Your Librarian
Public? Private?
Public companies sell stock to investors. They are required by law to release detailed financial and other information to the public.
Private companies do not sell stock. They often keep their finances private, and are more challenging to research.
Public companies usually post annual reports for shareholders under "Investor Relations" or "For Shareholders" on their website.
U.S. public companies must file accurate information with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), which makes all filings publicly available on its website.
Non-U.S. public companies must file information in their home countries, but this information may not be available in English.
Parent? Subsidiary?
If your company is a subsidiary (owned by a larger company, called the parent), it can be more challenging to research.
First determine if your company is a subsidiary. If so, you may find more detailed information in the parent company's listing or annual report.
Look up a company or industry
- ABI/Inform This link opens in a new windowContains articles on business, advertising, marketing, economics and finance.
- Business Source Premier This link opens in a new windowContains articles about business, marketing, management, accounting, finance and economic, as well as company and industry reports, and country and market research profiles.
Watch a short EBSCO tutorial on searching Business Source Premier.
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- Mergent Online This link opens in a new windowContains company and industry research, company data, annual reports and industry reports.
- Statista This link opens in a new windowComprehensive reports on over 1,000 industry topics. Access to 1 million statistics – ready to use in PPT, XLS and PNG. Includes COVID-19-related data and infographics, including supply chain and other economic impact summaries on various industry sectors. Includes reports on individual countries.
Intro: Watch a short tutorial on searching in Statista.
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Advanced: Find Statista tutorials on advanced topics.
This link opens in a new window - Westlaw This link opens in a new windowLegal and law related material, including searches of United States and international codes. Also includes extensive current archives of news sources, a Company Investigator.
Business Source Premier: Search Tips
- Business Source Premier This link opens in a new windowContains articles about business, marketing, management, accounting, finance and economic, as well as company and industry reports, and country and market research profiles.
Watch a short EBSCO tutorial on searching Business Source Premier.
This link opens in a new window
Tip: Try using the special report categories in the Browse box. To keep track of what you find, ALWAYS use the Permalink - NEVER just copy and paste the URL from your browser because it's temporary.
Tip: You can also choose "Company Profiles" at the top left to browse or search MarketLine company reports:
Tip: If you get a weird list of databases like the one below, your session timed out. Go back to the A-Z Databases list or click on the link on this page and start over.
