Students working on projects involving siting a business, designing a marketing campaign, profiling the health status of a community or ranking congressional districts by religious conservative concentration are likely to rejoice in our trial to Simplymap.
Simply map brings together data in an easy to use interface for mapping, ranking, and tabular report building. The basic module includes Census data, FBI reports, National Climatic Data Center, Dun & Bradstreet company information and Bureau of Labor Statistics files whereas premium modules include PRIZM market segmentation schemes, National Institute of Health surveys, MRI consumer surveys and Simmons consumer surveys. Simplymap’s options for saving and sharing results works for advanced geography researchers as well as it does for first year undeclared undergraduates; Results can be downloaded and saved as images, excel spreadsheets, PDF documents or shapefiles for further manipulation in GIS software.
To compare Simplymap to resources currently in our collection with similar data but limited functionality visit, SRDS Media Solutions Local Market Audience Analyst, MRI+ Internet Reporter and Statistical Datasets. Check out my 2 minute video showing how to use Simplymap to compare 3 cities for theme park potential. Don’t delay, the trial runs through April 20th.
For many business research projects starting out with an industry report is highly recommended. We have a variety of them that either define industries broadly on a global scope (such NetAdvantage or Mergent Online) or rather narrowly by country or activity or product (such as Datamonitor, Freedonia or BMI via ReferenceUSA OneSource). We have a trial to IBIS World, a particularly deep depository of industry reports with over 700 industries in the U.S. and 65 global reports.
One may wonder why industry reports are so useful. They explain how the defined industry operates in terms of finance, technology, regulation, and underlying economic conditions. Usually technical terms and jargon are explained and key professional and trade associations are referenced. Trends and forecasts are typically provided as are statistical benchmarks relevant to the industry. The major players are always listed and described if not analyzed in depth. Given the aforementioned list of sources for industry reports one may think that business research material type is well covered at Falvey Memorial Library. However gaps persist because industries definitions are variable and the need is great.
The IBISWorld platform has another feature that I think job seekers and journalists will find valuable. These are iExpert reports. iExpert reports consist of an executive summary of the industry as a whole and then list internal and external trends specific to the industry and suggest intelligent probing questions around those issues. What great tips for having a successful conversation with an industry insider!
The first time you use IBISWorld you will need to register with an email address in addition to authenticating with your Villanova credentials if off campus. Let me know if IBISWorld is a keeper!
Since there has been a flurry of business reference activity around small private businesses on the one end of the spectrum and foreign businesses on the other, I decided it was time to take a look at additional company information databases. My curiosity about the level of detail included in the Dun & Bradstreet reports available through Mergent Online got the best of me. With our trial to that module activated through the end of the month, my curiosity is satisfied. Give it a work out and let me know what you think.
Other databases that have private company information include ReferenceUSA (search the U.S. Businesses/Employers module) and Lexis-Nexis Academic (Use the Company tab on the left and Dossier Create a Company List). Foreign private company databases we subscribe to include the aforementioned Lexis-Nexis Academic, Datamonitor & ISI Emerging Markets and Uniworld.
When I buy accounting books for the Falvey Memorial Library collection I try to balance the needs of full time undergraduates, faculty and graduate students already in the workplace. So I buy exam guides, professional & practice books and academic studies. I buy in the areas of public accounting, managerial accounting, auditing and taxation.
Whenever possible I opt to purchase e-books rather than print books reasoning that most accounting books are not read cover to cover but used for reference, mitigating the resistance some readers have to digital books. I’m including a list of accounting books recently added to our collection. Let me know if I’m on the right track in terms of content and form or if you’d like to see something different.
Wiley CPA Exam Review Focus Notes: Business Environment and Concepts 2012
Wiley CPA Exam Focus Notes: Financial Accounting & Reporting 2012
An Executive Guide to IFRS: Contents, Costs and Benefits to Business
Reaching Key Financial Reporting Decisions: How Directors and Auditors Interact
Forensic Analytics: Methods & Techniques
Best Practices in Managerial Accounting
Oxford Introductions to US Law: Exploring the Labor-Capital Divide: Income Tax Law
