Team Librarian Consultation

Web Resources:

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.
• Viacom:   Company websites often provide extensive amounts of corporate information including histories of the company, investor information such as annual reports and Securities and Exchange Commission filings, historical stock prices, executive biographies, company news and press releases, etc. Look for this information under headings for Investor Relations, About The Company, etc. See MTV for information about the subsidiary and its demographics, including the Latin America and Asia divisions. For the parent company, see About Viacom for facts and figures and Shareholder Information for investor information and S.E.C. filings.

• MTV Networks:   Websites for subsidiaries of public companies usually are focused on product promotion, with little corporate information. See their MTV Latin America and MTV Asia.

• Yahoo! Finance:   This site is excellent for company and investment information as well as an excellent source for financial ratio comparisons with industry, sector and S&P 500. See the company profile and key statistics for Viacom and as well as their industry center for Broadcasting & Cable TV.

• Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau:   This national association of cable system operators provides statistics about its industry. See their Research Snapshots, Advertising Expenditures, and nine records from a site search for MTV.

• National Cable & Telecommunications Association:   This organization is "the principal trade association of the cable television industry in the United States." See their Industry Overview and Statistics & Resources.

The Foster Business Library Reference Collection is located behind the Reference Desk in Foster.
• International marketing data and statistics.
  Demographic trends and forecasts, economic indicators, labor force, trade, energy, environment, consumer expenditures and market size, and retailing information for the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania; companion volume to European marketing data and statistics.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HA42 .I56. 2003.

  See Cable Television Households on page 438.

• Statistical abstract of the United States.
  Information about many industries as well as demographic information; check index for references to tables. The sources for each table are often a valuable source of additional information.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HA202 .U56 2004-2005.
  (Also available Online)

  See Cable Television in table 613, on page 402; table 700 on page 715; tables 1118, 1119, 1120 and 1121 on pages 716 to 717; tables 1138 and 1139 on page 725; and table 1274 on page 793.

• European marketing data and statistics.
  Demographic trends and forecasts, economic indicators, labor force, trade, energy, environment, consumer expenditures and market size, and retailing information for European countries.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HA1107 .E87 2003.

  See Cable Television Households on page 294.

• Encyclopedia of American industries.
  This heavy two-volume set provides essays on over 1,000 industries, with manufacturing industries largely in volume one and service and other non-manufacturing industries in volume two, arranged by Standard Industrial Code, with an index at the back of volume two.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC102 .E53 2005.

  See Viacom and industry information for Cable and Other Pay Television Services, in volume two, on pages 491 to 498 (with no references to MTV). For MTV, see page 1263 in volume two.

• Standard & Poor's industry surveys.
  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.

  See the industry profile for Broadcasting & Cable in volume one, for Viacom (which is included in the Comparative Company Analysis at the end of this survey).

• 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 Cable Television on pages 668 to 670 and Pay-Television Services on pages 552 to 563.

• International directory of company histories.
  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 fifty volumes covers over 5,000 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

  See Viacom in volume seven, on pages 560 to 562, with an update in volume 23, on pages 500 to 503.

• Market share reporter.
  Annual two-volume compilation of U.S. and world 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 2005.

  See Viacom in volume one, in table 15 on page five, and in volume two, in tables 2515 on page 649; table 2534 on page 653; and table 2554 on page 658.

• Ad $ summary.
  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.
  

  See MTV in Book II, on page 473.

• Standard directory of advertisers.
  This annual two-volume publication, also known as The Advertiser Red Book, 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. See the company index on pages A-1 to A-49.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5805 .S7 2005.

  See MTV Networks on page 319.

• Business rankings annual.
  This annual volume provides 5,000 rankings of companies, products, services and business activities, with data culled from thousands of sources.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4050 .B88 2004.

  See Cable Television on pages 133 to 134.

• Mergent industry review.
  Statistical data on 3,000 companies in 137 industries, with ranking, key financial information, operating data and ratios.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4961 .M68

  See Viacom in the Television & Radio Broadcasting industry, on pages 463 to 466, in the August 2004—January 2005 edition.

• Entertainment industry economics.
  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 2004.

  See chapter seven, on Cable, on pages 265 to 294, with references to MTV on pages 199 and 219, and to Viacom on pages 177 and 219.

• Television & cable fact book.
  This four-volume paperback is the major reference work for the television, cable and electronics industry.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: TK6555 .T26 2003.

  See part two, sections one and two, for Cable, with references to MTV on pages E-28 to E-29.

The Foster Business Library maintains a collection of over 70,000 books on all business topics. 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 Modify Search feature to restrict your list of books to the Foster Business Library and in order from newest book to oldest. To do so, use the pulldown menu under Location to specify Foster Business Library. 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.

Circulation status is indicated on the right of each online catalog record, on the right. Available 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. You can have the Request/Place Hold feature to recall the book for your use.

If you don't find an adequate number of books, use the Search Summit button to repeat your search in the Summit, a combined catalog for more than thirty libraries in higher education in Washington and Oregon. Use the Request This Item feature to have books sent from any of those libraries, free, to the Foster Business Library for you to checkout.

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 MTV produced over sixty records in the UW Libraries, with none in the Foster Business Library; only 29 records were for books. A subject search for MTV Networks produced a list of ten records in the UW Libraries, again with none in the Foster Business Library. This list includes:

• Monopoly television: MTV's quest to control the music   (1996)
• Why I (still) want my MTV: music video and aesthetic communication   (2003)

A search for the subject Cable Television produced over 320 records in the UW Libraries, with 15 records in the Foster Business Library.

A search for the subject Television Broadcasting produced a list of over 1,500 records, with 19 records in the Foster Business Library. A similar search for the subject Television Broadcasting – Latin America produced just three records; for Television broadcasting – Asia, just four records.

A keyword search for Viacom produced over a dozen records in the UW Libraries, with just two records in the Foster Business Library.

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 includes annual reports for Viacom as well as other companies in the Media industry.

Foster Business Library Articles:

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.

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.

• ABI/Inform Global:

  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 on all of the databases.

  Your search terms will be highlighted in red in each article. For tips on searching this database, click here.

  A search in all databases for CO(MTV Networks Inc), produced over 2,400 articles, including 29 articles in scholarly journals, over 400 articles in magazines, over 700 articles in trade and industry publications, and over 1,100 articles in newspapers. A search for CO(MTV Asia) produced over 70 articles; for CO(MTV Latino), just 28 articles.

  A search for CO(MTV Networks Inc) and United States produced over 170 articles; for CO(MTV Networks Inc) and Argentina, no articles; for CO(MTV Networks Inc) and Hong Kong, just 15 articles.

  A search for CO(MTV Networks Inc) and Marketing produced over 160 articles; for the broader MTV and Marketing and United States, over 130 articles; for MTV and Marketing and Argentina, just one article; for MTV and Marketing and Hong Kong, just nine articles.

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.

For research guides on a wide variety of industries, products, companies, issues and topics, see the Team Librarian Consultation archives.

• Team Consultation Course/Program Index      (Marketing Assignments)
• Team Consultation Industry Index      (Media Industry)
• Team Consultation Quarter Index
• Team Consultation Title Index
• Team Consultation and Research Guide Index