If you’re a user of a database called Construction Industry Service (CIS) then you might notice that our access to the platform is slightly different.
IHS Markit have recently moved this particular sub database to a new hosting site which has a slightly different way to access it. You will now need to set up a free account and password before you can search the platform. Hopefully this is obvious from the note we’ve added to record on our catalogue, Library Search.
We’ve also made a short video which shows you how to set up an account.
The new platform/layout has options along the top and on the left to browse by subject or publishers, there are A-Z lists to navigate through or quick links straight into Eurocodes, regulations and other handbooks.
If you’re looking for UK or international news from the last thirty years or so to today, then make sure you explore Nexis. The Nexis database has recently moved to a new platform (Nexis Uni): we think you’ll find it is easier to search than the old version, and it has some really useful features.
If you’re used to ‘old’ Nexis, don’t worry: the content on Nexis Uni is exactly the same, and you can still use the ‘expert’ search features if you want to.
What does it cover?
Nexis Uni enables you to search over 17,000 news, business and legal sources. This includes most UK national and regional newspapers, together with international sources, including newspapers, newswires and news magazines in multiple languages. Coverage of news titles often dates back to the 1990s and includes today’s news. Coverage is text only, and doesn’t include images, layout, adverts etc.
Nexis Uni also gives access to specialist business information, including dossiers on major UK and international companies, together with specialist legal information.
How to search news on Nexis Uni?
There are various ways to limit your search to newspapers/news sources, but the simplest is to select the News button from the Guided Search section:
Guided Search
Type in your search term (use ” ” if searching for a phrase), select your date range, and click Search.
Limit by location of publication
Once your results are displayed, you can then further limit your search by date, publication type, location, language and more.
If you want to search news from a particular country, such as the UK, select Location by Publication>International> and then choose your continent and country.
If you would like to try more complex searching (e.g. searching in a particular section of the newspaper, or combining terms together in various ways), then click on Advanced search from the home page.
There is more detailed guidance about searching in the Nexis help centre.
Searching/browsing a particular newspaper
If you want to find a particular newspaper, choose Menu>All Sources, and then type the newspaper’s name in the Search within sources box. Click the three dot menu to get more information about coverage of the newspaper in Nexis Uni (NB ignore the phrase which says Archived source: no longer updated).
You can also use this route to add one or more newspapers as search filters, if you just want to search across certain titles only: to do this, type the newspaper title in the top search box entitled All Nexis Uni.
Personalisation features
If you’re using Nexis Uniregularly, we’d recommend you create a Nexis account, which enables you to set up alerts (click the bell icon at the top of your results listing), save searches, annotate and bookmark items, and share these with others. You can read more about alerts here.
Alert button
Please note: if you had previously set up alerts or saved searches on ‘old’ Nexis, they won’t migrate to Nexis Uni, so you’ll need to set them up again.
Where can I get more help?
Click the large question mark icon at the bottom right of the screen to get to the Nexis Help Centre >Support Resources, which includes videos and short guides.
Should I use Lexis or Nexis for UK news searching?
The ‘news’ section on the Lexislegal database enables you to search UK national and regional (but not international) newspapers. Nexis Uniis produced by the same company, and should have the same UK news coverage as Lexis, though Nexis Uni also includes a wider range of news sources such as broadcast news and news wires. We also think you’ll find the Nexis search and personalisation options are better, and easier to use, so we’d recommend Nexis. However, you might prefer to stick with Lexis if you use it regularly for legal information.
After a recent trial we are delighted we have managed to secure access to SAGE Research Methods. This is an invaluable resources for anyone undertaking an independent research project or dissertation.
The platform contains thousands of resources, dedicated to the subject area of Research Methods. It supports all stages of the research process from: writing a research question, conducting a literature review, choosing the best research methods, analysing data, to writing up your results and thinking about publication.
It contains information suited to all levels of researchers, from undergraduates starting their first projects to research associates. Within the resource students will be able to access dictionary and encyclopaedia entries, book chapters, full books, journal articles, case studies, some datasets and streaming video from SAGE Research Methods Video. It includes online access to the complete Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences (QASS) series, aka the “The Little Green Books,” as well as the Qualitative Research Methods Series (QRMS), or “The Little Blue Books”
SAGE Research Methods includes a wealth of teacher resources and reusable materials for academics and module leaders to draw on and are licensed for educational use, allowing you to reuse materials and show videos within your teaching free of Copyright concerns. We think the platform will work well in conjunction with textbooks on research methods as well as some of the resources we have on our ASK website.
The Methods Map can be used to navigate methods, concepts and techniques via breakout diagrams. Whereas the Project Planner Tool is a step-by-step guide to starting, developing and completing a research project. The methods sections provide information on all aspects of the research cycle – including the formulation of research questions, research design, project management and data collection.
Coming soon, SAGE Research Methods will be embedded in Canvas as an LTI, allowing you to easily embed videos, learning materials, case studies and videos into your Canvas courses.
Access the SAGE Research Methods User Guide for an overview of the resource an use the tabs below to access videos and training materials to get started.
FAME is a library database that covers UK and Irish companies providing data for company accounts, ratios, activities, ownership and management. We’ve put together a short video to give you 3 reasons why you might want to use the FAME database in your research. There are many more reasons but these will get you started!
So many reasons to use FAME
To find company profiles, financials, credit scores…
To do a peer analysis of companies within the same sector
To create your own ‘company set’ based on your own chosen criteria, such as industry, number of employees, region….the list goes on!
To download your own data set for analysis to use in assignments
For your own career research, e.g. to find out more before an interview
Many professionals use FAME and other databases like it so you will be enhancing your own skills for employment – add it to your CV!
The platform is created by the Getty Research Institute and is a comprehensive guide to current literature of architecture and design.
It contains the bibliographic data of over 2500 journals and publications from professional associations. So it’s perfect if you’ve got a topic, some keywords, a building name or architect or material. It also provides over 13,000 citation records for architects’ obituaries
This is a major resource for the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape.
This 4 minute video covers logging in, searching and filtering your results.
We’ve decided we like this platform so much we have created a short 4 minute video highlighting it’s key features, how to access and search.
On the platform you can choose to search or browse by theme or use interactive features such as the visual timeline and world map. The timeline puts the world’s key buildings and architectural history in perspective. It provides context for movements, themes and periods throughout 5,500 years of history.
Users can click on the images to discover more, with links through to the Building Pages and in-depth reading via reference articles and book chapters.
The resource contains Sir Banister Fletcher’s Global History of Architecture 21st edition. This covers 5,500 years of architecture right up to the present day. From abacus to ziyada, the Sir Banister Fletcher Glossary contains over 900 key architectural terms, clearly explained and defined. The glossary covers a complete range of technical, design, and historical terms, including non-English language vocabulary, and serves both as a core reference resource and an invaluable primer to enhancing the reader’s understanding of global architectural history.
There are descriptions of major buildings together with 2,200 photographs, drawings and building plans.
The platforms also contains 42 eBooks.
We like this resource as there’s no Digital Rights Management, you can create your own log in to bookmark or save content and there are lots of options to search so easy if you’re looking for geographical information or from a specific date range or keyword or topic or person.
The AJ Buildings Library is a digital database that showcases more than 1,900 exemplar projects, most from the last 20 years but including major projects back to 1900.
This is a core resource for the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape.
You can search for projects by age, cost, architect, building type, footprint, location, and a combination of these.
We like it as each project featured includes full project data (more than 20 items of information) and comprehensive architectural photographs and drawings (plans, elevation, section) – all provided at high resolution.
This 3 minute video covers:
How to set up an account on the AJ website so that you can access Buildings
How to access and log in
How to search
To access for free you will need to set up an account first.
Following on from our Be Connected: finding and using market research for your research session, this blog post covers the main points that we covered in our session.
Where to find market research
Market Research Resource Guide
Our Market Research guide draws together the resources that we have at Newcastle University for finding key market research information. Visit the Market Research guide to access our University subscriptions on and off campus.
Mintel
As a globally recognised market analyst, Mintel produces hundreds of reports into UK-specific consumer markets every year. Each report that Mintel publishes provides a unique overview of a market’s dynamics and prospects, giving you the knowledge to devise informed and profitable marketing strategy.
What type of information will I find in Mintel?
Mintel provides consumer market research reports covering different topics or sectors of the UK market. You’ll find market research data that analysts at Mintel have collated including trends, statistics, information on brands and companies, demographic data on a range of sectors.
Which countries does Mintel cover?
Mintel covers UK only. For international marketing data, you’ll need to access another information resource we have called Passport which is provide by a company called Euromonitor.
What does our Mintel subscription at Newcastle cover?
We do not subscribe to all the reports on Mintel, currently we have access to:
Automotive
Beauty and personal care
Clothing and footwear
Drink
Food
Health and Wellbeing
Home retailing
Household care
Media
Retail
Technology
Library Horizons contains issues associated with marketing such as green lifestyles, Christmas shopping, consumers and the economic outlook. We also have some one off reports which we’ve purchased e.g. European Retail Handbook. So we currently have access to around 200 reports.
Recently Mintel has been providing ongoing insight and analysis across a range of industries to help you understand how and why consumer sentiment and behaviour are changing during the pandemic.
To find these resources, you need to go to Mintel (via Library Search) and there’s tab dedicated to Covid-19 analysis:
With over 200 results, there’s plenty to help any research project looking at consumer behaviour during this time.
Passport
One of the major resources we have for students, researchers and staff within the Business School is Passport. This is particularly good if you’re looking for information on Market Research which can be anything from consumer preferences and buying habits, companies and their products and market share.
What does our Passport subscription at Newcastle cover?
We subscribe to research data strands that cover industries, economies, business landscape and finance. Market research data that analysts at Euromonitor have collated including consumer lifestyle reports, future demographics, country profiles, updates on consumer and industry trends, company information, market sizes and economic indicators. Passport covers more than 200 countries and regions, with a global outlook.
The company who provide Passport, Euromonitor have a great YouTube channel where they upload short videos which covers information on sectors, trends and hot topics. These are created by data analysts who work closely with that sector and collate the data which feature in the reports and charts.
We think this is great way to quickly identify developing markets, flourishing segments and areas for predicted growth and trends. So if you have been asked to pick or research a growth area or identify a gap in the market to launch a new and viable product you might to browse through their channel.
If you click to display by videos and ensure you’ve got them displayed by newest first you’ll see some trends videos so for 2021 so you’ll get a good idea of consumer trends, top cities to watch, industry and economic trends.
Euromonitor have also curated their videos under a section on their channel called playlists So if you’ve been asked to look at a specific market you might want to browse through playlists and see what videos they have.
They are short, snappy and give you enough insight which might spark an idea or help you decide on a product or market.
Statista
An extensive statistics platform covering over 1.5 million data sets (and adding an additional 500 each day) with revenue forecasts from 2015 to 2022 on over 400 industries.
Data is collected from over 22,500 sources covering over 75,000 different topics.
The platform can broken down into different elements including:
Statistics : where you can choose your industry e.g. Consumer goods, Retail & Trade.
Reports: This section is very comprehensive and you can select :
Dossiers which are a quick quantitative overview of a topic. These are in house reports which contain the most recent and relevant statistics concerning a single subject. You can export these in PowerPoint or PDF format.
Outlook Reports which are trend forecasts
Surveys which are market insights from an expert and consumer perspective
Toplists which are company ranking for sales and analysis
Market studies
Industry Reports which are perfect for highlighting key figures for a particular industry sector. These are updated annually and contain textual information as well as numerical data such as turnover and revenue.
Global Business Cities Reports which are ranking and key statistics on particular cities.
Brand reports contain insights into the brand itself
Country reports
Further studies which are more in-depth reports
Outlooks; these provide information on specific areas and help you identify the potential in those areas. This can include forecasts, detailed market insights and key performance indicators.
This short video from Statista gives a nice overview of the different search functionalities.
Access via https://www.statista.com/ or via the record on Library Search. (If you are accessing on campus, the platform will authenticate using IP address. If you are accessing off campus you will be taken through EzProxy so access should be seamless if you’ve logged in previously using your Campus ID and password).
Business Source Complete – MarketLine Reports
MarketLine Reports provide detailed analysis for companies, industries, and countries. These reports can be found within Business Source Complete and contain:
Industry: Includes Porter’s Five Forces, trend drivers, and outlook.
Country: Based on PESTLE analysis, cover a wide range of issues.
Company: Includes company performance and SWOT analysis
Where else to look?
The University subscribes to a number of business news sources, including online access to the Financial Times and The Economist. Visit the Business News Resource Guide to find out how to access the University Library subscriptions for free, including downloading the Financial Times app.
The Business School also provide alternative resources to find market research, which you can access via the Business Subject Guide.
Don’t forget to check out our Market Research Resource Guide and the Business Subject Guide for additional help and resources.
If you have any questions about any of these resources, please contact you Business Library team via Library Help.
As part of the University’s Be Connected week, we ran a webinar focusing on newspapers and audio-visual resources, highlighting the benefits of using these fantastic resources and how to get the most out of our databases.
If you missed out on the webinar – fear not! We’ve put together a handy summary of key resources and take-aways for you to explore. Presentation slides from the webinar can also be found at the end of the blog.
Why are newspapers and audio-visual resources useful?
Well, these resources can be an invaluable source of information as they offer different perspectives on events or topics, by offering commentary and opinions and art (via adverts or cartoons) that reflect the social, political and cultural attitudes of a particular place and time.
They’re a fascinating alternative to the more authoritative voice of journal articles and books – and while they obviously come with a range of bias and inevitable fake news, this presents unique opportunities for analysis and discussion.
Can’t I just use Google to find out about the news?
The main benefits of using Library resources over Google is access – while some newspapers, such as the Guardian, allow you to read their articles for free, most do not or if they do, you’ll find the page covered in annoying adverts and pop-ups. With our resources it’s simple to access, download and save articles or images from a wide range of newspaper sources.
Our databases also have tailored advanced search and filter options that help you to narrow down your search and find exactly what you need. Google does have some basic date filters and you can use the advanced search to limit to a particular source and document type but it’s not as simple or intuitive.
However, accessing newspaper websites via Google does offer the option of browsing through the day’s news articles, and provides the associated pictures and photographs, which are lacking in some of our databases.
Where can I find the Library’s newspaper archives?
The Library provides access to a wide range of UK and international newspapers from the 17th century to the present day, mainly in online format. You can access and find information about all these resources on our Newspapers Guide.
As a starting point, we’d recommend trying Lexis for current news and Gale Primary Sources for historic news archives. Both of these resources allow you to search a wide range of sources at once and both have great search tools!
You can watch the video guides below to learn how to use these databases:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikfQPYSrMWo
Are there any other useful resources related to news and the media?
For TV and radio news programmes, you might like to take a look at Box of Broadcasts, which provides access to broadcasts from over 65 channels dating from 2007.
If you’re more interested in media commentary and analysis, the Film and Television Index provides coverage on film and television theory, writing, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews, while Statista offers insights and data on the newspaper and television industries.
To find out more about this subject of news resources and getting the best out of them, check out the slides from this Be connected: using newspapers and audio-visual resources webinar.
As a student, it can be difficult to decide which databases or web sites you might want to use for your research and it will be dependent on the question you are trying to answer.
Company information resources can help you compare companies across industries, financial or employee criteria and research individual companies of interest. Depending how much detail you are looking for, you can access short profiles that give you an overview of individual companies or build detailed reports for companies that fit your criteria, including full balance sheets, income statements, ratios and more.
Where to find company information
Company Information Resource Guide
Our Company Information guide draws together the resources that we have at Newcastle University for finding company profiles, financial data and executive information. Visit the Company Information guide to access our University subscriptions on and off campus.
Business Source Complete
Business Source Complete is a full text business database that covers management, economics, finance, accounting, international business. It has full text access for nearly 3,600 scholarly, business related journals. It also includes trade publications, industry profiles, company profiles and SWOT analysis.
Company Information can be found in a basic search across all of Business Source Complete. You can either search by a company name or BSC will suggest companies that are linked to your topic keywords.
Alternatively, you can search within the Company Information section by company name.
What else can you find in BSC?
Company Profiles
The Company Profiles section found under the more menu gives you access to a full profile report for thousands of companies. Search by the company name. It includes detailed company information for more than 1.1 million of the world’s largest public and private companies.Information includes financials, subsidiaries, products, employees, industry information and more.
Company Profiles are drawn from a number of different sources including:
Marketline: A business information company covering the automotive, consumer, energy, financial services, healthcare and technology sectors. Used to called Datamonitor.
Medtrack Company Profiles: A biopharmaceutical corporate intelligence company.
Industry Profiles
Nearly 10,000 Industry Profiles that are updated annually. These are full text and can come from a variety of different providers including Marketline.
Nexis
Nexis is a major full text database for global news and business information.
Access to over 35,000 sources, with more than 12,000 international news sources including UK daily and regional newspapers, and company information for over 200 million companies worldwide.
In Nexis you can :
find newspaper articles and trade journal articles on a business related topic
gather information about a company, industry, country and people
keep up to date on a topic of interest
Company and financial reports
180 company databases from around the world
Coverage of over 200 million companies worldwide (public and private)
Over 20 million US companies included (public and private)
In-depth company profiles
Company snapshots
Financial analysis and competitor information
Industry and Country Reports
Daily industry-led news
Comprehensive monthly/quarterly reports
Industry & country driven reports including SWOT, forecastings, market trends and analysis
Multi-national sector directories broken down by key industry verticals
Companies Search
Use the Companies tab to look up factual data on a company. For example name of executives, ages, bonuses, salaries, description of the company, history of how they were funded and competitors.
For advanced use of Nexis, select the Power Search. This allows you to be very specific about the keywords you enter, where you would like them to appear in the article and which publications you would like to search.
Bureau van Dijk databases
At Newcastle University we subscribe to three products which provide access to company accounts, ratios, activities, ownership and management information.
This resource covers standardised annual accounts (for up to 10 years), consolidated and unconsolidated, financial ratios, activities and ownership for over 7 million companies throughout Western and Eastern Europe, including Germany, France, Italy, Ukraine and Russian Federation. Company financials are in a standard format so you can compare companies across borders. Information includes Financial strength indicators, directors, images of reports and accounts for listed companies, stock prices and detailed corporate structures
This resource covers accounts, ratios, activities, ownership and management for around 80,000 very large companies across the Asia-Pacific region, including China, Singapore, Hong Kong and India. information includes company financials, financial strength indicators, directors and contacts, original filings/ images, detailed corporate structures, market research and economic country profiles and outlooks, business and company- related news and M&A deals and rumours
Operating Revenue >= 100 million EUR (130 million USD)
Total assets >= 200 million EUR (260 million USD)
Employees >= 1,000
Where else to look?
The University subscribes to a number of business news sources, including online access to the Financial Time and the Economist. Visit the Business News Resource Guide to find out how to access the University Library subscriptions for free, including downloading the Financial Times app.
The Business School also provide alternative resources to find company information, which you can access via the Business Subject Guide.
Don’t forget to check out our Company Information Resource Guide and the Business Subject Guide for additional help and resources.
If you have any questions about any of these resources, please contact you Business Library team via Library Help.
