Using Nexis for business research

The newspaper database Nexis has changed its searching options making it easier to use. This revised layout may look familiar to those of you who use Discovery.

For those of you unfamiliar with Nexis you can find it on the Library Catalogue or on the Library Homepage under Additional Resources/Databases. Nexis provides full text access to UK national newspapers, including The Times, Guardian, Independent and Daily Telegraph, as well as UK regional newspapers. Coverage is from 1986 onwards and is updated daily. It also includes a range of international newspapers, newswires, trade publications and foreign language news sources in Dutch, French, German, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian. Should you need to read the text in a different language there are 104 options to choose from.

It is possible to search groups of sources (for example, UK Broadsheets, Major World Newspapers) or an individual title. You can also refine your search using topics such as Publication, Subject, Industry, Company, People and Geography.

Although Nexis is not a PBS subscription database it is a useful resource for business students and staff researching business information such as company profiles and industry reports.  See Companies and Market Insight tabs on the Search homepage.

If you want to do some advanced searching in Nexis you can search a named publication by using the Sources tab to find out if your publication is part of the Nexis collection. You will then be led back to their homepage to proceed with keyword searching within your selected publication.

And finally, don’t forget about choosing your sources wisely for academic work. Use Nexis for facts, current affairs, company information (helpful when applying for jobs) and news updates in industry sectors. You will need to use databases such as Discovery, Business Source Complete and Emerald when you are looking for more in-depth academic content, such as peer-reviewed journal articles.