Ebsco

Company Profiles & Investment Research Resources

Did you know that the library offers several resources to help researchers, investors and the general public learn more about companies and businesses?

The Consumer & Business resources link on the county eLibrary site provides access to several databases with a wealth of information.

Business Source Elite

For anyone researching the background profile of a company or business, they can start with Business Source Elite from EBSCO. This helpful resource offers Company Profile reports which break down key facts, company history, key employees, major products/services, top competitors, as well as company locations & subsidiaries.

Screen shot of EBSCO Business Source Elite site
Company Profiles can be found in the top menu (circled) of the Business Source Elite database.

Business Insights: Essentials

To get more detailed information about a company, researchers can use Business Insights: Essentials. In addition to basic information, this resource links to academic journals, investment reports, news, and trade journals. Furthermore, it provides links to related subjects like financial data, legal issues, management and company statistics.

Business Insights: Essentials provides in-depth company background information and related news.

Morningstar Investment Research

Finally, if patrons are looking for information specific to financials and investments, a great go-to source is Morningstar Investment Research. This trusted resource provides all sorts of financial information from stock ticker data to company ratings & performance, Morningstar analyst reports, company portfolio information and so much more.

Happy researching!

Richelle @ Sewickley Public Library

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What’s Next?

Nothing is better than finding a good book and finding out it’s a series to keep it going. However, it is not always clear what title to start with or which title comes next.

The Kent District Library, in Kent County, Michigan, created the What’s Next: Books in Series Database to help search series. They define a series as two or more books linked by character(s), settings, or other common traits. The database is searchable by author last name, author first name, name of a series, book title, category or genre. It is the perfect resource if you need a printed list of titles.

Fantastic Fiction is also a great resource for keeping up with your favorite authors and series. When searching an author, you can see all their series in order and all their titles that are not a part of a series. A unique feature of Fantastic Fiction is series that are not tied by author, for example the various Star Wars and Star Trek series. 

Of course, there is the Novelist Plus database! Like the others, Novelist provides author’s series, but a feature that makes Novelist stand out is the Read-alikes specifically for series!

Happy reading!

Leigha Lamont @ Wilkinsburg Public Library & Eastridge Branch

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Digging into Database Content

Most of us are generally familiar with how a database works, how to perform a simple search and download an article. But do you know which sources of information make up those results pages?

All of that information is readily available for you to discover, if you have the time.  Having an idea of some of the most common magazines, reference sources, and journals make up the database content might make answering patron questions easier.  Having that information will allow you to recommend more appropriate resources to assist in research.

MasterFile Premier title sources can be downloaded as Excel or HTML files from here: https://www.ebsco.com/products/research-databases/masterfile-premier . Included in the information is data on the start and stop date of full text data, web publishing delay information (embargo), and PDF availability.  This can be helpful, especially for patrons doing research with a specific publication target date.

Let’s take a look at how our patrons are using specific resources. In 2017 these magazines/journals are included in the most downloaded in Allegheny County:

  • Consumer Reports
  • American Record Guide
  • Knight-Ridder Business Newsfeed
  • Library Journal
  • Consumer Reports Buying Guide
  • USA Today
  • Publishers Weekly
  • Talent Development
  • New Yorker
  • Christian Science Monitor
  • Time

You can find title lists for other resources as well.  To find title lists for Gale products like US History inContext, Literature Resource Center, or Opposing Viewpoints inContext scroll to the bottom of the page after you are inside the product and click on “About…”.  On the about page you will find title lists available.

Dustin/ Lynne, Sewickley Public Library

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Promoting Collections with NoveList Plus

Summer Reading programs are fast approaching!  I know all of us are anticipating displays and activities that highlight our collections and encourage our library patrons to discover great titles, both fiction and nonfiction.

NovelList Plus is a fabulous resource for staff and public alike.  Although it is perfect for developing reading lists and printing out those long lists of books in series, as well as finding read-alikes, it’s a great website to encourage library users to discover new titles for themselves.

NovelList Plus has some ready-made flyers and bookmarks that can be adapted quite easily.  Let your patrons in on this great resource!

You can go to http://support.ebscohost.com/promotion/ to look for flyers such as these to encourage your patrons to explore NovelList Plus for themselves.

Lynne Schneider
Sewickley

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