Students often ask if the library is able to purchase access to market research reports that they have found online. The question might go something like this: “Why doesn’t the library have more market research reports? I found a summary of one on Google from Research and Markets and it’s perfect for my class project. Does the library have it, or could you buy it for me?”
You’re right; there are thousands of market research companies and many wonderful reports with tempting abstracts easily discoverable in Google and Factiva. However, as you probably saw when trying to access the report on Google, these reports are very expensive. That limits the number we can subscribe to. GBL currently subscribes to 11 sources of market research reports. These databases were selected based on their alignment with areas Goizueta faculty focus on for class projects. Our collection development policy restricts us from purchasing a database for to support a single team or class project, as we base our purchase decisions on databases that are broadly applicable to a variety of classes and projects.
Although we can’t provide access to the precise report you seek, there are many alternative searches you can pursue to locate related information. Often articles in Factiva will provide executive summaries of the findings if you search for the report name. Also, many consulting firms have white papers available for free download. These can be located with advanced google searches such as filetype:pdf and inurl:bain|bcg|mckinsey. As it is certainly a strong possibility that you may not always have access to the “perfect” report in your job or internship, you may find this research is great reason to meet with one of the business librarians to learn additional search strategies for how to fill in the gaps.
I hope this helps you understand why we cannot provide access to all the market research reports you may find in your online searches, and why our collection development dollars limit us from purchasing individual reports.