Searching for Company Information: Spotlight on Canadian Business and Current Affairs

One of the easiest ways to keep current on what is happening in your field and to research companies for which you may wish to work for is by searching for articles in electronic newspapers and magazines. The Canadian Business and Current Affairs database contains thousands of full-text articles on companies and business topics, sourced from Canadian business and academic journals. This database is available at every TPL branch and anywhere where you have internet access. Here is how you use it:

1. Enter the address for the Toronto Public Library's homepage in your browser window: http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/ Now click on “Find Articles in Magazines, Newspapers & More…” from the blue menu on the left hand side of your screen.

2. There are 3 ways to find articles. Since you already know the name of the database, use the "Find a Database" option. Click on the link, "List of Databases."

3. Click on "Canadian Business and Current Affairs."

4. You will then see the Sign In screen. Enter your library bar code number and your pin. Your PIN is usually the last four digits of your telephone number.

5. Click the green “Advanced” tab at the top of that window.

6. In the empty text box at the top of the window, type in the name of the company you are researching, and click “Citation and Indexing” to bring down a list of options. Select “Document Text”. Click “Search”.

7. You will see a list of articles, all of which mention the company name. You’ll notice that some articles include the link, “full text” while others simply say citation or abstract. Furthermore, the articles are presented in reverse chronological order so that you’ll see the most recent articles first. Find an article that has the words Full Text as part of the record . Click on "Full Text." Alternatively you may click on the title of the article. 

8. You’ll be presented with the full text of the article.

   You can access this database from home, or, if you are in the library when you are conducting this search, you can email this article to yourself or print using the email or print buttons located on the screen.

   An article search is usually the best way to find detailed information about a public or private company.

   It is also a good way to locate both positive and negative articles about a company.  This may help you to decide whether or not to apply for, or accept, a job in that company.

More tips...

• 2 word queries (such as circus elephant) are searched as an exact phrase by default.
• 3 word queries (such as new york orchestra) can be searched by placing quotation marks before and after the phrase.