Company Name or Ticker Symbol Back to Top

The Company Name or Ticker Symbol search is a text input box that allows the user to search for a company name or ticker symbol. The search will look for the presence of word(s) specified in any combination unless quotation marks are used (searches for exact match). The user must enter at least the first 3 characters of a company name. If incomplete words are being used, wildcards must be used. (see Search Tips for more information regarding wildcards)  When the user does a search, a company profiles results list will be displayed (if any exist) and the Company Profiles tab will be "current."

Directly below the text input box are two radio buttons, one for "All Companies" and one for "Ultimate Parent." "All Companies" is the default button. If the "All Companies" radio button is selected, any companies matching the search will display in the Company Profiles tab results list. 

If the "Parent Company" radio button  is selected, only ultimate parent companies will display in the Company Profiles tab results list

If the company searched for is not a parent company, but a subsidiary, the parent will display, with a plus sign (+) icon next to the name, which can be clicked to show the hierarchy.

Company profiles results are sorted by revenue and are displayed in U.S. dollars, with highest revenue appearing first. Once a company profile is choosen from the results list and the company has both a physical address and a mailing address, the physical address will be listed first. If any articles fulfill the search criteria, the News/Magazines tab will be active. All other tabs will be inactive.

If the user selects the News/Magazines tab from the Company Profiles tabs results list, the News/Magazines results will be displayed. News/Magazines results are sorted in reverse chronological order. The News/Magazines tab will be "current" and the Company Profiles tab will be active. All other tabs will be inactive.

If no company profiles (i.e. only articles) fulfill the search criteria, a News/Magazine result list will be displayed, and the News/Magazines tab will be "current." All other tabs, including Company Profiles, will be inactive.

Industry Code/Description Back to Top

The  Industry Code/Description search enables a user to enter either a code or word(s) from a description into a text input box.  Directly below the text input box are two radio buttons:  SIC code and NAICS code.  SIC code is the default.  Wildcards may be used to search for a broader SIC/NAICS grouping (ex, 86*). See Search Tips for more information regarding wildcards.

The index searched (SIC or NAICS) will correspond to the radio button selected.  The user will then be taken to the Company Profiles tab where a list of corresponding companies will appear ranked by revenue from highest to lowest.  The user may also choose the News/Magazine tab where a list of corresponding  articles are displayed arranged in reverse chronological order. 

The "Browse SIC/NAICS Code" option, located to the right of the Industry Code/Description text input box, allows the user to browse a list of SIC/NAICS codes groups and display SIC/NAICS codes within the group. The results will display any Company Profiles or News/Magazines that match the search criteria. Once selected, any information entered in the search page will be lost.

Subjects in Article Back to Top

The Subjects in Article search is a text input box that allows the user to enter a subject. When the user performs a subject-only search, and the Subject Guide is displayed, the News/Magazines tab will be "current," and all other tabs will be inactive. Users must return to the main search page and do another search in order to get results from other content areas. If the text that is entered is not found in the subject guide, the system defaults to a keyword search. A keyword search searches on subjects, titles, and abstracts.

Results will only consist of News/Magazines that meet the search criteria displayed in reverse chronological order.

When the user selects the "search for words in the entire article content" checkbox the database will search for the word(s) entered into the "subjects in article" search box within the full text of the News/Magazine articles in the database.

Geographic Search Back to Top

The Geographic Search contains a two-text input box labeled "City" and "State/Country," which may be filled with one or both fields. If both are filled the "AND" indicator is applied. (see Search Tips for more information regarding search operators) Users may enter either the spelled-out state name or the two-character abbreviation. State names for all countries are supported. If a two-character abbreviation is entered, users will get hits for all states for which the abbreviation applies. For example, entering "NT" would get hits for both Northwest Territories (Canada) and Northern Territory (Australia). Users must enter the legal version of a country's name (for example, United States may work but USA does not) to get results. Wildcards may be used. (see Search Tips for more information regarding wildcards) Results will consist of Company Profiles (listed in order by revenue, highest to lowest) and News/Magazines (listed in reverse chronological order) that meet the search criteria.

Personal NameBack to Top

The Personal Name search is a text input box that allows the user to search for names of officers and contacts. This option searches indexes for the presence of word(s) specified in any combination unless quotations marks are used (then searches for exact match). Users must enter at least the first 3 characters of a personal name. If incomplete words are being searched, wildcards must be used. (see Search Tips for more information regarding wildcards) Results will contain any Company Profiles (listed in order by revenue, highest to lowest) or News/Magazines (listed in reverse chronological order) that match the search criteria.

Journal  Name Back to Top

The Journal Name search is a text input box that is  intended mainly to be limiter field.  However, it can be searched alone. Users may enter a journal name. Results will list any periodicals that match the search criteria. 

The "Browse Journal" option, located to the right of the Journal Name text input box, allows the user to link to an alphabetical list of all journals available. Once selected, any information entered in the search page will be lost.

Users also have the option to further limit their search to retrieve only full text articles or to refereed titles only.

Date Range Back to Top

The Journal Date search is intended mainly to be a limiter field.  However, it can be searched alone. Four drop-down boxes are available with "from" and "to" Month  and  "from" and "to" Year. The default is "none." Users can select just a year (for example, selecting 1998 in both year boxes will return hits from 1998). Or users can select a single month/year (instead of a range) by selecting a month and year only in the first set. Results will contain a list of periodicals that meet the search criteria listed in reverse chronological order.

Content Area  Back to Top 

The Content Area Search can only be used as a limiter with another search.  Should a user attempt to search only on a content area, they  will receive an error message advising them to use the "Revise Search" button to return to their search. The Content Area search field is a pull-down box. Users may select only one item. In addition, the "AND" operator is assumed between all fields. (See Search Tips for more information regarding search operators) Content areas available for version 1.0 include Company Profiles and Periodicals.

Content Areas are only searchable in conjunction with certain other fields.  The following table outlines the fields that must be used to search for each content area.  

Search Combinations  Back to Top
(using any/all of the following:  Company Name/Ticker, Industry Name, SIC/NAICS, Geographic Location, Personal Name, Journal Name, Journal Date)

Each individual field assumes the "AND" operator between all fields, with the exception that Journal Name and Journal Date are only applied to searches within the periodical dataset.

If no records are available in a group, the group is not displayed.  

Navigating Results List Back to Top

Once an initial search has been executed,  Business & Company Resource Center provides a handy at-a-glance results tab bar. The tabs are to function, for each document, based on the last "search" performed.  "Search" is defined as the last type of information requested, whether through the main screen search, or through navigating the content area tabs. 

Tabs become active at the document level. In other words, once a document is opened, the database looks for company names, other subjects, SIC codes, etc. within the document to provide results in the other content areas. For most tabs, users will need to click through a "results list" or two before arriving at a final document. These "results lists" appear as hyperlinkable lists within the tab (in other words, the tab clicked is the active tab); while in this type of "results lists," the navigation bar options are the same as the main results lists, and all other tabs perform according to the last document searched for, until another document is selected, at which time a new "search" is performed and tab functionality adjusts accordingly.

For example, if the user types in "general" in the Company Name or Ticker Symbol text input box, the search will return a list of company profiles where the term "general" appears. If the user then picks "General Electric" from the results list, the database finds all related documents to General Electric and activates the tabs where data on General Electric is present. Subject guide terms linked to General Electric appear in the News/Magazines tab as well. This document centric navigation is consistent throughout the database.

The user can also readily broaden or narrow their search from the document level to other companies, other topics, or other industries by using additional navigational links found along the left side of the screen.

The following Sidebar Buttons appear on relevant pages, offering the opportunity to navigate to other pages on the Business & Company Resource Center.

Note: Problems opening up PDF documents within Internet Explorer: How to manually install the PDF Browser Plug-In

Users receiving the following error message when trying to display a PDF document

Should do the following:

Mark List Back to Top

The Business & Company Resource Center allows the user to mark documents that are found especially helpful or interesting in order to create a personalized citation list. Documents may be selected from a results list by checking the box to the left of the citation. (When marking documents in the results list, the user must click on the "Update Mark List" button before proceeding to another screen to save your selections.)

After selecting one or more documents, users may view their citation list by clicking on the "View Mark List." "View Mark List" takes the user to a Results List-type screen, in which any documents marked appear under the appropriate heading (Company Profiles, Investment Reports, etc.)  All document types will appear on one page. No tabs will be active from the Mark List. To remove a document from the mark list, simply deselect the box to the left of the citation, and click on the "Update Mark List"  button before proceeding to another screen to save your selections. 

Note: A Mark List can only hold up to 45 documents at one time.

The "Format for Print" button will only be available in the left navigation bar for single-document type lists. For multi-document results lists, the "Format for Print" option appears as a link at the top of each list. Additionally, users will be unable to click the "Format for Print" button from a marked Financial Overview document.

InfoMark Back to Top

    An InfoMark at the top of any page indicates that the URL of the page persists even when the session is over. Persistent URLs can be bookmarked for future reference or copied into an electronic mail message or onto a Web page. Use your browser to save the page as a bookmark.

Note: For InfoMarks to work, your browser must be set to accept cookies.

• Predefined Searches--One common use for InfoMarks is to create a predefined search. Any combination of searching and limiting that produces citations can be saved. A predefined search could be as narrow as a specific search or as broad as, for example, all articles from a particular journal. Each time the saved link is selected, the search will be run anew, so the results are always fresh. To create a predefined search, save the URL at the citation list page, the page with a list of matching articles.

  Just as you can define a search and save it, so you can perform a browse operation and save the browse list page InfoMark. This predefined browse will be re-executed to produce the current browse list, with current article counts.

• Links to Articles--Another use for InfoMarks is to create a "live" reference to an article. To create a reference link, save the URL at the article page.

• Search Setup--To link to the currently selected database and search method, save a search page InfoMark. The link can then be used as a shortcut to a search entry box, ready for input.

• Reading List--You can create a "reading list" or similar application by performing a search, selecting the desired citations from the result, and saving the mark list page InfoMark. The link will provide a shortcut back to a list of the selected citations. From there, articles can be retrieved.

InfoMarks should be reasonably stable, but the journal selection and negotiated rights (for text and/or full content display) in a collection can change without notice. It's a good idea to verify your saved links from time to time.

As well, keep in mind that successfully using a link starts a Business & Company Resource Center session. Even if the link simply goes to an article, all Business & Company Resource Center resources are available to the user.

See Search Tips for more information regarding InfoMarks.

© 2000 Gale Group. All rights reserved.