Databases you use.

[manishg_123]

Hello People,

I am trying to collect here opinions from people about what Business databases they use at school. You may or maynot mention the name of your school, you might like to mention : Which one you use most ? . Some comments about others might be helpful for all of us too. Subscription costs Post-school etc.. Anything that you think would be useful should be helpful.

Here goes mine first :

I use Factiva and Thomson Analytics most. I think Thomson Analytics is really good with features like company peers one-stop for historical financial statements (and in various currencies) Excel downloads etc..

Ebscohost is really good for research articles. EIU (Most would know ) excellent for country macroeconomic data..

Others I use are : Euromonitor, Investext ,ValueLine, Proquest Newsbank,Ebrary.

If you haven't heard of any of the above and like to know more please feel free to just ask me. Please also feel free to write in detail about the databases you use.

Thanks,
M

[philipwhiteold]

When I was in college we used Proquest and ABI/Inform. ABI Inform was really good for business articles. The databases were part of tuition so we never saw the direct price.

[YaSO]

If you haven't heard of any of the above and like to know more please feel free to just ask me. Please also feel free to write in detail about the databases you use.
Man, I've never heard or used any of the applications you listed. I feel like I'm so behind the curve ... (Oh, except for Excel)

[philipwhiteold]

Jun, These are basically article databases (atleast the ones I mentioned). They usually contain articles from publications like the wallstreet journal, the economist, and about every other business mag/journal. Then its all compiled in a searchable database. It is extremely helpful for research. Universities pay megabucks to use these databases. Students need to take advantage of them if they are offered because it sure beats the heck out of looking for books in the library.

[manishg_123]

Hi ,

Yes that is true. Most of them provide access to articles from newspapers, management research journals, studies, faculty publications and papers published etc. But Thomson Analytics for one is a different animal. Its more to research just financial statements.

Don't feel behind the curve :D . Let me know if any of you guys need any help on a research project etc. I'll try to to my best within legal limits. But yes, it would be best if you would send me email at manishg_123@yahoo.com. As I do not check mba-forums as regularly as I would like to. Just too much work !

I would like to see people from more B-schools post information about the databases they use. Please let me know. In truth I find some of these databases highly overlapping in functionality and I wonder what is their selling point ! I would like to explore more in this field.

Thanks,
Manish.

[philipwhiteold]

Originally posted by manishg_123@Mar 20, 2004, 9:13 pm
In truth I find some of these databases highly overlapping in functionality and I wonder what is their selling point ! I would like to explore more in this field.

I think your right about content overlapping. I would assume alot of these database companies use the exact same articles. The price is pretty much determined by the content included since these database companies pay an arm and a leg to obtain the data and pass the cost on the the buyer (colleges). User interface and ease of use are probably consided as well when putting a price on the service.