Research Guides: GAD 250: Business Communications: Home

Michael Schwartz Library

Welcome

This guide is meant to help you complete the Business Plan or Business Proposal assignment in GAD 250. In addition to learning about the business plan and proposal writing, this assignment will give you a foundation in business research. As the Business Librarian, I am here to support you in the College of Business as a student.

The short list:

IBISWorld This link opens in a new window
Provides business reports in industry market research, industry risk ratings, company research, global industry research, and economic and demographic data. Excessive downloads from IBISWorld will trigger an access block. Please be judicious.
ReferenceUSA This link opens in a new window
Provides real-time access to directory information for 10.5 million businesses. Locate every business in the U.S. by company name, location, or type of business. In addition to contact information, ReferenceUSA provides full corporate affiliation linkage, multiple contact names, FAX and toll free numbers, single point mapping, and credit ratings.
Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Index, abstracts, and full text covering scholarly business journals, business and industry news on management, economics, marketing, finance, accounting, international business and much more.

Powerpoint

Richard K. Miller Reports
Extensive collection of research publications including statistics and insights on marketing topics

Writing Reports

Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Library database with scholarly business research articles, as well as industry and business news. Use "all text" search from the drop down box for more precise keyword searching.
Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Multi-discipline scholarly research database. Many research topics may be covered in subjects outside of business.

Harvard Business Review
This publication includes useful summaries of new innovations and research that can be used as potential solutions for your problems. It could be seen as 'recommended' reading for business professionals.

Education Research Complete This link opens in a new window
Scholarly and professional publications in education.
ERIC (EBSCOhost Interface) This link opens in a new window
Scholarly and professional publications in education.

Google Scholar
Alternative to library databases - remember to turn on CSU library links!

New York Times This link opens in a new window
Free access to NYTimes.com! You will be asked to create an account.
Wall Street Journal This link opens in a new window
Database searching interface for the Wall Street Journal. Premier business news.
The Michael Schwartz Library and the Wall Street Journal have partnered to provide a complimentary subscription to all current Cleveland State University students, faculty and staff. Subscribers will have full digital access to wsj.com and the Wall Street Journal app and can access through those services after registering.

Activate your complimentary subscription now by visiting https://www.wsj.com/clevelandstate using your CSU credentials and following the instructions.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Nexis Uni allows for database searching a huge covering of world and business news sources, on an international scale.
Regional Business News (latest 30 days) This link opens in a new window
Database searching of regional and local news sources. Crain's Cleveland Business is included here.

Chronicle of Higher Education
Professional journalism covering the field of higher education.

APA Citation Guide
Online Writing Lab - MLA Style
Quick guide for MLA style references and in-text citations.
Citing Guide for Business Majors - APA
Extensive guide for citing different business research sources.
Citing Business Databases - APA
List of example citations for different databases.
Zotero - Source Management + Cite Tool
MindMup - Mind mapping / Concept Mapping tool
Advanced Googling
Google Scholar Library Links

IBISWorld This link opens in a new window
Use IBISWorld to understand your industry better and identify potential problems needing solutions.
Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Search for articles on your industry and company. Occasionally you can locate SWOT reports on your company as well. You can limit to industry publications by selecting Trade Publication from the source type options.
Regional Business News (latest 30 days) This link opens in a new window
Search for news articles on smaller companies. Use "All Text" from drop down bar to search the text of the articles.
Wall Street Journal This link opens in a new window
Contains full text articles from the Wall Street Journal from January 2, 1984 through today's issue. Available via a complimentary subscription to all current Cleveland State University students, faculty and staff. Activate your subscription using your CSU credentials and following the instructions.
The Michael Schwartz Library and the Wall Street Journal have partnered to provide a complimentary subscription to all current Cleveland State University students, faculty and staff. Subscribers will have full digital access to wsj.com and the Wall Street Journal app and can access through those services after registering.

Activate your complimentary subscription now by visiting https://www.wsj.com/clevelandstate using your CSU credentials and following the instructions.

CSU Book of Trends
Enrollments, staffing information, etc.
Common Data Set
Information about on-campus residents, demographics, student life and more
Office of Institutional Research & Analysis
Source of much various statistics and visualizations about the institution
CSU 2.0
Overarching strategic positions for the university
Budget Books
Learn more about the university's finances, expenditures, and revenues.

Business Plan Resources

IBISWorld This link opens in a new window
IBISWorld industry reports will provide an overview of the industry, how it works, internal trends and external factors, as well as statistics regarding industry revenue, product/service and customer segmentation, major company market share, and other useful information.

ReferenceUSA This link opens in a new window
A detailed company database useful for identifying local competition.

Crunchbase
Crunchbase is a startup and tech-oriented company directory. Free access only displays the top 5 companies in a search.

Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Business Source Complete will have company news. Hint: select ALL TEXT from the drop down menu next to the search bar for more results.

Census Business Builder
Map and report builder with demographic and spending information for communities
Census Data
The current portal for Census data, data.census.gov to find demographic data for states, counties, cities, and even neighborhoods.

Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Use keywords like consumer, customer, audience, target market, etc. along with keywords related to your industry, product/service offering, or company.

Consumer Expenditure Survey
Data on average consumer purchases

Michael Schwartz Library

GAD 250: Business Communications

Your personal librarian: Ben Richards

Confidence Survey

Welcome

Writing Reports

Business Plan Resources