Typical questions

• • How many women board members are there in FTSE 100 companies?

• • Where can I get analysts’ reports?

Starting points

• • Common queries relate to company profiles; peer group analysis; mergers and acquisitions; investment analysts reports; annual reports and filings; directors and executives; company ownership; and corporate social responsibility and governance.

• • It can be difficult for students to obtain this high quality company data unless their home library has a subscription to a commercial database. Internet sites can be unreliable and licenses often prevent visitors from other libraries accessing financial and company data. The databases listed below have the widest coverage. If they are not available, consult the libraries listed in the Business Studies chapter as all offer services to the public.

• • Financial terms can be difficult for both students and library staff to understand if they do not have a background in economics! A good starting point is Investopedia (www.investopedia.com) which has a free financial dictionary. Also worth exploring are the websites of the major financial newspapers such as the FT.

• • Find out the exact nature of the query as some basic company SWOT analyses can be obtained from the journal indexes in the Business chapter and the main broadsheet newspapers such as the FT. Information on some private companies may not be publicly available. For historical information refer to Economic History.

Recommended resources

Major databases

There are a number of commercial databases which cover a wide range of aspects of company and financial information. A key advantage to students is the ability to conduct online analyses and export data. However, navigation may require understanding, both of financial terminology and of using spreadsheets. If expertise is not available locally most offer a staffed help desk. Alternatively seek advice on the website of a major business school library such as the Harvard Business School (www.library.hbs.edu/Find/Databases).

Bloomberg Professional (Subscription) [Specialist]

www.bloomberg.com/professional

Well-known for its distinctive terminal. This service enables users to monitor and analyse current, and some historical, equities, stock market indices, fixed-income securities, currencies, commodities and futures for both international and domestic markets. It also has a renowned news service. Some colleges offer students free access to the Bloomberg Market Concepts (BMC) (www.bloomberg.com/professional/ product/bloomberg-market-concepts) a self-paced e-learning course.