Researching an Industry

This guide was developed for students doing general company and industry research. Related research guides include Advertising and Marketing Resources, Public Relations Resources, and Researching a Company Workshop.

Reference Sources

Use these to find background information on an industry.  Many of the reference books on this list contain information that is not available elsewhere.

General Industry Information

Encyclopedia of American Industries        Reserve Ref. HC102.E53 (vols.1-2)
Articles on various industries include: industry snapshots, background and development, current conditions, industry leaders, research and technology, and more.  Conversion tables are provided for cross-referencing of SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) to North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) .Volume 1 covers manufacturing industries; volume 2 covers service and non-manufacturing industries. Also available from Business and Company Resource Center

Encyclopedia of Emerging Industries   Ref. HD2324.E54
Covers industries that have shown significant grow in recent years, or have potential for growth in the near future.  Articles follow the same format as those in the Encyclopedia of American Industries, and each includes a list for further reading. Also available from Business and Company Resource Center.

WEFA Industrial Monitor       Ref. HC101 .W44
Focuses on major industries in the United States over the last 10 years.  The introductory section covers the U.S. economic outlook, the world economic outlook, and high growth industries in the U.S.  Chapters are organized into these six industry groups: agriculture, mining, and construction; non-durable goods manufacturing; durable goods manufacturing; transportation, communications, and utilities; wholesale and retail trade; and finance, insurance, real estate, and services.

Dun & Bradstreet Industry Handbooks Reserve Ref. 5035.D86 (v.1-5)
Covers major industries in the U.S. and Canada.  Five volumes are separated into broad industry categories. Among the items covered are industry statistics, rankings, trade shows, and trade information sources.

Market Share Reporter  Ref. HF5410 .M37 (1991- ;most recent on reserve)
Compiles market share data from various sources. Indexes information by source, place name, product/service, company name, and brand name. Also available from Business and Company Resource Center.

Business Rankings Annual        Ref. Desk Z7164.T87 B9 (1989- )
Compiles business rankings data from various sources.  Use the index to identify rankings for a particular industry, product or geographical area, or to find rankings that include a particular company. Also available from Business and Company Resource Center

Standard and Poors Industry Surveys        Reserve Ref. HG4961.S682
Detailed industry profiles list key industry ratios and statistics, and provide comparative data on selected companies in the industry. Ask for the Index at the Circulation/Reserve Desk.  Industry surveys are also available online in the NetAdvantage database.

U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook        Reserve Ref. HC106.5 .A17
Describes economic and trade trends, world market shares, and forecasts for various industries.  Arranged by SIC code.

Special Issues of Trade Journals or Association Publications
The library places special issues of trade journals on reserve.  These special issues focus on particular industries.  Sample titles include:

  • Beverage Industry Annual Manual        Reserve Ref. HD9348.U5 B63
  • Snack Food and Wholesale Bakery        Reserve Ref. HD9330.S6
  • Progressive Grocer. Annual Report of the Grocery Industry. Reserve Ref. HD9321.4 P7

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Company and Brand Information

Books about individual companies
Use the Pace Library Catalog to locate full-length books about companies.  Perform a Keyword or Subject search using the name of your company.

International Directory of Company Histories        Ref. Desk HD2721.I58
This multi-volume, ongoing set describes company histories in detail, including company goals, marketing strategies and a bibliography. Check the index in the last volume to identify where your company appears.  Revised articles are added as company information changes. Also available via Business and Company Resource Center

Annual Reports and 10K's
Company annual reports often discuss the current goals and strategies of a company, while 10K forms detail financial data. 

Encyclopedia of Consumer Brands  Reserve Ref. HF5415.3 .E527 v.1-3
This three volume set, published in 1994, provides excellent information regarding the marketing and development of different products.  A list of further reading accompanies each article.

Notable Corporate Chronologies   Ref. Desk HD2771.N66 (vols. 1-2)
Chronicles company history.  Provides company contact information and includes a list for further reading about each company. Also available from Business and Company Resource Center

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Production and Distribution

How Products are Made:  An Illustrated Guide   Ref. TS146.H67
Describes the processes by which various products are made. This exact same reference "book" is also available for free on the web at http://www.madehow.com

Manufacturing and Distribution USA: Industry Analyses Statistic & Leading Companies    Reserve Ref. HD9721.M364 (vols. 1-3)
Provides industry statistics on leading private and public companies in each industry. There are sections on materials consumed in manufacturing and a map showing state and regional concentration of manufacturing.

Thomas Register of American Manufacturers  Ref. Oversized T12.T6 (vols. 1-29)
Lists suppliers and manufacturers by the product or service they provide. Set includes a catalog file, company profiles, and product and trademark indexes. Available online at http://www.thomasregister.com/ (free but you'll need to register).  The Thomas Regional Industrial Directory (http://www.thomasregional.com) is also available on the Web, and includes a "Freight Quote" feature (again, you'll need to register).

Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology  Ref. TP9.E687 1992 (vols. 1-25 and supplements)
Covers different types of substances.  Chemical compounds, diagrams, and tables are provided.  Conversion factors, abbreviations, and unit symbols are at the front of the volume.  Includes suggestions for further reading at the end of each article.

Wiley Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology  Ref. TS195.A2 W55 1997
Arranged in a dictionary format, contains articles written by 250 packaging experts covering technologies used to package consumer and industrial products. Packaging laws and regulations are included for the US and Europe.

American Wholesalers and Distributors Directory   Ref. HF5421.A43
Lists national, regional, state, and local wholesalers and distributors. Entries are by broad subject category.

Buyer's Guides
The Pace Library has a collection of Buyer's Guides for different industries. These directories usually list suppliers of equipment and raw materials. Some statistics and packaging information may be included. Check the Library Catalog to see if there is a guide for your industry. Use "buyers guide and [your topic]" in a keyword search.

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Regulations

Code of Federal Regulations        Ref. KF70.A3
Identify federal regulations pertaining to different products, and to the import and export of these products.  The CFR is also available on Lexis/Nexis Universe (click on Legal Research, then Federal Regulations).  You can also search the Code of Federal Regulations online at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html (search example:  advertising AND beer).

Federal and State Regulations        http://www.law.cornell.edu/regs.html
A listing of web sites where one can find the text of government regulations.  Includes federal regulations, proposed federal regulations, and some state regulations.

Consumers' Guide to Product Grades and Terms        Ref. TX335.C669
"Provides definitions and explanations for 8000 terms, symbols, and phrases that appear on 630 consumer products" and describes the types of regulations applicable to certain products and types of products.  Arranged according to broad subject categories.

The Almanac of the Canning, Freezing, Preserving Industries    Ref.TX599.C39 (1984- ; most recent on Reserve)
Annual publication covering labeling, purchasing, and standards for prepared food. Also includes industry statistics.

United States Patent and  Trademark Office    http://www.uspto.gov/ 
This site offers text-searching for patents granted since 1976.  Patents issued between 1790-1976 are searchable only by patent number.  To search phrases such as "flea powder" enclose the phrase in quotation marks.  Help screens are available for other types of searches.

Federal Trade Commission    http://www.ftc.gov/ 
The full text of many of the FTC's own publications may be searched by keyword. Particularly good for advertising regulation information.

Food and Drug Administration    http://www.fda.gov/ 
Check this site for information concerning products regulated by FDA such as food, cosmetics, drugs, tobacco and medical devises.  Visit the "Information for Industry" area by clicking on the link on the right hand side of their home page.

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Advertising and Marketing

Ad $ Summary     Ref Reserve HF5801.A18
Reveals the amount of money spent by a company on advertising. Ranks the top 100 companies by money spent on different types of advertising/media.

Best Customers    Ref HC79.C6 R87 2001
Based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, this source provides demographic profiles of customers who purchase particular types of products.

Brandweek Superbrands    Ref Reserve HG 5801.S77 2002
Special issue of Brandweek magazine. See what is actually happening with America's top 2000 brands.  This journal is indexed and full text in the ABI-Inform Global database.

Encyclopedia of Major Marketing Campaigns    Ref Reserve HF5387.E53 2000
Contains 500 entries, each focusing on an important campaign of the twentieth century. The arrangement is alphabetical by company.  Each entry includes company contact information, overview of the campaign, historical context, target market, competition, marketing strategy, and outcome. 
 
Household Spending: Who Spends How Much on What    Ref HC110.C6 H6 2003
Look for information on who uses your product, how they use it, and how much they spend.

Lifestyle Market Analyst    Ref Reserve HF5415.33.U6 L54 2002
Essential source for demographics and lifestyle activities.

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Finding Books in the Pace University Library

You can find books on your topic by searching the online Pace Library Catalog by subject or keyword. Subject searches target the specific Library of Congress Subject Headings that have been assigned to the books that the Pace Library owns.  Unless you know the subject headings that pertain to your topic, you may want to begin with a Keyword search.  Once you have found a source that you think might be useful, look at the Library of Congress Subject Headings towards the bottom of the catalog record to determine the best terms to use in a Subject search for further materials. For additional tips on searching the catalog, see the library's guide to Using the Pace Library Catalog.

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Finding Articles

To access news article databases through the Pace Library, go to the library home page (http://library.pace.edu/), click on Databases, and use the pull-down menu labeled "Subject Research Area" to select Business.  You may also choose a specific database from an alphabetical list.  For news articles on your company/industry, we recommend:

ABI-Inform
Abstracts and indexes over 1,000 management, marketing and business journals from 1971 to the present. Also includes Full Text coverage of more than 500 major publications from 1991 onward.

Business and Company Resource Center
This database contains company profiles, company brand information, rankings, investment reports, company histories, chronologies, and periodicals. Search this database to find detailed company and industry news and information.

Business Source Premier
Provides full text for over 2,710 scholarly business journals covering management, economics, finance, accounting, international business and much more.

Lexis-Nexis Universe
Full Text database of news, business, medical and legal resources, including highly specialized trade journals, leading national and international newspapers, SEC documents, state and federal statistics and case law.

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Finding Additional Web Sites

The Pace Library maintains lists of high-quality resources in various subject areas.  To find these topical lists, go to the Pace Library home page (http://library.pace.edu), then click on Reference Resources.  Use the pull-down menu provided to select a subject research area.  For industry research, select the Company/Industry category.  In particular, you should look at the web sites of specific companies in your industry (click on Company Webpages to locate them).  These often contain annual reports and company histories, and may include information on brands and products.

To search for additional information on the Web, you will need to use a subject directory or a search engine.  For more information, see the library's page on Using the Internet for Research.  If you are using resources from the World Wide Web, it is especially important that you evaluate their accuracy, authority, currency and objectivity. For more information, see our page on Evaluating Resources.

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Citing Your Sources

Once you have found your information, you will need to cite the sources that you used. The library has prepared some information on citation styles for print and electronic resources. You can access it on the Pace Library web site at http://www.pace.edu/library/pages/instruct/citing.html.  Please check with your instructor if you are unsure of which citation style to use.

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Created by Pace University Library
Last Revised 3/9/06
Helen Lane
hlane@pace.edu