LibGuides: COJO 3310: Public Relations: Company Information

Company and Industry Information

You can learn about a company's history and background from the sources listed here.

Business Insights: Essentials
This is the best place to find company histories, but it also includes many other options, including market share reports and financial reports. The news and articles feature is less than great.
Business Source Premier
Enter a company name, pull down the menu in the "Select a Field" box and choose CO Company Entity. This will bring up news articles and history about the company. You can also find articles about the company over time.
Nexis Uni
Search for a company's information by clicking on the Get Company Information box and then entering the parent company's name.
Mergent Online
Includes business descriptions, history, property, subsidiaries, officers and directors, and financial information for public corporations. You can also create a competitor report to compare different companies across an industry.
Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage
This resource will provide you with an industry survey that shows change and predicted change across a whole industry (not just one company or product). Investment information on companies and industries. Provides company, industry and mutual funds, all with stock, bond and financial data.

Finding Company Problems and Positives

You'll find information about a company's problems (and often the good things) primarily in the news. The links below direct you to library databases that collect major world news publications.

Why use a library database for your research?

Save time by searching in one place instead of numerous websites across the web
Gain access to paywall sites like Wall Street Journal, New York Times, or Bloomberg Businessweek
Articles found in a library database often have a citation generator tool!

Business Source Premier
Search for company name, then consider limiting results to newspapers or magazines. Limit publication date.
Nexis Uni
Search for company name in "Search the News" box.
Factiva
Contains hundreds of newspapers and has a business focus. Updated daily.
ProQuest Central
While not a business database, still a great general source to search for news about your company across a variety of formats, including journals, magazines, and newspapers.
Academic Search Premier
Large, multidisciplinary database with plenty of full-text journal articles. User-friendly and a good starting place for most topics.

Evaluating your sources

Currency

Copyright date/last update date
Up-to-date terminology and facts

Authority

Qualifications or credentials of the author, editor, contributors
Is the material primary or secondary?
Publisher’s quality/purpose? (Do they publish reputable material?)
What kind of information is the source intended to convey?
What topics are covered? For what period of time?

How detailed is the source?
How complete is it? Are there any noticeable omissions?

Accuracy

What is the source’s purpose? (What is the author trying to accomplish through the work?)
Does the content seem credible? (Well-written, well organized, logically presented)
To what extent does the argument rely on evidence and to what extent does it rely on opinion?
Is the evidence verifiable? (Sources clearly attributed at the end or in the text of the article)
Is the information presented in an objective manner? (All sides of an issue presented)
How does source fit in with other sources in the field? (Does it reference other reputable/authoritative sources? Does it build upon the contributions of others/current knowledge? Is it compatible with known information or explain why it is not compatible?)

General assessment strategies:

Print Resources	Web Pages	Databases
Scan table of contents	Scan menus	Review help section
Scan title page	Scan main page	Read about/scope information
Scan index(es) at the back of the book	Scan site map	Review the list of publications/sources included
Read preface	Read introduction	Determine the vendor/source
Scan references/bibliography	Scan references/bibliography
Read author’s bio	Read author’s bio

Developed by Sara Lowe and Karen Wallace; informed by Libraries Linking Idaho course on evaluating reference sources (http://www.lili.org/forlibs/ce/able/course10/)