Liaison Librarian
Rhonda McGinnis
Contact:
Rm 134 Purdy/Kresge Library
Wayne State University Library System
Detroit, MI 48202
(313) 577-8568
aa4207@wayne.edu
Wayne State University Library System
Detroit, MI 48202
(313) 577-8568
aa4207@wayne.edu
INDUSTRY CODES
- North American Industry Classification System LookupUse this page to search for the 4-6 digit code used by the US government to define and designate the industry for your business. It is not uncommon for a business to have more than one code.
U.S. GOVERNMENT DATA--INDUSTRY
- U.S. Census Bureau—Industry Statistics PortalThis website lets you retrieve basic factsheets for the population & housing of a town or zip code as well as manipulate datasets and thematic maps to uncover a wealth of data from the 2000 census of Population & Housing, the annual American Community Surveys, and the 2002 and 2007 Economic Census.
- U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics—Occupational Employment StatisticsThe Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program produces employment and wage estimates for over 800 occupations. Businesses can use the data to see whether it would be beneficial to locate in a particular area. There are estimates of the number of people employed in certain occupations, and estimates of the wages paid to them. Self-employed persons are not included in the estimates. These estimates are available for the nation as a whole, for individual States, and for metropolitan and non
- U.S. Internal Revenue Service--Tax StatisticsHere you will find a wide range of tables, articles, and data that describe and measure elements of the U.S. tax system.
US GOVERNMENT DATA--DEMOGRAPHICS
- Explore Census DataExplore Census Data is an online source for population, housing, economic and geographic data available through the U.S. Census Bureau website.)..
- "How-to" Help--American FactFinder Navigating American FactFinder to get to the date you need can be tricky. Start with the helpful descriptions and video tutorials to learn how to get around and locate the tables you want.
- American Time Use Survey (ATUS)Time-use surveys measure the amount of time people spend doing various activities, such as work, childcare, housework, watching television, volunteering, and socializing. ATUS is sponsored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Census Bureau collects and processes the data. Tables showing time-use estimates for major activity categories, selected detailed activities, and selected demographic and labor force characteristics are available on the ATUS Web sit
- Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE)The Consumer Expenditure Survey collects information from the Nation's households and families on their buying habits (expenditures), income, and household characteristics. Market researchers find the data useful in analyzing the demand for groups of goods and services. The data is available in News Releases and Reports. There are video tutorials with instruction on how to retrieve and use BLS information and statistics
STATE OF MICHIGAN DATA SOURCES
- Michigan Labor Market InformationInformation on recent employment trends, wages, detailed industries, and jobs in demand. It also is a source of economic information on Michigan regions and counties. The Data Explorer tab offers business and economic research and statistics (including forecasts) on a variety of topics such as labor, employment, wages and income.
- Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)--Reference LibraryThis website has a variety of information and resources for businesses looking to locate in the state of Michigan, including county profiles, business directories, commercial property listings, and detailed information on MEDC incentive programs.
- Data Driven Detroit--Data & MappingData Driven Detroit (D3) provides accessible, high-quality information and analysis to drive informed decision-making that will strengthen communities in Southeast Michigan. Scroll down the Data & Mapping page to find numerous links to local data.
MICHIGAN ELIBRARY DATABASES--FREE TO MICHIGAN RESIDENTS
- DemographicsNow: Business & PeopleProvides comprehensive business and demographic information valuable to assess business viability, complete location analyses, and much more. Michigan residents or Michigan library access only. .
WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY ACCESSIBLE DATABASES--WSU ACCESSID REQUIRED
NOTE: Community Members may access the content of these databases by singing in to use one of the Researcher Computers located in the Purdy/Kresge Library located on the WSU Main Campus.
I have found the following searches to be great starting places for most entrepreneurs:
- Industry, Market, or Product Name AND (outlook OR trends OR forecast OR potential)
- Industry, Market. or Product Name AND (sales OR size OR growth)
- Industry, Market. or Product Name AND (data OR statistics)
- Industry, Market, or Product Name AND demographics
Simply cut and paste one of these into the search box of either Business Source Complete or ABI/Inform and replace the information in Italics with your Industry or product/service.
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new windowThis database includes indexing and full-text articles for over 1000 business journals. NOTE: The video tutorials refer to the database as Business Source Corporate and/or references corporate users but searching is exactly the same as the version we have here at Wayne State.
- ABI/InformAnother database with extensive range of fulltext business related articles
- IBISWorld This link opens in a new windowA market research tool that provides industry overviews, key statistics, and analysis on more than 700 U.S. industries
- Wall Street Journal (current) This link opens in a new windowAccess to current editions of the Wall Street Journal. 1984 to present. Pre-194 access is available from the Wall Street Journal Historical edition.
- Nexis Uni This link opens in a new windowProvides access to a wide range of news, business, legal, and reference information.
- Regional Business News This link opens in a new windowRegional Business News provides full text for more than 80 regional US and Canadian business publications (including titles from Crain Communications).
- Engineering Village This link opens in a new windowProvides access to bibliographic databases of engineering research literature, including Compendex, Georef, Knovel, NTIS, Geobase and Inspec as well as patents, standards and handbooks. A product from Elsevier.
RECOMMENDED WEBSITES AND DATABASES
- Biznar-Deep Web Business SearchBiznar is a free deep web search engine. Your choices for sources are blogs, business research, news and government information
- ZIPWho?This website lets you easily retrieve basic demographic data by ZIPcode.
- FreedoniaFreedonia is one of the premier market research firms in the country and their complete market research reports run several thousands of dollars. The savvy entrepreneur can glean some excellent information from the Abstracts to these reports as well as from the limited free industry reports available with the free site registration
TRADE ASSOCIATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS
- Business Insights GlobalSearch for an industry and use the Associations link to see a list of related business/trade associations for that industry.
- Trade Association PublicationsFree Trade Magazine Subscriptions & Technical Document Downloads. Registration required.
BUSINESS DIRECTORIES
- Reference USA (often available at larger Public Libraries)By subscription only, several directories contain up to date information on public and private businesses throughout the USA. Entrepreneurs can use multiple search methods to research competition and/or create marketing lists.
- Thomas Register of American ManufacturersSearch ThomasNet to find manufacturers, distributors and service providers. Searching can be done by industry or state. The website also offers products news, industry newsletters and white papers.
- SwitchboardUse this online Yellow Pages site to identify other businesses of your type in the area where you are considering opening your business
IMPORTS AND EXPORTS
- U.S. Imports Harmonized Tariff ScheduleThe HTSA provides the applicable tariff rates and statistical categories for all merchandise imported into the United State. The site contains research tools, glossary, FAQ and an email “help” function. It also has links to other helpful websites for importing and exporting information.
- U.S. Export GuideExport.gov brings together resources from across the U.S. Government to assist American businesses in planning their international sales. There are short videos on various topics such as Export Compliance. There is an email “help” function. The site has links and information to U.S. Trade Centers, including several in the Detroit Metropolitan area.
On the site, the Commerce Department’s Trade Information Center offers a series of one-hour webinars on the basics of exporting. These webi