA
(http://www.rba.co.uk/sources/industry.shtml)
Penn State Libraries Industry Research Guides
(http://www.libraries.psu.edu/business/industryg
uides/default.htm)
Industry EU Catalogue (http://www.industryeu.com/)
Baker Library Research Guides
(http://www.library.hbs.edu/guides/#3)
SPG Media (http://sites.spgmedia.com/)
Industry Information
(http://www.ita.doc.gov/td/industry/otea/submen
u3.html)
Yahoo!
http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/ind_index.html 121
http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/

My favorites: Statistics
Business Statistics
(http://www.bizstats.com/)
GlobalEdge
(http://globaledge.msu.ed
u/ibrd/busresmain.asp?R
esourceCategoryID=10)
Statistical Resources on
the Web
(http://www.lib.umich.edu/
govdocs/stats.html)
Statistics Sources
(http://www.rba.co.uk/sou
rces/stats.htm)

Internet Glossary of
Statistical Terms
(http://www.animatedsoft
ware.com/statglos/statglo
s.htm)
Elementary Concepts in
Statistics
(http://www.statsoft.com/t
extbook/esc1.html)
WWW Virtual Library
(http://www.stat.ufl.edu/vli
b/statistics.html)
122

Small business, women-owned

businesses, and entrepreneurship

All-biz.com
AllBusiness.com
Auroras Business Womens Diversity Network
(http://www.busygirl.co.uk/home.asp)
Business support, information, and advice
(http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/home?&domain=www.busine
sslink.org)
Business Zone (http://www.businesszone.co.uk/)
CatalystWomen.org
CCH Business Owners Toolkit (http://toolkit.cch.com/text/P02_9000.asp)
Center for Women & IT (http://www.umbc.edu/cwit/)
Center for Womens Business Research (http://www.nfwbo.org/)
Center for Womens Global Leadership (http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/)
D&Bs small business center (http://www.dobusiness.net/microsite/ipp/entry.asp?l=501)
Entrepreneur.com
Entrepreneurs Startup Kit (http://www.entrepreneur.com/toolkit)
HBS Entrepreneurs (http://www.hbs.edu/entrepreneurs/)
Kauffman eVenturing
(http://www.eventuring.org/eShip/appmanager/eVenturing/eVenturingDeskt
op)
Office of Entrepreneurial Developmnet (http://www.onlinewbc.gov/)
Global Information Network for SMEs (http://www.gin.sme.ne.jp/)
Institute for Womens Leadership (http://www.womensleadership.com/)
Finance Resources from Krislyns Strictly Business Sites
(http://www.strictlybusinesssites.com/fin.htm)
MoreBusiness.com
Tripod Small Business (http://www.tripod.lycos.com/smallbiz/index.html)
SmallBusiness.com
Small Business Resource Center (http://www.onebiz.smartonline.com/)
Network (http://www.bwni.com/)
Small Business Service
(http://www.sbs.gov.uk/sbsgov/action/home?&domain=www.sbs.gov.uk)
Industry Specific Business Guides and Business Profile Supports, Missouri
Small Businss Development Centers
(http://www.missouribusiness.net/iag/index.asp)

SOHO Online (http://www.soho.org/)

StartBusiness.co.uk
PowerHomeBiz.com
EnterWeb.org
Business Womens Business Plan Workbook
(http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/nycbiz/downloads/pdf/the_plan.pdf)
Incorporating a business (http://www.bizfilings.com/learning/index.asp)
Internet assistance, business advice (http://www.isbc.com/Index.cfm)
Small Business Library (http://www.bizoffice.com/library/library.html)
Starting a small business Business Plans (http://www.bplans.com/st/)
Microsoft Small Business Center
(http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/hub.mspx)
National Small Business Association (http://www.nsba.biz/)
National Womens Business Council (http://www.nwbc.gov/)
NYPL Business Owners Manual
(http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/smallbiz/business/writing/writing_intro.
html)
Sample Business Plans (http://www.bplans.com/sp/businessplans.cfm)
Small Business Startup Guide
(http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/startup/guide.html)
Small Business Regulations
(http://www.sba.gov/starting/regulations.html)
SBA Office of Advocacy (http://www.sba.gov/advo/)
Small Business Websites that Work
(http://www.sean.co.uk/books/sbwtw/index.shtm)
SmallBusiness.FindLaw.com
SBA Start-Up (http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/)
Small Business Advancement (http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/)
Small Business & Self-Employed (http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/)
Small Business Resources for Women in Business
(http://www.womanowned.com/)
SmaillBusinessTrends.com
Federation of Small Business (http://www.fsb.org.uk/)
The Hartfords Small Business Insurance Center
(http://sb.thehartford.com/)
Small Business Facts 2006 (http://www.census.gov/PressRelease/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/006
601.html)
Yahoo! Small Business (http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/)

123

Funding a business

Small Business Funding

(http://www.4smallbusiness.com/)
European Venture Capital
Association
(http://www.evca.com/html/home.a
sp)
http://privateequity.dowjones.com/
National Business Incubation
Association (http://www.nbia.org/)
http://www.buyoutsnewsletter.com
Capital Growth Interactive
(http://www.capitalgrowth.com/)
Directory of venture capital firms
(http://www.vfinance.com/)
European Venture Capital Journal
(http://www.evcj.com/)
VentureXpert
(http://vx.thomsonib.com/NASApp/
VxComponent/VXMain.jsp)
Venture Capital Firms Directory
(http://www.vcfv.com/)

http://www.efinancialnews.com/pen/
CanadaVC.com
NVST.com
S&P Leveraged Commentary & Data
(http://www.pmdzone.com/)
PWC MoneyTree Report
(http://www.pwcmoneytree.com/money
tree/index.jsp)
PrivateEquityWeek.com
InternetNews Venture Capital
(http://www.internetnews.com/new/vc.c
gi)
Venture Capital Journal
(http://www.venturecapitaljournal.net)
Venture Economics
National Venture Capital Association
(http://www.nvca.com/)
Capitaliq.com (from S&P)
Deal Flow
(http://www.businessweek.com/the_thr
124
ead/dealflow/)
TheDeal.com

Accounting and tax favorites

AccountantsWorld.com
Accounting & Finance
(http://www.bized.ac.uk/fme/1.htm)
AccountingEducation.com
AccountingWEB (http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/)
AICPA.org & CPA2biz.com
Chartered Institute of Taxation
(http://www.tax.org.uk/)
CPA.net
Federation of Tax Administrators
(http://www.taxadmin.org/)
Grays Inn Tax Chambers (http://www.taxbar.com/)
http://www.irs.ustreas.gov
Accounting Research Manager CCH free trial
online
(http://www.accountingresearchmanager.com)
Accounting Terminology Guide
(http://www.nysscpa.org/prof_library/guide.htm)
Institute of Chartered Accountants in England &
Wales (http://www.icaew.co.uk)
International Federation of Accountants
(http://www.ifac.org/index.tmpl)
Learning Materials Accounting
(http://www.bized.ac.uk/learn/accounting/index.htm)
Lex Mundi International Tax Desk Book
(http://www.lexmundi.com)
Lectures in Accountancy
(http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu/digital/saxe/toc.ht
m)

PriceWaterhouseCoopers Comperio free trial

(http://www.pwcglobal.com)
SmartPros Accounting
(http://accountingnet.com/)
Tax & Accounting Sites Directory
(http://www.taxsites.com)
WebCPA
http://accounting.rutgers.edu/
Accounting Research Network
(http://www.ssrn.com/arn/index.html)
State Government Tax Collection
(http://www.census.gov/govs/www/statetax.html)
State Tax Central
(http://www.statetaxcentral.com/)
TaxAnalysts.com
Tax Database World
(http://www.lawresearch.com/v2/dbtax8a.htm#to
a)
International Tax and Investment Center
(http://iticnet.org/)
AuditNet.org
AccountancyAge.com
Europa
(http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/acco
unting/ias_en.htm)
Robert Half Finance
(http://www.roberthalffinance.com/)
International Financial Reporting Standards
(http://www.iasplus.com/country/useias.htm)125
Tax Policy Center
(http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/home/)

Sources for information re:

corporate governance

BoardroomInsider.com
Business for Social Responsibility
(http://www.bsr.org/)
Corporate Board Member Magazine
(http://www.boardmember.com/)
Corporate Directors Forum
(http://www.directorsforum.com/)
Corporate Governance
(http://www.corpgov.net/)
Corporate Monitoring
(http://www.corpmon.com/)
Corporate Responsibility
(http://www.datacenter.org/research/corpr
esponsibility.htm)
DirectorsandBoards.com
European Corporate Governance
Institute (http://www.ecgi.org/)
Executive Paywatch
(http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/pay
watch/)
Free Complete Toolkit for Boards
(http://www.managementhelp.org/boards/
boards.htm)
Global Reporting Initiative
(http://www.globalreporting.org/)

Institutional Shareholder Services Corporate

Governance Blog
(http://www.issproxy.com/index.jsp) & ISS
Governance Center
(http://www.issproxy.com/governance/public
ations/governanceweekly.jsp)
International Finance Corp
(http://www.gcgf.org/)
Investor Responsibility Research Center
(http://www.irrc.org/)
Society of Corporate Secretaries
(http://www.governanceprofessionals.org/sit
es.shtml)
Corporate Governance Links from the
Corporate Library (http://www.lenslibrary.com/)
HBS Corporate Governance
(http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/olin_c
enter/corporate_governance/)
Business Roundtable Task Force
(http://www.businessroundtable.org/taskForc
es/index.aspx#CorporateGovernance)
Social Investment Forum
(http://www.sriadvocacy.org/)
Weinberg Center
(http://www.lerner.udel.edu/ccg/first.htm) 126

Searching for company

information
Prospecting
Soliciting
new business
related business
more business

Managing
accounts
risks

Analyzing
competitors
clients/customers
comparables

127

A level of progression
Identifying companies within an industry
segment
Verifying basic company information
Obtaining an overview of a company
Building an in-depth profile

128

Defining the company

Legal status
Public vs. private/listed vs. unlisted
Stock vs. mutual

Corporate affiliation/relationships
Parent or subsidiary
Headquarters location
Joint venture partnership

Domestic or foreign-based
State/country of domicile
License to operate

129

Sources for lists

Embassies & Chambers of Commerce
International Bureau of Chambers of Commerce
(http://www1.usa1.com/~ibnet/ibcchp.html)

Trade associations
http://info.ASAEnet.org/gateway/OnlineAssocslist.html
Associations on the Net at http://www.ipl.org/ref/AON

Industry Web sites with company directories

Trade publications
Databases that permit fielded screening
Telephone directories
Lists and rankings
130

Profiling companies & market

activity

InfoWiz
(www.infowiz.com)

Peerscape (D & T)
InvestorNet
(www.researchmag.com)

Stocksmart.com

Reesegroup

Wall Street City

Hoovers

S&P vs. Mergent

.xls
(http://www.alacra.com)
Securities Data
(http://thomson.com/fina
ncial/fi_investbank.jsp)
Sheshunoff
Mergerstat
Hemscott.net
IPO Central
IPO Prospectus Web
(http://www.ipopro.com)
131

Company directories on the Web

Web directory services

EiNet
(http://www.galaxy.com/directory/21191/
)
Open Directory
(http://www.dmoz.org/Business/Resources/
Directories/)

Credit rating services

Region & country-specific Web search

directories
Dun & Bradstreet
Zapdata

Business directories

Kompass
Thomas Global Register Europe
(http://www.tremnet.com/)

Corporate Affiliations
Company Profiles of US Manufacturers
(http://www.mnileads.com)
ThomasNet

Associations
Commercial industry sites
Company & Telephone Directories
(http://www.rba.co.uk/sources/directs.
htm)
1800miti.com
UK business directory listings
(http://www.kempsgold.co.uk)
ABC Francais (http://www.abc-d.fr)
BizLink International Directories
(http://www.bizlink.org/category2.asp
?cat=5&catID=5&subcat=117)
Business Information Telephone
Directories
(http://www.philb.com/bizlink1.htm#ph
one)
Infobel World
(http://www.infobel.com/world/)
InfoSpace
InfoUSA
USAData
132

Telephone directories
ComFind
Big Yellow
LibrarySpot Phone Books
(http://www.libraryspot.com/ph
onebooks.htm)
WorldPages
New Interactive Yellow Pages
(http://www.niyp.com)
Mapsonus.com
Switchboard.com
CompaniesOnline.com
(http://yp.lycos.com/default.asp
?SRC)
InfoSpace
BigBook

Lycos WhoWhere
(http://www.whowhere.com/)
BigFoot
Research It!
(http://itools.com/research-it)
50states.com
192.com (for UK)
Internet Address Finder
(http://www.iaf.net/)
PeopleFinders
SuperPages.com
The Ultimate Yellow Pages
(http://www.theultimates.com/yellow/)
Melissadata
(http://www.melissadata.com/lookups
/index.htm)
ZoomInfo.com
133

Verifying company descriptions

Directory-level data
Print vs. online approach
Traditional databases vs. Internet

Company identifiers
Name
Ticker symbols
Identifying numbers
Standard numbers
134

What the company itself tells you

Company data:
Official or not
Annual reports
20-F filings

On their website
In-house organs
Links from/to

Press releases
Current employees
Advertising
Classifieds
At exhibitions

135

Company data: Official and not

Annual reports
Official financial filings

Filings explained

www.sec.gov
Stock exchanges (http://www.worldexchanges.org/wfc/home.asp)
Direct from company (on
website/investor relations page)
Commercial sites
SECinfo.com
http://edgarscan.pwcglobal.com/
servlets/edgarscan
Annualreports.com
Pro.edgar-online.com
http://pro.edgaronline.com/people/people
Search.asp

Stock trading/data sites

Regulatory agency filings
Tax records
Secured transactions (UCC filings &
certificates)
Corporation & limited partnership records
Patents & trademarks
Census data

Plant expansions
State boards of equalization
Secretaries of states

http://www.nass.org/sos/sosflags.html

State Business Filings Database

(http://www.llrx.com/columns/roundup29.htm)

Catalog of searchable IP databases

maintained by government, academic
and institutional sites, as well as
commercial sites
(http://www.llrx.com/columns/roundup26.htm)

Court cases
Bankruptcies, judgments & liens
Foreign Company Data
(http://www.mceachin.com/Foreign.htm)

Thomson
Bureau van Dijk M&A, IPO, JVs,
Private Equity deals
(http://www.zephus.com/cgi/template.dll
?freetpl=frame.tpl&product=24&page=S
uiteProductPage.asp&productname=ZE
PHYR)
Capital IQ from Standard & Poors 136
Compustat from S & P

Screening and profiling

Public/private
(Listed/unlisted)
Financials
Geography
Performance
Size
Industry segment
Product
description/codes

Fortune Company Profiles

(http://money.cnn.com/magazines
/fortune/)
Corporate Information from
Wright Investors Service
(http://www.wisi.com)
Hoovers Online
(http://www.hoovers.com/freeuk/)
EuroInfoPool
(http://www.euroinfopool.com/)
Vault Reports
Wetfeet
CarlsonOnline
139

Investing, Charting & Money

Market Funds

ValueLine
BigCharts.com
Bloomberg
Boursorama
Business for Social Responsibility
(http://www.bsr.org/)
Investor Responsibility Research Center
(http://www.irrc.org/)
140

Finding out about individuals

associated with a firm/organization

Marquis Whos who

(http://www.marquiswhoswho.com/)
Whos Who Online (http://www.whoswhoonline.com)
Biography.com
Notable Citizens of Planet Earth
Biographical Dictionary
(http://s9.com/biography/)
Articles or speeches by and about target of
investigation
Electronic Biographies Web Guide
(http://library.gmu.edu/resources/ebiography.html)
Forbes.com People Tracker
(http://www.forbes.com/cms/template/peop
letracker/index.jhtml)
Time Most Influential People
(http://www.time.com/time/2006/time100/w
alkup/)
Find the Right Executive Decision Maker
(http://www.idexec.com/)
Finding People Information Blog
(http://www.findingpeople.info/)

Biographical Dictionary
(http://www.s9.com/)
Biography.com
Biography from Infoplease
(http://www.infoplease.com/people.h
tml)
Biogs.co.uk
Peoples Archive
(http://www.peoplesarchive.com/)
PeopleSpot.com
Researching People on the Internet
I
(http://www.ojr.org/ojr/technology/10
27538596.php)
Researching People on the Internet
II
(http://www.ojr.org/ojr/technology/10
28068074.php)
Sutters Whos Who
(http://www.whoswho-sutter.com/)
Who2.com
Ziggs.com
141

A wide array of online people and

business tracking services

Telephone listings
Credit history
Real estate holdings
Medical conditions
Legal entanglements
Driving and motor
vehicle records
Professional licenses
Example: Licensee
Status Inquiries
(http://www.dre.ca.gov
/licstats.htm)

Nexis
Accurint
Forbes.com People
Tracker
(http://www.forbes.co
m/cms/template/peopl
etracker/index.jhtml)
Search Systems
Googling

142

Commercial services
ChoicePoint
(http://www.choicepoint.com)
AutoTrack
(http://www.dbt.net)
Knowx.com
Medical Information Bureau
(http://www.mib.com)
PrivacyGuard
(http://www.privacyguard.com)
Employee screening
(http://www.screennow.com/e
mployment/)

Metropolitan Reporting
Bureau, Inc. Services for the
Insurance Claims Industry
(http://www.metroreporting.co
m)
Public Data Corporation
(http://www.pdcny.com)
Record Information Services
(http://www.public-record.com)
DCS National Inquiry System
(http://www.dnis.com)
USSEARCH.com
143

Credit bureaus
Dun & Bradstreet (dnb.com)
Small Businesses
(http://smallbusiness.dnb.com/Default.asp?bhcd2
=1145819085)
Market Insight (http://www.dnbmi.com)

Experian (formerly TRW)

BizInfo Online
(http://www.experian.com/products/bizinfo.html)

Equifax
Infocheck - now part of Equifax Europe
(http://www.infocheck.co.uk)
TransUnion Credit Reporting System

144

Whats helpful to know before

you begin
Full and correct name
Date of birth
Social security
number
Neighbors and
relatives
Hobbies

Living or dead?
Obit Finder
(http://www.legacy.com)
Obituary Daily Times
(http://www.rootsweb.co
m/~obituary )

Last known address

Nationality
Marital status
Schools attended
145

Motor vehicle records

Department of Motor Vehicle Records
Produce a list of vehicles owned by an individual
or business (year, make, model)
Match registered and legal owners of vehicle by
license plate number of VIN
Provide a driving performance history for an
individual

Vehicle History Report

(http://www.vehiclehistory.com)
Insurance Information Exchange
(http://www.iix.com)
146

Selected business information

websites
Traditional online
resources
EIU
Factiva
Competitive Intelligence
Professional Resources
from Nexis.com
(http://www.lexisnexis.c
om/Cipro/)
OneSource

Credit rating services

Moodys.com
Standard & Poors
Duff & Phelps
Dun & Bradstreet
International

147

General business & investment sites

with industry data and links

CEO Express
Competitive Intelligence Links
(www.fuld.com)
Briefing.com
OneSource
(www.onesource.com)
TheStreet.com
INVESTools
Thomson MarketEdge
(www.marketedge.com)
Investor Guide
(www.investorguide.com)
The Financial Center
(www.tfc.com)
First Call
(http://www.firstcall.com)
Seeking Alpha

123Jump
Money.cnn.com

Company research
Industry Watch

Researchmag.com
Stocksmart.com
Wall Street City
Carlson Online
Digital Look Investor Centre
(http://companyresearch.digitallook.co
m/?username=&ac=)
Euroland
The Motley Fool (http://www.fool.com
or http://www.fool.co.uk)
Global-Investor
DailyStocks
Investment Promotion Network
(http://www.ipanet.net/infores/)
MSN Money
Corporate Library Companies & CEOs
148

Wall Street freebies (and premium

services you can afford)

Stockmaster (http://www.stockmaster.com)
The Investment FAQ home page (http://invest-faq.com)
Investor Guide (http://www.investorguide.com)
Unofficial Directory of Nasdaq SmallCap Stocks on the
Web (http://financial.spiders.com)
The Financial Center (http://www.tfc.com)
Legendary Investor Selections (http://worthnet.com)
Avid Trading Company (http://avidinfo.com)
Invest$Link (http://www.fn.com/links.html)
Quote.com (http://www.qnews.com)
Stock Research Group (http://www.stockgroup.com)
StockSmart (http://www.stocksmart.com)
149
Wall Street Executive/Canadian CEO

Selected bibliographies, guides,

and books
Business Information Searcher
(http://www.dataresources.co.uk/bissampl
e.htm)
Competitive Intelligence Research Guide
Helicons Articles and Book Reviews on CI
and Related Topics
Business Statistics on the Web
Super Searchers on Competitive
Intelligence
150

Thank you, and feel free to be

in touch!
Barbie E. Keiser
barbieelene@att.net

The CI Process
Compile
COLLECT

DATA

INFORMATION

Analyze

KNOWLEDGE

Communicate

INTELLIGENCE

Apply

DECISION

Act

RESULTS

Decision maker

152