GENERAL BUSINESS SUBJECT GUIDE

This subject guide is meant for business in general (that's both Business and General Business). The closely related subjects, Management, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Economics, Finance, Accounting, and Marketing have their own subject guides. You can also skip to International Business

DATABASES

Here is a list of ULM Library databases with information on business

GOVERNMENTAL INTERNET RESOURCES

Business in Louisiana
This is the official state web site for doing business in Louisiana, and it offers useful links to other state websites and information on how to accomplish goals such as opening a business or getting a job.

Business.gov
"Business.gov, the official business link to the U.S. Government, is managed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in a partnership with 21 other federal agencies." It provides quick links to government information related to business. It doesn't appear to focus on any particular size of business, offering help for large and small. This site can help someone do things like find money for a business for find out what are the latest regulatory laws passed concerning the workplace.

City-Data.com
This website offers quick statistics of large and small cities on sundry topics, including graphs, maps, weather, and even pictures. The most specific reason I've placed this site on this guide is its discussion forum. This makes it possible to see more than only data about locales (the "why" behind it). But don't expect what you read there to be academic or reliable.

U.S. Census Bureau
This is great place to find statistical data about the U.S. The American Fact Finder brings such demographic information as age, race, income, education, employment, and more.

The U.S. Dept. of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics
This site can be useful in numerous ways, beginning with Demographics, the Consumer Price Index, unemployment rates, The Occupational Outlook Handbook, and much more.

United States Patent and Trademark Office
This site allows you to search for patents, learn about what they are, and more. There are also extensions of the site that are meant for advocacy on the issues of patents and their protection.

Louisiana Legislature
State legal resources vary from state to state. Louisiana rather generously allows one to view information on bills and acts voted on, who voted on them, committee, legislative histories, and more. It is also searchable, which is helpful.

INTERNET RESOURCES

Better Business Bureau
Surely you're heard of them somewhere: "...or else I'll report you to the Better Business Bureau!" It is a private nonprofit organization and not a government bureau, but complaints found here reflect the concerns and desires of the public.

The International Business Ethics Institute
Forgetting about business ethics is so 80s. The International Business Ethics Institute (IBEI) is a nonprofit organization devoted to its namesake. Its web site has resources including a primer explaining ethics, links to ethics web-pages of businesses and organizations, and a bibliography with more books on the subject.

JURIST
One does not necessarily need to be a lawyer to need legal news, and one doesn't need to be a lawyer to get it, either. JURSIT is a free resource with a very pleasing interface made by The University of Pittsburgh School of Law. It covers US and world legal news, and can be searched, browsed, and watched.

Melissa DATA
Melissa DATA's free "lookups" page takes the information from the U.S. Census and packages it differently, so that you can find what you need faster and compare data more easily. You can find latitude & longitude coordinates, verify addresses, find zip codes, use zips, and much more. This site is as fun as it is useful.

The Official Guide to Doing Business in Louisiana
This website offers information on how to conduct business in the state of Louisiana, including contact information for state offices, news, maps, and more.

International Business Websites

This is a global economy, so of course there are other countries to consider. This, for example, is about doing business in the United Kingdom. Provided in this guide is only a smattering of the available websites you can visit. Since business is of great size and importance as a subject, there's much more.

CIA World Factbook
This is an excellent resource to find pertinent information on countries around the world. It was in print for decades and recently changed to online-only. Entries contain short histories on each country, statistical data on its population, the extent of its infrastructure, its type of government, and much more.

DOAJ - Directory of Open Access Journals, Business and Economics titles
The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) contains links to open-access scholarly peer-reviewed journals from around the world. "Open access" refers to copyright and access issues, and does not necessarily mean that the titles are free, but they often are. There are over 350 journals listed here for Business and Economics, including many foreign and non-English journals.

Doing Business
Doing Business is an information resource created by The World Bank in 2002. "The Doing Business Project provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 183 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level." The site publishes a variety of reports on business regulation worldwide, research guides, and includes a search-able legal database, including non-English materials.

Foreign Trade
Another work of the U.S. Census Bureau. "FOREIGN TRADE is the official source for U.S. export and import statistics and responsible for issuing regulations governing the reporting of all export shipments from the United States. If you're searching for import or export statistics, information on export regulations, commodity classifications, or a host of other trade related topics, this is the place to get the information you need."

The International Data Base (IDB)
This is a part of the U.S. Census Bureau. "The International Data Base (IDB) offers a variety of demographic indicators for countries and areas of the world with a population of 5,000 or more. The IDB has provided access to demographic data for over 25 years to governments, academics, other organizations, and the public. It is funded by organizations that sponsor the research of the Census Bureau's International Programs Center for Demographic and Economic Studies.

International Statistical Agencies
This is a list of governmental statistics web pages compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It includes pages on domestic statistics, but has a long list of links to official statistical websites of other counties around the world listed by name.

International Trade Administration
The International Trade Administration (ITA) is a US government agency that helps increase exportation of domestic goods, among other duties. It has information on its own operations as well as data about industries and topics related to trade. It is useful for both learning and doing, as the site's main purpose is to aid those who wish to do trade.

OFFSTATS
This information tool from The University of Auckland Library provides "access to free statistics from official sources on the web." This provides a browse-able list of statistical websites for many countries around the world, which is especially helpful for sites with non-English names. Some resources listed here are for University of Auckland users only. If you encounter one, go back and try another.

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) is an agency of the Department of Commerce. "BEA produces economic accounts statistics that enable government and business decision-makers, researchers, and the American public to follow and understand the performance of the Nation's economy. To do this, BEA collects source data, conducts research and analysis, develops and implements estimation methodologies, and disseminates statistics to the public. "

Internet News

CNBC
This is a very famous website attached to a TV Network covering business (and finance, and all else related) news only. Its name stands for "Consumer News and Business Channel."

Yahoo! Finance
Yahoo, being a portal site, has something for everyone. It's not as comprehensive as CNBC, but also isn't as loud. It is most useful when you already have a yahoo! ID you are using for email, IM, groups, dating, etc. and integrate it into your e-life with "My yahoo."

Google Finance
This is Google's ultra-quiet, straightforward approach to reporting finance and business news. If you use Google, you already use Google finance; enter a stock name (DLTR, AAPL) into a search and Google will immediately tell you about it. Its news comes in the same manner that Google News does, so it brings you material from many different business websites related to whatever you search for.

...Or you can just use whatever your favorite is for news. Business news can come from a variety of sources. For local-area business news, however, your choices are obviously much fewer.


Of course, that's not everything ULM has. For suggestion on materials that should be added to ULM's collection, contact me.




Written with the assistance of these resources:
http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/rr_gateway/research_guides/busi/business.shtml
http://www.lib.lsu.edu/bus/index.htm