Favorite Web Sites: Business and Company
Information
The web sites featured this month have been critically evaluated
and selected by the IU Northwest librarians as well as a group of academic
and public librarians across the United States who compile a yearly Best
Free Reference Web Sites List for the American
Library Association. Here is a list of selection
criteria initially created by the MARS Best Free Websites Task
Force to choose these sites. The Library hopes our readers will find
these web sites useful for locating reliable, accurate and authoritative
information on the Internet.
BigCharts is an investment charting and research web site that provides
access to stock quotes, industry analysis, market news and commentary.
The Historical Quotes area contains stock price information as far back
as 1985. The BigReports section provides up to date information on the "Bigmovers," the "Bigpics," etc. "MarketPulse" news
bulletins appear on the home page and pertinent news articles are linked
to individual stock quotes and profiles. Of course, one of the major appeals
of this site is the quality of the graphics used to present business information.
It is not unusual to see BigCharts tables and graphs on other financial
web sites. The interactive charting feature allows the user to customize
charts to exact specifications, including the comparison or overlaying
of data. Big Charts seems to set the web standard for graphic presentation
of business data. (Summary used by permission of the MARS Best Free
Websites Committee)
CI: Corporate Information, which merged in January 2000 with the Wright Research
Center site, offers both company profiles and more extensive research reports
on selected companies. The global scope of CI: Corporate Information is especially
noteworthy; it is an excellent jumping off point for finding international business
information. In addition to providing a search engine for approximately 300,000
public and private company profiles drawn from sites around the world, the site
provides access to research reports on approximately 15,000 companies in over
50 countries. It should be noted that most of the linked sites are free, but
the user will run into a few that are fee-based. (Summary used by permission
of the MARS Best Free Websites Committee)
The Industry Research Desk brings together an extensive set of online tools,
most freely available, for researching industries, markets, companies, and manufacturing
processes. Included are links to portals for individual industries, home pages
for specific manufacturing processes (like welding), search engines, and office
tools (like phone books, shipping information, and maps). Unique to this site
are step-by-step guides to finding information on a specific industry or company,
including information on related print resources available in many libraries.
(Summary used by permission of the MARS Best Free Websites Committee)
Monster.com, which bills itself as "the leading global online careers website," is
an extensive site that helps workers locate a job or advance within
a profession. This site offers services such as resume help, salary data, and
industry information. To post a personal resume, users create a free account
and are allowed up to five resumes and cover letters. Monster.com also provides
the user with a way to track online applications and with relocation tools. Employers
benefit by advertising positions and tracking applicants. The small banner
ads on the pages do not distract from the excellent content available here. Monster.com
is for all levels of employees and employers, and is a great tool when patrons
need help writing/updating resumes. (Summary used by permission of the MARS
Best Free Websites Committee)
Wiley InterScience Offers Access to a Myriad of Online Scientific
Journals, Books and Reference Sources
The IU Northwest
Library recently added Wiley InterScience to its electronic database
collection. Produced by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., this resource provides the
full text of over 300 leading scientific, medical, technical and professional
journals, major reference works, the noteworthy Current Protocols laboratory
manuals as well as full text access to select Wiley print books online. Some
subjects covered by this product include:
- Business, Finance & Management
- Chemistry
- Computer Science
- Earth Science
- Education
- Engineering
- Law
- Life & Medical Sciences
- Mathematics and Statistics
- Physics
- Psychology
The web
site allows users to search journal or book titles and subjects, browse tables
of contents or do journal keyword searches. One special feature of this database
is Wiley InterScience Alerts. This free service delivers tables
of contents via e-mail for any journal on Wiley InterScience as
soon as an issue appears online. The service is offered to all individual Registered
Users whether or not they personally subscribe to a journal.
To use Wiley InterScience from IU Northwest campus computers ONLY, go
to www3.interscience.wiley.com/index.html.
, Library News Web Editor |
