Foster Business Library


COM 420 — Library Resources


Selected Foster Business Library resources for COM 420, Comparative Media Systems.
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Foster Business Library Databases:

The Foster Business Library offers an extensive collection of over fifty databases on its homepage; see under Databases. For a complete list of Foster databases, see the List of All Business Databases. Access to these databases from off campus requires that you first go to the Off-Campus Access button, in the upper right of all library webpages. These resources may not be accessed from off campus except by those with a valid UW Net ID and password. For more information on Foster business databases, click Databases, A-Z. For information on which Foster business databases to use, see the Database Index. For information on accessing Foster databases from off campus, see Database Access. For guidelines on responsible database usage, see Database Usage.

  • EIU Online:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Databases. This database, provided by the Economist Intelligence Unit, provides online access to their annual Country Profiles, quarterly Country Reports, and annual Country Commerce; see also the individual country information in their World Investment Prospects.

    As examples, see their information for Brazil, India, Mexico, Nigeria, and Russia. See also World Investment Prospects for Brazil, India, Mexico, Nigeria, and Russia. A Viewswire advanced search for Internet Service Providers and Brazil produced over fifteen articles; for Internet Service Providers and India, over ninety articles; for Internet Service Providers and Mexico, just one article; for Internet Service Providers and Nigeria, no articles; for Internet Service Providers and Russia, just one very old article.

  • Europa World:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under List of All Business Databases. This database mirrors the Europa World Year Book in the Foster Business Library, with profiles for 250 countries as well as a variety of regions and international organizations, with statistical, historical, political, and economic information and data, as well as a comparison feature, and directory information.

    See their information for Brazil, India, Mexico, Nigeria, and the Russian Federation.

  • Hoovers Online:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Databases. Hoovers Online offers information about 40,000 public and private companies worldwide, with links to company homepages and annual reports, charts, company capsule, competitors, divisions, earnings, financials, Fortune and Forbes rankings, history, industry information, insider trading, mission statements, news links, press releases, officers, patents, products, SEC filings, splits, subsidiaries, etc.

    See this database's very brief information for the Internet & Online Services Providers and their four-page list of companies, in this database, in this industry, worldwide.

  • Kompass:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Databases. Brief directory information for 1.9 million companies in 70 countries, with indexes for company products and services, containing 23 million product and service references, and 500,000 trademarks and brand names.

    A product/service search in Kompass for Internet Service Providers produced over 2,700 companies, including nine in India, four in Mexico, and 185 companies in the Russian Federation; this database does not include either Brazil or Nigeria.

  • Mergent Online:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Databases. Merget Online access provides extensive information on 11,000 U.S. and 17,000 international companies, including financials, stock, properties, joint ventures, annual reports, subsidiaries, S.E.C. filings, etc. For search tips, see About Mergent Online.

    This database includes information for 800 public companies headquartered in Brazil; over 570 companies in India; almost 200 companies in Mexico; just over a dozen companies in Nigeria; and just under two dozen companies for Russia.

  • World Telecommunication Indicators:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under List of All Business Databases. International Telecommunication Union database of telecommunications data, country by country, with data from the Yearbook of Statistics and from the World Telecommunications Development Report. Part of the UW Libraries CD-ROM Network.

    This database includes telecommunications and internet data for Brazil, India, Mexico, Nigeria, and Russia.

    Web Resources:

    Unlike library databases, Web resources are available wherever you have web access; they do not require that you access them via the Off-Campus Access button, in the upper right of all library webpages. When using web resources, be sure to evaluate the credibility of these resources. For a subject index to web resources, see Business Resources on the Web on the Foster Business Library homepage.

  • CIA World Factbook:   These brief country profiles, prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency, offer information about government, economy, GDP, CPI, labor force, unemployment rate, budget, industries, agriculture, export, import, telecommunications, debt, foreign aid for over 150 countries. See their Communications information for Brazil, India, Mexico, Nigeria, and Russia.

  • Doing E-Business:   This Economist Intelligence Unit site offers access to brief information about electronic commerce in about 48 countries, with sections for each country on key issues, electronic infrastructure, regulatory environment, taxation and links to popular sites. See their information for Brazil, India, Mexico, Nigeria, and Russia.

  • NationMaster.Com:   This Australian site uses data from a great variety of governmental sources to provide graphic rankings, lists and interactive comparisons for countries' crime, economy, education, energy, environment, geography, government, health, media, military, people, religion, sports, and transportation, for 251 countries. This site also enables viewing of individual country profiles, with maps and flags, and of regions and groupings. As an example, see their internet information for Brazil, India, Mexico, Nigeria, and Russia.

    For browsing news, online, for this class:

    See also trade associations of internet service providers, such as:

    Foster Business Library Reference Collection:

    The Foster Business Library Reference Collection consists of business handbooks, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other quick reference tools. It is located behind the Reference Desk in Foster, arranged by call number. Reference materials cannot be checked out; they may only be used in the library.

  • Global, Inc: an atlas of the multinational corporation.
    This large heavily-illustrated, map-rich paperback covers the foundations of globalization, the history of multinational corporations, global corporations by industry, the impacts of multinational corporations on employment and wages, taxes, technology, capital, culture, environment, and the governance of multinational corporations.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: G1046 .Q1 .G3 2003.

    See pages 66 to 73, on Computers and Electronics, pages 74 to 77, on Software and the Internet, pages 78 to 81, on Telecommunications, and pages 106 to 112, on Media and Entertainment.

  • World development indicators.
    This World Bank volume contains a large number of tables listing each country and key data about its people, environment, economy, markets, employment, poverty, etc.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC59.15 .W656 2005.
    Also available, in part, online at http://www.worldbank.org/data/wdi/home.html.

    For data about personal computers, internet hosts, secure servers, etc., see section 5.10 for Information Age.

  • Encyclopedia of global industries.
    Twelve-page descriptions of 125 global industries, with background and development information, current conditions, industry leaders and further reading.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD2324 .E53 2003.

    See Internet Service Providers on pages 580 to 581, 584, 585 to 587, and page 589, in the Internet Services industry description.

  • The global information technology report.
    This World Economic Forum publication provides country profiles and data about the diffusion of information technology, along with chapters on network readiness, global diffusion of information technology, information technology and poverty, regulatory reform, and a case study on Finland.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC79 .I55 .G56 2003-2004.

    See Brazil on page 122, India on page 152, Mexico on page 172, Nigeria on page 179, and the Russian Federation on page 189.

  • The IMD world competitiveness yearbook.
    This yearbook, published by the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland, provides ranking information in many competitiveness categories for over fifty major countries as well as nine regions. Among the many categories are international trade, employment, prices, business legislation, labor markets, management practices, impact of globalization, and corruption.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF1414 .W67 2006.

    See their information on infrastructure (including electricity costs, investment in telecommunications, computers in use, internet costs, and internet users). See Brazil on pages 86 to 89; India on pages 162 to 165; Mexico on pages 210 to 213; and Russia on pages 242 to 245; Nigeria is not included.

  • LexisNexis corporate affiliations: who owns whom.
    This set of eight volumes covers over fifty thousand U.S. and international companies and their subsidiaries, with a master index in volumes one and two; U.S. public companies in volumes three and four; U.S. private companies in volumes five and six; and international public and private companies in volumes seven and eight.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4057 .A219 2006.

    The arrangement of volumes seven and eight, for international public and private companies, is alphabetically by company name, not by country.

  • Directory of American firms operating in foreign countries.
    This three-volume annual publication lists 2,600 U.S. companies with 35,000 branches, subsidiaries, and affiliates in 190 countries.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4538 .A1 .D5 2005.

    See Brazil in volume one, on pages 846 to 943; India in volume two, on pages 2350 to 2423; Mexico in volume three, on pages 2916 to 3033; Nigeria, on pages 3198 to 3207; and Russia on pages 3425 to 3469.

    Foster Business Library Articles:

    Articles in academic journals, magazines, trade periodicals, and newspapers are one of the best sources for any kind of research. While the Foster Business Library offers a large periodicals print collection, comprising over 800 titles, articles are most easily accessed online, 24/7, in such fulltext article databases as EBSCO Business Source Premier, Factiva, LexisNexis Academic, Newsbank Infoweb, and ProQuest Databases. These article databases are available in the library or from off-campus, and provide access to over 10,000 periodicals and millions of articles.

    Library access to most ProQuest databases will terminate at the end of spring quarter 2008, except for ProQuest NewsStand, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Historical New York Times, and the Historical Wall Street Journal. For more about this change, see UW Libraries Providing New Databases. After this change, comprehensive article searches should be performed in EBSCO Business Source Premier, Newsbank Infoweb, and ProQuest NewsStand. Also, after this change, links to the articles below will be broken.

    ProQuest Databases:

    This database--actually, a family of over two dozen databases--offers full text articles for over 10,000 publications, including scholarly journals, magazines, trade and industry periodicals, newspapers, and reports on a very wide range of topics. To find articles on specific topics, search by word or phrase by keying your search phrase into the search box--or search for your topic in the Topic Guide.

    Your search terms will be highlighted in red in each article.

    A subject search for SUB(Internet Service Providers) produced over 21,000 articles. A subject search for SUB(Internet Service Providers) and Brazil produced over fifty articles; for SUB(Internet Service Providers) and India, over fifty articles; for SUB(Internet Service Providers) and Mexico, over eighty articles; for SUB(Internet Service Providers) and Nigeria just five articles; for SUB(Internet Service Providers) and Russia produced over twenty articles. A subject search for SUB(Internet Service Providers) and SUB(Market Shares) produced over 140 articles. A similar search for SUB(Internet Service Providers) and SUB(Market Shares) and Brazil produced just two articles; for SUB(Internet Service Providers) and SUB(Market Shares) and India, no articles; for SUB(Internet Service Providers) and SUB(Market Shares) and Mexico, four articles; for SUB(Internet Service Providers) and SUB(Market Shares) and Nigeria, no articles; for SUB(Internet Service Providers) and SUB(Market Shares) and Russia, no articles.

    This database also includes full text access to the Economist, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal, for the class's daily reading assignments.

  • LexisNexis Academic:

    This database provides accounting, business, legal, medical, news, and reference information as well as full text articles from over 18,000 sources, including 6,000 news sources (mostly newspapers, both U.S. and international), as well as transcripts and polling information.

    Go to Guided News Search, select World News Search, and pick the appropriate area news source category. A search in North/South American News Sources, in Headline and Lead Paragraph, for Internet Service Providers, for the previous year, for Internet Service Providers and Brazil produced over seventy articles; repeating this search for Mexico produced fifty articles. A similar search for this topic and India, in Asia Pacific News Sources, produced over 300 articles; for this topic, in Middle East/Africa News Sources, over 130 articles; for this topic, in European News Sources, for Russia, over 115 articles.

    Help:

    27 February 2006; updated 27 September 2006.   Peter Stevens, Business Librarian, stevens@u.washington.edu, 206-543-4360.