Foster Business Library Databases:

The Foster Business Library offers an extensive collection of over fifty databases on its homepage; see under Databases. For a complete list of Foster databases, see the List of All Business Databases. Access to these databases from off campus requires that you first go to the Off-Campus Access button, in the upper right of all library webpages. These resources may not be accessed from off campus except by those with a valid UW Net ID and password. For more information on Foster business databases, click Databases, A-Z. For information on which Foster business databases to use, see the Database Index. For information on accessing Foster databases from off campus, see Database Access. For guidelines on responsible database usage, see Database Usage.
• China Data Online:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under List of All Business Databases. Comprehensive database focusing on economic statistics of China, arranged by regions and categories. Includes monthly and yearly reports on China's macroeconomic development, statistical databases on China's population and economy at the county and city level, and financial indicators of more than 568 industrial branches.

• Comtrade:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under List of All Business Databases.   A product of the United Nations Statistics Division, this database is the most comprehensive source for world trade data. "Every year between 120 to 140 countries or areas report their merchandise trade statistics to the United Nations...[covering] as much as 95% of world trade. Each of these countries report the trade by commodity and trading partner."

• EIU Online:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Business Databases. This database, provided by the Economist Intelligence Unit, provides online access to their annual Country Profiles, quarterly Country Reports, and annual Country Commerce, for nearly 200 countries, with both current and retrospective publications. There is also access in this database to the Economist Intelligence Unit's Viewswires, with up-to-date coverage of countries and topics. Use Search to search for topics within countries or across all countries.

• Europa World:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under List of All Business Databases. This database mirrors the Europa World Year Book in the Foster Business Library, with profiles for 250 countries as well as a variety of regions and international organizations, with statistical, historical, political, and economic information and data, as well as a comparison feature, and directory information.

• Gale Virtual Reference Library:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under List of All Business Databases.   The Gale Virtual Reference Library is a database of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research; go to Business for three major business sources:   the Encyclopedia of American Industries (4th ed., 2005), the Encyclopedia of Business and Finance (2001), and the Encyclopedia of Small Business (2nd ed., 2002). Under Nation and World, see Countries and Their Cultures, 2001; as an example, see the section on Italy.

• Global Financial Data:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, under Other Business Databases.   This database provides access to over 20,000 series of long-term global financial and economic data, both current and historic, gathered from original sources and historic archives, for more than 200 countries. Data is in ASCII or Microsoft Excel format.

• Hoovers Online:   Under Business Databases on the Foster Business Library homepage. Hoovers Online offers information about 14,000 public and private companies worldwide, with links to company homepages and annual reports, charts, company capsule, competitors, divisions, earnings, financials, Fortune and Forbes rankings, history, industry information, insider trading, mission statements, news links, press releases, officers, patents, products, SEC filings, splits, subsidiaries, etc.

• Kompass:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Business Databases. Directory information for 1.6 million companies in 72 countries, with indexes for company products and services, containing 23 million product and service references, and 500,000 trademarks and brand names. (This database is available widely on campus and may be accessed from home via the U.W. connectivity kit or via the Libraries' proxy server.)

• Mergent Online:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Business Databases. Online access to the print edition of the Mergent Manuals, with extensive information on 11,000 U.S. as well as 17,000 international companies, including financials, stock, properties, joint ventures, annual reports, subsidiaries, S.E.C. filings, etc. For search tips, see About Mergent Online.

• Source OECD:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Business Databases. Source OECD is the online library of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, with twenty OECD book collections by theme, including all of the organization's monographs and reports published since 1998; twenty OECD periodicals; some OECD reference titles; and the OECD databases. The OECD has 30 member countries and relationships with 70 other countries. Its site tends to be a bit slow to load.

• STAT-USA:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Business Databases. In this database are business, economic, and trade statistics and data from the U.S. Department of Commerce and other Federal government sources. To access international information, go to:

  • Country Commercial Guides: These guides contain information on the business and economic situation of foreign counties and the political climate as it affects U.S. business. They are produced annually by U.S. Embassy staff including the Department of State, the Department of Commerce and the Department of Agriculture. The guides include the following sections: leading trade prospects for U.S. business, economic environment, political environment, marketing U.S. products and services, trade regulations and standards, investment climate, financing and business travel.

  • Market Research Reports: These analyses are in-depth profiles of a selected industry subsector. They include an analysis of the market opportunities, end-users, competitors, market access, distribution channels, market barriers and financing options. The reports list best sales prospects, trade promotion opportunities, and in-country contacts. These reports are produced by the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service in 67 markets worldwide.

• World Bank WDI Online:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Business Databases. This World Bank database, World Development Indicators Online, "contains statistical data for over 550 development indicators and time series data from 1960-2000 for over 200 countries and 18 country groups. Data includes social, economic, financial, natural resources, and environmental indicators. Data selection screens are intuitive and easy to use. Results can be scaled, indexed against a particular year, viewed by percentage change, and charted. These features plus data export options in standard formats like Excel make WDI Online the most useful tool yet for researching developmental data." See also the related GDF Online, for Global Development Finance Online, with "a comprehensive set of tables with statistical data for 136 countries that report debt under the World Bank Debtor Reporting System, as well as summary data for regions and income groups. It contains data on total external debt stocks and flows, aggregates, and key debt ratios, and provides a detailed, country-by-country picture of debt."

Unlike library databases, Web resources are available wherever you have web access; they do not require that you access them via the Off-Campus Access button, in the upper right of all library webpages. When using web resources, be sure to evaluate the credibility of these resources. For a subject index to web resources, see Business Resources on the Web on the Foster Business Library homepage.

World (Most Countries):

• American Chambers of Commerce Abroad:   The American Chambers of Commerce Abroad "advance the interests of American business overseas. They are voluntary associations of American companies and individuals doing business in a particular country, as well as firms and individuals of that country who operate in the United States. " There are currently 94 American chambers of commerce in 82 countries, affiliated with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

• CIA World Factbook:   These brief country profiles, prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency, offer information about government, economy, GDP, CPI, labor force, unemployment rate, budget, industries, agriculture, export, import, telecommunications, debt, foreign aid for over 250 countries.

• Country Background Notes:   The U.S. Department of State provides these Country Background Notes for 188 countries, most of which were prepared in the years 1996 to 2002. These notes provide brief information about each nation's geography, people and history, government, political conditions, economy, foreign relations, relations with the United States, and travel and business information.

• Country, Economic and Regional Information:   This site, maintained by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, provides valuable information, from a non-U.S. perspective, on 204 countries, with country and trade information, historical and economic overviews, travel advice, etc., from an Australian viewpoint.

• Country Profiles (Information Please Almanac):   A general encyclopedia is often an excellent starting point for learning about a country from scratch. This online version of the Information Please Almanac offers Country Profiles, with information on geography, maps, flag, history, current ruler, area, population, capital, largest cities, languages, ethnicity/race, religion, literacy rate, economy, and government. There are Country Profiles for 202 national entities.

• Country Reports (International Monetary Fund):   The International Monetary Fund collects data on 188 countries, available free on their homepage. Click on your country of choice and look for Selected Issues in the Country Report series, in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. These reports offer some narrative plus many tables, figures and appendices, usually with a monetary and financial orientation. Report lengths vary, usually from 75 pages to well over 100 pages.

• Country Studies/Area Handbooks:   Published by the Library of Congress and U.S. Army, these extensive reports cover political, economic, social and cultural information for over 90 countries. Economic information includes banking, labor force, agriculture, mining, petroleum, manufacturing, tourism, transportation, telecommunications, foreign investment and growth trends.

• Deloitte International Tax and Business Guides:   "Let our International Tax and Business Guides help you better understand the complexities involved in doing business around the world. The Guides, which are designed for businesses that operate in a crossborder context, provide essential information on the latest legislative and regulatory changes and operating conditions in more than 50 jurisdictions." See also: "Snapshots provide a concise digest of facts, figures, economic indicators and tax rates for nearly 100 significant trading jurisdictions. International Tax and Business Guides are extended reports on the regulatory, tax and human resources environment for more than 50 major economies worldwide." Guides and Snapshots are available both HTML and PDF formats, about thirty pages long, for the Guides, and under five pages, for the Snapshots.

• Foreign Embassies in the U.S.:   Foreign embassies in the United States often provide English-language websites with substantial offerings of trade and economic information about the country itself and its commercial relations with the U.S. These sites often include links to further information such as national statistical agencies, trade confederations and manufacturers associations.

• Fragomen Global Immigration Services:   "Founded in 1951, Fragomen has over 130 attorneys and over 500 professional immigration specialists and staff located in 27 offices in the Americas, Asia Pacific, and Europe." Fragomen offers work authorization guidelines, in Country Briefs, for over 75 countries.

• Global Sources:   Where do you identify sources for products and services in 162 countries around the world? The public company Global Sources, Ltd. seeks to facilitate global merchandise trade by developing and operating independent net marketplaces. It offers a database that allows companies to locate producers of products or suppliers of products in other countries. The site also offers succinct country travel guides with fast facts, economic, labor force, business culture, transportation, communications, and maps for over 150 countries.

• GlobalEDGE:   "Created by the Center for International Business Education and Research at Michigan State University (MSU-CIBER), globalEDGE™ is a knowledge web-portal that connects international business professionals worldwide to a wealth of information, insights, and learning resources on global business activities. Partially funded by a U.S. Department of Education Title VI B grant, globalEDGE™ is your source for global business knowledge." See their Country Insights for country profiles and Company Directories, Global, for regional and country corporate directories. As an example, see their information for Italy and Italian Companies.

• Harvard Country Guides:   Harvard Business School Baker Library internet links to sources of background, investment and financial information for 179 countries. Some of the links are to resources only available to members of the Harvard community (a few of which are also available via the Foster Business Library homepage).

• HLB International Doing Business Series:   Extensive country background information for about 50 countries, plus investment factors, types of business organizations, and taxation, from this United Kingdom-based firm of accounting companies, in HTML or PDF format. The U.S. report consists of over thirty PDF pages.

• Human Development Report:   "The Human Development Report is an independent report. It is commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and is the product of a selected team of leading scholars, development practitioners and members of the Human Development Report Office of UNDP." See Data by Indicator for agriculture, carbon dioxide emissions, cellular subscribers, debt service, drugs, employment by economic activity, energy use, exports, FDI, GDP, imports, and much more.

• InfoNation:   This United Nations site offers up-to-date statistical data about 187 U.N. member states as well as the ability to compare up to seven nations for a variety of geographic, economic, demographic and social factors.

• International compensation and benefits (ERI):   ERI (the Economic Research Institute) was founded in 1987 to provide research for private and public organizations in the form of published reports and software database products. Included on this site are valuable free reports on human resources codes and laws for the United States and Canada, for each state and province, and for 223 countries. Go to International Remuneration Codes and click on Countrie for consular information, holidays, leave, minimum wage, worker rights, unionization, work conditions, social security, standard workweek, and other information.

• International Data Base:   This U.S. Census Bureau site offers statistical tables covering demographic, social and economic data for 227 countries. Different countries may be selected for a direct comparison of information.

• KMPG's Planning Your International Transfer:   KPMG guides for Americans moving to or leaving about forty countries. These guides are in PDF format, in about twenty pages.

• Lex Mundi Guides to Doing Business:   "Lex Mundi is an organization of independent law firms providing for the exchange of professional information about the local and global practice and development of law, facilitating and disseminating communications among its members and improving the members' abilities to serve the needs of their respective clients." They offer more than 130 guides to doing business, in countries, states and provinces, in PDF format, with some of the reports over 70 pages long.

• Market Research (Export.Gov):   This U.S. Department of Commerce site is designed to be an export portal for American businesses, seeking export markets. Over 100,000 market research reports are available from this site, aimed at exporters. The site also offers country and trade information and data, market and industry reports, and more. Access to some information requires free registration.

• National Statistical Agencies:   National statistical agencies are excellent sources for official demographic, trade, economic, and financial information; links to the statistical agencies of 120 countries are included on this U.S. Census Bureau site. Many countries offer an English language version of their national statistical agency websites. This site is made available by the U.S. Census Bureau.

• NationMaster.Com:   This Australian site uses data from many sources to provide graphic rankings, lists and interactive comparisons for countries' crime, economy, education, energy, environment, geography, government, health, media, military, people, religion, sports, and transportation, for 251 countries. This site also enables viewing of individual country profiles, with maps and flags, and of regions and groupings. As an example, see Italy.

• Strategis Trade Resources:   This Industry Canada government site Provides links to 235 individual country business and trade information websites worldwide.

• Transparency International:   This organization is "the leading international non-governmental organisation devoted to combating corruption. Through its International Secretariat in Berlin and its 99 independent National Chapters around the world, TI works at both the international and national level to curb the supply and demand of corrupt practices." See their annual Corruption Perceptions Index .

• U.S. Embassies:   The U.S.State Department has embassies and consulates in 140 countries, with their individual websites often providing valuable local information for business, usually under the heading of the U.S. Commercial Service. The Commercial Service provides information for U.S. businesses interested in exporting to the country as well as information for companies in the country where the embassy is located about doing business with the U.S.

• VIBES Country Information:   This University of North Carolina, Charlotte site provides links to sources of business and economics information for 146 countries as well as to various global topics such as agriculture, banking, emerging markets, international electronic commerce, international trade law, marketing and advertising, petroleum and energy, taxation, and trade issues and statistics.

• World Bank country profiles:   Country profiles prepared by World Bank staff, with Country Briefs and IFC Country Profiles available for 157 nations. Some of the reports attached to each nation are in PDF format.

• World Bank Private Sector Development:   This World Bank site "offers best practice public policy advice for private sector led growth in developing countries. Find expert analysis, powerful databases, quick solutions, and comprehensive "how-to" guides." In particular, see their Business Environment section, which allows you to measure how a country measures up to regional and international standards across a range of criteria involved in setting up or operating a business; it is also possible to compare countries; over 140 countries are included. See also their Investment Climate section for over fifty countries, and their Papers and Links.

• WorldSkip:   Internet links to sources of background, investment and financial information for 220 countries, organized by region; an eclectic mix of popular, governmental and business information, including links to Country Commercial Guides in HTML format.

  World (Selected Countries):

• Country Analysis Briefs (U.S. Energy Information Administration):   The U.S. Energy Information Administration provides energy-oriented profiles for over ninety countries, with some general country information in addition to an analysis of the oil, natural gas, coal, electricity, and environmental aspects of the nation; there are also additional sources of information at the end of each brief. As an example, see their information for Italy.

• Country Briefings (The Economist):   This Economist site offers factsheets, forecasts, statistics, political forces, political and economic structure, and four years of economic data for 60 countries, plus links to relevant articles in the Economist, most of them free. There are also links to other sources of country information on the web. See also the latest rankings of countries for Quality of Life (in PDF format).

• Country Profiles (ABC News):   This ABC News site provides very brief profiles and maps for 50 countries.

• Country Profiles (BBC News):   BBC News offers country profiles for 36 countries, with sections headed overview, facts, leaders, and media. The profiles also include a map and internet links as well as audio of the national anthem. To find the country profile of your choice, select a region in the top left menu; from that region's website, go to the bottom right to find Country Profiles for that region.

• Country Reports on Economic Policy and Trade Practices:   This U.S. Department of State site provides brief annual reports for 77 countries on their economic indicators, general trade policy, barriers to U.S. exports and investment, export subsidy policies, protection of U.S. intellectual property, worker rights. Reports for 1995 through 1998 are available but nothing more recent.

• Doing EBusiness:   This Economist Intelligence Unit site offers access to brief information about electronic commerce in about 48 countries, with sections for each country on key issues, electronic infrastructure, regulatory environment, taxation and links to popular sites.

• Global Economy Links:   The Rational Expectations website, set up by an economist, provides links to numerous sources of information about 87 OECD and Emerging Market countries, including monetary and exchange rate policy, business schools, banks and financial institutions, macroeconomic and financial market data, and links to government websites.

• Going Global (American Express):   This free American Express website provides an Export Issues Report and a Business Travel and Protocol Report for 76 nations. The Export Issues Reports include a trade overview, trade agreements, information technology, best export prospects, free trade zones and warehouses, intellectual property rights protection including patents, trademarks and copyrights, and other information, drawn chiefly from U.S. government sources. The Business Travel and Protocol Reports include travel considerations, health requirements, foreign exchange, climate and packing tips, holidays and vacation dates, information on traveling in the country, dining, and business protocol and etiquette.

• Portals To The World:   A Library of Congress site, "Portals to the World contain selective links providing authoritative, in-depth information about the nations and other areas of the world. They are arranged by country or area with the links for each sorted into a wide range of broad categories. The links were selected by Area Specialists and other Library staff using Library of Congress selection criteria. When completed, the project will include all the nations of the world." The individual country portals usually (but not always) include categories for Business and Commerce and for Culture. Portals now includes 57 countries.

• Wikipedia Companies By Country:   This section of the free and unedited Wikipedia encyclopedia supplies profiles for hundreds of U.S. and international firms, both public and private, browsing the various categories (by country, by stock exchange, or by industry) or searching by company name. As an example, see their more than fifty companies listed for Italy.

• World Economic Forum:   The World Economic Forum is "an independent international organization incorporated as a Swiss not-for-profit foundation and has NGO consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations." See their Country Competitiveness Profiles for 80 countries, from their publication entitled Global Competitiveness Report as well as from their Global Information Technology Report. See also their Themes, for collections of information on such topics as International and Regional Trade.

  Regional:

• Africana.Com Black World:   This site, part of a larger effort to provide Black-oriented news and content, offers information about many African countries and related topics, with historical summaries of national history and links to related articles.

• Business Information Service for the Newly Independent States (BISNIS):   This U.S. Department of Commerce website offers country profiles, industry reports, sources of financing, trade leads and other information about Russia and the former member states of the Soviet Union (a total of 12 countries).

• Latin American Network Information Center:   This University of Texas website offers extensive links to information about the economy, finance and government of each of the 39 countries in the Caribbean, Central and South America and Mexico.

• Latin Focus:   This site is focused on the economies of nine countries in Latin America:  Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela, with economic forecasts, briefings, indicators, news articles, stocks, publications, etc.

• MBendi: Information for Africa Website:   This site provides extensive information about the countries, companies, industries, stock exchanges, products and services in the African subcontinent. The country profiles include basic country data, export, industry, company, employment and other information.

• PlanEcon Country Data:   PlanEcon is a research and consulting firm that focuses on 25 countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics. For each of these countries, they provide updated monthly data on industrial output, exchange rates, wage rates, unemployment rates and inflation rates for the past and previous years.

The Foster Business Library Reference Collection consists of business handbooks, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other quick reference tools. It is located behind the Reference Desk in Foster, arranged by call number. Reference materials cannot be checked out; they may only be used in the library.

World:
• Global, Inc.: an atlas of the multinational corporation.
  This large heavily-illustrated, map-rich paperback covers the foundations of globalization, the history of multinational corporations, global corporations by industry, the impacts of multinational corporations on employment and wages, taxes, technology, capital, culture, environment, and standards, and the governance of multinational corporations.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: G1046 .Q1 .G3 2003.

• International marketing data and statistics.
  Demographic trends and forecasts, economic indicators, labor force, trade, energy, environment, consumer expenditures and market size, and retailing information for the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania; companion volume to European marketing data and statistics.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HA42 .I56 2003.
  Also available online.

• Index of economic freedom.
  This annual paperback, jointly issued by the Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal, ranks 156 countries in terms of foreign investment friendliness, taxes, tariffs, banking regulations, monetary policy, black markets, net foreign direct investment, etc. Arrangement is alphabetical by country.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HB95 .I48 2002.

• World development indicators.
  This World Bank volume contains a large number of tables listing each country and key data about its people, environment, economy, markets, employment, poverty, etc. For data about personal computers, internet hosts, secure servers, etc., see section 5.10 for Information Age.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC59.15 .W656 2006.
  Also available, in part, online at http://www.worldbank.org/data/wdi/home.html.

• World economic outlook.
  An annual review of world economic outlook prepared by staff of the International Monetary Fund, focusing on regions and a few selected countries, supplemented by many tables on many countries' GDP, consumer prices, macroeconomic indicators, productivity growth, etc.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC59. I52 2003.

• World consumer income patterns.
  This Euromonitor publication provides global coverage of comparable income distribution data, over time and across countries, for 71 major countries, divided into socio-economic parameters, cross country comparisons, and snapshots for over seventy countries.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC79 .I5 .W675 2003.

• The global information technology report.
  This World Economic Forum publication provides country profiles and data about the diffusion of information technology, along with chapters on network readiness, global diffusion of information technology, information technology and poverty, regulatory reform, and a case study on Finland.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC79 .I55 .G56 2003-2004.

• Business: the ultimate resource.
  This 2,200-page single volume is "designed to offer a wide range of insights, information, and practical guidance on every aspect of management" via 2.5 million words of text from 200 contributors, with 700 illustrations and 150 maps, in seven major sections including best practice, a management library, business thinkers and management giants, a business dictionary, a world business almanac, and a guide to business sources. See the World Business Almanac section, on pages 1368 to 1767, for brief reports on 150 countries.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD38.15 .B878 2002.

• World business directory.
  Detailed information on more than 100,000 businesses in 190 countries, with product and industry indexes.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD2709 .W67 2000.

• Yearbook of labour statistics.
  This annual publication, from the International Labour Organization, provides labor force, wage and employment information (as well as information about consumer prices, strikes, and lockouts) for 190 countries.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD4826 .I63 2002.

• Dun & Bradstreet principal international businesses.
  This large single volume is a directory of the 50,000 largest businesses outside the U.S., arranged by country, and, within each country, alphabetically by business name. There are indexes by four-digit SIC code, by country and an alphabetical index to all company names.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF54 .U5 .P74 2001/2002.

• International yearbook.
  This annual United Nations publication, in two volumes, provides international trade information in considerable detail. Volume one is arranged alphabetically by country, for 179 countries, with data on imports and exports by region and trading partner, as well as by principal commodities, product categories, economic categories, and industrial origin. Volume two covers trade by commodity.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF91 .Y4 2003.

• A handbook of world trade: a strategic guide to trading internationally.
  This volume offers essays on the origins and nature of the World Trade Organization, patterns and trends in world trade, regulatory issues and disputes, the management of foreign currencies in international trade, international trade finance and documentation (methods of settlement, documentary credits, letters of credit, etc.), international trade development issues, and electronic commerce in world trade, with ten appendices.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF1379 .H366 2004.

• Development, trade and the WTO: a handbook.
  This World Bank publication provides essays on world trade policy reform, the World Trade Organization, selected trade policies, developing countries, technology and intellectual property, regulatory issues, trade policy questions and guidelines, and appendices.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF1385 .D48 2002.

• The IMD world competitiveness yearbook.
  This very heavy yearbook, published by the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland, provides ranking information in many competitiveness categories for 46 major countries. Among the many categories are international trade, employment, prices, business legislation, labor markets, management practices, impact of globalization, corruption.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF1414 .W67 (Annual)

• The global competitiveness report.
  Published by the World Economic Forum, this annual paperback ranks over 80 countries for their competitiveness, with essays and individual country profiles. One of the chapters covers wages in twenty-seven countries for five benchmark positions; another chapter includes rankings for computers and for internet hosts as well as for use of the internet, e-commerce, etc.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF1414 .G563 2004/2005.

• Dun & Bradstreet's guide to doing business around the world.
  Covering the U.S.'s top forty trade partners, this reference work offers ten page country summaries about these forty countries that include five top cultural tips plus brief demographic data, holidays, and work week information. Each country profile also includes brief information about economics, the five largest businesses, comparative data, trade flows with the U.S., country risk, monetary policy, trade policy, intellectual property rights, foreign investment climate, politics, passport and visa requirements, and contact information.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF1416 .M78 2001.

• Washington state international trade directory.
  This annual directory provides brief profiles of Washington state companies involved in importing and exporting. There are indexes by product, by industry code and a geographic index by country, as well as support service listings for attorneys, consultants, translators, and transportation.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5065 .W2 .W37 2003.

• Internet resources and services for international finance and investment.
  Arranged alphabetically by region, and within regions, alphabetically by country, this volume provides internet sources for information about each country, from a global finance viewpoint, covering government agencies, stock exchange, business and investment sites, and sources for business and financial news.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG64 .J5 2001.

• International financial statistics yearbook.
  Published annually by the International Monetary Fund, this compendium of statistics for every country provides information on population, GDP, producer, wholesale and consumer prices, wages, labor force, unemployment, volume and value of imports and exports, and many other categories. Statistics cover each year of the past 30 years, where data is available. The most recent decade of the monthly version of this yearbook is available in the Foster Business Library Reference Serials collection, with the call number HG3881 .I626
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG3881 .I6263 2004.

• Directory of foreign firms operating in the United States.
  This annual source provides information about 2,800 foreign firms in 79 countries who operate over 7,200 businesses in the U.S.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4057 .A155 2004.

• LexisNexis corporate affiliations: who owns whom.
  This set of eight volumes covers over fifty thousand U.S. and international companies and their subsidiaries, with a master index in volumes one and two; U.S. public companies in volumes three and four; U.S. private companies in volumes five and six; and international public and private companies in volumes seven and eight.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4057 .A219 2005.

• Directory of American firms operating in foreign countries.
  This three-volume annual publication lists 2,600 U.S. companies with 35,000 branches, subsidiaries, and affiliates in 190 countries. Volume one lists the firms in alphabetic order, detailing the countries in which the companies operate; following the companies section are listings by country, with Albania to Egypt in volume one, El Salvador to Mauritius in volume two, and Mexico to Zimbabwe in volume three.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4538 .A1 .D5 2003.

• Global corruption report.
  This annual publication, published by Transparency International, usually focuses, each year, on a theme, such as corruption and health in the 2006 issue, with reports on this issue in many countries in part one. Part two consists of country reports from nations with corruption problems, with over forty countries included in the 2006 issue (including the U.S.).
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: JF1081 .G56 2006.

• The Europa world year book.
  Two-volume work arranged alphabetically by country, with 24-page reviews of each country's recent history, its government and economy, social welfare and education; a statistical summary of vital statistics, employment, agriculture, industry, finance and trade; and summaries of governmental and political organizations, trade associations, media, etc.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: JN1 .E85 2003.
  (Also available Online)

• Doing business and investing in.
  These 200-page country profiles, for about 24 countries, prepared by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, cover business environment, opportunities for foreign investment and trade, investment incentives and restrictions, the regulatory situation, banking, business entities, labor relations and social security, auditing and accounting practices and tax. New countries are added to this set since it was first published in 1999. An earlier series, Doing Business In, covers another 75 countries, published from 1984 to 1998. Click here for a list of the titles in both series by country; not all countries are covered.

Asia:

• Asian development outlook.
  This short one-volume annual reference work, published by the Asian Development Bank, focuses on economic trends and prospects in 37 Asian nations, including the Asian republics formerly part of the U.S.S.R. There are tables covering major economic indicators for many of the countries, GDP, balance of payments, etc.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC411 .A17 2002.

• South-east Asia at a glance.
  This annual 100-page research report, published by the Economist Intelligence Unit, provides numerous tables on population, GDP, risk, demographics, internet subscribers, buying power, and other data, as well as one-page summaries for Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC441 .S669 1999.

• The China management handbook.
  This publication is subtitled "a comprehensive question and answer guide to the world's most important emerging market," with sections on what a China manager should know about the country's economy, politics, and society; strategic and organizational issues to be considered, personnel recruitment and development issues, reliable market information, successful marketing campaigns in China, how to create a strong sales concept, production- and finance-related issues, and how to structure a business in China.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD70 .C5 .B66 2003.

• The Euromonitor directory of Asian companies.
  This one-volume resource covers 5,000 businesses in Asia, arranged alphabetically by country and, within each country, alphabetically by business name; there are indexes by sector and by type of business.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4234.85 .Z65 .E87 1997.

Europe:

• European marketing data and statistics.
  Demographic trends and forecasts, economic indicators, labor force, trade, energy, environment, consumer expenditures and market size, and retailing information for European countries.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HA1107 .E87 (Annual)
  Also available online.

• Mind your manners: managing business cultures in the new global Europe.
  This paperback, in its third edition, covers communication, thinking, organization and leadership, meetings, negotiations, Europe as a region, and the Nordic, Baltic, British, Low, German-speaking, central, Latin and Balkan countries of Europe.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD70 .E8 .M653 2003.

Middle East:
• The Middle East and North Africa.
  This one-volume resource, published by Europa, offers 40 page profiles of each country's recent history, its government and economy, social welfare and education; a statistical summary of vital statistics, employment, agriculture, industry, finance and trade; and summaries of governmental and political organizations, trade associations, media, etc.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: DS49 .M5 (Annual)

Latin America:
• Latin America at a glance.
  This annual 100-page paperback, published by the Economist Intelligence Unit, provides numerous tables on population, GDP, risk, demographics, internet subscribers, buying power, and other data, as well as one-page summaries for twenty major Latin American countries.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC121 .L37 2000.

• Latin America: a directory and sourcebook.
  This Euromonitor publication provides regional economic, demographic and consumer expenditure data, with listings and profiles of major companies in each country, regional trade associations and information sources, as well as statistical data on population, economics, GDP trends, standard of living, internet use, food prices, consumer expenditures, etc.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC122.2 .L365 1998.

The Foster Business Library maintains a collection of over 70,000 books on all business topics. To search for materials on all three campuses of the University of Washington, go to the UW Libraries Catalog, in the upper left corner of the Foster Business Library homepage. Search by keyword, title, author, series, etc.

To limit the results of your search just to materials in the Foster Business Library collection, use the Modify or Limit options at the top of the search results and change the library location to Foster Business Library. Availablity is indicated on the right of each online catalog record. First, note in which collection, within Foster, your materials are in, since the library has ten different Collections, each in a different location and often with differing arrangements. "Available" indicates that the book should be on the shelves under that call number and available for you to check out. "Due" and a date indicates that the book is already checked out to someone and is due back on the date indicated; you can have the "Request/Place Hold" feature to recall the book for your use.

If the material you want is not in the collections of the University of Washington, you can use the "Search Summit" feature to repeat your search in the combined holdings of over thirty cooperating libraries in Washington and Oregon. Use the "Request This Item" feature in Summit to have books in those library sent here to Foster for you to check out.

The Foster general stacks collection is located south of the main part of the Foster Business Library, through the two pass-throughs into the basement of Balmer. The arrangement is by call number, from A (at the east end, near the Copy Center) to Z (at the far west end).

A keyword search for International Business produced a list of over 4,000 records in the UW Libraries, with over 1,900 records in the Foster Business Library, including:

• Global business today / Charles W.L. Hill   (2006)
• Multinational management: a strategic approach   (2005)
• Competitive intelligence and global business   (2005)
• Leviathans: multinational corporations and the new global history   (2005)
• Case studies in international entrepreneurship: managing and financing ventures in the global economy   (2005)
• Multinationals and global capitalism: from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century   (2005)

Relevant subjects and Foster Business Library holdings include:

• International Business Enterprises
• International Trade
• Investments, Foreign

As another example, a keyword search for Italy (limited to the Foster Business Library) retrieved a list of over 70 titles.

In addition to the 800 journals in the Foster Business Library Periodicals Collection, the Foster Business Library offers access to over 100 million full text articles in over 10,000 periodicals through its full text article databases such as EBSCO Business Source Premier, Factiva, LexisNexis Academic, and ProQuest Databases. These article databases may be found on the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Databases.

All four of these databases are available from any computer on the campus network as well as from home (via the UW Connectivity Kit or the Libraries' Off-Campus Access link, using your UW Net ID and password). The easiest of these databases to use is ProQuest Databases. For more information about accessing Foster Business Library databases from off campus, see Database Access. For more information about business databases, see the research guide entitled Databases, A to Z.

• ProQuest Databases:

  This database--actually, a family of over two dozen databases--offers full text articles for over 10,000 publications, including scholarly journals, magazines, trade and industry periodicals, newspapers, and reports on a very wide range of topics. To find articles on specific topics, search by word or phrase by keying your search phrase into the search box--or search for your topic in the Topic Guide. Article full text is often available in several formats, including text, text plus graphics, and PDF. This database also offers a very useful subject structure, to narrow search results, as well as article citation information.

  Your search terms will be highlighted in red in each article. For tips on searching this database, see About ProQuest Databases.

  As an example, a search in this database for the Italy and Exports retrieved over 2,000 articles, including nearly 100 articles in scholarly journals, over 100 articles in other magazines, over 900 articles in trade and industry periodicals, and over 900 articles in newspapers.

The Foster Business Library Reference Desk is staffed most of the hours that the library is open. The staff at the desk will be happy to help you find research tools on any business subject. For more in-depth assistance, see the Team Librarian Consultation Archives. For e-mail questions, direct your query to balib@u.washington.edu. For assistance by telephone, dial (206) 543-8012 during library hours.

For research guides on a wide variety of industries, products, companies, issues and topics, see the Team Librarian Consultation archives.

• Team Consultation Archives (arranged by industry)
• Team Consultation Archives (arranged by title of assignment)
• Team Consultation Archives (arranged by class or program)      (International Business Assignments)
• Team Consultation Archives (arranged by academic quarter)
• Index to all Team Consultations and Research Guides      (Business Culture Resources)      (Foreign Direct Investment Resources)      (Globalization Resources)      (Import—Export Resources)