Have questions?
Contact me for research help on this subject.
Business Librarians
Resources to support your work throughout your Impact Lab experience
Start here!
Hello Impact Lab Students!
Welcome to your library home page. Here you will find a variety of sources to assist you with your research throughout your course. Please start by watching the videos below.
Some tips for using this guide:
1. Use the categories on the left menu
2. The first 3 to 4 resources in each section are listed in order of potential relevance.
3. Read the descriptions under each title to make sure you're clicking on a relevant source.
4. Avoid search frustration and burn out by having a search strategy prepared. See Video 2 of the Impact Lab Library Video Series.
Impact Lab Library Video Series: Helping a Ramen Company with Library Research
- Video 1: Business Research and Library Help
- Video 2: Creating an Effective Search Strategy for Business Research
- Video 3: How to Use Library Databases for Business Research
Want to meet with a Peer Research Consultant?
Schedule a 30 minute online or in-person consultation with a Peer Research Consultant (aka a peer tutor for library research). They can help you and your group to find more sources on your topic and more.
Want to schedule an appointment with a Business Librarian?
Schedule a group appointment for a virtual meeting with a business librarian at calendly.com/busref
Want to schedule and appointment with your Business Reference Associate?
Industry & Market Sources
- EMIS ProfessionalFind company and industry information, reports, statistics, proprietary mergers and acquisitions, credit analytics, benchmark indicators and trend comparisons to help understand emerging markets.
- GuideStar: The National Database of Nonprofit OrganizationsInformation on nonprofit organizations in the United States that register with the Internal Revenue Service. Includes financial information, mission, programs, board of directories and historical 990 tax returns filed with the IRS with more detail about expenditures and revenue. Search for nonprofits by location, size, and types of services.
- Statista This link opens in a new windowStatista provides statistical data on many topics including media, business, politics, society, technology and education. Sources include market reports, trade publications, scientific journals, and government databases. Data can be accessed by searching or browsing by industry, topic, country, digital market or infographic. The Global Consumer Survey offers a global perspective on consumption and media usage, covering the offline and online world of the consumer. It is designed to help marketers, planners and product managers understand consumer behavior and consumer interactions with brands.
- IBIS World (Business)Search industry reports for the United States, Canada, China, and global topics. Each report provides an overall current picture of an industry, including overviews, leading companies, sales information, and authoritative sources for researching hundreds of industries. Includes Business Environmental Profiles that summarize key drivers for industries in the U.S.
- Mintel Market ResearchMintel reports provide market research on consumer products, services, and lifestyles to identify economic drivers, leading companies, market share, market size, trends, segmentation, and analysis of consumer attitudes and purchasing habits. Includes Mintel Trends to analyze consumer trends by sectors, demographics, themes and regions.
- PitchBookPitchbook is a mediated-access database. Please see Additional Information. Use PitchBook to search thousands of private equity and venture capital deals by hundreds of criteria. Establish benchmarks, find real time data on deals, identify and analyze comparables, and search investor details.
Policy, Legislative, & Regulatory Sources
- Policy CommonsSearch millions of documents on thousands of topics from the world’s leading policy experts, nonpartisan think tanks, IGOs and NGOs as well as from North American cities. Featured topics include Black Lives Matter, COVID-19, Climate Change, Gender Equity, and reports from the 500 largest cities in North America. UMN access includes both the Global Think Tanks and North American City Reports modules.
- PolicyMap This link opens in a new windowWeb-based online data and mapping application that provides access to thousands of indicators related to demographics, housing, crime, mortgages, health, jobs and more. Data is available at all common geographies (address, block group, census tract, zip code, county, city, state, MSA) as well as unique geographies like school districts and political boundaries. Data comes from both public and proprietary sources.
- PluralFollow existing and introduced federal and state legislation across the country or in your state. Plural streamlines how you discover, track, and organize the bills you care about. The platform allows individuals and teams to see what’s happening with similar legislation across the country, find out where bill language reappears over time, and even predict which bills are starting to gain momentum.
- Gale In Context: Global Issues This link opens in a new windowGale In Context: Global Issues supports awareness and provides a global perspective while tying together a wealth of authoritative content by integrating news, global viewpoints, primary content, videos and more.
- Opposing Viewpoints in ContextFind articles on current issues, including viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, magazine and newspaper articles.
- CQ ResearcherCQ Researcher provides in-depth coverage of important issues of the day. Reports are written by experienced journalists, footnoted, and professionally fact-checked. Full-length articles include an overview, historical background, chronology, pro/con feature, plus resources for additional research. Shorter "Hot Topics" articles provide a solid introduction to subjects in demand.
Current Events & Articles
- Business Source PremierFind business articles from journals and magazines in marketing, management, information technology, operations, human resources, accounting, finance and economics dating back to 1965.
- Access World NewsFull-text news from over 9,000 news sources in the U.S. and international newspapers, major wire services, and hundreds of local broadcasting outlets and blogs. There are over 100 Minnesota sources. Mostly English language news coverage with some 200 titles in Spanish, French, Afrikaans and other languages.
- FactivaSearch millions of newspapers, business magazines, and newswires with international and foreign language coverage with all editions of the Wall Street Journal. Financial information for publicly traded companies, stocks, funds, currencies, and common market indexes. Limited to 7 simultaneous users.
- Google Scholar (Setup connection to get to PDFs)Use Google Scholar to find articles from academic publishers, professional societies, research institutes, and scholarly repositories from colleges and universities. If you are using from off-campus access, change the "Library Settings" to University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Look for the "FindIt@U of M Twin Cities" links in your Google Scholar search results to access full text and PDFs. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
Case Studies Collections
- Sage Business Cases This link opens in a new windowSAGE Business Cases is a digital collection of business cases tailored to library needs – providing faculty, students and researchers with unlimited access to more than 4,850 authoritative cases from over 120 countries. SAGE curates interdisciplinary cases on in-demand subjects such as entrepreneurship, accounting, healthcare management, leadership, social enterprise, and more. Publishing partners include Yale University, Kellogg School of Management, Society of Human Resource Management, and more. For Instructors: additional teaching note material is available; Before creating an account, please contact the library for more information on how to access this content.
- Bloomsbury Fashion Business CasesThis database is designed to help students develop the essential business skills required by the next generation of fashion industry professionals, this digital resource presents real-world cases on challenges facing the business of fashion, tackling important issues such as sustainability, technology, ethics, and leadership.
- WARC (advertising)Campaign research source includes case studies, market reports, statistics, and articles from the trade magazines Admap and Market Leader as well research from the International Journal of Market Research, the Journal of Advertising Research, the International Journal of Advertising, and the Journal of Advertising History.
- HS Talks Business & Management Collection This link opens in a new windowSpecially commissioned talks from leading experts in industry, commerce, the professions and academia. The collection also includes 20 peer reviewed vocational journals.
Citation & Other Useful Resources
- Finding Resources - CitationsUse this link to get basic resources on citation information. Links to style guides, a tutorial, and citation builders are included.
- Library Research TutorialsThis links you to helpful tutorials and tips for all students. If you have a general question about navigating the libraries' resources, try looking here.
- Business Library HomepageThis is the landing page for all online business library sources.
- UMN Library Guide on AI ToolsThe University of Minnesota's guide on ChatGPT, and CoPilot, with video tutorials and links to university policies.
- AI library tools and questionsThis guide from University of South Florida has FAQs, links, and tutorials on using AI in coursework, how to prompt, ethical concerns, etc.
Last Updated: Apr 21, 2025 9:38 AM
URL: https://libguides.umn.edu/ImpactLab