You often need to find out about the history of the company for business class assignments. Company histories can be found in many places:

• Books-check the catalog for books on the company (Remember books become outdated quickly but can give a good history of how the company got started)

To search books:

1. Search under company name with keyword search or subject search
2. For example, cisco and history (keyword search) or cisco (subject search)

• Business Source Premier has Company Histories under the Company Profiles Tab.
• Databases such as Factiva, Hoover & Lexis-Nexis (go to Hoover's Company Records - In-depth Records in the Lexis-Nexis database under Business-Company Profiles) give company histories.
• Case studies in article databases like Business Source Premier, ABI/Global, Emerald, and Lexis-Nexis.
• In Annual Reports. You can view these in Thomson or sometimes on the company website.

Remember that any company report that is long may take a long time to download.