University of South Carolina Libraries

Public Company Information:

InfoUSA -Provider of sales leads, mailing lists, sales/marketing directories, business credit reports, and other databases of 14 million businesses and 300 million consumers. Users can use the site without registering but must register to purchase lists using a credit card. Registration is free.
Annual Reports - Free database of annual reports that covers the majority of the Fortune 500 companies and various other companies. The site also provides links to general financial sites, online magazines/newspapers, and domestic/international stock exchanges.
Annual Reports Library - Database of online full-color international annual reports that is searchable by index constituency, country, or company name and contains company histories going back 5-20 years. Users can register for free to search individual reports and can view/purchase individual reports using a credit card.
Business History - Provides the history of business by industry, a list of America's 10 oldest companies, a chronology of important dates in American business, links to historic business sites/museums, links to and information about prominent business people/organizations, links to business universities, and links to other sites that have business histories. Each company entry provides information about when/where the company was founded, the original products, the current products, the number of employees, and milestones in the company's history.
Company Annual Reports Online (CAROL) World - Free database of online corporate information including annual reports for companies in Asia, Europe, and the United States as well as links to investor relations sites including stock exchanges by country, other corporate information sources, financial organizations, vendors of corporate information, and media sites.
Europages - European business directory that is searchable by product/service or company name and browsable by activity/sector. The site contains links to company websites and provides site translations in numerous languages.
Forbes 500 - List of the top 500 largest corporations in America ranked by sales, profits, assets, and market value from 1997-Current provided by Forbes magazine. The site provides a search feature to search the 500 list and links to other Forbes lists.
Forbes International 500 - List of the top 500 largest international corporations ranked by revenues from 1997-Current provided by Forbes magazine. The site provides a search feature to search the 500 list and links to other Forbes lists.
Fortune 500 - List of the current top 500 largest corporations in America ranked by revenues provided by Fortune magazine. The list is searchable by company or CEO and viewable by company, CEO, or industry. The site also provides company news and financial snapshots for each company on the list and links to other Fortune lists.
Global 500 - List of the current top 500 largest corporations in the world ranked by revenues provided by Fortune magazine. The list is searchable by company or CEO and viewable by company, CEO, or industry. The site also provides company news and financial snapshots for each company on the list and links to other Fortune lists.
Hoovers Online - Database of comprehensive company, industry, and market intelligence information that is searchable by company name, ticker, keyword, executive name, etc. Some portions of the site are free to the general public while other portions that are denoted with a platinum key are subscription-based only (Note: Springs Business Library has a current subscription to the entire Hoovers Database, which can be accessed on Computers 13-17 in the library).
NAICS Codes - Search the 1997 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), a classification system that classifies products and services. The NAICS codes are more specific and therefore have replaced the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes of 1987. The site includes definitions for each industry and tables showing correspondence between 1997 NAICS codes and 1987 SIC codes. The site is provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
OhioLINK's Guide to Company Research - Guide to finding company information online, in print sources, and in newspapers and other news media sources. This guide is provided by the Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK), a consortium of Ohio's college and university libraries and the State Library of Ohio. Although the guide contains many sources found within the OhioLINK system, it is useful to all private company researchers as a guide to the types and titles of sources to look for in libraries elsewhere or to request through Interlibrary Loan.
Public Register's Annual Report Service (PRARS) - Database of online public company financials and SEC filings (annual reports, prospectuses, and 10k's). Users can search by company name, company ticker symbol, industry, or state free of charge. The site also provides links to the top financial sites as well as links to other PRARS network sites such as Corporate Window (Database of corporate financial profiles, financial press releases, corporate research links, online annual reports/10Ks, stock quotes/charts , SEC filings , company links), Online Annual Reports Service (Database of free online annual reports), and Stock Surveys (Surveys of the top growth, income, and speculation stocks).
SEC Edgar Database - Homepage of EDGAR, which stands for Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval and is a database of public company financial reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Users can search and download company SEC filings (quarterly reports, annual reports, prospectus, etc.) for free.
SIC Codes - Search the 1987 version Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) manual, a classification system that classifies products and services. Users can search by keyword, access descriptive information for a specified 4-digit SIC, and examine the manual structure. The site is provided by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the U.S. Department of Labor.
Thomas Global Register of Manufacturers - Directory of global manufacturers and distributors that provides detailed product and company information in the major industrialized countries. The directory is searchable by product/service or company name. Registration is free.
Thomas Register of American Manufacturers - Directory of manufacturers that provides detailed company and product information, links to online catalogs, links to company websites. The directory is searchable by product, company, or brand name. Registration is free.
Investor Relations Information Network (IRIN) - Database of public company information including annual reports, current/historical market data, company headquarter addresses, financial snapshots, and links to financial sites. The site also provides users with a feature called My Shelf, a free personalized Web site management tool for organizing and updating up to 200 favorite links from within the Link Library.

Private Company Information:

Better Business Bureau (BBB) - Homepage of the Better Business Bureau, a non-profit organization that promotes fair and honest business-consumer relationships, instills consumer confidence, and works to achieve an ethical business environment by providing business reliability reports, dispute resolution, truth-in-advertising, consumer/business education, and charity review.
Forbes 500 Top Private Companies - List of the top 500 largest private corporations in America ranked by revenue and number of employees from 1996-Current provided by Forbes magazine. The site provides a search feature to search the 500 list and links to other Forbes lists.
Forbes 50 Top Global Private Companies - List of the top 50 largest private companies in the world ranked by sales.
OhioLINK's Guide to Private Company - Guide to finding private company information online, in print sources, and in newspapers and other news media sources. This guide is provided by the Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK), a consortium of Ohio's college and university libraries and the State Library of Ohio. Although the guide contains many sources found within the OhioLINK system, it is useful to all private company researchers as a guide to the types and titles of sources to look for in libraries elsewhere or to request through Interlibrary Loan.