Foster Business Library
Databases:
The Foster Business Library offers an extensive collection of business databases on its homepage; see under Business Databases; see
also the four folders at the top of that list for lists of Foster databases by topic: Books,
Articles--Full
Text, Articles--Citations and Abstracts, and Company and Industry. For more
information on the
three dozen Foster business databases, click here.
For more information on which of the
three dozen Foster business databases to use, click here.
For more information on
accessing Foster databases from off campus, click here.
For information about responsible database usage, click here.
See the Hoovers Online company fact sheet for Blockbuster
as well as the extensive company overview for Blockbuster,
with Financials
and the Competitive
Landscape for the company.
See also the industry
fact sheet for the Music,
Video, Book &
Entertainment Retail industry and the related Industry
Overview.
A company search for BBI produced a list of over 320
reports.
An industry search
for Retailing produced a list of over 26,000
reports.
Go to Business and then to SEC Filings to obtain the 10-K annual filings
for Blockbuster, using the ticker symbol BBI. Lexis-Nexis has 35 SEC
10-K filings (or parts of filings), going back to the year 2000. SEC 10-K filings are rich
sources for information on a company's industry and other information, such as this example
from the most recent Blockbuster SEC
10-K filing:
"According to estimates of Kagan World Media, a Primedia
Company, consumer spending for at-home movie viewing in the United States
increased from about $22.0 billion in 2001 to about $24.4 billion in 2002
and is projected to increase to about $36.2 billion by 2007. The U.S.
retail home video industry, which includes the sale and rental of movies on
DVD and videocassette, or VHS, represented about $22.3 billion of the $24.4
billion in revenues during 2002. The remainder of the revenues were
generated by pay-per-view and other specialized cable and satellite
services.
Of the estimated $22.3 billion in revenues generated by the U.S. retail
home video industry during 2002, about $13.6 billion was generated by sales
of movies and about $8.7 billion was generated by rentals of movies. This
compared to about $11.8 billion that was generated by sales of movies and
about $8.5 billion that was generated by rentals of movies during 2001."
A search in this database for Video Rental retrieved just two tables.
Complete financials for Blockbuster are available in this
database and its backfiles.
Demographics of visitors to video stores and purchasers or renters of video tapes may be found
in Household & Personal Appliances, Etc.
Go to About Blockbuster
for company background, history, management team, international operations, franchising
opportunities, and a link to Investor
Relations, with company stock information, SEC filings, financials and annual reports for
1999 through 2002.
See the links to information on Blockbuster.
See Retail Trade and Motion Picture Production and Distribution.
See the company profile for Blockbuster as well
as the
company's dominant position among its competitors
in terms of
market capitalization in the Music & Video Stores industry.
See the company profile for Blockbuster as well as the excellent
Ratio
Comparisons for the company, its industry, its sector, and the S&P 500.
See the industry survey, dated November 2002, for Movies & Home Entertainment in volume three;
Blockbuster is one
of the companies featured in the Comparative Company Analysis at the end of the survey.
See the Industry Profile for Retailing on pages 1882 to 1884.
See Video Tape Rental and Retail on pages 335 to 341.
See the history of Blockbuster Entertainment in volume nine, pages 73 to 75, with an update for
Blockbuster, Inc., in volume 31, pages 56 to 60.
See Blockbuster in volume one, pages 247 to 248, for a chronology of the company to 1998.
See Motion Pictures on pages 383 to 393.
See Blockbuster on pages 329 and 330, tables 1490, 1492, and 1493, and on pages 419 to 420, tables 1899 to
1901.
Demographics of visitors to video stores and purchasers or renters of video tapes may be found
in Household & Personal Appliances, Etc.,
in volume P-14.
See Blockbuster on pages 29, 78, and 148.
See Blockbuster in book I, on page 145.
See Blockbuster's total of $100 million on advertising on page 289.
See Blockbuster in the small and midcap volume, edition number 10, dated February 2003, page 4806.
For Blockbuster, see volume one, pages 898 and 899.
See the chapter on Home Video Merchandising for references to Blockbuster on pages 94 and 95, and in
notes on pages 468 (note #50) and 469 (note #54).
Circulation status is indicated in the box in the middle of each
online catalog record, on the right. Check Shelf indicates that the book should
be on the shelves under that call number and available for you to check
out. Due and a date indicates that the book is already checked out
to someone and is due back on the date indicated.
The Foster general stacks collection is located south of the main part of the Foster
Business Library, through the two pass-throughs into the basement of Balmer. The
arrangement is by call number, from A (at the east end, near the Copy Center) to Z (at the
far west end).
A keyword search for Blockbuster retrieved a list of nine
records in the UW Libraries, with only one title in the Foster Business Library:
This book is just one of two books
on the subject of Video recordings industry -- United States; the other is A new pot of gold:
Hollywood under the electronic rainbow, 1980-1989.
There is also a case about Blockbuster in
Strategic marketing management cases;
See Case 3-2.
Foster Business
Library Corporate Annual Reports:
The Foster Business Library maintains a collection of several thousand
annual
reports for hundreds of U.S. and foreign companies. These reports are
filed in
lateral filing cabinets near the Foster Reference desk under the sign
Corporate Annual Reports. Annual reports for companies in an
industry can be a valuable source of information about the industry
itself. For a list of all the companies in the Corporate Annual Reports collection, click here.
For an index to corporate annual reports in the collection by industry sector, click here. For an index to companies in
the collection with headquarters outside the U.S., click here.
The collection does not include annual reports for Blockbuster, Inc. but does include reports for Oregon-based
Hollywood Entertainment Corporation
as well as many
other companies in the Retail sector. The
collection also includes the company that owns over 80% of Blockbuster's stock, Viacom.
Foster Business Library Articles:
Of these three main sources, all but
Factiva are available from any computer on the campus
network (as well as from home) via the UW
Connectivity
Kit or via the
Libraries' proxy server.
The easiest of these databases to use is ABI/Inform Global.
For more information about accessing Foster Business Library databases from off
campus, click here. For more information about business databases, click here.
This database offers full text articles for over 800 journals.
To find articles on specific topics, search by word or phrase by keying your search phrase
into the
search box.
ABI/Inform Global includes journals but not national or Washington state newspapers (though
the Wall Street Journal is included). It also does not include valuable trade and industry
and other periodicals. Your searches will span the widest possible array of publications by
expanding your search to all databases in ABI/Inform. To expand your search to include all
collections in this database, click on
Select Multiple Databases, to the right of the search box. Click then on Select All Databases.
Your search terms will be
highlighted in red in each
article. For tips on searching this database, click here.
As an example, a search for CO(Blockbuster Inc) produced a list of over 640 articles; for
CO(Blockbuster Entertainment Corp), over 1,670 articles; for CO(Blockbuster Videos Inc), over
340 articles.
To find more specific articles, add terms to your initial company search. As an example, a search for
CO(Blockbuster Entertainment Corp) and strengths, in citations and abstracts, produced just three
articles. Expanding the search for this phrase throughout the full text of all articles produced a list of 30
articles.
A similar search for CO(Blockbuster Entertainment Corp) and strengths, in citations and abstracts, produced
produced 97
articles. Expanding the search for this phrase throughout the full text of all articles produced a list of
over 180
articles.
Try searches with this company name and other terms.
For research guides on a wide variety of industries,
products, companies, issues and topics, see the Team Librarian Consultation archives.
Need help with writing or revising the written part of your assignment?
The Business Writing
Center, in Lewis Hall 304, provides consultations on business class
writing assignments (as well as cover letters, and resumes) with an
advanced business student trained in critiquing drafts and coaching
writers. Need help citing sources? Try our guide to Citing
Sources.
Unlike library databases, these Web resources are available wherever
you have web
access; they do not require that you access them via the UW Connectivity Kit or the UW
Libraries Proxy Server for authentication. 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.
Foster
Business
Library Reference Collection:
The Foster Reference Collection is located behind the Reference Desk in Foster.
Foster Business Library
Books:
This three-volume set provides 30-page profiles on 52 industries
with a focus
on the current economic environment, trends, regulation and outlook for
each industry.
Major companies in each industry are profiled, with references to sources
of additional industry information.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC106.6 .S74
This 2,200-page single volume is "designed to offer a wide range of insights, information, and
practical guidance on every aspect of management" via 2.5 million words of text from 200
contributors, with 700 illustrations and 150 maps, in seven major sections including best
practice, a management library, business thinkers and management giants, a business
dictionary, a world business almanac, and a guide to business sources.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD38.15 .B878 2002.
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 1999.
Studying the history of leading companies in an industry is a good
way to learn more about the history of an industry. This
set of more than thirty volumes covers over 4,700 company histories worldwide, with each
history running just two to four pages; check the company index in the latest volume
to locate a specific company history or update as well as any other
references to that company in other company histories. There is also
an index by industry.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD2721 .I57
This two-volume work covers 1,500 major companies worldwide, with one- or
two-page timelines marking major events in each company's history.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD2721 .N67 1999.
Industry snapshots, outlook, regulations, research, associations,
societies, statistics, websites for 100 major U.S. industries.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD2771 .U8 1998.
Annual compilation of U.S., Canadian and Mexican market share data for companies, products and
services, arranged by SIC code, and with indexes by product, company and
topic.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5410 .M35 2003.
This reference work, in about two dozen volumes, provides data on consumers' lifestyles and buying habits
for
hundreds of consumer products from accessories/clothing to yogurt. Data is offered in breakdowns by age,
sex, race, income, education, geographic region, and many other categories. There is no product index
but for each product type, there is an indication of products covered at the beginning of the volume.
This source offers demographics of typical buyers for a product,
market shares of competing products, and
data on media usage (such as newspapers/magazines read, radio listened to, TV and cable watched, etc.).
There is an explanation in each volume of how to interpret the data in the rows and columns.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5415.3 .M43 Spring 1998.
Also available online on public PC #19, with 2001 data.
This almanac offers information about major industry trends, industry
statistics, industry information, major companies in the industry, with
indexes by state, country, region, etc. The major part of the almanac
provides one-page profiles of companies in the industry, with directory
information, growth plans and special features, contacts, brief
financials, brief salary and benefits data, and women officer-director and
advancement information.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5428 .P558 2003.
This two-volume work reports paid advertising expenditures in major media
categories for companies and
brands in America.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5801 .A18 January-December 2001.
This annual two-volume publication is the most
comprehensive
source for information on the advertising practices of 24,000 U.S. and Canadian companies spending a
minimum of $200,000 on national and regional advertising. Companies may be accessed by 54 business
categories or by state, province or city. Entries for companies advertising include SIC codes, business
descriptions, statistics, personnel, approximate advertising expenditures, and media. Entries for ad
agencies often include the companies and brand names handled and the executive assigned to each account.
Volume two includes indexes by product by state or province, by brand name, by SIC code and by personnel.
There is also a geographic index volume.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5805 .S7 2002 (volume 1: businesses)
This large two-volume investment advice service provides regular reviews of 3,500 company
stocks and their
expected performance. The arrangement is not alphabetically by company; instead, use the
index in a pocket in the front of the standard or expanded volumes to locate which volume your
company is in and the issue number in which it appears.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4501 .V26
This two-volume work covers all companies listed on the New York and American stock exchanges, with
extensive information about companies, including history, chronology, acquisitions, mergers, spinoffs,
properties, joint ventures, subsidiaries, officers and directors, consolidated income and balance sheets
for three and two years, respectively, long term debit, options, etc.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4961 .M67 2002.
This single volume covers the financial aspects of major entertainment enterprises including movies, television,
cable, music, casinos, theme parks, and toys in considerable detail, written by a former entertainment industry
analyst at Merrill Lynch.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: PN1590 .F55 .V6 2002.
The Foster Business Library maintains a collection of over 70,000 books on
all business topics, including many books useful for country research.
To identify relevant books, go to the UW Libraries Catalog on the Foster Business Library homepage
(under Business Databases).
Try searching by
keyword.
Use the
Limit/Sort feature
to create a list of books in the
Foster Business Library and in order from newest book to oldest. To do so, use the
pulldown menu under WHERE item is located to specify Foster Business Library and
click on the box near the bottom Sort results by year. Then click on
Limit/sort items retrieved using above data. Clicking on the titles in the
resulting list will bring up the full catalog record, indicating which Foster area
has the book (general stacks, reference, reserve, etc.), the call number and the
circulation status.
In addition to the 800 journals in the Foster Business Library Periodicals Collection,
the Foster Business Library offers access to 11,000 full text periodical
articles through its full text article
databases such as: ABI/Inform
Global,
Factiva, and Lexis-Nexis Academic
Universe.
These article databases may be found on the Foster Business Library homepage, listed alphabetically under Business
Databases or in the Articles: Full Text folder.
The Foster Business Library Reference Desk is staffed
nearly all of the hours that the library is open.
The
staff at the desk
will be happy to help you find business research tools and resources, exploit business databases to the fullest or
advise on research strategies.
For
e-mail
questions, direct your query to balib@u.washington.edu. For
assistance by telephone, dial (206) 543-8012 during library hours.