Have you ever considered researching your family’s history, but didn’t know where to get started? Fortunately, we have a comprehensive Genealogy Research Guide to help you begin your research journey! Whether you’re a novice researcher or seasoned genealogist, you will be sure to find useful links and tips to trace your heritage.
While we may not physically be on campus right now, you can reach out to us for help 7 days a week! You can Ask a Librarian, send us an e-mail (refdesk@bentley.edu), use our Chat Widget, or send a text to 781.728.0511.
Best’s Library Center provides in-depth reports and analysis for United States, Canadian and international insurers, reinsurers, and groups.
Searching and Viewing Reports
From the Bentley Library Databases A-Z page, use the Best’s Library Center link to access the database. The database offers multiple ways to search, including clicking the report buttons (shown above), or by hovering on the page’s blue Navigation bar to choose a search. Some of the navigation bar searches are highlighted below:
Access Best’s Credit Reports and Financial Reports quickly by using the Insurance Reports page. The global organization structures presented on this page include ultimate parents, rating units and their rated operating entities. Best’s Credit Reports feature five years of financial analysis and detailed commentary on a company’s operating methods and management philosophy.
Use the Company Browse feature to search for companies based on geographic location, industry or segment.
Search Company Overview (Basic Search) and view features such as a dashboard for each company, key financial information at a glance, ratings, and related news headlines.
Use the Corporate Changes Search to find changes that impact existing companies and locate insurers associated with companies no longer in business.
Alternately, users can type a company name in the search box located in the upper left corner of the home page to get a dashboard view of all available information on that company.
Sample dashboard view for State Farm Group, with tabs containing available information
Country Risk Reports
The database also includes Country Risk Reports detailing country-specific factors that could adversely affect an insurer’s ability to meet its financial obligations. Countries are placed into one of five tiers, ranging from Country Risk Tier 1 (CRT-1), denoting a stable environment with the least amount of risk, to Country Risk Tier 5 (CRT-5) for countries that pose the most risk and, therefore, the greatest challenge to an insurer’s financial stability, strength and performance. Users can view all countries or groups of countries by tier.
Get Help/Support
Click the Quick Tips PDF links located on each search page for context-specific help, or the Help link in the upper right corner of the home page for an overview of database features and search functionality. If you prefer, Bentley librarians can assist you. See our Bentley Library Research Help page for details.
Connect to the Database
Please visit our Databases A-Z page and click Best’s Library Center to begin your search (after agreeing to the User Terms and Conditions). This database can also be viewed in the Analyst Opinion, Company Profiles, Country Research, and International Business subject lists on the A-Z page. For best results, use Internet Explorer or Google Chrome. Browser cookies must be enabled for searches to function.
Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to useful library databases, highlighting key features you should know about. If you would like more information about this resource (or any of the library’s databases), please contact us for research assistance. If you would like a demonstration of these resources for a class, please schedule a research instruction class using the instruction request form.
Effective at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17, the Bentley Library is closed until further notice.
Library staff will continue to support online teaching and research to Bentley students, faculty, and staff. Below is a brief summary of how the Library will continue to deliver library services and resources remotely.
The following resources and services will be available:
Electronic resources including databases, ebooks, and streaming films
Research help via email, text and live chat
Research consultations via Zoom
Interlibrary Loan for articles and book chapters. Please note that due to COVID-19 service disruptions at libraries across the country we cannot guarantee that ILL requests will be fulfilled.
Due to the exceptional circumstances we face, we are temporarily instituting Student Scan on Demand. We will try our best to ensure that students have access to portions of books or articles in our physical collections for classwork and research by making digital copies.
Due dates and late fees:
Overdue fines will be suspended for all items, including interlibrary loan materials.
Due dates for all items will be extended to the end of the semester.
The following services will be unavailable:
Borrowing of physical materials including books, DVDs, and ILL requested items
Museum passes
All library and RSM Art Gallery events have been canceled
We also encourage you to check our website and this blog for updates, and to follow @BentleyLibrary on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
The safety and well-being of the Bentley community and our staff remain our highest priorities and we thank you in advance for your flexibility and cooperation during this time.
Information about off-campus access to library services and resources, including databases, e-resources, research help, and Interlibrary Loan, can be found on the Bentley Library Coronavirus Updates & Remote Services page. This page will be updated as needed.
March 17, 2020
Effective at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17, the Bentley Library is closed until further notice.
Library staff will continue to support online teaching and research to Bentley students, faculty, and staff. Below is a brief summary of how the Library will continue to deliver library services and resources remotely. You can find detailed information on how to access these services and resources online—including special services for faculty—on the Bentley Library Coronavirus Updates & Remote Services page. This page will be updated as needed.
The following resources and services will be available:
Electronic resources including databases, ebooks, and streaming films
Research help via email, text and live chat
Research consultations via Zoom
Interlibrary Loan for articles and book chapters. Please note that due to COVID-19 service disruptions at libraries across the country we cannot guarantee that ILL requests will be fulfilled.
Due to the exceptional circumstances we face, we are temporarily instituting Student Scan on Demand. We will try our best to ensure that students have access to portions of books or articles in our physical collections for classwork and research by making digital copies.
Due dates and late fees:
Overdue fines will be suspended for all items, including interlibrary loan materials.
Due dates for all items will be extended to the end of the semester.
The following services will be unavailable:
Borrowing of physical materials including books, DVDs, and ILL requested items
Museum passes
All library and RSM Art Gallery events have been canceled
Library staff are making plans for providing services, resources, research assistance, and instruction when online classes begin on March 23. Currently, the library plans to be open next week as listed below, but this schedule may change at any time in accordance with university policies. Official university updates and communications related to COVID-19 are available at https://www.bentley.edu/coronavirus.
Library Hours March 15-21, 2020
Sunday, March 15: 1:00–9:00 p.m.
Monday, March 16–Friday, March 20: 8:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Saturday, March 21 closed
Please continue to visit the library’s website for library news updates and check the library’s hours calendar online before visiting.
The safety and well-being of the Bentley community and our staff remain our highest priorities and we thank you in advance for your flexibility and cooperation during this time. Please contact Library Services at libraryservices@bentley.edu or 781-891-2168 if you have questions or need assistance.
Have you heard that the library provides free online access to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times for current Bentley students, staff and faculty? Sign up for your subscriptions today!
Subscription provides access to the NYTimes.com website, the Spanish and Chinese editions of the newspaper, and NYTimes mobile apps. Not included are the Premium Crosswords, Times Insider and Crosswords app.
Includes access to New York Times in Education, an educator site that provides curated course-relevant content (videos, photos, infographics, and podcasts), instructional strategies designed to promote learning across disciplines, and ideas for co-curricular activities outside of the classroom.
All NYTimes.com accounts expire on their one year anniversary, but can be renewed following these easy renewal instructions.
Subscription provides full access to the FT.com website and mobile apps.
Choose topics to follow and sign up for customized email alerts based on your interests by adding FT Topics and Alerts to your myFT account.
More information about these three newspaper subscriptions and additional news databases can be found on the Current News research guide. Contact the Reference Desk if you need assistance or have questions.
CQ Researchershines a bright light on the significance and impact of current-day issues.
The “CQ” in their name stands for “Congressional Quarterly” which began as Editorial Research Reports in 1923, co-founded by Richard M. Boeckel and Bertram Benedict. It was primarily for the benefit of journalists and editorial writers, covering the U.S. Congress after World War I. Boeckel realized how little he and his fellow reporters knew about the background of the issues they were following on Capitol Hill, so they formed a publication. It has evolved into CQ Researcher today, and reaches a very broad online audience. It’s a library favorite.
CQ Researcher offers excellent insight into current events and always links to rich additional readings such as government reports, meeting minutes, articles, and news. Users most frequently work with CQ Researcher for assignments in global studies, comparative government, history, and expository writing. Here is a small sample of the questions that CQ Researcher answered for users in Fall 2019:
Q: I’m doing immigration and I want to compare U.S. to another nation.
Q: What are the pros and cons of prison rehabilitation programs?
Q: Who voted for and against the Whistleblowers protection act of 1989 when it was a bill?
CQ Researcher offers three types of reports: short, “hot topics” and long (12,000 words). Each report is on a single theme.
“Hot Topics,” CQ’s most popular research topics
Sample search: Electoral college
Enter the keyword phrase “Electoral college” in the input box to fetch 43 pieces, including a well-developed, recent account of the issues surrounding state representation, popular vote, and first-past-the-post method to elect a U.S. President. CQ Researcher impressed us with its depth, thoroughness, and fact-checking in this report.
CQ Researcher does not contain reports on consumer segmentation or market demographics. It will, however, provide demographic information in the context of a larger report, for example, from the electoral college long report:
“Current demographic trends likely will exacerbate this issue as more Americans move into urban and suburban areas … That means, 30 percent of Americans will select 70 percent of the senators … Such demographic shifts will make ‘misfire’ presidential elections more likely.”
Price, T. (2019, August 30). The Electoral College. CQ Researcher, 29, 1-57. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/
To select and pursue a
subject
When a user is seeking a topic, we recommend the “Browse topics” feature highly. CQ Researcher has a main ribbon that enables users to navigate contents easily; activate the pull down menu under “Browse Topics” to display a list of 30+ topics.
“Browse topics” menu display
If you already have a topic or your idea does not appear under their pre-made categories, use the input box at top right of the home page. In the case of cybersecurity, which is found under Science & technology > Computers > cybersecurity, we found it best to search CYBER directly in this input box, rather than looking at several sub-menus.
CQ Researcher provides visually strong, easy-to-interpret, images and charts. Notice they have high resolution photographs, as well.
Strong chart quality, using explanatory text about its intent, and clear legend at the bottom.
Structured arguments
Users can expect to read well-documented arguments written by seasoned journalists. Debaters will love reading talking points in the Pro/Con section, and for any who want to form research questions, the predictions in each long report’s “Outlook” section are especially helpful.
Pro-con section of a long report on the EU.
In each report, embedded links direct the user to more readings, making the discovery process efficient and highly relevant. References listed in CQ Researcher are reliably on-topic and useful. Reports are available to download in PDF format.
Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to a useful website or Library database, highlighting key features you should know about. If you would like more information about this resource (or any of the library’s databases), please contact us for research assistance. If you would like a demonstration of this resource for a class, please schedule a research instruction class using the instruction request form.
Five BioCentury publications are available to you through the library: BioCentury, BioCentury Innovations, BioCentury Extra, and BioCentury Weekly. Interdisciplinary, industry relevant, and unique, the content is created by BioCentury Analysts and commands steep prices as Business Intelligence, not only in BioPharma, but in any activity where science, technology, and commerce meet. Learn about how Machine Learning and VC Funding is speeding up drug development and time to market, new reimbursement methods lowering costs of drugs for insurers, and the political and business interests driving this innovation, several months before you read about it in The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.
In fact, BioCentury publications focus on the innovation ecosystem by covering the entire value chain of pharmaceuticals, from human biology and research, to drug development and manufacturing, to regulation and patient outcomes. Boston is one of the two top Biotech hubs (the other San Francisco) and anyone looking to take advantages of the opportunities offered in this area should make BioCentury their daily reading since it’s what senior executives, investors, and policy makers base their decisions on.
Excerpt:
The publications are made more navigable through categories that take you directly to articles relevant to your need or interest.
You can easily access the library’s BioCentury publications by using the link on our Databases A-Z page. Do not sign in or pay for content unless you wish to purchase it for sharing and download.
Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to a
useful website or Library database, highlighting key features you should know
about. If you would like more information about this resource (or any of the library’s
databases), please contact us for research assistance. If you
would like a demonstration of this resource for a class, please schedule a
research instruction class using the instruction request
form.
The Bentley Library will have a new Databases A-Z page starting in January 2020. The new Databases A-Z page will offer increased functionality and some additional features. Here are some of the highlights:
It’s mobile friendly so it can be accessed on any device type.
Database descriptions are displayed by default and searchable!
See Popular, Trial, or New databases at a glance.
Take advantage of the additional filtering options available. Not only can you filter by subject, but you can also filter by database type or by vendor.
Additionally, when you filter by subject you can also get a list of Research Guides created for that subject area!
