Information & Business Research
Information is the lifeblood of business decision-making. Whether you are working on a business plan or just interested in what is going on in business today, check out the links below for a vast array of information.
This collection of documents and links addresses the concerns of small businesses, and the materials are organized to help you find what you need quickly. Sources range from state and government agencies to external partners to international trade associations.
Directories, Search Utilities & Guides
The Delaware library website is fabulous. Many publications and databases that normally require payment are free to you if you input your library card's pin number. http://www.lib.de.us/
- Yahoo! and the Librarians' Index to the Internet are directories of Web resources. www.yahoo.com
lii.org - Google.com and AltaVista are two of the best very large search utilities. www.google.com
www.altavista.com - Metacrawler and Dogpile are two meta engines that search multiple search engines.
www.metacrawler.com
www.dogpile.com - Search.com collects thousands of free, searchable databases in one convenient spot. www.search.com
- dmoz Open Directory Project is a business directory maintained by volunteers. www.dmoz.org/Business/
- CEO Express links to key web sites for busy business people.
www.ceoexpress.com - globalEDGE (MSU-CIBER) is a guide with links to international business sources on the Internet.
globaledge.msu.edu/ibrd/ibrd.asp - SBDCnet is the web site of the SBDC Information Clearinghouse.
sbdcnet.utsa.edu
Reference
- SIC Code Manual is the federal government's outgoing industrial coding system.
www.osha.gov/oshstats/sicser.html - NAICS is the federal government's new coding system.
www.census.gov/naics - Zip Code Directory is available from the U.S. Postal Service.
www.framed.usps.com/ncsc/lookups/lookup_zip+4.html - AnyWho Toll-Free Directory is a searchable directory of toll-free numbers from AT&T;.
www.anywho.com/tf.html - 555-1212.com has the yellow pages and white pages for the entire U.S. $
www.555-1212.com - Superpages has the yellow pages and white pages for the entire U.S.
www.superpages.com - InfoPlease has an almanac, encyclopedia, dictionary, and other sources for quick facts.
www.infoplease.com - PubList.com is a directory of magazines, newsletters and newspapers.
www.publist.com - Mediafinder is a directory of magazines, newsletters, catalogs and mailing lists.
www.mediafinder.com - Experts.com, ProfNet Global and the Yearbook of Experts, Authorities and Spokespersons are directories of experts.
www.experts.com
www.profnet.com
www.yearbooknews.com - Library of Congress has their catalog plus legislative and copyright information.
www.loc.gov - University of Pennsylvania Library offers their library catalog and good links.
http://www.lib.udel.edu/ - U. of Michigan Documents Center is a meta site with links to worldwide government documents.
www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs
Entrepreneurship & Management
- SBA Online has a wealth of information and a link to Pro-Net.
www.sbaonline.sba.gov - SBA Office of Advocacy has information and ACE-Net, Angel Capital Electronic Network.
www.sba.gov/ADVO - SBA's Online Women's Business Center has resources for women entrepreneurs.
www.onlinewbc.gov - Minority Business Develo
pment Agency has the self-registering Phoenix database of minority entrepreneurs.
www.mbda.gov - StartupJournal.com has start-up information and databases of businesses for sale and venture capital.
startupjournal.com - Small Business Knowledge Base has guides and worksheets on starting and managing a small business.
www.bizmove.com - Entrepreneurial Edge has information, links, Edge Magazine, and a collection of information.
www.lowe.org/ - Capital Connection describes various capital sources and services.
www.capital-connection.com - Inc.com is the Web site of Inc. Magazine.
www.inc.com - EntreWorld.org includes "the best of the best" on the Web about running a small business.
www.entreworld.org - FindLaw has legal information, guides, sample forms and other legal resources.
smallbiz.findlaw.com - Quicken.com has accounting and tax information, forms and other business planning tools.
www.quicken.com/small_business - IRS's Digital Daily has resources for employers and tax and wage information for new and existing businesses.
www.irs.gov/businesses/small/display/0,,i1%3D2%26i2%3D23%26genericId%3D20005,00.html
- ADA Technical Assistance Program provides Americans with Disabilities Act information for small businesses.
www.adata.org - Bplans.com and Center for Business Planning have sample plans and writing tips.
www.bplans.com
www.businessplans.org
Labor and Employment Information
- www.dol.gov/compliance - Compliance Assistance Web site
- www.dol.gov/elaws - elaws Advisors Web site
- www.dol.gov - US Department of Labor Web site
- www.dol.gov/asp/programs/guide.htm - Employment Law Guide Web site
- Hoover's Corporate Directory profiles large, mostly public companies.
www.hoovers.com
- EDGAR is the database of 10-K and other SEC filings of public companies.
www.sec.gov
- Thomas Register is a directory of U.S. and Canadian manufacturers.
www.thomasregister.com
- Thomas Regional divides 480,000 manufacturers into regions and product categories.
www.thomasregional.com
- Made in PA is a self-registering directory of PA consumer-oriented products.
www.madeinpa.com
- PA SourceNet is a self-registering business to business directory of PA products.
www.pasourcenet.com
- PA Green Pages is a directory of PA companies that produce green products or services.
www.pachamber.org/dir
- 555-1212.com has the yellow pages and white pages for the entire U.S. $
www.555-1212.com
- InfoUSA.com sells mailing lists of companies and individuals. $
www.infousa.com
- Kompass has databases of foreign companies. Some data is free. $
www.kompass.com
- Thomas Global Register is a directory of industrial suppliers worldwide.
www.tgrnet.com
- International Company Directories and Yellow Pages links to worldwide directories.
globaledge.msu.edu/ibrd/busresmain.asp?ResourceCategoryID=14
- Franchise Directory has descriptions and links to 2,800 franchises.
www.entremkt.com/index.shtml
- All Business Directory has a worldwide directory of companies on the Web.
http://www.allbusiness.com/directories/business/showlist.aspx
- SBDCnet Industry Links links to Web resources by industry.
sbdcnet.utsa.edu/SBIC/industry.htm
- U.S. Bureau of the Census has all types of statistical information available.
www.census.gov
- Statistical Abstract of the U.S. is an abridged version this popular compilation of statistics.
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/
- Demographic Profile Generator produces a nice report for tracts, block groups, zips and cities. Use Etak's geocoder to find the codes you need.
mcdc2.missouri.edu/websas/xtabs3v2.html
www.geocode.com/eagle.html-ssi
- The State of Delaware provides excellent information and links to state resources
www.delaware.gov
- Statistical Resources on the Web offers well organized links to worldwide statistics.
www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html
- Bureau of Labor Statistics includes wage and unemployment rates.
stats.bls.gov
- Stat-USA has statistics from many federal departments. $
www.stat-usa.gov
- zapdata.com allows you to profile U.S. markets by SIC code.
www.zapdata.com/zapmarkets
- County Business Patterns has establishments, payroll and employee size for all U.S. counties by SIC.
www.census.gov/epcd/cbp/view/cbpview.html
- eMarketer has useful statistics and information on Web business.
www.emarketer.com
- MarketResearch.com has databases of market research reports with free title searching.
www.marketresearch.com
- ECNext Knowledge Center sells market research reports but gives free summaries.
http://www.ecnext.com/commercial/knowledgecenter.shtml
- Maritz Poll and other American consumer surveys are available here.
www.maritzresearch.com
- An unusual combination of research sources can be found at
http://www.virtualpet.com/
- Newslink links to all types of news sources with sites on the Web.
www.newslink.org
- Pennsylvania newspapers on the Web are collected here.
www.newslink.org/panews.html
- Newspaper Archives on the Web are gathered here.
sunsite.unc.edu/slanews/internet/archives.html
- PR Newswire has a three year archive of selected press releases.
www.prnewswire.com
- Business Wire has current press releases and company profiles.
www.businesswire.com
- ingenta/CARL Uncover is a database of article citations. Full-text can be ordered for a fee.
www.ingenta.com
- Electric Library has a large collection of publications. Titles are free. $
www.elibrary.com
- Proquest has articles with images. Titles are free, articles cost. $
www.umi.com/proquest
- Bizjournals.com has information from its 35 regional business journals.
www.bizjournals.com
- Canada.com has a searchable database of current articles from 25 Canadian newspapers.
www.canada.com
- USA Today NewsTracker provides continuous updates to customized news. $
http://www.usatoday.com/
- Community of Science has databases on experts, research, and funding opportunities. $
www.cos.com
- Alacra offers Business & Industry, Table base and other business databases. $
www.alacra.com
- Dialog Select gives Web access to databases on a variety of topics. $
www.dialogselect.com
- Dow Jones Interactive has a 6,000 publication database plus company information. $
http://www.Factiva.com
- InSite has Web versions of Gale Group's solid business databases. $
www.iac-insite.com
- Knowledge Express specializes in technologies available for licensing. $
www.knowledgeexpress.com
- Lexis-Nexis has articles and legal information. $
www.lexis-nexis.com
- Information on Delaware, it’s government, resources and state agencies can be found at www.delaware.gov.
- Business tax information
http://www.state.de.us/revenue/obt/obtmain.htm
- If you are a manufacturer in Delaware you need to know about the Manufacturers Extension Partnership http://www.demep.org
- The State Data Center contains what you need to know about our great state:
http://www.state.de.us/dedo/new_web_site/Demographic_Data/demographic_data.html
- The Delaware Economic Development Office provides a variety of resources and information to assist Delaware businesses and those thinking of making Delaware their home.
http://www.state.de.us/dedo/new_web_site/index.html
- FirstGov searches all federal government web pages.
www.firstgov.gov
- FedWorld is a central access point for searching and acquiring government information.
www.fedworld.gov
- U.S. Business Advisor gives official, one-stop access to government business information.
www.business.gov
- National Technical Information Service has science, technology and business information.
www.ntis.gov
- Bureau of the Census has all types of statistical information.
www.census.gov
- SBA Online has a wealth of information on small business issues.
www.sbaonline.sba.gov
- Environmental Protection Agency has news, publications and information for small businesses.
www.epa.gov/smallbusiness/
- Internal Revenue Service has tax information for small businesses.
www.irs.gov
- Occupational Safety & Health Administration has safety regulatory information.
www.osha.gov/index.html
- DefenseLink is the single starting point for the Department of Defense.
www.defenselink.mil
- Associations Online and Associations Database link to associations with Web sites.
www.asaenet.org/find
www.trainingforum.com/assoc.html
- Council on Better Business Bureaus has resources for businesses and consumers.
www.bbb.org
- International Chamber of Commerce Directory links to chambers worldwide.
clickcity.com/index2.htm
- ASBDC is the web site for the national association of SBDCs.
www.asbdc-us.org
- National Business Incubation Association has information on incubators plus good links.
www.nbia.org
- International Franchise Organization has franchise information and a directory of franchises.
www.franchise.org
- Trade Shows News Network/Trade Show Central is a directory of trade shows.
www.tsnn.com
- National Technical Information Service has science, technology and business information.
www.ntis.gov
- National Technology Transfer Center has federal technologies available for licensing.
www.nttc.edu
- IHS Engineering Resource Center has databases of military and industrial standards and specifications. $
www.ihserc.com/
- American National Standards Institute has standards information and links to standards sites.
www.ansi.org
- International Standards Organization is the Web site for ISO information.
www.iso.ch
- TechSavvy.com has a supplier database, parts information, military documents, and standards.
www.techsavvy.com
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has U.S. patents and trademarks, forms, guides and helpful information for independent inventors.
www.uspto.gov
- Delphion has 26 years of U.S. patents and international patents as well.
www.delphion.com
- MicroPatent has some free information and fee-based patents, trademarks and email alerting. $
www.micropat.com
- Copyright Office has searchable copyrights, forms, and information.
www.loc.gov/copyright
- Saegis has trademark databases and free domain name searching. $
www.thomson-thomson.com
- FedBizOpps is the single point of electronic public access for procurement opportunities over $25,000. It replaces the Commerce Business Daily on the Internet.
www.fedbizopps.gov
- Dept. of Defense Business Opportunities is a single entry point for all DoD procurement opportunities.
dodbusopps.com
- FedMarket has resources for selling to the government including the FAR.
www.fedmarket.com
- Federal Acquisition Jumpstation links to key sites related to federal procurement.
nais.nasa.gov/fedproc/home.html
- HUB Zone provides Federal contracting opportunities for qualified small businesses located in distressed areas.
www.sbaonline.sba.gov/hubzone
- Pro-Net is a self-registering database of small businesses interested in selling to the government.
pro-net.sba.gov
- VerticalNet features vertical trade communities--highly focused industry groups for buyers/sellers.
www.verticalnet.com
- Commerce Net is an industry consortium that promotes electronic commerce.
www.commerce.net
- Catalog City links to catalogs including business to business.
www.catalogcity.com
- globalEDGE/MSU-CIBER is a guide with links to international business sources on the Internet.
globaledge.msu.edu/ibrd/ibrd.asp
- VIBES: Virtual International Business & Economics is a good meta site of 1,600+ links.
libweb.uncc.edu/ref-bus/vibehome.htm
- National Trade Data Bank is a great source of all types of international trade information. $
www.stat-usa.gov
- TradePort has trade information and some Stat-USA reports for free.
www.tradeport.org
- International Trade Data Network includes trade leads, statistics, reports. $
www.itdn.net
- Kompass has databases of foreign companies. Some data is free. $
www.kompass.com
- Thomas Global Register is a directory of industrial suppliers worldwide.
www.tgrnet.com
- Foreign Agricultural Service has information on agricultural issues worldwide.
www.fas.usda.gov
- Cross Border Tax & Transactions has information on legal and tax developments.
www.crossborder.com
- World Factbook is the CIA's publication with country information.
www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html