This guide lists sources which provide company profiles & news.

For further information & assistance in using any of the sources listed, please contact our reference staff:

In person, at the Reference Desk on the 1st Floor of the Blackwell Library

By phone @ 410-548-5988

Through e-mail, using Ask-a-Librarian

Public vs. Private:

Public companies (companies authorized to sell stock to the general public) are legally required to file financial statements with the SEC and share information with their shareholders. Private companies do not publish much information about themselves as a key competitive strategy.

LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe
To find out if your company is public or private consult the LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe Database.

Off-campus, sign in using your Gull Card barcode and last name. Choose Salisbury University as the campus and then click the log in button.

From L-N's front page, click on the 'Business' category on the left tool-bar.

On the next screen, click on the link to 'Company Profiles'.

Type your company name in the first dialogue box.

Choose public or private companies from the source list pull-down menu.
Choose a date or a year.

If you can't find your company using either Public or Private Sources, it may be a subsidiary of a larger conglomerate known as the parent company. Refer to the following sources to find the parent and then do a search for that company in L-N. All subsidiary information is included under the umbrella of the larger parent.

America's Corporate Families
Reference HG 4057.A147 v. 1-2

Corporate Affiliations
Reference HG 4057.A217 2004 v. 1-8
*Includes private and international listings.

Private Company sources on L-N include very well-known titles including Hoover's Company and Industry Reports, and Standard & Poor's Corporate Register.

If your company is private, information will be limited especially in the areas of financial and operating data. Researchers can search for private company information in the Lexis-Nexis Academic, Wall Street Journal, and Regional Newspapers databases as well as referring to the company's web page.

Public Company sources on L-N include well-known titles such as Disclosure Profiles, Hoover's Company and Industry Reports, Media General, Nelson Profiles, Standard & Poor's Corporate Register and S&P Daily News.

If your company is public, use the sources below to find additional information about your company.

Other Directories:

Corporate Affiliations
Reference HG 4057.A217 2004 v. 1-8

Provides information about firms whose ultimate parent companies, both public and private, are located in the United States and abroad. Entries include information on financials, personnel, outside service firms, and subsidiaries with an emphasis on hierarchy and reporting.

Directory of American Firms Operating in Foreign Countries
Reference HG 4538 .A1 D5 2001 v.1-v.3

Provides information on American firms, which have branches, subsidiaries, or affiliates outside the United States. Contains 2,600 U.S. firms with nearly 35,000 branches, subsidiaries and affiliates in 190 countries. v.1--Alphabetical company listing. v.2-3--Listings by country of the American firms' operations.

Directory of Foreign Firms Operating in the United States
Reference HG 4057 .D57 2004

Provides information for corporations, government agencies, organizations, institutions, and individuals involved in many forms of international commerce or investment. Contains over 3,250 foreign firms in 85 countries and over 8,350 businesses in the US that they own, wholly, or in part. Only the American headquarters and selected locations of each branch, subsidiary or affiliate are listed.

Europages
European company listings searchable by company name, product or service, and business sector. Includes company catalogs, yellow pages, and business news links.

Million Dollar Directory
Reference HG 4057 .A148 2003 v.1-3
Directory of the top 160,000 U.S. public and private companies. Useful for target marketing of business to business sales efforts.

Standard & Poor's Register of Corporations, Directors, and Executives
Ready Reference HG 4057 .P6 v.1-2
*Ask for title at the Reference Desk and present Gull Card.

Thomas Global Register
Worldwide directory of manufacturers, searchable by product, service or company name. May require a free registration process before use.

Thomas Register
After a free registration process, use this directory to locate companies and products manufactured in North America. Users may also view thousands of online company catalogs and websites, view Computer Aided Design (CAD) drawings, and place orders online.

Company Web Pages:

Companies sometimes provide a lot of information via their virtual storefront or web page including financial statements, product information, company history, and news releases. Aspects of the corporate culture may also be ascertained by website design, and the way the company and its products are advertised.

Most company websites follow this URL format: http://www.companyname.com

Company Profiles (background & financial information):

Business Source Premier (EBSCO) - Datamonitor Company Profiles
Business Source Premier provides access to Datamonitor Company Profiles which provide a company profile written by an investment stock analyst. These profiles include the basic history & key facts, however, they also provide products & services analysis, SWOT analysis, company view, & latest company expert views.

Off-campus, sign in using your Gull Card barcode and last name. Choose Salisbury University as the campus and then click the log in button.

Click on 'Company Profiles' at the top of the screen.
Type in your company name or browse reports.

Gale Business Insights: Essentials
Business Insights: Essentials brings together in a single database company profiles, company brand information, rankings, investment reports, company histories, chronologies, and periodicals. Search this database to find detailed company and industry news and information. Coverage is from 1980 to the present.

Off-campus, sign in using your Gull Card barcode and last name. Choose SU as the campus and then click the log-in button.

To locate information about a specific company:

Click on the 'Company' graphic from the database home page
Search for your company by name or ticker symbol. Choose ultimate parent.
From the results list, click on the specific company name.
Review the tabs across the top of the screen for further information including news, investment reports, rankings, etc.

Hoover's Company Information
Off-campus, sign in using your Gull Card barcode and last name. Choose SU as the campus and then click the log-in button.

To locate information about a specific company:

Click on 'Advanced Search' tab at the top of the screen
Enter the ticker symbol or company name on the search template under 'more search options'.
From the results list, click on the specific company name.
On the company record to the left of the screen is a navigation bar that will lead the researcher to the specific information needed.

Mergent Online
Blackwell Library subscribes to the U.S. Company Data module which offers a wealth of detail on items including business description, history, property, subsidiaries, officers & directors, long-term debt and capital stock.

Off-campus, sign in using your Gull Card barcode and last name. Choose Salisbury University as the campus and then click the log in button.

Do a 'Basic Search' for the company name or ticker symbol.

Click on the company name on the next search screen.

Click on the various tabs across the top for detailed information (Company Details, Company Financials, EDGAR (SEC Documents), News, & Tear Sheets (Stock performance snapshot).

Standard & Poor's Stock Reports (quarterly)
Reference HG 4905 .S4455 v. 1-2

ASE, NASDAQ, & NYSE company reports are provided together in 2 volumes. Provides a detailed listing of key income statement and balance sheet items and an analysis of the most recent earnings report. The reports also provide data on dividends, stock price ranges, capitalization, management and significant recent developments.

ValueLine Database
This database is only available in the Blackwell Library Reference Area. Ask the reference staff to sign you on.

Click on the link to 'The ValueLine Investment Survey Online - Standard Edition.
On the left toolbar, click on the link to 'Lookup Company'.

Type in your company name or ticker symbol. (Note: This version of ValueLine only covers 1700 stocks in 98 industries so all companies are not covered)
For an industry report, click on 'Lookup Industry' on the left tool bar.
Select your industry.
For an overview of the industry, select 'Industry Commentary'. For all the companies listed for comparison, click on 'Industry - Company Breakdown' and then select the reports you want to view.

For further information, refer to the 'How to Use the Value Line Investment Survey Page.'

ValueLine Survey: Standard Edition Loose-leaf
Reference HG 4915 .V35

Note: Provides the exact same information as is available in the ValueLine Database above.

See volume 1, summary and index in the front, and look up the name of your company.
It will refer you to a page number in one of 13 editions.
See industry information in that edition, followed by evaluations of each company covered.

Articles/News:

Locate business media and newspaper articles for additional information about your company.

ABI/Inform (Proquest)
Off-campus, sign in using your Gull Card barcode and last name. Choose Salisbury University as the campus and then click the log in button.

For company information:

Click on the 'Advanced' search tab at the top of the search page.
In the first search box, use the pull-down menu and select 'Company/Org' and enter your company name.
In the remaining search boxes, use 'Citation and Abstract' and enter additional terms such as marketing, strategy, etc.
Click the gold 'search' button below the search boxes.
Once the results list comes up for your search, review the results and also notice the suggested search links at the top of the page.

Business Source Premier
Off-campus, sign in using your Gull Card barcode and last name. Choose Salisbury University as the campus and then click the log in button.

For company information:

Click on the 'Advanced Search' tab at the top of the search page.
In the first search box, use the pull-down menu and select 'CO company entity' and enter the name of your company. Note: Company names may be entered in various ways--ex. IBM versus International Business Machines.
In the remaining search boxes, use 'default terms' and enter additional words such as marketing, personnel, strategy, etc.
Click the 'search' button at the top of the screen.

For company reports (not all companies will have these available):

Click on the 'Advanced Search' tab at the top of the search page.
In the first search box, use the pull-down menu and select 'CO company entity' and enter the name of your company. Note: Company names may be entered in various ways--ex. IBM versus International Business Machines.
Look at the ways to limit searches at the bottom of the search page and find 'document type'. Choose 'company report'.
Click the 'search' button at the top of the screen.

Wall Street Journal (Proquest)
Off-campus, sign in using your Gull Card barcode and last name. Choose Salisbury University as the campus and then click the log in button.

For Company News:

In the first search box, use the pull-down menu and select 'Company/Org' and enter your company name.
In the remaining search boxes, use 'Citation and Document Text' and enter additional terms such as marketing, strategy, etc.
Click the gold 'search' button below the search boxes.
Once the results list comes up for your search, review the results and also notice the suggested search links at the top of the page.