Export.gov is the U.S. Government’s export promotion and finance portal, bringing together information from a number of agencies to assist small and medium-sized American businesses planning to export or conduct business overseas. This Database of the Month blog post will focus on two research resources accessible via Export.gov – Country Commercial Guides and the Market Research Library.
Country Commercial Guides (“Doing Business In…” Guides)
Country Commercial Guides are “doing business in…” guides prepared by trade experts at U.S. embassies worldwide. Country Commercial Guides are designed to be a comprehensive starting point for anyone interested in exporting and doing business overseas. Guides are produced for more than 125 countries, from Afghanistan to Zambia. Each guide focuses on eight important areas:
Market Overview, Challenges, Opportunities, and Entry Strategies
Export.gov’s Market Research Librarycontains more than 100,000 industry and country-specific market reports, authored by U.S. Commercial Service specialists working in overseas posts. The Market Research Library provides access to Market Research Reports and Best Markets Reports. The Country Commercial Guides, mentioned above, are also included within the Market Research Library.
Full access to the Market Research Library is only available to U.S. students/researchers who register with Export.gov. Registration is free. A registration link is available on the Market Research Library page and at http://www.export.gov/registration/studentform.aspx.
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Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to a database available from the library’s website, highlighting key features of the database that you should know about. If you would like more information about this database (or any of the library’s databases), please contact the Reference Desk at 781.891.2300 or refdesk@bentley.edu.
The idea for JSTORoriginated in a library that was running out of space at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, a small, prestigious liberal arts college. The Doane Library made a request for expansion of its building to house academic journals in print. At that time in 1992, the higher education market for scholarly literature in hard copy format was active and increasing steadily. Rising costs and infrastructure limitations applied pressure on academic libraries. Many feared this pressure would result in fewer libraries collecting less scholarly output, so the JSTOR Project was the answer, launched with help from a Mellon Foundation grant in 1992. JSTOR digitized multiple print and microfiche sources immediately and began offering paid electronic access to these files. Its broad mission was, and still is, to help the academic community access scholarly resources online while capitalizing on advances in technology. It grew to become its own independent not-for-profit organization (1995), and today JSTOR is owned by Ithaka, a not-for-profit organization based in New York, NY. JSTOR enjoys a strong reputation for delivering quality, scholarly content.
What sets JSTOR apart?
2,000 academic journals with a large backfile, some of which dates from the 1850’s
2 million primary sources
All scholarly
Libraries choose to subscribe to individual archive collections. Bentley’s subscription to JSTOR includes material from 78 different areas (“disciplines”) and the Bentley courses most likely to use JSTOR are:
business (marketing, management)
social sciences (writing, ethics, psychology)
natural and applied sciences
Searching JSTOR Efficiently
JSTOR is special because it contains a rich vocabulary drawn from the accumulation of many terms over many years, all of which potentially can point researchers to subtleties in the literature. Researchers can use to their advantage keyword combinations joined by AND, OR, and NOT operators. The sample search below is built to get articles about Native Americans but not the country in southeast Asia which also uses the word “Indian”.
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Researchers can set limits and seek only in specific content areas (see below).
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JSTOR serves up its articles in PDF format. This is the landing page of an article with metadata and options:
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Technical Features
Like many databases, JSTOR offers…
Organization tool, MyJSTOR in which researchers can set up journal alerts, save searches, and manage citations
Mobile device access which is a recent development, boasting of responsive design enabling the JSTOR interface to adapt its output to the screen of a hand held device
Friendly citations issued in a neutral style which can be exported to outside bibliographic citations tools such as RefWorks or EndNote
Persistent and stable URL’s for suitable for email or posting in Blackboard
JSTOR carries publications with a time delay. Much of this database’s collection content is subject to a “grace period” or embargo before users can access it. From the JSTOR website they explain these are “moving walls,” usually between 3 and 5 years. Publishers may elect walls anywhere from zero to 10 years.
JSTOR will also carry current publications as well as inactive publications. Journals which have no new volumes being added to their archives have a “fixed wall.”
Did You Know?
JSTOR is philanthropic at its roots. In 2006 JSTOR’s library was made freely available in Africa to all educational (and other non-profit organizations) who met their criterion. This benevolent program has expanded to 40 nations beyond Africa since 2008. See JSTOR’s Developing Nation Access Initiative for more information of how they waive or offer reduced participation fees to academic material.
Did You Know?
Pre-1923 content has recently become available for free to all users due to easing of copyright restrictions. At JSTOR, their Early Journal Content (EJC) initiative makes more than 200 journals published prior to 1923 freely available to anyone, anywhere in the world.
JSTOR is special because many of its rich resources are entire runs of academic journals. Although JSTOR houses not quite everything under the sun, sometimes result sets will give that impression. When searched thoughtfully, JSTOR can amply support the research needs of Bentley students in undergraduate, graduate, PhD, and online programs.
World News Digest is a domestic and international news database covering major political, social, and economic events since November 1940. On top of getting quick updates about topics in the news, this database gives the ability to search for news by topic, decade or country and to find facts and statistics by exploring the tabs across the top of the page. Researchers can create a chronology of a specific issue and follow a story back in time to understand its importance.
The Infobase Learning section at the bottom of the page provides:
Presidential Elections information from 1940 to 2012.
Historical Documents
Editorial Cartoons
Featured Biographies
Obituaries
Newspaper Editorials
Facts & Statistics
Country studies
World News Digest is updated twice weekly and includes a searchable hourly news feed. All documents have a how to cite area and also a record URL which can be linked to for classroom presentations or course assignments.
WestlawNext is a new database that replaces Westlaw Campus. This new offering from Westlaw allows users to search for state and Federal cases, statutes and regulations and is designed for students to be the starting point for legal research. WestlawNext allows users to search for citations to cases and statutes. Users can simply enter a citation in the West Search search box at the top of each page. West Search allows users to easily switch between Federal and state jurisdictions while searching for legal information.
When users run a search on WestlawNext, they don’t need to select a database. The search is automatically run across eight content categories:
Cases
Statutes and Court Rules
Regulations
Administrative Decisions and Guidance
Secondary Sources
Briefs
Proposed and Enacted Legislation
Proposed and Adopted Regulations
WestlawNext also provides users with the option of searching for legal terms. WestlawNext supports the Boolean search method that allows users to enter a query that consists of key terms from their issue and connectors specifying the relationship between those terms. The Advanced Search page enables users to search for terms within specific parts of a legal document and to limit by jurisdiction. After search results are returned, users can use the WestlawNext filtering tool to find the exact document they need. WestlawNext allows users can email download, print, place in DropBox, or view with Kindle search results and documents.
For more information about WestlawNext please contact the Bentley Library Reference Desk at 781.891.2300 or refdesk@bentley.edu.
Plunkett Research has recently reorganized its web site to make analyst reports and historical data easier to find and compile.
Plunkett Research offers business intelligence information including industry/market trends and statistics, company profiles, professional organizations, and career research. It is ideal for industry trend tracking, identification of professional and trade associations, market research, business plan development, and investment research.
Plunkett analysts profile approximately 8,000 companies in 35 industries, with approximately 1,000 new companies added to the list yearly. All types of companies are included; for example, about 20% of the companies are privately held and about 30% are headquartered outside of the United States. Each industry receives a complete update once per year. An Archives button on the main page enables access to historical data almanacs by industry, presented in PDF format. Depending on the industry, 7-10 years of archived data is available.
Industry/Company/Market Research
The home page provides buttons to Research an Industry and/or Research a Company. A third Browse option allows users to select from a list of 35 industries on which Plunkett Research analysts focus their research activities.
Search and browse functions in Plunkett Research
Plunkett presents research on companies by geographic location, revenue size, and company type. The information is cross-searchable by keyword and can also be searched using advanced options. Selection criteria include type of company, annual sales, employee count, specific industry sector by NAICS code, city, state or country of headquarters location and more. Directory information includes corporate contact information, revenues, company rank within the industry by several indicators, number of employees, and names and titles of company executives.
The Browse list includes unique industry groupings, including E-Commerce and Internet, Green Technology, International Companies, Outsourcing & Offshoring, Transportation, Supply Chain & Logistics, and many more. “Industry Research Centers” display on the page after the user chooses an industry. The Centers offer detailed information about:
Industry market research and trends
Industry statistics
Company profiles
Definitions of terms used in particular industries and for business in general
Industry associations, trade organizations and professional societies
Reporting Tools
Plunkett enables users to export company contacts and/or lists of professional organizations and societies, in Excel or plain text format.
Using the Build-a-Report feature, the user can create industry reports in PDF format for printing, emailing and/or saving. Select a company or industry from the browse list on the main page, or click either “Research an Industry” or “Research a Company” on the main page to access this feature.
My Research Account
Sign up for a free research account and receive the following benefits:
Set up your own personal research profile and create a history of your searches
Save your searches and save comments about the search results
Set up alerts for new data posted to Plunkett Research
Database Assistance
Video introductions to popular searches and functions are prominently displayed on the main page below the search options.
Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to a database available from the Library’s website, highlighting key features of the database that you should know about. If you would like more information about this database (or any of the library’s databases), please Ask a Librarian. If you would like a demonstration of this database for a class, please contact Adam Williams, Research Instruction Coordinator at awilliams@bentley.edu.
Earlier this month Euromonitor launched a new search interface for the Passport database, making it easier to build targeted searches for consumer, industry, company, and economic data and analysis. The most significant changes are to the search tree. Users that prefer keyword searching will find that the keyword search box is still available at the top of the screen, and that the main navigation bar options are largely unchanged.
Highlighted below are the key enhancements. If you have questions or need help using Euromonitor Passport, please contact the Reference Desk.
1. Search Tree
To access the new and improved search tree, click on [SEARCH] in the top navigation bar. The first step in using the search tree is to choose what type of information you are looking for. Your options include:
Categories and Topics – In most cases, this will be the best place to start. Select [Categories and Topics] to search the full content of Passport to find market size, brand share, industry analysis, consumer information, and economic/country statistics.
Companies – Select [Companies] to search for company data.
Brands – Use the [Brands] search option to find brand share data .
Packaging – Select [Packaging] to search for statistics about packaging types.
Closures – Select [Closures] to search for statistics about package closure types.
Experienced Passport users will notice that the search tree has been redesigned from a vertical to horizontal layout, in which users are prompted to select one category at a time to build a search. You will be able to drill-down into subcategories to further refine your search. Alternatively, use the search box to filter within the categories.
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As you make selections, a breadcrumb trail will appear, which you can use to navigate back into the search tree.
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2. Results List
The search results page now displays the most popular statistics alongside a list of the most relevant analysis, making it easier to scan results and choose the best place to begin exploring. Analysis can be filtered by category, geography, type of analysis and date.
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Notice that at the top of your results screen you will see all the selections you have made in building your search:
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3. Reorganization of the “Countries & Consumers” Menu Option
One change has been made to the top navigation menu options. The quick link formerly labeled [Countries & Consumers] has been split into two separate categories – [Economies] and [Consumers] – to distinguish the type of content available. The Consumers page provides access to consumer trends and lifestyles analysis, income and expenditure data, and household and population statistics. The Economies page provides access to economic data, industrial production and infrastructure information, and business environment analysis.
Have fun exploring the new Passport. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have questions or need help.
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Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to a database available from the Library’s website, highlighting key features of the database that you should know about. If you would like more information about this database (or any of the library’s databases), please Ask a Librarian. If you would like a demonstration of this database for a class, please contact Adam Williams, Research Instruction Coordinator at awilliams@bentley.edu.
Looking for an article comparing and contrasting 2 countries for that Global Studies course? Having trouble finding scholarly material for GLS102? Worldwide Political Science Abstracts from ProQuest is the database you need. Worldwide Political Science Abstracts provides indexing and abstracts to over 2,500 journals from 1975-present in the fields of political science, international relations, law, and public administration and policy. A large number of these journals are available in full-text.
This database is the result of a merger of two databases in the year 2000, Political Science Abstracts from IFI/Plenum and ABC POL SCI published by ABC/CLIO. Since that merger, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts has greatly expanded its international coverage, with around 60% of its journals published outside the U.S.
Some notable subject areas covered in this database are:
Comparative politics
Electoral systems
History and theory of political science
Politics and religion
Politics and society
Politics and communication
Politics and law
Government/political systems
Security and defense
Political economy
In addition to scholarly journals, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts provides access to books, reports, and dissertations and theses. The Advanced Search page in this database will allow you to limit your search to one of these source types.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts is accessible via the library’s Databases A-Z page and the Politics & Government subject page. Please contact the Reference Desk if you have questions or would like assistance using it.
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Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to a database available from the Library’s website, highlighting key features of the database that you should know about. If you would like more information about this database (or any of the library’s databases), please Ask a Librarian. If you would like a demonstration of this database for a class, please contact Adam Williams, Research Instruction Coordinator at awilliams@bentley.edu.
Please note: Thomson ONE is optimized for Internet Explorer 11 on Windows 7. It also works with Internet Explorer versions 8 or 9. It does not work in Firefox or Chrome, or on Macs. Thomson ONE uses pop-ups. Set Internet Explorer to accept pop-ups from *thomsonone.com before entering the database to avoid having to re-do steps. You can test your computer for compatibility through Thomson ONE Diagnostic.
Searching Analyst Reports and SEC filings in Thomson ONE
Thomson ONE provides company overviews, lists of executives (current only), earnings estimates (+/- 5 years from today), stock price charts, side-by-side comparison of competitors, debt overview, company deals, customizable stock price charts, real-time market news, current and past SEC filings (some dating back to the 1960s!), and analysts’ reports.
Bentley Library subscribes to the following types of information via Thomson ONE:
Research – analyst reports from investment bank, brokerage house, and research firms from 1982 to present with one week embargo (sometimes called Investext)
Company Filings – 10-K, 8-K, 10-Q, Proxies, and Prospectuses filed with the SEC
Mergers & Acquisitions Deals – data is available for over 400,000 M&A deals, including global transactions since 1977
Equity Deals – data is available for over 80,000 equity deals, including global transactions since 1970
Bonds Deals – data lists company-specific bond transactions since 1998
Loans Deals – data is available for over 92,000 syndicated loans, including global transactions since 1982
Locating an Analyst Report in Thomson ONE:
To locate an analyst report for Apple Inc., for example, enter the company name or ticker symbol into the search box on the left and click GO. Find the RESEARCH tab along the navigation bar and click on Company Research.
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On the Company Research page, under Search Options, change the date range by clicking on the drop down menu and select Last 30 Days.
Enter the keyword “watch” next to Title to search for relevant analysts’ reports on the new Apple watch. Click SEARCH.
Reports are ranked by date, but you can change the list criteria by report title, contributor, or analyst. Analysts who receive a star ranking are those whose previous reports have been most accurate in predicting company performance.
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Click on APPLE INC. above the title you wish to read. Let’s look at the report by Piper Jaffray entitled, APPLE INC. – PJC Teen Survey: Watch Interest Remains Muted, iPhone Remains Dominant.
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A new screen will load. Check Select All Reports and then click View. Reports generally include:
price performance over one year
analyst’s conclusion about the saleability of a product and consumer intent with regards to the product
rating and price target history
company’s 5-year income sheet
Here is a snippet from PiperJaffray’s report on teen interest in Apple watches dated April 14, 2015.
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Locating a 10-K Report in Thomson ONE:
You can find a 10-K, 8-K, 10-Q, Proxy Statements, and Prospectus filings for many companies in Thomson ONE dating back to the 1960s in some instances. To locate a 10-K or 10-Q report for Apple Inc., enter the company name or ticker symbol into the search box on the Company Views page and click GO. Find the FILINGS tab along the navigation bar and then click on Company Filings (the library does not have a subscription to the Delta Reports).
The most recent filings are linked across the top of the page.
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Under Search Company Filings, use the dropdown menu beside Filing Date to change the date range to Last 12 Months. Type 10-K; 10-Q in the Filing Category/Type search box and click Search.
The results are returned by the most recent filing date. Choose the format for viewing or downloading the report.
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Below is a partial analysis of company risk as described by Apple Inc. under Item 1A. Risk Factors in its 2014 annual report or 10-K.
The Company’s operations and performance depend significantly on global and regional economic conditions. Uncertainty about global and regional economic conditions poses a risk as consumers and businesses may postpone spending in response to tighter credit, higher unemployment, financial market volatility, government austerity programs, negative financial news, declines in income or asset values and/or other factors. These worldwide and regional economic conditions could have a material adverse effect on demand for the Company’s products and services.
Thomson ONE is available through the Bentley Library’s Databases A to Z listing. For further assistance using Thomson ONE, please contact the Reference Desk.
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Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to a database available from the Library’s website, highlighting key features of the database that you should know about. If you would like more information about this database (or any of the library’s databases), please Ask a Librarian. If you would like a demonstration of this database for a class, please contact Adam Williams, Research Instruction Coordinator at awilliams@bentley.edu.
