About Annual Reports
Foster Business Library Corporate Annual Reports:
The Foster Business Library annual reports collection is contained in lateral files under the Corporate Annual Reports sign, located between the Reference Desk and the Circulation/Reserve Desk. Arrangement is alphabetically by company name (and usually--but not always--by the latest version of the company name).
See Periodicals Lists on the Foster Business Library homepage, under Research, for the list of companies included in the Foster Business Library collection: Annual Reports Collection
Detailed holdings information about Foster Business Library corporate annual reports may be found by searching in the UW Libraries Catalog with the company name as author. Finding these records can be difficult due to mergers, acquisitions, and changes in company names--as well as in the title of the annual report (annual report, report to stockholders, etc.). For many companies, there are multiple records for various versions of the company name, with the holdings scattered among each record. In many of these cases, there are references to the other company names under the box that displays holdings--though clicking on these references typically takes you to the top of the title list for all annual reports rather than to the other company name as author. Where possible, staff in the Foster Business Library try to bring various versions of company names together under one shelving title in the lateral files where the reports are stored. For quick reference, consult the Foster Annual Reports website for a list of companies whose annual reports are currently collected.
Depending on the company, the Foster Business Library annual reports collection includes a few years, a long range of years, or all years. Pacific Northwest companies are represented by as many years as we have been able to acquire and retain. More information about the annual reports collection development policy may be found later in this document. Because annual reports circulate just like books, they sometimes are lost by library users and often cannot be replaced. The annual reports for any given company may be incomplete even when a date range is specified.
Generally, only annual reports to shareholders are included in the Foster Business Library annual reports collection; Securities and Exchange Commission filings received in lieu of an annual report are not usually retained since they are commonly available online from a variety of sources. Exceptions may be made, as in cases where S.E.C. filings are bound as an annual report, with some other information for shareholders attached, or when a company in the Corporate Annual Reports collection switches to S.E.C. 10-K filings instead of printed annual reports for a year or two.
Company Selection Criteria:
Pacific Northwest public companies: The Foster Business Library corporate annual reports collection is focused on the approximately 200 public companies in the Pacific Northwest states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska. For these companies, annual reports are retained indefinitely.
Fortune 500 and Fortune Global 500: Some firms in the top one hundred of the Fortune 500 and Fortune Global 500 are included in the annual reports collection. Where the Foster Business Library has a significant historical collection of a company's annual reports, a longer run of annual reports may be retained. Longer runs may also be maintained for companies whose annual reports have garnered awards.
Representative competitors: Some competitors to major Pacific Northwest companies in industries central to the region (such as computer software, retail/wholesale, biomed/biotech, forest products and transportation) are included in the annual reports collection.
High interest companies: Some companies of perennial interest to student researchers (such as companies producing beverages, cars, clothes, food, etc.) are included in the collection. In some cases, the Foster Business Library has amassed a historical run of reports.
World's Best Annual Reports: Each year, annual report expert Sid Cato compiles a list of the annual reports he rates as the world's best. Companies whose annual reports are repeatedly rated as among the world's best are also considered for addition to the Foster Business Library's Corporate Annual Reports collection. On the Library's list of Corporate Annual Reports, a year, in red, after a company name indicates that the company's annual report for that year was named as one of the world's best (according to Sid Cato).
Other Sources for Annual Reports:
Many companies provide copies of their recent annual reports on their company homepage, usually in the investor relations section. Annual reports more than a few years old are not often found on company homepages. In their place, U.S. companies file SEC 10-K reports with extensive information about company activities. Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe on the Foster Business Library is a good source for SEC 10-K filings; go to Business and then to SEC Filings & Reports.
In the Foster Business Library:
Securities and Exchange Commission Filings: These S.E.C.reports are another source of information that often prove more valuable than the annual reports mailed out to shareholders. Lexis-Nexis is a good source (among many) for online SEC filings back to December, 1987.
For the oldest S.E.C. filings, go to the Corporate Microfile, on microfiche, in the Foster Business Library microfiche collection, for reports of corporate annual meetings, annual reports to shareholders, proxy statements, and annual reports to the S.E.C. on Form 10-K's, from 1978 to 1982.
For subsequent SEC filings, the Foster Business Library has a microfiche backfile from 1982 to 1991 called the Q-File.
The Q-File set was followed by a microfiche backfile called the SEC File for the period from 1991 to 1997. There is a hardcopy SEC File Index in the Reference Collection (call number HG4028. B2 .S42), covering the years 1978 to 1998.
Foster Business Library databases:
Hoovers Online: On the Foster Business Library homepage, this database provides extensive information on over 40,000 companies worldwide. Each company profiled includes a link to the company homepage, where company annual reports may often be found in the Investor Relations section. Hoovers Online also offers access to company S.E.C. filings. Access to this database is restricted to those with a UW Net ID.
Mergent Online: On the Foster Business Library homepage, this database provides online access to information in the print editions of the Mergent Manuals, with extensive information on companies, including annual reports, for over 11,000 U.S. companies as well as over 17,000 foreign companies. This database is especially useful for company financial information, with data going back fifteen years. For most companies, there is an annual reports tab in the top menu, with links to company annual reports, back to 1996. Access to this database is restricted to those with a UW Net ID.
Web Resources:
AnnualReports.Com: A collection of over one thousand online annual reports. Many of these reports are in PDF format.
Historical Annual Reports Collection: This collection at the Angelo Bruno Business Library at the University of Alabama includes paper copies of corporate annual reports from 1,900 companies, from the late nineteenth century to 1980. While reports are not available via interlibrary loan, photocopies of the reports may be purchased. A list of companies and annual report years is provided by this site.
Historical Corporate Reports: This collection at the Lippincott Library at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania contains facsimiles of corporate annual reports from the Lippincott Library collection. These reports are in PDF format, but fewer than fifty companies are included in this collection.
The Public Register's Annual Report Service: Claiming to be America's largest annual report source, this site offers the annual reports, prospectuses and 10K filings for 3,600 companies, searchable by name, industry or state. Annual reports may be ordered, free, from this source but no reports are available online.