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Individual Databases

Unless otherwise noted, these resources are available on all Chicago Public Library computers or on non-Library computers with your Chicago Public Library card.

Directories and Public Records

Hoover’s Company Profiles »
Find brief information on more than 40,000 public and private companies. Hoover’s Company Records delivers information on a company’s location, summary financials, top competitors, top officers and more.

Illinois Public Records »
Find information on new homeowners, new businesses, foreclosures, bankruptcy filings, divorces, misdemeanors, felonies and DUI arrests in Chicago-area counties as well as selected other counties in the state.

ReferenceUSA »
ReferenceUSA offers listings for over 14 million U. S. companies. Listings include company name, address, phone number, contact names, sales volume, employee size and business description. Search by name to find an individual company or by criteria such as industry, location, size, etc., to build a list of companies of interest.

Encyclopedias and Handbooks

Business Plans Handbooks »
This collection offers entrepreneurs over 400 actual business plans to use as models in developing their own.

Career Information Center »
Find descriptions of over 700 careers, including salary information, employment outlook, education and training requirements, and more.

Business Encyclopedia Collection »
Find overviews of business topics from the Encyclopedia of Business and Finance and the Encyclopedia of Management.

Industry Overviews »
Find overviews, including history, current conditions and leading firms, for over a thousand industries from The Encyclopedia of American Industries, The Encyclopedia of Emerging Industries and The Encyclopedia of Global Industries.

Business Newspapers, Magazines and Journals

ABI/INFORM »
Find articles from a wide range of business publications: from local business magazines to publications focusing on a specific trade or industry to scholarly journals. Over 3,000 publications are covered, including Crain’s Chicago Business and the Wall Street Journal.

EBSCO Magazines & Journals »
This general-interest magazine database (a combination of two databases: MasterFILE Complete and OmniFile Full Text Select) includes over 500 business publications ranging from Hispanic Business to Real Estate Economics.

Wall Street Journal »
Search for articles from the nation’s financial newspaper of record. The database includes articles from 1984 to the present.

Investors’ Tools

Morningstar »
Find trusted analysis of stocks, mutual funds, exchange traded funds and markets. The site includes tools for analyzing one’s portfolio as well as an extensive investor education section.

Standard & Poor’s NetAdvantage »
This collection of online reference works offers company directory and financial and investment information from numerous Standard & Poor’s publications, including the Bond Guide; Industry Surveys; Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives; Security Dealers of North America and the Stock Reports.
Available only on Harold Washington Library Center, Sulzer Regional Library and Woodson Regional Library computers.