Find Specialised Information

Learn how to locate different types of specialised information.

Types of Information

CQUniversity Library provides access to a range of databases to find company information, which contain company profiles, news, market performance, forecasts, and detailed SWOT analyses. 

Before you start searching you should: 

 Go to the company website to find basic information about the company, and what they do, as well as view annual reports and financial performance.

  • Look at the company’s social media channels to see how they promote themselves and how they interact with the public. 
  • Look for news and articles in trade journals and magazines for information about the company and the industry. 
  • Find out about the company’s main competitors to get an idea of the business environment they are operating in and where your target company sits relative to the others. 

Access Library Databases: 

  • From the Databases Tab on Library Search, select “Browse Databases” to access Database Search. Using the left side menu open “Study Areas” and look for “Business and Accounting”. This list contains a wide range of databases that contain company and market information.
  • To locate information about a particular company or group of companies, start with Library Search.
  • Your lecturer or teacher should be able to recommend databases to use.

Finding Company Information Using News Sources

News sources provide a wealth of company information about company news and developments such as mergers and acquisitions. 

From the Databases Tab on Library Search, select “Browse Databases” to access Database Search. Using the left side menu open “Type of Resource” and look for “News sources”. This list contains a wide range of databases that contain local and international newspapers, newswires, and journal sources.

Finding a Company Annual Report

Companies often provide access to their annual reports and financial statements via their websites. You can also find them via: 

Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) – Search for companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange to find names of senior management, address, prices, dividends, and company announcements.  

Delisted Australia - Updates and information on failed companies including those in external administration and companies suspended from ASX, NZX, NSX and BSX. It also has all historical name changes and delisting for these exchanges and carries administrators/liquidators’ declarations for Australian companies for tax purposes.

Finding Industry Information

To help you search for industry information it is useful to identify relevant industry classification codes, such as ANZSIC or NAICS codes. With industry classification codes you can locate industry reports and articles.  

Have a look to see if there is a relevant industry association. Industry association websites often contain useful information and industry reports. The library has several databases that provide overviews and in-depth industry information. On the Database Search page, search for “Industry”, a wide range of databases that contain information on industry market research, industry reports, and company research. 

You may also find industry or company statistics from statistics category in Database Search.

Finding Maps via the Library Search

You can search for maps using the Library Search. Try the searches below to discover some of the resources available. 

How to Search for Maps or Atlases

  1. Go to Library Search 
  2. Enter 'maps’ or ‘atlases’ into the search box.
  3. To narrow your search to a particular region, enter "AND" then the geographic area - suburb/town/area/state/country. e.g., "maps and Queensland"
  4. You can also limit the search results to Maps under Content Type in Active Filters on the search page.

Australian Resources

Geoscience Australia - Online tools including images, maps, data, and publications, including a place name search facility. You can search “maps” to retrieve a range of map types.

Interactive Resource and Tenure Maps - Interactive resource and tenure maps allow you to zoom, pan, search, and display geological data with mining and exploration tenure information for the whole of Queensland.

Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM) - Represents all state and Commonwealth surveying and mapping agencies.

NationalMap - Online map-based tool to allow easy access to spatial data from Australian government agencies.

World Heritage Areas- Information by the Queensland EPA about Australia's world heritage listed locations.

International Resources

National Geographic's MapMake - Find nearly any place on Earth, and view it by population, climate, and much more. Plus, browse antique maps, find country facts, or plan your next outdoor adventure with our trail maps. 

UN Maps & Geospatial services - Country and regional maps, peacekeeping maps.

What are patents?

Patents are legal documents that protect intellectual property rights. They must contain sufficient detail about the product or process to be patented, and as a result can be quite informative. They prevent other inventors and manufacturers from using the same idea. A patent must be of practical use. 

As a patent is a legal document, its protection only applies in the country from which it is issued. It gives the inventor exclusive rights to the application of the idea (and hence, any profits made from the idea). Applications may be made for patent rights in additional countries within the first 12 months of being granted a patent. 

Finding Patents

The following brief tutorials produced by the University of Minnesota Libraries for help you to understand how to search for patents, what are patents and how to read them. 

Australian patents, trademarks, and designs agencies

IP Australia - Federal government agency responsible for granting rights in patents, trademarks, and designs. The Patents Database is a searchable list of Australian patents, designs, and trademarks, and provides public records, and legal and business support. 

International patents, trademarks, and designs agencies

Canadian Patents - This database lets you access over 75 years of patent descriptions and images. You can search, retrieve and study more than 1,900,000 patent documents. 

European Patents - Europe's network of patent databases.

Japan Patent Office - Japanese government agency responsible for managing intellectual property issues.

The UK Patent Office - Responsible for the management of intellectual property in the UK.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office - Provides information relating to U.S. patents, trademarks, and designs.

World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) - Manages intellectual property issues including the filing and processing of international patent applications. Provides access to a searchable database of patent case studies and statistics. 

Google patent Search

Google Patents Search - It allows users to search for patents in the usual Google one line search box. The Advanced Search option allows you to search by patent names, numbers, or inventors, and limit to application or issue dates.

What are Psychological Tests and Measures?

Resources on psychological testing are available through Library Search. Try searching on the keywords "psychological tests" to locate articles and e-books on the topic. Additional resources are available online - American Psychological Association - Testing and Assessment. APA's Testing office does not contain any tests, but rather a list of available resources. 

Type of Tests and Measures

  • Published tests -These are psychological tests which are available from commercial publishers for a fee. These tests are usually listed in a psychological test directory.
  • Unpublished tests -These tests are not available from commercial publishers. Some may be freely available on the Internet; others may have been included as an appendix to a scholarly article reporting on a particular study.

Finding Tests and Measures 

Before you try to locate the right test or find a particular type of the test, you may look at the Test Reviews Online, which is a web-based service of the Buros Center for Testing or Finding information about psychological tests (APA) to understand more about psychological tests 

Check out the publisher's website or see if the test is for sale via one of the Psychological test suppliers listed on the Australian Psychological Society (APS) website. Note: The publisher may require you to fill in a form outlining your qualifications to ensure that you are capable of administering the test and interpreting the results. 

You may use Database Search to find Tests and Measures information, such as: 

  • Mental Measurements Yearbook - Comprehensive guide to contemporary testing instruments; contains information required to evaluate test products across a range of areas including psychology, education, business, and leadership;
  • PsycINFO - find tests that have been appended to journal articles. You can also find journal articles about studies where a particular test has been used.

Your lecturer or supervisor should also be able to recommend key databases for you to search. 

This list below provides information about psychology tests online: 

Research data is often found in dedicated data repositories. These can be cross disciplinary or discipline specific. Some of the best starting points for find datasets include:

  • Re3Data - A search engine for data repositories, where you can search by subject area, country, format and more
  • Google Dataset Search - This is the dataset equivalent to Google Scholar
  • Data.org.au - Datasets for various Australian government bodies
  • Research Data Australia - This search contains data form various Australian universities and other research providers
  • Figshare.com – This will locate not only datasets but other research outputs

You can find standards by looking them up in databases within the Library or through regulatory and standard agency websites. For help with this, see the Finding Standards page.

Statistics are values that have been produced using data. They are used to describe data that has been collected. Examples of statistics include: a summary measure, an estimate, or a projection. (Australian Bureau of Statistics, n.d.)

For further information on statistics, see the Australian Bureau of Statistics website.

If you are looking specifically for Australian Census data, this can be found on the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) website. For help with using Australian Census data, see the Using Census data page.

How to find statistical databases in Library Search

  1.  Go to Database Search.
  2. Click the arrow next to ‘Type of Resource’.
  3. From the options that appear, select ‘Statistics’.

How to find dictionaries on statistical terms

  1. Go to Library Search. 
  2. Search using the keywords: dictionary AND (statistics OR “statistical terms”).
  3. Go to the ‘Content Type’ filter on the right-hand side of the page and select the ‘Books’ options. This will filter your results so only books display.

In addition to the specialised search locations for theses, many can also be found via Google Scholar.

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses is the world's most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses, indexing millions of searchable citations from around the world, covers 1861 to the present. 

Open Access Theses and Dissertations locates open access, freely accessible theses and dissertations published around the world, using metadata, indexing over 4 million theses and dissertations from over 1100 colleges, universities, and research institutions.

Trove is a discovery service focused on Australia, Australians, and items found in Australian collections. Find out how to search for Australian theses in Trove.

Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) is an international organization dedicated to promoting the adoption, creation, use, dissemination, and preservation of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs). 

Center for Research Libraries 20,000 doctoral dissertations from outside the United States and Canada are searchable from this site.

DART-Europe E-theses Portal  provides access to European open access research theses from more than 400 European universities.

British Library EthOS (e-thesis online service) aims to give access to all theses from participating UK institutions whether paper based or electronic.