Looking for business-related information from and about Europe?

• Need to read Jonathan Hill’s (EU Commissioner for Financial Services)  latest speech on Capital Markets Union?
• Looking for the recent report on “A Digital Single market Strategy for Europe” or the European Investment Bank’s “Investment Plan for Europe”?
• Or the latest info on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership?
• Need detailed comparative data of inflation rates across EU countries (Harmonised Indices of Consumer prices)?

 

The European Union has many divisions and websites for the Parliament, Councils, Commissions, Bank, Courts – it can difficult to navigate.  However there are two key resources which could help you:

EUROPEAN SOURCES ONLINE
http://www.europeansources.info/search.jsp
European Sources Online (ESO) is an online database which provides access to information on the institutions and activities of the European Union, the countries, regions and other international organisations of Europe, and on the issues of importance to European citizens and stakeholders. ESO provides access to thousands of expertly selected websites, documents and publications from the EU and other international organisations, national governments, think tanks, stakeholder organisations, working papers etc., full text articles from Financial Times and European Voice, plus bibliographic records to key academic textbooks and periodical articles, and a series of Information Guides compiled by the ESO Editorial Team. Updated daily. Link to our Guide.

EUROSTAT

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/
Eurostat is the Statistical Office of the European Communities in Luxembourg. Eurostat gathers data from the official statistical agencies in EU member countries. It then has to ensure that the data is harmonized so that meaningful comparisons can be made across several countries.  Eurostat covers all subjects especially business, economics, finance.

Summer news

Rather than ‘I know what you did last summer’ (classic 90s horror movie starring Jennifer Love Hewitt – remember her?), this is more ‘You’ll know what we’re doing this summer’! We’ve got a few changes ahead of us, so we thought this would be a good time to give you some of the highlights and let you know what it means for you.

Those of you who follow the ISS News blog may already be aware that we’ve got a big book move coming up in August. The Bay Library is due to open on the 1st September and we need to make sure all your books are on the shelves by then! As you’ll see from the ISS News post, we’ve got this all in hand and we’ll keep the books available to you for as long as possible. So, if you’ve got resits to do, don’t worry, the books will be on the shelves in the LIC until the resit exams are over. After that, though, there will be a week right at the end of August when you won’t be able to borrow books while we pack them up and move them to the new library. Our online resources, including ebooks, will of course still be available.

Our other big news is that iFind Discover and iFind Research are changing. The library is bringing in a new and improved iFind search facility that will let you look for books, ebooks, journals, articles, conference papers and theses all in one place. No more figuring out which iFind you need! Work will begin on the upgrade this Friday (19th June) and we expect the new system to be in place next Tuesday (23rd June). iFind Discover will be available during this time to help find items in the library, but it won’t be possible to check how many copies are on the shelves. You’ll be able to borrow and return items when library issue desks are open, but you won’t be able to make requests, renew books or use the self-service machines while the upgrade takes place. iFind Research will be unaffected during this time. Keep a look out on the ISS Facebook page for the latest news and exciting new features.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please get in touch at library@swansea.ac.uk or buslib@swansea.ac.uk.

We’ve got an exciting summer ahead – a brand new library AND a new iFind! (Photo courtesy of pat138241 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Finding UK and Welsh statistics

So, you’re looking for statistics! Well, you’ll be pleased to know that there are a range of resources available to you which can help. You may have spotted our recent post about FAME, which is an excellent place to find financial data on companies in the UK and Ireland. For wider statistical information, here are some of the best places to look:-

Stats Wales

This website is managed by the Welsh Government and provides official statistics about Wales. So if you’d like to know about commuting patterns in Wales or check disposable household income, this is the place to go! You’ll find statistics in all sorts of areas including Business, Economy & Labour Market, Housing, Local Government, Population & Migration, Sustainable Development and Transport. There are also links to Census data. The Help page gives a good overview of the functions available on the website, like exporting data into a graph, and has video tutorials for guidance.

Office for National Statistics (ONS)

The ONS collects and publishes statistics for the UK on the economy, population and society at national, regional and local levels. It is also responsible for the national Census in England and Wales. The ONS website is a great place to go for data on all kinds of topics. You can search for specific information, browse publications, or look at themes such as Business & Energy, Economy, Labour Market or Population.

UK Data Service

The UK Data Service is primarily a source for in-depth data sets for research, rather than a few figures to illustrate a point in an assignment. UKDS offers access to a range of economic and social data over many decades and from many countries. Some data emanates from large international organisations such as IMF and OECD; some from the UK government annual surveys and some from individual ESRC-funded researcher projects. If you haven’t used UK Data Services before, you may find Advice for new users useful. The website also has a good selection of guides and video tutorials to help you to make the most of the information available. We’ve also got a guide for you.

You can find more about these and other sources of statistical information from our School of Management subject guides on Blackboard. If you have any questions, please get in touch on buslib@swansea.ac.uk.

Image courtesy of jannoon028 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Have I got (business and economics) news for you?

As a student of business or economics it is essential that you keep up-to-date with the lastest news on your topic. We provide access to several resources that can help you with this.

NexisUK (Swansea University login required)

NexisUK is a database of international quality newspapers including the Times, Guardian, Independent, Le Monde, Die Zeit, Australasian Business Intelligence, International Herald Tribune, South China Morning Post, Moscow Times . It contains newspapers from the early 1990s to the present.

Why use it?

• The user can cross-search several newspapers at once.
• The databases provide full text articles free of change, no need to register.
• The user can easily limit a search by journalist’s name, language, country or a single newspaper title.

FT.com

The Financial Times, one of the world’s leading business news organisations, is recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. It provides essential news, comment, data and analysis for the global business community.

Make sure that you get full access to articles, comments, alerts and tools available from the FT. Go to www.ft.com and register using your Swansea University email address.

The Economist

The Economist is a weekly magazine covering business, finance, economics, science, technology and the arts. Articles from The Economist can be found in the ProQuest Business Collection.

ProQuest Business Collection (Swansea University login required)

As well as containing articles from the Economist ProQuest Business Collection provides access to other news items. Search using your keywords then refine by ‘Source Type’ on the right hand side of the results page.

Get access to NexisUK and the ProQuest Business Collection via the business and management iFindResearch page.

Finding information on research methods for your Masters dissertation

The Library has a large collection of books and journals on research methodology for  business and the social sciences.  Here are some tips:

• Use iFind Discover, the library catalogue, to search on business research method* or follow this live link to the results.
• Use iFind Discover to search on social research method* or follow this live link to the results.
• A selection of useful journals: Electronic  Journal of Business Research Methods

Organizational Research methods

Qualitative Market Research

Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management

Qualitative Studies.

Journal of Methods and Measurement in the social sciences

Journal of Mixed Methods research

Social Science research

International Journal of Qualitative methods

Social Research Update

• Alternatively when using one of our subscribed databases such as EBSCO Business Sources Complete, include words such research, methodology, qualitative research, quantitative research when searching in order to locate articles which include information on the research methods used:

Screenshot of a search in Ebsco’s Business Source Complete (click the image to see a larger version)

Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)

Do you need to find and analyse UK companies financial information?

The library provides access to the database FAME where you can find financial information on over 9 million companies in the UK and Ireland.

What information does FAME contain?

• Company financials, in detailed format, with up to 10 years of history
• Financial strength indicators
• Directors and contacts
• Original filings/images as filed at Companies House and the Companies Registration Office in Ireland
• Stock data for listed companies
• Detailed corporate structures and the corporate family
• Shareholders and subsidiaries
• Market research
• Adverse filings
• Business and company-related news
• M&A deals and rumours

Searching FAME
You can search for a specific company or can search for companies that meet specific criteria.

Analysing financial data
The real advantage of using FAME is that it allows you to analyse the information that you find.

• Segmentation
• Peer analysis
• Aggregation
• Statistical distribution
• Concentration analysis
• Linear regression

FAME has detailed help included videos available here.