Alabama's Public Liberal Arts University

Carmichael Library

 

Complied by Kathleen Lowe MLS

If you need assistance locating resources for your assignment contact Kathleen Lowe, Reference and Instruction Librarian lowek@montevallo.edu

 


Quick Country Information 

ECONOMIST.com is a premier authoritative journal in  international business. The Economist  provides indispensable and reliable information for the global economy.  The Library provides a weekly subscription to the print copy of the Economist in addition to access via many databases.  Business Source Premier is one library database offering the full text of the Economist.

ECONOMIST.com Country Briefings provides news, country profiles, forecasts, statistics and more on a particular country

BBC News: Country Profiles  provides concise information not only on countries but on territories and selected international organizations
 

Market and Country Research data via STAT-USA


 STAT-USA Globus & NTDB coverage includes:

Country Commercial Guides
(CCGs) provide information about the commercial environment of many countries.  Comprehensive in scope, guides are organized into linked chapters on economic trends, political environment, 
information on marketing U.S. products and services, trade and investment related data, and business travel.  Posts are requested to describe the best market segments for U.S. exporters; those sections are separated out by 
market and are presented here. 

Industry Sector Analysis Report (ISAs) by country cover:
          Market opportunities
          Competitors
          Distribution channels
          End-users
          Trade promotion
          Best sales prospects

International Marketing Insight Reports include:

         Trade show opportunities
          Government policy updates
          Regulation and import changes
          Finance and marketing trends


Foreign Trade Statistics 

FTD- Foreign Trade Statistics from the US Census Bureau, Department of Commerce.

U.S Trade Balances by Country are also part of the FTD site. 

Access the following databases for many full-text articles of current, newsworthy events covered in leading business magazines, newspapers, and journals.
Business Source Premier

Business & Company Resource Center  

Lexis Nexis Academic Universe
 Full-text access from over 5,900 news, business, legal, medical, and reference publications, including broadcast news transcripts, US federal and state case law, business news, and SEC filings.

The Library provides additional Business databases.  Check with a Reference Librarian for further assistance if necessary. 

Full text of The Wall Street Journal is available through the Library Database ProQuest.  

The Wall Street Journal in print is available daily Monday-Saturday  in the Library Browsing area. The Library keeps print copies for 3 months. Request  back issues of The Wall Street Journal at the Circulation desk.

Daily on-line information from the Wall Street Journal for the US, Europe and Asia markets is available for free at WSJ.com.  Any in-depth information via  the WSJ.com site requires a paid subscription. 

Again, access to the full-text of the Wall Street Journal at no direct cost to authorized student and faculty users is available via the Library Database ProQuest Newspapers.

  • Internet Links

Portals to the World: new from the Library of Congress. Provides quick links to basic facts about a country.  

CIA World Factbook: excellent choice for country data.

Country Studies/Area Handbooks: from the Library of Congress. In-depth research on the society, politics and economy of a country. 

European Union in the U.S. provides excellent data and information on a major trading bloc

World Bank Group provides good information on developing countries

Central Bank Websites from most nations

 European Central Bank
EUROPA: Gateway to the European Union

Market Access Sectoral and Trade Barriers

  •  US Government sources

US Foreign Policy

US Department of State provides background an d current information on particular countries and regional trading partners.   

US Department of State Travel Warnings & Consular Information Sheets can provides in-depth analysis of the current business and travel environment fro a particular country.

From the library web page go to the Library Catalog to identify materials in the library collection.  
The following terms in a keyword search will assist you in locating books on topics of interest for your assignment. 
     Business etiquette
     Business ethics
     National characteristics

Consult a Reference  Librarian for additional help in locating books about your county. 

 

Goals of Library Instruction

  • Provide hands-on experience using electronic U.S. government sources to find information on specific consumer and industrial products
  • Provide hands-on experience to locate country information a marketer would need
  • Provide hands-on instruction in the use of databases a marketer would need

Information needed by a consumer marketer

Societal and Consumer Information

  • Economic and demographic information including GNP, GDP, age, income distribution, population size, and literacy
  • Societal variables such as social class, customs, family influence
  • Sub-cultural data such as ethnicity, language and religion
  • Geographical variables such as climate
  • Political climate 

Product Information  

  • Trade data and competitive analyses 
  • Information regarding distribution channels, pricing and marketing promotion 
  • Information pertaining to communication and transportation infrastructure 

Industrial goods and services 

  • Customs and language as they apply to the conduct of business in particular country