USING the INTERNET for RESEARCH

Note: This collection of bookmarks from other sources has been compiled as a basis for your own collection of bookmarks. It has not been maintained and some of the links may be out of date. Also, for your immediate purposes, it may be far too much info. Bookmark this page for future reference, so you can pick and choose what is most useful for your needs.

Introduction

THE INTERNET

Within the area of desktop research the Internet has both strengths and weaknesses. Understanding this is key to the profitable use of this resource. The Internet scores high on the serendipity index - the most unexpected subjects may get good coverage, yet other subject searches will yield equally suprising omissions. This means that if you do not find a useful site quickly, it may be more effective to resort to more traditional resources.

While the links listed are concentrated on the World Wide Web, it is worth remembering that there are other parts of the Internet which can be useful sources of information. Mailing lists and newsgroups enable quick and easy communication between peer groups. If your search has been fruitless using the web, you may find posting your question will get results.

Weaknesses of the Internet

Market size figures not usually available
Penetration figures and demographics not usually available
Strong US bias
Patchy coverage
Often there is lack of authority
Nobody is in control which causes lack of consistency
Lots of student and recreational sites with little useful content

Strengths of the Internet

Access is cheap and information is often free
Some subjects very well covered
Good for background information
Speed of obtaining information
Wide geographic scope
Rapidly increasing coverage
More companies adding own web pages

SEARCH ENGINES

Bookmarks are useful for frequently accessed sites, but spending large amounts of time compiling an extensive collection of bookmarks can be counterproductive. The Internet changes so fast that it is more sensible to use the resources somebody else has produced.

http://google.com/
Use this first for new subject areas. Its coverage is excellent so it is good for broad searching and for offbeat subjects. You will most likely be overwhelmed by too many hits. You can narrow the results by placing a minus ( - ) in front of any term you want excluded from your search. If you are still overwhelmed, click the advanced search link. Google allows structured searching more sophisticated than most of the other engines currently available. Also notice you can restrict or expand your search by language selection.

http://www.easysearcher.com/index.html
Links to over 300 search engines, is very useful for the more obscure subjects.

http://www.dejanews.com/
Use for searching newsgroups.

TELEPHONE DIRECTORIES

There are business telephone directories available on the Internet and a smaller selection of residential directories also. These are the online equivalent to the yellow pages or the national telephone books. Some of the most obscure countries are available but there are also surprising gaps so you need to check for the specific country required.

Some have English versions of the search screen but many are only in the original language and the level of searching and ease of use varies considerably. The coverage of the lists below overlap to a large extent but not identical so it is worth earching around.

Find a Person - Business, etc.
Verizon telephone directory (yellow pages) searchable by location, subject category or company name. Results are listed alphabetically ten to a page with a random start letter.

http://www.globalyp.com/world.htm
List of links to telephone directories mostly business (yellow pages) available on the Internet. Coverage is worldwide and directories of some of the smallest countries are available. Search capabilities are variable as is English language availability.
http://www.wayp.com/ List of links to European telephone directories mostly business (yellow pages) available on the Internet. Search capabilities are variable as is English language availability.

China business directory Yellow pages and telephone books - China business directories in English and in Chinese (CD and book).
http://www.worldpages.com/
List of links to telephone directories mostly business (yellow pages) available on the Internet. Search capabilities are variable as is English language availability.

World telephone numbering guide For country and area codes, this site also offers up to date information regarding major telephone numbering system changes worldwide.
@Researchinfo.com Online Market research community.
Blue Book - Research Services Directory The online version of the Blue Book, Research Services Directory published annually by the Marketing Research Association.
ACNielsen - Stamford, CT
Ad Track - Weekly USA Today & Louis Harris poll to determine the effectiveness of a major ad campaign. Lists all previous weeks results, as well.
Advance Insight Effective market research, litigation support and mock trials, for corporations, litigators, and government.
America's Research Group - A consumer research and strategic marketing firm, offering full service marketing research capabilities across North America.
Arbitron (New York, NY and others) International media research firm providing information services that are used to develop the local marketing strategies of the electronic media, and of their advertisers and agencies.
Global Market Insite - Multilingual market survey engine.
Global Test Market Consumers from around the world participate in the development of new products.

MARKET RESEARCH

The Ultimate Marketing Communications Directory Excellent portal. See below for more specific selected sites and portals.
Admedia.org: The portal to other links for advertising media.
Center for Interactive Advertising The purpose is to advance knowledge and understanding of advertising.
Ad ResourceReviews of the 500 best web advertising and marketing resources.
Directory of over 5000 links to sites of use and interest to marketing and media professionals.
International Business Bookmark Site compiled by Dr. Syed Tariq Anwar Professor of Marketing & International Business. Comprehensive and interesting collection of business sites and resources.
http://www.jup.com/Juniper Communications is a market research publisher which specialises in technology and especially in research about the nternet and online markets. Very strong on e-commerce.

http://www.pwcglobal.com
PriceWaterhouseCoopers site, has news reports, focus reports, survey reports and so on.

ESOMAR is the European professional body for market research companies this is a good site for market research buyers to checkbefore commissioning work from overseas agencies.

http://www.news-review.co.uk/mw0001/mres.html
Business News Review. Summarised corporate, economic and business news.

MR Miscellaneous

http://www.news-review.co.uk/
Marketing Week's online news section

http://blueskyinc.com/
Site contains statistics on internet users and usage.

http://www.geoweb.co.uk/

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/fcs/
US Embassy Commercial section in the UK

http://www.worldopinion.com/home.taf
The World's market research site

http://www.ac.com/aboutus/products/retail/au_frretail_1.html
Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) retail division.

http://www.ey.com/global/gcr.nsf/International/Welcome_2_new
Ernst and Young retail and consumer division.

STATISTICS

http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/eurostat/serven/part6/6theme.htm
Site of Eurostat which is the EEC statistical organisation.

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/
UK Office for National Statistics

http://www.oanda.com/cgi-bin/ncc
164 currencies converted for you.

http://www.devon.gov.uk/dris/economic/retprice.html Retail Price Index information. This Devon public library service has some suprisingly useful links.

http://stats.bls.gov/
US site of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This contains lots of statistical material on the U.S. economy and labor force.

http://www.insee.fr/fr/home/home_page.asp
French National Statistics Organisation.

http://www.statistik-bund.de/e_home.htm
German National Statistics Organisation.

http://petra.istat.it/
Italian National Statistics Organisation.

http://www.polishbusiness.com/
Statistics on various Polish sectors

http://www.stat.fi/index_en.html
Statistics on Finland

NEWS

http://www.businesspark.demon.co.uk/
UK business park, one years worth of business news items condensed to one or two line abstracts, news is arranged by industry sector but is also searchable by company name.

http://www.the-times.co.uk/
Web site of the Times Newspaper including some archived material, you need to subscribe to gain access to this site but currently subscription is free.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Web site of the Telegraph Newspaper including some archived material, you need to subscribe to gain access to this site but currently subscription is free.

http://www.pr-wire.com/
PRN News Wire is a company which specialises in electronic distribution of full text news to the media and finance industries. Available free on this website is one years worth of brief news abstracts searchable by industry or company name, press releases from participating companies are also available.

http://www.briefing.reuters.com/
Commercial database of news items worldwide taken from newspapers and periodicals. Paid subscription required, and quite expensive.

REFERENCE

http://www.dis.strath.ac.uk/business/index.html
Business Sources on the Internet.
http://bd.dowjones.com/

EUROPE

http://www.za.uni-koeln.de/data/en/eurobarometer
Eurobarometer
http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/eurostat/press/index.htm
Stats office of the EU
http://europa.eu.int/
Europa is the EU information server
http://lucas.dfl.doc.ca/shantnu/links/gov/eugov.html
European Govt. sites
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/
HM Treasury Office site
http://www.thebiz.co.uk/
Business to Business information portal
http://www.tsonline.co.uk/
The Stationary Office

AUTOMOTIVE

http://www.businesspark.demon.co.uk/
UK Business Park, Automotive Section, This has one or two line abstracts of current news stories in this sector, stories go back for one year and you can search by company name
http://www.rmif.co.uk/
Retail Motor Industry Federation
http://www.automotive.co.uk/fleetnews/START.HTM
Fleet News Net
http://www.bbi.co.uk/vehicle/info
Fleet forecasts and statistics
http://www.ita.doc.gov/auto
Office of Automotive Affairs

Countries

http://anulib.anu.edu.au/
Australian National University Website
http://www.chinabig.com/en/srch/
China's Yellow Pages
http://www.voicendata.com/
Indian telecomms
http://www.odci.gov/
US Central Intelligence Agency site
http://www.mbendi.co.za/index.htm
Lots of useful and interesting information on Africa, including some company directory type information

IT & Telecomms

http://www.blueskyinc.com/webpop.htm
Internet statistics
http://www.idcresearch.com/
MR publisher specialising in IT and computer technology sometimes gives top line results on new studies.
http://www.thedirectory.org/areacode.htm
Worldwide list of all Internet Providers, including telephone numbers
http://www.romtec.co.uk/
MR publisher specialising in IT and computer technology.
http://www.redsquare.co.uk/survey/links.htm
Internet UK survey

Other resources

Bureau van Dijk (http://www.bvdep.com/) is renowned for its collection of corporate information resources which include AMADEUS (4 million European companies), FAME (1.8 million UK companies, 500,000 of which are in very detailed format), BANKSCOPE (11,000 banks worldwide).
They also produce ICARUS (profiles on 250,000 public and private US companies) and NOMINUS , a detailed analysis of the UK Share Register

Datamonitor (http://www.datamonitor.com/) is a market analysist, with interpretative data.

Dun and Bradstreet (http://www.do-business.com/) with a worldwide database of 58 million businesses across 230 countries.

Euromonitor (http://www.euromonitor.com/) compiles Global Market Information Database, providing key intelligence on countries, markets and companies. Particularly strong on consumer information and statistical data.

GLOBEtrotter Europe (http://www.globetrotter.com/) provides product marketing data and specialises in Electronic Software Distribution, Electronic licensing management and so on.

Kompass (http://www.kompass.com/) Their business to business search engine allows global searching across 70 countries.

Marketresearch.com (http://www.marketresearch.com/) allows users to locate, evaluate and purchase market intelligence publications from over 11,000 publications.