For related subject research guides see  Business and Economics and International Business. 

General

Encyclopedia of Business Information Sources. 16^th ed. Ed. by James Woy. Detroit: Gale Research, 2002.
(REF HF 5351 E48 2002)
An alphabetical subject guide to periodicals, directories, organizations, research centers, and statistics sources.

North American Industry Classification System, United States, 2002.  Lanham, MD: Bernan Press, 2002.
(REF HF 1042 N677 2002)
The Federal Government’s new official classification for industries and economic data within the North American Free Trade Agreement.  Replaces the Standard Industrial Classification (see below).  

Standard Industrial Classification.
(Available online at http://www.osha.gov/oshstats/sicser.html)
System used to classify industries in the United States. Though superceded by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), the SIC is still used in many directories and economic data sources.  

Company Directories: General (Consult online sources for more recent information)

America’s Corporate Families.  Bethlehem, PA: Dun & Bradstreet, annual.
(REF HG 4057 A147)
A directory of corporations with their subsidiaries.  Vol. 1 lists parent companies and their subsidiaries alphabetically.  Vol. 2 includes indexes by subsidiary names, locations, and SIC codes.  Vol. 3 is a directory of American subsidiaries of foreign corporations.

Brands and their Companies.  15^th ed.  Ed. by Susan E. Edgar.  Detroit: Gale, 1996.
(REF HD 69 B7 B6 1996)
Directory which identifies the company that owns a specific brand name. Search for companies by brand name.
See Also Companies and Their Brands (REF HD 69 .B7 C6 2002) for a listing of brands by company.

Standard and Poor’s Register of Corporations, Directors, and Executives.  New York: Standard and Poor’s, 2001.
(REF HG 4057 A4 2001)
Vol. 1 is a directory of corporations, listing top executives.  Vol. 2 is an index by executives’ names.  Vol. 3 includes indexes by SIC code and location.  

Ward's Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies. New York: Gale, 2000.
(REF HG 4057 A575 2000)
A comprehensive guide to 90,000 companies in alphabetic, geographic, and industry arrangements. Provides rankings of companies by sales within 4-digit SIC and 6-digit NAICs. Also provides national and state rankings by industry.  

Company Directories: Specialized

CorpTech Directory of Technology Companies.  Woburn, MA: CorpTech, 1999.
(REF HG 4057 A16 1999)
A directory of 50,000 American companies that manufacture or develop high technology products.  Vol. 1 includes indexes by name and product, as well as rankings.

Franchise Annual.  St. Catherines, Ont.: Info Press, annual.
(REF HF 5429.3 F69)
A directory of American, Canadian, and overseas companies offering franchises, with information on fees.  Arranged by country and type of business.

Harris New England Manufacturers Directory.  Ed. by Frances L. Carlsen.  Twinsburg, OH: Harris Infosource International, 1996.
 (REF HF 5041 H373 1996)
A directory of companies arranged by place, with indexes by SIC,  name, and product.

Thomas register of American manufacturers, 2002.  New York : Thomas Publishing Co., 2002.
(REF T 12 .T6 2002)
Consists of three parts.  Part I Products and Services indexes companies by product; Part II Company Profiles lists contact information; and Part III Catalog File, provides product catalogs for selected companies. Also available online at http://www.thomasregister.com.  

2003 Massachusetts Manufacturers Register. Ed. by Steven J. Garland. Evanston, IL: Manufacturers' News Inc., 2002
(REF T 12.3 M4 M37 2003)
A directory of manufacturers in Massachsuetts with indexes by product, name, location, SIC and parent company.  

Companies: Descriptive and Financial Information

Business Rankings Annual.  Detroit: Gale, 1997.
(REF HG 4050 B88 1997)
A collection of rankings of companies reprinted from various sources.  Arranged by product name, with an index by company name.

Hoover's Handbook of American Business. Austin: Hoovers, 2005.
(REF HG4057.A28613 2006)
A handbook of company profiles including a description of the company's operations, history, top executives, competitors, and 10 years of historical financials and stock price. The book also features a compendium of lists ranking companies and executives by certain criteria. Finally the publication includes a collection of indexes by industry, by location headquarters, and a cross-reference index of executives.

Hoover's Handbook of Private Companies. Austin: Hoovers, 2005.
(REF HG4057.A28616 2006)
A handbook of company profiles of the largest private companies in the U.S. The profiles may include a description of the company's operations, history, top executives, competitors, historical financials and stock prices. The book includes a compendium of lists ranking companies and indexes by industry, location headquarters, and a cross-reference index of executives.

Hoover's Handbook of Emerging Companies. Austin: Hoovers, 2005.
(REF HG4057.A28618 2006)
A book of profiles of emerging companies in the U.S. The companies profiled have been selected based on sales growth and profitability. The book includes company histories, executives, financials, stock prices, a compendium of lists ranking companies, indexes by industry and by location headquarters, and a cross-reference index of executives.

Hoover's Handbook of World Business. Austin: Hoovers, 2005.
(REF HG4009.H66 2006)
A book of profiles of companies worldwide, both private and public. The book features company histories, executives, competitors, financials, stock prices, a compendium of lists ranking companies, indexes by industry and by location headquarters, and a cross-reference index of executives.

International Directory of Company Histories.  ed. by Thomas Derdek.  Chicago: St. James Press, 1988-
(REF HD 2721 I63)
Provides detailed histories, typically three pages long, for major companies, both American and foreign.  Use the index in the latest volume to locate a company.

Industries: Descriptive Information

Handbook of North American Industry: NAFTA and the Economies of its Member Nations.  2^nd ed.  Ed. by John E. Cremeans. Washington, DC: Bernan Press, 1999.
(REF HF 1746 H36 1999)
A description of the North American Free Trade Association and 31 industry groups in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.

Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys.  New York: Standard & Poor's, 2002.
(REF HC 106.6 S74)
A quarterly survey of industry trends, with composite and company data.

U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook. New York: DRI/McGraw-Hill, 2000.
(REF HC 101 U54 2000)
Descriptive articles and data on 50 major industries.  Includes assessments of the global industry and export potential.  

U.S. Industry Profiles: The Leading 100.  2^nd ed.  Ed. by Diane M. Sawinsky.  Detroit: Gale, 1998.
(REF HD 30.27 U7 1998) Descriptive articles and data on 100 major industries.  

Industries: Financial and Market Data

Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios.  Leo Troy.  Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1999.
(REF HF 5681 R25 A45)
Averages of financial ratios by industry.

Manufacturing USA: Industry Analyses, Statistics, and Leading Companies.   Ed. by Arsen J. Darnay. New York: Gale, 1998.
(REF HD 9720.4 M36 1998)
Data and statistics for 458 manufacturing industries in the United States. Listed by SIC.

Market Share Reporter.  Detroit: Gale, 1998.
(REF HF 5410 M35)
A collection of market share information, reprinted from various sources.  Arranged by two-digit SIC code.  

 

Ely Library Catalog. For books, audio-visual materials, etc. located in the Ely Library.
(Web site: http://catalog.lib.wsc.ma.edu/)
Sample Subject Headings:

Business enterprises	Corporations	Defense industries
Energy industries	High technology industries	Industries
International business enterprises	Manufacturing industries	Motor vehicle industry

Note: names of companies are found in the subject catalog under their full names.
Example: International Business Machines Corporation, not IBM.

General BusinessFile ASAP     Limited to WSC community use
(Internet site: http://www.lib.wsc.ma.edu/dbalpha.htm#General BusinessFile)
Indexes periodical articles (trade publications, scholarly journals, newspapers), as well as company and industry profiles, and investment reports.

Business Source Premier     Limited to WSC community use
(Internet site: http://www.lib.wsc.ma.edu/dbalpha.htm#Business Source)
Indexes periodical articles (trade publications, scholarly journals, newspapers), as well as Datamonitor company and industry profiles.

Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe.   Limited to WSC community
(Internet site: http://www.lib.wsc.ma.edu/dbalpha.htm#Lexis-Nexis)
Indexes and provides access to full-text articles from financial newspapers, business newswires, and news 8transcripts. Also includes company profiles, company dossiers, and country profiles and reports (see Business tab).

ABI / Inform     Limited to WSC community
(Internet site: http://www.lib.wsc.ma.edu/dbalpha.htm#ABI)
Provides abstracts of articles from more than 2,000 international professional publications, academic journals, and trade magazines covering numerous business subjects including: accounting, advertising, auditing, banking, broadcasting, computers, economics, engineering, finance, foreign investment, health care, human resources, insurance, international trade, international trends, investment analysis, management, marketing, planning and strategy, public administration, real estate, taxation, telecommunications, and transportation. Available through FirstSearch databases.

Web Sites

WWW Resources by Subject: Company and Industry Information (Ely Library at Westfield State College)
(Internet Site: http://www.lib.wsc.ma.edu/compind.htm)
Links to Web sites on Business.

Edgar Database.  US Securities and Exchange Commission.
(Internet Site: http://www.sec.gov/edgarhp.htm)
Financial reports of public corporations to the Securities and Exchange Commission.  

Hoover's Online.  Hoover's Inc. (Internet Site:  http://www.hoovers.com)
Company profiles, news, and financial information.  

URL: http://www.lib.wsc.ma.edu/guidbus2.htm Page maintained by Oliver Zeff Last updated May 6, 2009