Plano Public Library Databases
Business News
Career Planning
Company Research
Industry Research
Investing
Nonprofit Organizations
Small Business Planning
Statistics
Plano Public Library Databases
Remote Access
These databases can be accessed from your home computer.
PPLS Database - EBSCOhost
Business Source Complete – Enhanced Business Searching Interface
This is the world's definitive business database, providing the leading collection of bibliographic and full text content. As part of the comprehensive coverage offered by this database, indexing and abstracts for the most important business journals back as far as 1886 are included. In addition, searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,200 journals. There are comprehensive reports; on emerging markets and trends, country reports highlighting economics and political background, company profiles by Datamonitor, and industry profiles providing a market overview and value.
PPLS Database - GALENET
Business and Company Resource Center
Business and Company Resource Center is a fully integrated resource bringing together company profiles, brand information, rankings, investment reports, company histories, chronologies and periodicals. Search this database to find detailed company and industry news and information.
PPLS Database – Facts on File
Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center
Organized by industry, this database covers careers and career resources, as well as career preparation information, including scholarships, academic programs, non-academic programs, Web resources, and an employability skills checklist. An extensive “Four Steps to a New Job” section provides invaluable guidance on everything from choosing a career to finding and applying for a job to learning about employment benefits and laws.
Personal & Business Forms
This is a collection of reproducible forms and checklists for a wide range of personal, business, and government situations—from applying for financial aid to submitting a tax form to negotiating a rental agreement. With more than 2,700 easy-to-access, printable forms, this database is the most comprehensive and user friendly resource of its kind.
PPLS Database – ReferenceUSA
ReferenceUSA database contains detailed information on over 14 million businesses and 210 million U.S. residents.
Available only at a PPLS Library
These databases can only be accessed at a Plano Public Library. Please ask a librarian for assistance.
Morningstar
Morningstar® Mutual Funds™ Online provides fast and easy access to Morningstar Mutual Funds ratings, select an entire group of funds to review under Download Reports by Category, or find a specific fund under Search. Numerous special reports created by Morningstar are also available.
Valueline
The Value Line Investment Survey is a comprehensive source of information and advice on approximately 1,700 stocks, more than 90 industries, the stock market, and the economy. In the Research Center you are able to select screening criteria for custom stock screening; over 3400 stocks are available to be screened.
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Online Information
Business News
American City Business Journals
American City Business Journals is the nation's largest publisher of metropolitan business newspapers. It operates the Web sites for each of the company's 41 print business journals
Bloomberg News
Bloomberg's media services provide real-time and archived financial and market data, pricing, trading, news, charts, and communications tools.
Business Week Online
BW Online provides news of the day, along with in-depth articles sorted by topic and international area.
CNN Money
CNN provides breaking news of the day to keep you abreast of the latest information about people, companies, and the markets.
Financial Times
The Financial Times site focuses more on European and international financial news.
MSN Money News Center
MSN provides one stop access to thirteen different business new sources, including Reuters, Business Wire, and the Motley Fool.
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Career Planning
Career Development eManual - University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo provides a step-by-step assessment tool for planning your career development. Each step includes an exercise to assist in your self-evaluation of your career planning.
Occupational Outlook Handbook
The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides several publications on occupations and employment. These include the Occupational Outlook Handbook, the Career Guide to Industries, and Occupational Projections and Training Data. There is also a link to Occupational Quarterly Magazine which includes practical information on choosing and getting today's and tomorrow's jobs.
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Company Research
Annual Reports
Access is provided to thousands to annual reports. The site can be searched by company name, ticker, sector, and industry.
Big Charts
Big Charts provides historical stock quotes going back over 30 years. Other financial and sector information is also available.
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Industry Research
globalEDGE
globalEDGE is maintained by the Center for International Business Education and Research at Michigan State University. There are links to over 5,000 global resources, news, and insight reports on 197 countries.
Thomas Register
ThomasNet is a comprehensive resource that includes information on more than 700,000 industrial suppliers and over 1,000,000 downloadable CAD drawings of parts and components.
VIBES – Virtual International Business & Economic Sources
Links to over 3,000 sites related to international business and commerce. A variety of comprehensive reports are available on countries and regions providing political and economic information.
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Investing
Drip Advisor
The DRIP Advisor lists companies that provide dividend reinvestment plans and/or allow direct stock purchases from the company.
Securities and Exchange Commission - EDGAR Database
View company 10K and other security filings along with information on mutual funds. Historical EDGAR filings are available back to 1994.
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is the list of America’s largest companies as compiled by Fortune Magazine. Lists of the best employers, the Fortune 1000 and business news are provided. The Fortune 500 lists, dating back to 1955 are also available.
Investopedia
Tutorials on the basics of investing and retirement planning are available to get the beginning investor started along with a comprehensive dictionary of financial terms.
MSN Money
MSN provides a wide variety of investment planning, tax, retirement, stock, and mutual fund information.
Sector Updates – Investment Calculators
This site has a large selection of investment calculators on a variety of topics including but not limited to retirement, currency, life insurance, and mortgages.
Treasury Direct
Treasury Direct lets you buy and redeem securities directly from the U.S. Department of the Treasury in paperless electronic form. Information is provided about the differences in the various securities available from the federal government.
Yahoo – Quarterly Earnings Surprises
Information is provided on upside and downside earnings surprises with the capability to search the past quarter.
Yahoo – Market Upgrades & Downgrades
This is a daily listing of stocks that have been either upgraded or downgraded.
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Nonprofit Organizations
Federal Government Grants
Grants.gov is your source to find and apply for Federal government grants. There are over 1,000 grant programs offered by Federal grant making agencies.
Foundation Center
The Foundation Center maintains a comprehensive database on U.S. grant makers and their grants, and a robust, accessible knowledge bank for the sector. They also operate research, education, and training programs designed to advance philanthropy.
non-profit guides
Non-profit guides are free web-based grant-writing tools for non-profit organizations, charitable, educational, public organizations, and other community-minded groups. The guides are designed to assist established non-profits through the grant-writing process.
SRA International - Grants Web
The Society of Research Administrators International is a nonprofit association which has developed a grant resource site with listings for public and private organizations that provide grants.
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Small Business Planning
Business.gov - The Official Business Link to the U.S. Government
Business.gov, the official business link to the U.S. Government, is managed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in a partnership with 21 other federal agencies. This partnership, known as Business Gateway, provides a single access point to government services and information to help the nation's businesses with their operations.
City of Plano - Economic Development
City of Plano provides information about economic development with links to facts about the city, online brochures and a video on why Plano is a great city to live and work.
Federal Government Procurement Opportunities
FedBizOpps.gov is the single government point-of-entry (GPE) for Federal government procurement opportunities over $25,000. Through one portal commercial vendors seeking Federal markets for their products and services can search, monitor and retrieve opportunities solicited by the entire Federal contracting community.
Small Business Administration
The Small Business Administration provides many tools for getting you business started, including over 25 online courses and a step-by-step guide to planning and starting a business. There are also links to toolkits and services to aid in growing a business and to improve your business knowledge.
Small Business Development Center
There are links to sample business plans, checklists for starting your business, marketing information and much more. There are also links to downloadable forms and toolkits to help in managing and running a business.
Texas Online - Texas Business Portal
The portal provides information on starting a business in Texas. Information related to laws and permits, government contacts, and employer resources are available.
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Statistics
Bankrate
Compare mortgage, auto and other loan rates. Also, check CD, saving and other investment returns. Use the investment calculators to determine cost or return on your loans and investments.
Bizstats
BizStats provides an effective and understandable analysis of business and industry statistics for the small business operator. There are useful financial ratios, market profitability, business statistics and benchmarks.
Bureau of Economic Analysis
The BEA provides federal statistical information on the Gross Domestic Product, international balance of payments and personal income.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
The latest government statistics on the Consumer Price Index, payroll, Producer Price Index, unemployment and other government information related to the economy and business.
Fedstats
Fedstats provides links to the statistics of over 100 federal agencies. There is information on states, counties, cities, and international comparisons. The site also has a link to published statistics such as the Statistical Abstract of the United States.
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