This document provides research tips and guides for students taking the MBUS 502: Financial Decision Making for Managers course. It outlines key library research tools like the library catalog and databases for finding articles, company and industry reports. It demonstrates how to search specific databases like Business Source Complete to find company financials, industry reports, and articles. It also provides guidance on interlibrary loans for materials not available at UMW libraries and contact information for research help.

1. Research Tips for
MBUS 502:
Financial Decision Making
for Managers
Laura Berberian
Stafford Reference Librarian
lberberi@umw.edu

2. Library Research Tools
 Library Catalog –
 Titles of Books
 Titles of Journals, Magazines and Newspapers
 Searches Simpson Library, Stafford Library, and
eBooks
 Databases
 Articles in Journals, Magazines and Newspapers
 Company and Industry information

3. UMW Libraries
http://libraries.umw.edu/

4. Subject Guides

5. Subject Guide
• Click on “Industry and
Company Profiles” or the
“Articles” tab

6. Subject Guide
• Click on the name
of a database to
begin searching

7. Can I use the databases from
home?
• Log in with your
Canvas username
and password
• Contact the
jsmith
Library if you
have access
password
problems

8. - Company Financials
• Enter a company
name or ticker
symbol
• Click “Go”

9. - Company Financials
• Use the Tabs
to navigate to
different
company data

10. - Company Financials
• Use the drop down menus to find different sets
of information
• Use the sub-tab options to find different sets of
information

11. - SEC Filings
• Click the “Filings” tab to search for SEC
filings
• Click on the icons to retrieve full text
documents

12. - Annual Reports
• Click on “Reports” to access company
annual reports
• Click on the links to access to the complete
document

13. - Industry Reports
• On the Basic Search screen,
click on “Report Search”
•Select Industry Reports
•Select an industry

14. - Industry Reports
Click on the PDF icon to access the report

15. - Industry Reports
• Locate detailed industry reports
• Search by keyword or industry code

16. - Industry Reports
• Download the report as a PDF or MS Word
document

17. - Industry Reports
• Navigate to market segments, market
characteristics, and regulation

18. • To search for company
financial information, click the
“Companies/Market” selection in
the top menu

19. • On the
“Companies/Markets”
screen, click on the
“Company” option

20. • Search by company
name or ticker symbol
• Click the magnifying
glass icon to begin your
search

21. • To view financial information, find key ratios, or
read current news on a company, use the menu
options on the left of the screen

22. • Provides 5 years
worth of financial
details
• Results can be
printed, saved, or
downloaded into
an Excel
spreadsheet

23. Business Source Complete
• Enter your keywords
• Consider using some
of the “Limit your
results” options
• Click “Search”

24. Business Source Complete
• Click “PDF” or “HTML” links to retrieve articles
• Click “Locate Journal Article” if not full text
through the database
• Limit your results further by using the options on
the search results page

25. “Locate Journal Article” page
• Is the article available in a
UMW database? YES.
• Click the database links to
retrieve articles.

26. “Locate Journal Article” page
• Is the article available in a
UMW database? NO.
• Request article using ILLIAD

27. Business Source Complete
• To search for company information,
click the “More” option
• Click “Company Profiles”

28. Business Source Complete
• Enter the company name
• Click “Browse”
• Click the name of the Company when
it appears

29. Business Source Complete
• Click the PDF link to access the report
• Full reports usually include a SWOT
analysis
• Use the icons to print, email, format, and
save documents

30. What if my materials are at the main
campus Library? What if UMW doesn’t have
what I need?
 Use interlibrary loan (Illiad) to request materials not
located at the Stafford Library
 Create an online Illiad Account
 Submit requests through Libraries’ website
 Request books, articles, dissertations
 Delivered online or to the Stafford Library
 $2 fee for articles located at Simpson Library

31. Illiad: document delivery and interlibrary
loan
From the Library home page,
under “Services,” select
“Interlibrary Loan”

32. • Try different databases
• Try different keywords
• Use an “asterisk” for multiple
word endings - *
• Phrase Searching - quotation
marks
• Avoid stop words like: in, an,
of, for, on, by
• Ask Librarians for assistance
• Writing Center

33. Need help? Have Questions?
 Come to the Library
 Mondays - Thursdays 1 p.m. - 9
p.m.
 Fridays 1 p.m. - 7 p.m.
 Saturdays 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
 Contact the Library Staff
 cgpslib@umw.edu
 540-286-8025
 IM: cgpslibrary
 Set up a Research Appointment
 lberberi@umw.edu
 540-286-8057