Librarian Information
Welcome
This guide provides links to resources for CSR/ESG company research and metrics.
- Below you will find links to top article, statistical, and business databases for your research.
- The Rankings and Metrics page provides links to organizations and entities that provide or evaluate CSR/ESG metrics from industry, stakeholder, and advocacy perspectives.
- Business Research provides find databases and strategies for researching companies and industries.
- United Nations SDG links to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
For more help, use the contact information on this page to email or schedule an appointment.
Best Bets
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new windowNews and journal articles about business topics and companies, plus industry and company reports, SWOT analyses, case studies, and more.
- Statista This link opens in a new windowStatistical data and reports about media, business, politics, society, technology, and education, etc. A gold mine of data points.
- Environment Complete This link opens in a new windowJournal articles from all areas of environmental studies, from agriculture to cities, public policy, social impacts, etc.
- Economist (1997-present) This link opens in a new windowBusiness-oriented news perspective on international news, politics, business, finance, science and technology.
Questions from 9/10 class visit:
Q: How to find tax/government record information for specific corporations?
For public companies, you can use SEC filings to get quite a lot of information. You can access that information in D&B Hoover's (a library database) or through the SEC's public search tool, EDGAR. I recommend looking primarily at 10-Ks for the most detailed information.
Q: Can you access private corporation information?
It is harder to do private company research and get as much detailed information about how the company works and their financial activity. However, there are some options. This tutorial provides an overview of strategies and resources. The big takeaways are to determine whether or not a private company is owned by a public parent company, and use news and trade publications to get details not disclosed elsewhere.
Q: Best environment sources for searches:
There is a database specifically for environmental research called Environment Complete, so I do recommend that. But it really depends on what you're looking for. Do you need an overview of an issue and/or global data points (think questions like, "how many X are there" or "what are the current trends with solar energy in the US"? If so, Statista might be better. If you're looking for examples of companies doing innovative environmental projects, I suggest filtering for "trade publications" in the Sustainability Reference Center database or a business database.