Business Databases in Libraries
On this page you can find some of the most commonly used subscription databases for business research. Links to vendors' sites will help you find more information. This list is derived from:
There are many more resources available. For more options please see what's listed in the subject-specific BRASS Business guides.
Reviews of business databases appear in:
- other sources mentioned in Periodicals & Blogs section of this guide.
Popular Business Databases:
Insights on selecting business databases:
Article Databases
- ABI/Inform CollectionThis subscription database from Proquest contains 1000 premier business periodicals. Full-text is available for many of the citations in the database. ABI/INFORM is excellent for locating articles on advertising, marketing, economics, human resources, finance, taxation, computers, and more. Also provides information on over 60,000 companies.
- Business Source CompleteAn article database and a major source to the scholarly literature in nearly all subject areas related to business.
- FactivaA news database that offers access to a wide range of U.S. and international newspapers. Offers access to premier Business newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.
- Gale OneFile: BusinessAn article database with access to journals, investment reports and news wires.
- Nexis UniA News and Legal database. Nexis Uni also offers basic company profiles and list-building options for millions of U.S. companies.
Company and Industry Profile Databases
- Business Insights: GlobalA company profile database that also offers news and some market and industry information.
- D&B Hoover'sA resource that offers basic company information including news, financials, company and industry details, key contacts and estimates.
- IBISWorldAn Industry research database that offers an overview of industries around the world, key components to those industries, notable companies in the industry and much more.
- Mergent OnlineMergent offers basic company information including financials, filings, owner details and much more. Mergent allows you to build customized reports for companies of interest and their competitors.
- Plunkett Research OnlinePlunkett Research publishes industry almanacs with a quick overview of trends, statistics, and key companies.
- S&P Capital IQ Platform (formerly NetAdvantage)A source of surveys, analyst research, news and much more for companies, industries, bonds and mutual funds.
- StatistaA general statistics database; includes market statistics globally, company, and industry dossiers, among many other topics. More data available via paid subscription, but some content is free.
Consumer Information
- ArcGIS Business AnalystESRI web-based tool utilizing demographic, consumer spending and business data. provides marketers with insight on consumers and their lifestyles and purchasing behaviors.
- Claritas 360Provides demographic and market data by geographic area. Reports available include crosstabs of PRIZM Premier consumer segments with consumer behavior.
- DemographicsNowComprehensive business and demographic information including consumer expenditure, Simmons category indexes, and MOSIAC market segmentation available by geography down to the census tract level.
- eMarketerDatabase covering digital marketing, media and commerce. Subscribe to free daily newsletter and receive three articles each weekday full of insights marketers need to understand consumers in the digital age.
- MintelA Market Research Database that offers news, insights and analysis on thousands of markets in the U.S. and in Europe. Reports offer insight on consumer attitudes and behavior and major companies in a given market.
- PassportA Euromonitor database with reports and data for a range of consumer markets. Passport allows great flexibility in identifying the regions or countries of interest.
- ReferenceUSAProvides a residential module to search for people by geography, lifestyle, and demographic factors.
- Simmons Insights: MRI (formerly Simmons OneView)Demographics, psychographics, and media usage of U.S. adult consumers by product use.
- SimplyAnalytics (formerly SimplyMap)Web-based mapping application that enables users to develop interactive thematic maps and reports using thousands of demographic, business, and marketing data variables. Add-on packages include MRI Simmons, and Nielsen data.
- StatistaA general statistics database; includes market statistics globally, company, and industry dossiers, among many other topics. More data available via paid subscription, but some content is free.
- Winmo (Formerly Redbooks)Winmo provides data on company ad spend by media outlet and lists advertising agency affiliations.
Directory Information
- Corporate AffiliationsProvides information on public, international, and private companies. Includes corporate hierarchy and family tree to locate subsidiaries and divisions.
- Gale Directory LibraryGale Directory Library allows libraries to select from a list of titles including: Ward's Business Directory, Brands & Their Companies, and Encyclopedia of Associations.
- ReferenceUSABusiness directory with public and private company information. Allows you to create a list of companies by industry and geography.
Finance and Economics Data Sources
- BloombergA powerful all-in-one database that allows you to discover news, company information, up-to-the-minute financials and a wealth of historical data. Information is available for Stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, indices and much more.
- Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP)Historical stock pricing, returns, and volume data from NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ.
- DatastreamA source of historical time series for most major equity, fixed income, currency, interest and commodity markets.
- Eikon (formerly Thomson ONE)Allows for economic research and strategy development with macroeconomic analysis through access to the accounts data and equity data for global companies and stock indices.
- Mergent OnlineThis database provides a ton of broad company information, as well as financial statements access. Coverage areas include: Company Details, Executives, Ownership, Company Financials, Reports, Filings, News, Competitors and a Report Builder tool for exporting custom data sets.
- S&P Capital IQ Platform (formerly NetAdvantage)A source of surveys, analyst research, news and much more for companies, industries, bonds and mutual funds.
- Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS)A data management platform that offers access to several major sources of financial data including Compustat, CRSP, OptionMetrics, FactSet and many more. Access to specific datasets requires additional institutional subscriptions.
International Information
- Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)A source for country, industry and risk information. Country profiles focus mainly on politics, the economy and risk (sovereign, currency, political, banking sector and economic structure risk...). Data section allows you to build custom reports with fiscal and monetary indicators, demographics and income, external trade data and more.
- PassportA Euromonitor database with reports and data for a range of consumer markets. Passport allows great flexibility in identifying the regions or countries of interest.
