Company and Industry Research

Virtual and In-person Office Hours

• Use the consultation request form (located on the Ask Us page) to schedule a research consultation with the librarian. You may reserve either a virtual or in-person appointment.
• Once a date and time has been established, the librarian will send you a meeting link/invitation for a virtual meeting or provide directions to her office.
• Consultations may be scheduled Monday-Friday, 8am-4pm. 

Be a Savvy Information Consumer

It may seem that there is just too much available information--both free stuff found on the Internet and library resources.  Some of it is easily accessible, sometimes not so much. But when you find good information, how do you know it's credible, that is, how do you know you can trust it?  

• Library resources are safe sources of information.  Databases include scholarly journal articles, newspapers, magazines, reports, and other formats, all of which have been evaluated by librarians or other information professionals.
• Information from the Internet, on the other hand, should be closely scrutinized before you use it.  

What to look for?  

Evaluating Information Found on the Web can help you evaluate sources. Consider these criteria:

• Currency - how old is the information? If it's too old, it may no longer be true or factual.
• Relevance - how important is the information for your needs? Does it really address your topic?
• Authority - where did the information come from? Did the author or creator include their credentials?
• Accuracy - how reliable, truthful, and correct is the information? Can you locate additional resources that confirm or support the information?
• Purpose - why does this information exist?  Is it to teach, sell, entertain, or persuade?

If you are uncertain about any of these criteria, feel free to contact the librarian.

Elements of Peer-Reviewed and Scholarly, Trade publications, and Magazines

You will come across several document types in database searches, most of which will be familiar: newspapers, magazines, reports, blogs, and more.  But the publications that might be more challenging are peer-reviewed and scholarly journals and trade publications.  Here are some elements to look for:

 Peer-reviewed/scholarly journals - 

• To inform or report on original research
• Written by a scholar or researcher in a field
• Includes graphs, charts, tables
• Substantial bibliography
• Peer-reviewed by subject matter experts in the field before acceptance for publication

Trade publication -

• Practical news and trends about an industry or profession
• Written by a practitioner or educator in the industry or profession
• Advertisements target practitioners in the industry or profession

Magazine -

• General subjects
• Written by staff writer or journalist targeted to the general public
• Includes glossy advertisements and lots of pictures
• References are rare

For a more complete comparison, see Comparing Scholarly, Trade, General Publications.

From the Lutgert College of Business (LCOB) Writing Guidelines...

"In the workplace you are expected to write clearly and coherently.  The Lutgert College of Business faculty expect college-level writing on all assignments..."

Use this document to understand LCOB writing expectations and use it as a guide for completing your assignments. Pay special attention to the sample formats.