Business Information Basics 2000: A Guide to the Key International Sources

Citation

Chawner, B. (2001), "Business Information Basics 2000: A Guide to the Key International Sources", Collection Building, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 106-108. https://doi.org/10.1108/cb.2001.20.2.106.1

If you are a business information specialist who needs to find international business information, then Business Information Basics: A Guide to the Key International Sources 2000 may be a useful addition to your professional toolkit. This revised edition of a title first published in 1997 lists a wide range of reputable business information sources. It is organised by type of source, including such familiar categories as company directories, company financial data, company directors, market research, economics and statistics, and forecasts. Less common types of sources, such as ranking lists (the FT500 and the Fortune 500, for example), the business press, grants and trading opportunities, and patents and trademarks are also included. Within a category the entries are organised by country/region: the UK, international, Europe (excluding the UK), the USA, and rest of world. Each entry includes a brief description of the scope of the source and its format and availability; some entries also include evaluative comments and prices.

Useful supplementary chapters include the major online hosts, the Internet, CD‐ROM publishers, business television, audiotext services, business libraries and information centres, support services such as chambers of commerce, and courses and conferences. “What to read” is a list of other guides to business information, arranged by publisher. Contact information (address, phone and fax numbers, URLs and e‐mail addresses) for publishers is given under the somewhat misleading heading, “Further information”. There is a four‐and‐a‐half‐page list of business information Web sites arranged by name, as well as subject, region, and name indexes. The scope is predominantly UK/US/Europe, with relatively light coverage of the rest of the world. Australia and New Zealand are listed only in the directories section, for example; some chapters focus primarily on the UK (business, television, and audiotext services in particular).

Newcomers to finding international business information are likely to find Pagell and Halperin’s International Business Information: How to Find It, How to Use It (2nd ed., 1998) gives a more useful introduction, because it includes extensive background information giving a context to the sources it discusses, plus sample records from selected sources. In contrast Business Information Basics has minimal background information, instead concentrating on describing a wider range of sources. It is recommended for experienced business information specialists, and for international business information collections, particularly in the UK.