AIS 1233: Researching a Company (Laborde)

Library Quick Search is a discovery tool for searching across library online and print collections. It is a great tool to search for articles and books. 

A lot of content from business databases is not searchable through Library Quick Search and must be accessed directly from a database.

Using this example, look up your company in Mergent Online database, a powerful research tool:

STEP 1

Enter your company > Select the best match > Go. On the next page, select your company.

STEP 2

On the company page, review different areas of the site starting with the summary facts in the blue area at the top. Locate answers to your questions.

Click on each tab > all subtabs under each tab to review information available.

MarketLine is another database for business research.  It provides reports on companies, industries, country reports, case studies, deals, news, and a variety of market research data.

MarketLine has excellent video tutorials (right-click on profile in the top right corner).

STEP 1

STEP 2

Select Valero Energy Corp > explore different sections of the report.

Industry may be defined as a group of companies that are related based on their primary business activities. They produce similar products or provide similar services. Investopedia offers a valuable introduction in the industry definition: