Business Resources Online Class 

 

 

 

Class Description /  Class Outline / Class Handout/ Internet Resources / Library Resources /Glossary of Computer Terms/ 
For Additional Help

                                                         

I.  Class Description

Learn how to find business and company information online including annual reports, SEC filings, and industry-related data.  Also learn how to use WRL's online version of the ValueLine database. and how to access various financial online news services to get up-to-date investment information

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II. Class Outline

 Company and Stock Information

Industry Information

  Corporate Officers and Directors Information

  Online Databases

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III.  Class Handout

Company and Stock Information

  • Hoover’s Online

    • http://www.hoovers.com

      • can search by company name

      • provides short capsule of the company – you have to have a subscription to do more

      • provides company’s top competitors

      • provides financial summaries

      • provides news and analysis

  • Bloomberg

    • http://www.bloomberg.com/

      • provides financial news and data

      • provides stock market updates

      • provides analyst’s ratings

      • S&P 500 snapshot

      • Stocks on the move

      • Chart builder capability for up to three stocks

      • IPO news and information

  • SEC EDGAR

    • http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml

      • provides company filings with the SEC

      • provides description of SEC forms

      • provides regulatory actions

      • provides staff accounting bulletins (accounting-related disclosure practices

      • provides staff legal bulletins (not legally binding)

      • provides SEC news

      • provides SEC litigation (enforcement actions and opinions)

  • EDGARscan

    • http://edgarscan.pwcglobal.com/recruit/other.html

      • provides an interface to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval (SEC Edgar) filings.

      • Extracts financial data and computed ratios

      • Provides initial public offerings by industry, company, or date

      • Search by company name or ticker symbol

  • GuideStar

    • http://www.guidestar.org

      • provides information about the operations and finances of nonprofit entities

      • located in Williamsburg on Scotland Street

      • Produced by Philanthropic Research, inc., a 501c(3) public charity founded in 1994

      • glossary of charitable financial terms

Industry 

  • Industry Data Finder

    • http://www.rh.edu/library/industry/industry.htm

      • provides information on various industries

      • provides NAIC codes

      • provides links to trade and industry associations

      • provides links to trade and industry publications

      • provides links to related government regulatory agencies

      • provides links to industry-related companies

 

  • North American Industry Classification System

    • http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html

      • The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) has replaced the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification System (SIC)

      • NAICS was developed jointly by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to provide new comparability in statistics about business activity across North America

      • Search by keyword

      • provides 10 new industry sectors

      • provides information on the new code system and the changes from the older SIC system

 

  • United States Patent and Trade Office

    • http://www.uspto.gov

      • provides information on patents

      • provides information on expired patents

      • provides information on trademarks

      • provides access to the Manual of Patent Classification

      • provides access to the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure

      • provides access to the Trademark Manual of Goods and services

      • provides access to the Trademark of Design Code Manual

      • provides access to the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure

 

  • Thomas Register of American Manufacturers

    • http://www1.thomasregister.com/index.cgi

      • provides information about companies and products manufactured in North America

      • requires registration which is free for unlimited access to the site

      • search by product or service

      • search by company name

      • search by brand name

Corporate Officers and Directors Information

Corporate Officers and Directors Information

  • Executive Paywatch

    • http://www.aflicio.org/corporateamerica/paywatch/ceou/database.cfm

      • provides salary information for CEOs of corporations

      • Search by company name

      • Find information on CEOs for companies not listed by searching proxy statements

      • Has information about AFL-CIO which produces the website as well as information about the economy and labor unions

  • Forbes 800 Best Paid CEOs

    • http://www.forbes.com/2002/04/25/ceos.html

      • provides information about CEO compensation for the year 2002

      • provides historical CEO compensation back to 1997

      • provides biographical information about CEOs including time with the company and educational background

      • sort information by rank

      • sort information by name

      • sort information by company

      • sort information by total compensation

      • provides pay vs. performance grade for each CEO

  • Virginia Business

o      http://www.virginiabusiness.com/

  • provides access to the Virginia Business Director

  • searchable by company name, industry, revenue range, business entity type, region and size of business

  • Information on Virginia's top executives including salaries and bonuses

  • top fifty list of fastest growing small companies

  • listing of Virginia business leaders by industry

Online Databases 

·        To Access from Home:

  • Go to the library’s homepage, www.wrl.org

  • Click on “Online Databases” (bottom right)

  • Click on, “At Home Use”

  • Select a database

  • When prompted enter your library barcode number (all 14 digits without spaces)

 

  • RefUSA (in library use only)

  • Value Line (in library use only)

  • Business and Company Resource Center

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IV. Internet Resources

 

Hoovers Online Proprietary company and industry information and a business oriented perspective on other topics such as money management, career development, news, and business travel (http://www.hoovers.com/)
D & B Companies Research over 100,000 public and private companies in all areas of business in the United States (http://www.companiesonline.com/)

 

 

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V. Library Resources

 

Business and company resources can be found in the 650s and 330s 

  

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VI. Glossary of Computer Terms

 

Database: An organized collection of information that can be accessed through a computer network.  
Directory: A catalog of sites by subject.  
Dragging: The process of moving an object by clicking on it with the left mouse button,  &, while holding the button down, move the object to its desired location & release.  
E-mail: Electronic messages sent between computers that are connected on a network. 
HTML:  (HyperText Markup Language) A set of commands & rules for encoding files on the Internet. 
Home Page: Usually the first page you see at a Web site, it is the site's main page.  
Hyperlinks: Text or images on a Web page that link you to another web page or a different part of the same page.  Hyperlinks are usually underlined & a different color than other text on the same page, & the mouse cursor will change into a pointed finger when you place the mouse over them. 
Internet: A diverse set of interlinked world-wide computer networks.   
Mouse: A hand held input device that allows users to point & click to make selections on the screen 
Search Engine: A software program that searches for information on the Internet based on your search criteria. Two examples are Yahoo ( www.yahoo.com ) & Google ( www.google.com ).  
URL: ( Universal Resource Locator) An address on the Internet. You type a URL into your browser to visit a website. An example is www.wrl.org. 
Web Browser: A software program for viewing & accessing information on the World Wide Web. Netscape Navigator & Internet Explorer are the most widely used & popular Web Browsers today. 
World Wide Web: The largest collection of information available online through the Internet 

 

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VII. For Additional Help

 

Ask a Reference Librarian

WRL computer volunteers: call 259-4050 for the latest volunteer schedule 

 

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