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Basic
Internet Guide
NEED TO FIND SOMETHING ON THE INTERNET?
The Internet is composed of more than 100 million host computers
and tons and tons of information. When we refer to the World Wide
Web, we are referring to the graphical portion of the Internet.
The key to doing effective research on the Internet is getting to
the right information quickly. There are a number of excellent sites
that will provide you with the "basics" of using the Internet and
pointers on using Internet search engines to find the information
you need. Some of these sites are included in this guide.
Getting Started on the Internet
http://www.imagescape.com/helpweb
A helpful and intelligent introduction to the Internet from the
Imaginary Landscape team.
Internet Basics from A-Z
http://www.netforbeginners.about.com
Many helpful sections on this site, including tutorials.
Internet Tutorials
http://library.albany.edu/internet/
Collection of tutorials assembled and maintained by the University
at Albany Libraries for topics from Basic Internet to Search Engines
to Software Training.
Learn the Net: An Internet Guide and Tutorial
http://www.learnthenet.com/english/index.html
Multilingual guide offers a humane introduction to the basics of
cyberspace.
Search Engines
The most popular search engines are:
All of these "general" search engines will yield different results
given similar search keywords. This is because each search engine
is organized differently and uses different databases. If your search
results in too much information, look more closely at the advanced
search options that are provided by many of the search engines.
If you follow their instructions, you can effectively narrow your
search.
There are also "specialized" search engines, such as:
NEED TO DO SOME BUSINESS RESEARCH?
Research in economics and business requires familiarity with a
number of different kinds of sources: statistical, informational,
and analytical. The researcher may need demographic data, sales
figures, analysis of a trend, or up-to-date information on changes
in a given industry. This guide provides leads to research tools
for economics and business.
CEO Express
http://www.ceoexpress.com
This site offers links to a vast collection of business resources.
United States Corporate Information
http://www.corporateinformation.com/
This site provides information on publicly traded companies (companies
that trade on one of the stock markets), privately held companies,
regional-based sites (companies in one particular region), and sector-specific
sites (companies within a particular sector or industry).
The Forbes 500 Top Private Companies
http://www.forbes.com
This list gives the top 500 private companies and their ranking.
Click the link to the International 500. Then click individual company
names to find more information and a brief write-up on the firm.
Originally published in Forbes magazine.
Bizjournals
http://bizjournals.bcentral.com/
American City Business Journals Inc. is the nation's largest publisher
of metropolitan business newspapers, serving 40 of the country's
most vibrant markets.
Annual Report Service
http://www.prars.com/
The Public Register's Annual Report Service (PRARS) offers company
financials, including annual reports and prospectuses on over 3,600
public companies free of charge to the U.S. investing public.
Hoovers Online
http://www.hoovers.com
Hoover's Online features links to news, lists, stock quotes, and
other products, such as Hoover's Industry Snapshots (global industry
overviews). Hoover's offers approximately 250,000 company profiles
(company histories, strategies, market positions, major events,
and other information) available via online subscription.
CorpTech Database
http://www.corptech.com/
This site lists 50,000 manufacturers and developers of high-tech
products. This site also has lots of other demographic information
and good search features.
NEED MORE BUSINESS INFORMATION?
This section contains sites that may also be of assistance in researching
a private (or public) company. The following sites don't have corporate
profiles, but they tell you interesting details about the company
you are researching. Sites with raw data are often better research
sources than sites that attempt to rank the "best" companies.
U.S. Patent and Trademark Database
http://www.uspto.gov/
Sometimes it is useful to know what (if any) patents a company has.
This site will help you search, but remember that sometimes a patent
might be in the individual inventor's name or perhaps in the name
of a subsidiary. Of course, you can also check individuals' patents
here.
Copyright Research
http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright
Research copyrights registered since 1978 at the Library of Congress.
RTK Net Environmental Databases
http://www.rtk.net
Provided by the Right to Know Network, this site offers various
government databases about environmental issues that companies face.
The searching takes a bit of getting used to, but there are help
files available.
Occupational Safety & Health Administration
http://www.osha.gov
Get all Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspections
and violations noted since 1972.
Federal Trade Commission
http:// www.ftc.gov
With this archive, you can search Formal Actions to see if the FTC
has ever taken action against a company.
Federal Election Commission
http://www.fec.gov
Find out if a company or other organization has given "soft money,"
and to whom.
NEED TO DO SOME GENERAL RESEARCH?
NEED TO LOCATE A GOVERNMENT AGENCY?
NEED A JOB?
Career City
http://www.careercity.com
As its name implies, this site targets job seekers. The site provides
a search engine for millions of job sites. So even if you aren't
necessarily looking for a job, this might be a good place to find
out what a particular company does. Descriptions vary in length.
Job Bank
http://www.ajb.dni.us
America's Job Bank is a partnership between the U.S. Department
of Labor and the state-operated public employment service.
Occupational Outlook
http://stats.bls.gov/oco
U.S. occupations are featured in this information-rich resource
from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It includes job duties, working
conditions, training and education requirements, salary, and number
of people employed in an occupation as well as a projection of the
growth or decline in available positions.
INTERESTED IN SPORTS?
NEED TO CALL SOMEONE?
SuperPages
http://www.superpages.com
This site contains a yellow pages directory for the United States.
You can select up to five business types to look up. It can display
up to 100 business names, addresses, and phone numbers on each page.
You can select one particular state, an area code, a Zip code, or
a city.
InfoUSA
http://www.infousa.com
This site offers names, addresses, and phone numbers of millions
of American businesses. Also provided for free is a personal credit
rating (e.g., excellent, very good, good, etc). For $3 you can order
a brief profile about a company-a sample has been provided for free.
WANT TO WATCH SOME TV?
WANT TO READ A NEWSPAPER?
WANT TO READ A MAGAZINE?
NEED A BREAK?
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