Industry Information
Company Research / Industry Information
I. Resources available in Langsdale Library
A. Industry ratios and averages.
The latest edition of each of the following three sources is shelved at the reference desk. All use Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes to identify an industry. Ask the Reference Librarian for a SIC Manual if you don't know your industry's SIC. (SIC codes are also useful in identifying competitors of a specific company.)
- Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios. New York: Dun and Bradstreet, 1982- . X HG 4028.B2.
- Annual Statement Studies. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, Robert Morris Associates, 1968- . X HF 5681.B2R6.
- Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios. Compiled by Leo Troy, Ph.D. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1971, 1975-1982, 1984- . X HF 5681.R25T68.
B. Industry Surveys. New York: Standard and Poor's, 1973- . X HC 106.6.S74.
These include industry surveys and trends, statistics and lists of the largest companies in an industry.
C. Mergent Industry Review. New York: Mergent, Inc. . X HG 4961.M69.
Stock and operating statistics are supplied for major companies within each group and companies are ranked.
D. Value Line Investment Survey. New York: A. Bernhard. X HG 4501.V26. Current file in Ready Reference.
Short reports on major industries, updated quarterly.
II. Electronic Resources available From Langsdale.
Use our electronic database menu to access these resources.
Coverage:
1970 - present. Indexes more than 1,300 journals on business, management, with
75% full-text.
Business
and Company Resource Center [on-campus]
[help]
Coverage: 1979 - present. Profiles 400,000 companies. Provides company histories,
business articles, industry rankings and analyses for selected public companies.
Business
Source Premier [on-campus]
[help]
Coverage: Varies– present. Business Source Premier provides full text for nearly 8,350 scholarly business journals and other sources, including full text for more than 1,100 scholarly business publications. Coverage includes virtually all subject areas related to business. This database provides full text (PDF) for more than 350 of the top scholarly journals dating as far back as 1922. Funded by the Maryland Digital Library (MDL). Includes company profiles, many
of which contain SWOT analyses.
Key Business Ratios
[on-campus]
Description: D&B's Key Business Ratios help you understand the true performance of a company, by benchmarking it against its industry peers. The 14 key business ratios cover all critical areas of business performance—solvency, efficiency and profitability. And, using an individual company's financial statements with Key Business Ratios, you can generate a comparison of a company's own business ratios with the industry.
Time span: Current year.
Mergent
Online [on-campus]
[help]
Coverage: Current. Mergent Online contains the electronic versions of the Mergent
(formerly Moody's) Manuals (Industrial, OTC, Banking and Finance, and International),
covering over 10,000 U.S. companies and thousands for foreign companies. The financial
data for most companies covers 15 years. Industry reports are included.
Morningstar.com Library Edition
[on-campus]
Description: Find a stock or fund to meet your needs, research current or prospective holdings or see how your investments work together. Morningstar's data reports cover more than 20,000 securities.
Coverage: Historical data back to 1996.
III. Resources on the Internet.
Check Langsdale's Business Links.
Another good starting point for any Web research is a search engine, such as Einet's Galaxy which includes a Business and Commerce category.
Other Web resources include:
National Association of Broadcasters
Economic Census from the U.S. Census Bureau
IV.Ask a Langsdale Librarian!
You can call 410-837-4274 when the Library is open, email langref@ubalt.edu or chat at http://langsdale.ubalt.edu/info_services/contact.htm
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