It isn't always easy to find information on a company you're investigating -- if it's a privately held company, for example, it's much harder to get information than for one that is publicly held. However, the Mergent and Lexis-Nexis databases have a wealth of information on companies, and you should check both places as you embark on your research.

And don't hesitate to ask at the Reference Desk or make an appointment with a librarian if you're not finding anything. Often, we can ask another library for help in finding the information you need, and we can search other resources depending on what company you're studying.

Library Catalog

• Whole books have been written on big companies like Google and Nike, so be sure to check the library's catalog to see what's available. If there is a book, or a chapter in a book, on a company that you're investigating, you won't want to miss it.

Citing your sources properly -- yes, even the charts and graphs you reuse from other sources, and the statistics you quote -- is important and required.

Purdue University's OWL Writing Lab Citation resources are the best ones out there on the web. Generally, Business & Economics courses require that you use APA citation style. Detailed information on both in-text references and "works cited" pages is available here.