Need Published Articles about Your Company?
Leanne Wells
Introduction
Alongside the company databases we’ve just explored, UNB Libraries offer faculty and students access to thousands of published full-text articles from business journals, trade publications, magazines, and current news sources. These articles are used to locate additional information on a variety of issues including new products, competitors, stock prices, market share, environmental issues, corporate social responsibility, etc.
Business and management students access published articles from the following three business article databases on a regular basis. The articles within each of these databases contain a variety of proprietary full-text articles which will help you strengthen your presentations and reports.
- Business Source Ultimate (BSU)
- ABI/INFORM Complete (ABI)
- Canadian Business & Current Affairs Complete (CBCA)
Each database offers students the opportunity to craft their own search strategy and search through thousands of publications at the same time. As you search, gather, and read different sources from the article databases, please keep in mind that no single database can provide the depth and breadth of business information required; this is why our libraries subscribe to three different business article databases.
Searching all three databases increases your ability to locate the best evidence available about your company. Keep in mind that if your company is privately held, it may be difficult to find very much information. Searching the business article databases can provide you with useful information disclosed by the company in press releases or news articles.
Links to the “big three” business article databases (BSU, ABI and CBCA) are available on the library’s Business & Management subject guide (shown below).
Business Source Ultimate is an EBSCO database; ABI Inform Complete and Canadian Business & Current Affairs are both ProQuest databases.
Database vendors (EBSCO and ProQuest) use their own controlled vocabulary (a set of words or phrases) to categorize content within their databases. Tapping into the controlled vocabulary within these databases by using their thesaurus or subject headings can really help to retrieve more precise search results.
Another strategy that students use when searching is to skim their results for different terminologies and then include them in a second round of searching.
Lastly, keep a record of the complete American Psychological Association (APA) citation (author, date, title, periodical name, volume number, and pages) for any articles you intend to use in your presentation or report. Keeping a record of your citations will make the task of preparing a list of references much easier when you are ready to submit your report.
QUICK TIP
Though databases have different interfaces, each operates according to similar principles. Always check the Help & Search Tip screens within each database to discover tips for searching, viewing, saving, and organizing your search results.
Business Source Ultimate
Business Source Ultimate (BSU) is a leading business research database which provides students with a wealth of peer-reviewed, full-text journal articles, and other resources from quality academic publishers, societies, and university presses including Harvard Business Review.
BSU is a product of EBSCO Information Services. EBSCO is a leading provider of research databases, e-journals, magazine subscriptions, eBooks, and discovery services for academic libraries. UNB Libraries subscribe to a number of research databases that are hosted by EBSCO.
BSU enables students to access full-text articles about companies from a variety of business perspectives such as accounting, finance, banking, marketing, management, personnel management, and much more, all within one comprehensive package.
In addition to accessing essential full-text journals, business students can delve into country economic reports and company profiles, as well as interviews with executives and analysts.
The following video offers an overview of the process of searching Business Source Ultimate for company research:
Company Profiles – Business Source Ultimate
Not only is Business Source Ultimate excellent for article research, but BSU also includes company profiles for some of the world’s largest public companies using sources such as MarketLine and Medtrack.
To navigate to Company Profiles from the database homepage, select “More” on the Blue Navigation Ribbon and then “Company Profiles.” Search for your company using the alphabetical listing provided.
ABI Inform Complete
ABI Inform Complete (ABI) is a comprehensive and diverse international business and management database. ABI contains core scholarly content from thousands of full-text peer-reviewed journals, trade publications, magazines, dissertations, working papers, and news sources such as The Wall Street Journal, The Economist and other major business presses.
ABI is a ProQuest database which is excellent for locating articles about companies. Articles can be used to identify new products, competitors, and market share. ABI also covers a wide variety of areas including accounting, business trends, competitive landscape, corporate strategy, economic conditions, communications, finance, human resource management, international business, management techniques, and marketing.
Canadian Business & Current Affairs
Canadian Business & Current Affairs (CBCA) indexes articles from approximately 2000 Canadian scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, and newspapers. CBCA offers a wide range of company, product and industry information plus international, national, provincial, and local news. The database also includes periodicals which cover the areas of science, social sciences, arts, and humanities.
QUICK TIP
As you browse each database for articles about the company that you plan to cover in your assignment, be sure to flag, save and email these articles to yourself before exiting each database.
Evaluate and Refine Results
Did you get the right information? Once you’ve run a search for company information, take a step back and evaluate your results to determine if you need to revise your search strategy.
It’s always a good idea to examine your search results for their quality and relevance to your research.
If the results from your initial search aren’t finding what you need, that’s OK! Sometimes the best designs can fail depending on the topic, the search tool, or the keywords you’ve used. All is not lost! You can refine your search using one (or more) of these strategies:
- If you find you’re receiving too many results from too many sources don’t attempt to sift through hundreds of results. Instead, try narrowing your search by adding more specific concepts or keywords to your search. Remember that you could also try limiting your results using the built-in database filters, for example, by date, subject, or limit to peer-reviewed articles.
- If you’re seeing too few results in your search, this is an indication that you may need to broaden your search by using more general terms or by adding synonyms. You could also try using different keywords.
Additional Library-Subscribed News Sources
In addition to searching ABI, BSU, and CBCA, UNB Libraries also subscribe to several news databases:
PressReader – Worldwide Newspapers
PressReader offers UNB students interactive online access to over 7,000 current newspapers and magazines (up to 60 days) from around the world in full-colour, full-page format – access varies depending on the news source.
Publications are from Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, Canada, and the United States, and include images, advertisements, classifieds, and notices.
Two additional Canadian newspaper databases to keep in mind are:
Canadian Periodicals Index Quarterly (CPIQ) offers strong newspaper content from British Columbia and Ontario. To view a listing of newspaper titles housed within the CPIQ, database, click this View Journal Titles in Collection link.
Meltwater is a news service database offering UNB users access to newspapers from New Brunswick (NB). Meltwater is a new product to UNB Libraries and also offers access to other provincial news sources.
Meltwater access requires UNB users to log in with each visit to their site. To learn more about searching Meltwater, please watch this video on how to locate an article.
Individual Subscribed Business News Sources
- Wall Street Journal
- UNB Libraries provides exclusive full-text news articles (1984-current) via ABI Inform Complete. The Wall Street Journal has extensive coverage of stock markets, finance, investments, and companies.
- Bloomberg Businessweek
- Our subscription to Bloomberg Businessweek offers students full-text coverage of news, ideas, and trends affecting companies, industry, and the business world (2010- current) via Business Source Ultimate. Articles focus on business management, finance, labour, industry, marketing, science, and technology with North American and international coverage.
- Financial Times (UK)
- Our premium subscription via the publisher enables students to access the latest international business, finance, economic, and political news, analysis, data, and RSS feed from the Financial Times UK.
- Students can view a scanned image of today’s Financial Times by selecting Today’s Newspaper (ePaper) from the Navigation menu on the left-hand side of the FT homepage. To ensure access to all the premium features of the FT website, faculty/students should sign up for an individual account using a valid UNB email address.
Managing Your Information
Alongside collecting your evidence, an equally important part of research is keeping track of your information sources in a format that works best for you. Building this habit will ensure that it becomes part of your routine when you research.
While each of us has our own unique organizational style, please consider these two key steps when managing your information:
- Keep a folder for each of your courses that can be further subdivided into files. For example, my assignments, my research, lecture notes, etc.
- Back up your work on a regular basis!
UNB IT Services offers a suite of licensed software and online support services to assist UNB students in their learning and research endeavours. The UNB IT Service Desk is your main point of contact if you have any questions related to UNB-supported software and services.
Need Help?
Not sure how to navigate our article and newspaper databases? No problem!
The library’s help services are available online or via email and MS Teams. Students are always welcome to reach out to library staff and librarians for assistance. Librarians with subject expertise can provide one-on-one consultations to discuss information sources and search tools offered in your field of study.
Contact us using Ask Us, the library’s online chat service (circled below):