Locating information on a specific industry or market sector can, at times, be a very challenging task and, without doubt, carrying out primary market research is a costly and time‐consuming exercise. Market and industry reports are amongst the most expensive business information materials to acquire. It is, therefore, extremely useful to know what data already exist, who compiled them and when, and also if they are publicly available. This directory, as its name implies, is a guide to the market research holdings of the British Library (BL).
The BL is home to the most comprehensive collection of market research reports and journals in the UK. It collects regularly published market research reports on specific markets; one‐off reports on markets undergoing rapid change or development; reports produced by government agencies to provide support for companies wishing to expand or diversify into new markets; and reports produced by international agencies providing economic forecasts and indicators for worldwide markets. This guide lists all these reports which have been acquired by the library between 1995 and the end of 2000. In addition, it also indexes the reports published in 14 top market research journals and the Financial Times surveys. The BL’s collection of Société Générale broker reports is also included.
The volume is arranged in two parts – a subject index and a geographic index. The subject index ranges from accountancy through to yoghurt and young adults. The complete spectrum of industries and markets is covered, e.g. hobbies and crafts, interior design, ironmongery, pesticides and street furniture to name but a few. The sectors generating most published data include pharmaceuticals, retailing, telecommunications and travel and tourism. The volume makes substantial use of cross‐references which helps to ensure that related services, industries and products can be identified and followed up. The separate indexing of the individual reports published monthly in the top market research journals is a useful feature. These journals are published by Cumulus Business Media, Euromonitor, The Henley Centre, Mintel and Retail Intelligence. The geographic index is a straightforward listing of countries and regions and includes all non‐UK reports. Within both indexes, the information given for each report is the title, publisher, place of publication, date and BL classification mark.
This is without doubt a useful guide to BL holdings and may well be purchased by those who regularly use the Reading Rooms. However, for companies really wanting to gain an understanding of current market trends, identifying a report on, for example, the Scottish motor trade published in 1995 or the UK paint industry published in 1996, has little relevance in 2002 beyond an academic interest. The introduction to the directory reminds the user that the collection is continuously updated and that there may be more up‐to‐date reports available on the shelves. This guide might therefore be more useful to the business community produced as a continuously updated Web
