It is a well-known fact among business researchers that trade associations' Web pages can be excellent sources of industry information. However, consulting firms' Internet sites can also be good sources of industry data. I looked through the 150 or so industry overviews I've written during the past three years to check the Web sites of the industry experts I've quoted. And sure enough, the press releases and report abstracts found on many of the consulting firms' Web sites often provide excellent information.

Having specialized knowledge is important for a consultant to compete, and the more quotes you read from the same expert, the more you connote that name with a certain industry. Read the name IDC and you think technology; read Jupiter and the Internet springs to mind. The consulting industry in general is fragmented, with thousands of firms competing against each other. Getting quoted in the press helps consultants get business and stand apart from their competition. And what better way to get the attention of the press and possible clients than to publish information on the company's Web page?

As information specialists, we are constantly on the alert for quotes from industry experts in the hopes of finding out forecasts and trends. After reading a quote of an industry expert, we should automatically check that individual's or firm's Web site for additional information.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) CONSULTING

IT consulting firms stand out as being the best at providing industry data on their Web sites. An article by Daniel Roth in the March 15, 1999 issue Fortune caught my eye. It stated, "There's money to be made in advising businesses on how to survive on the Internet." Several dozen IT consulting companies exist to do just that and, in order to establish credibility, these firms flood the market with press releases containing small portions of their research findings. In fact, the aforementioned article in Fortune, with the illustrative title "My, what big Internet numbers you have!" states that Internet consulting firms use press releases "as scare tactics to bring in business." The article also contains a table, "Predictions "R" Us," that outlines several IT consulting firms, their specialties, and their "recent scare pronouncements." A more recent article in Industry Standard ("No Looking Behind the Curtain," by Megan Barnett, May 8, 2000) suggests that some firms present results favorable to their clients. Depending on how you view it, this might bring in business or scare it away.

In any case, many of the forecasts issued in these firms' press releases have proven true, and information specialists can find a bundle of information on the firm's Web sites. Many firms provide press releases, but not all provide archives. Most firms also provide informative abstracts to their multi-thousand-dollar reports, and a few sites offer a search engine that saves researchers' time. In addition, many of the firms offer to send you their press releases via email, a great benefit if you follow specific industries.

Carol Beckman, Robert Schwarzwalder, and Charles Myers describe many of the IT analysts in their article "Benchmarking the Information Technology Analysts: Net Gain or Net Pain?" (ONLINE, November/December 1998). In the article, the authors also provide a chart that outlines each firm's subject scope, such as Yankee Communication's focus on data and voice communications and Forrester Research's focus on the Internet, new media, ecommerce, and networking.

OTHER PRIME CANDIDATES

In addition to the firms mentioned in that article, I'd like to mention a few other IT-related sites. Zona Research (http://www.zonaresearch. com) provides market information on the Internet industry. The search engine on the Zona site is good. By plugging in a keyword, such as retail , researchers will retrieve a list of available press releases and report summaries on the topic. Releases dated back to 1995 are available. Gomez Advisors (http:// www.gomez.com) "provides decision support to consumers that want to transact online and information to businesses that want to attract and retain online consumers." The Gomez site is very product-oriented, and provides the firm's often-cited "Internet Scorecards," which ranks Internet sites by products, such as furniture and mortgages.

Another frequently cited consulting firm is International Data Corporation (IDC) (http://www.idc.com). Founded in 1964, IDC "is the world's leading provider of information technology data, industry analysis and strategic and tactical guidance to builders, providers and users of information technology." IDC is particularly strong in its analysis and international coverage of computer components and peripherals. Like the Web sites of its competitors, IDC's site provides press releases containing all sorts of useful information. IDC's Web site boasts a sophisticated search function, which allows researchers to search by keyword, and to limit the search by date and type of publication. For example, a search on PC Shipments retrieved two recent press releases, one of which was "The Direct Channel Ships More PCs for the First Time in 3Q 1999."

Forward Concepts (http://www. fwdconcepts.com) offers data-filled executive summaries on the wireless industry and press releases on technologies such as RISC microprocessors and DSP chips. Investment bankers Adams, Harkness & Hill, Inc. (http:// www.ahh.com) "help emerging growth companies and the institutional investors that follow them achieve success." Follow the link "Thought Pieces" on the firm's Web site, and you will find lengthy reports on topics such as the Internet advisory services industry and integrated circuits.

Allied Business Intelligence (http:// www.alliedworld.com) consults to companies in the broadband, wireless, electronics, networking, and energy industries. The best way to locate information from the company's reports is to follow one of the topic links from the home page, such as "Broadband." Researchers should then click on either "Annual Studies," "Intelligence Updates," or "Segment Reports." Media releases and sample pages are provided for each report, such as "Wireless Base Stations Markets, Technologies & Building Blocks."

CONSUMER PRODUCTS

Many IT consulting firms report on consumer products, such as cellular phones and digital cameras. However, consulting firms can cover even more common household consumer products, such as coffee and furniture. The NPD Group (http:// www.npd.com) follows consumer purchasing and behavior patterns for a number of products in 20 industries, including apparel, cosmetics, gasoline, and toys. The NPD Group issues informative press releases, such as one that states that for "furniture products [such] as headboards, chests/dressers, armoires and nightstands, 1999 sales reached $158 million, up 18% over 1998." The best way to locate a press release or a sample report is to follow the link from "Industry Tracking" and select the industry of choice.

Promar International (http://www. promarinternational.com) provides "strategic marketing and business consulting to help companies in agrifood and branded food and beverage industries." I consulted Promar's Web site because I read a quote from a firm's representative regarding the nutraceutical industry. Sure enough, I found 20-some sample pages from a $14,000 report the firm published on the subject. Unfortunately, sample reports are not available for all of the firms' studies.

MANUFACTURING

The CIT Group (http://www.citgroup. com) has been publishing excellent two-page industry outlooks on its Web site for several years now. The CIT Group is a publicly traded, diversified finance firm that follows industries such as machine tools, plastics, aggregates, corporate aircraft, apparel, light vehicles, and manufactured housing, to name a few. The CIT Group is cited frequently, and its overviews are excellent summaries that include statistics and forecasts. To locate the "Outlooks" follow the link "Newswire" from the home page.

SERVICES

ZA Consulting (http://www. zaconsulting.com) focuses on the health care industry. At first glance, its Web site does not appear to have the useful press releases and report abstracts that information specialists hope to find. But after following some of the site's links, I found the firm's newsletter, P.A.C.E. (Post Acute Care Experts), that provides summaries of the current legislation affecting nursing homes, home health care institutions, and the like. The links "White Papers" and "Presentations" led to pages that are under construction, but in the future may provide good industry information. The site also provides full text to articles, such as "Business Outlook Favorable for Senior Living" and "Why Medical Groups Fail: There's Truth in the Numbers," that have appeared in publications such as Healthcare Review and Health Care Strategic Management.

Health Capital Consultants (http:// www.healthcapital.com) are also health care industry experts with a financial emphasis. Like ZA Consulting, the firm's Web site does not provide press releases, but rather copies of speeches and monographs, such as "The Realities of Rising Healthcare Costs."

MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS

BIA Financial Network (http:// www.bia.com) is an advisory firm to the communications and information technology industries in the U.S. and Latin America. The "Industry Reports" section of its Web page contained only five, somewhat dated, overviews. However, the "News" section contains informative press releases, published articles, and executive summaries on the radio and television industries.

Paul Kagan Associates (http:// www.kagan.com) is a well-known financial consulting firm to companies in the media and communications industries. The Kagan site is chock-full of information, but unfortunately you must be a subscriber in order to use the "Search Kagan News and Data" feature. However, non-subscribers can browse through the list of press releases to find information on industries such as pay-per-view. Rather than finding a wide range of overviews and forecasts, the Kagan site is best for gathering information from the large number of news articles about current happenings in the industry, such as a media company's earnings or acquisitions activity.

While much of Veronis, Suhler & Associates (http:/www.veronissuhler. com) data is available for a fee from Data Downlink, the firm's Web page provides an abundance of information on the communications industry. Veronis Suhler is a "media merchant bank" that offers financial advisory services. The home page usually offers links to current studies, such as "Internet Will Stimulate Traditional Media Use Through 2003." However, following the link "Research Publications" will lead you to summaries of reports on the communications industry. To help those researching any aspect of the communications industry, the site offers a well-organized set of links to additional sources of information on say, newspaper publishing and advertising and marketing services.

THE BIG 5 ACCOUNTING FIRMS

The Big 5 accounting firms-- PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, KPMG International, and Arthur Andersen-- have been consulting businesses for generations. Information specialist John Lescher reviewed the Web pages of the Big 5 firms in terms of free research information, and reported that the PricewaterhouseCoopers' site is "excellent" and provides "very good" free content ("The Big 5 Accounting Firms," Cyber-- skeptics Guide to Internet Research, September 1999).

I think the best way to find business information on your topic is to use the site's search feature. A keyword search using pharmaceutical retrieved a list of over 250 links, many of which looked interesting. I followed one link, "Global Market and Deal Survey: Pharmaceutical Sector," which retrieved a somewhat-dated 80-page report on the topic. Otherwise, by following the link "Insights & Solutions," researchers can find a variety of options for locating information, such as the "Issues" and "Survey Reports" links. Or, following the links "About Us" and the "Industries" from the home page will allow you to search by one of 24 market sectors.

FINDING AIDS

I found all the sites mentioned in this article by using a search engine, (typically Google), to search by the firm's name. But what if I didn't have a name to go on? Good finding aids exist to help information specialists locate a consultant's Web site. For Internet-related topics, I highly recommend Nua Internet Surveys (http://www.nua.ie). Nua "is the authoritative source online for information on Internet demographics and trends." The firm provides brief summaries of Internetrelated research provided by consulting firms, as well as data from its own research. The surveys are organized by subject, so to find trends in childrens' use of the Internet, I can click on "demographics" and find brief excerpts of a variety of studies on the subject.

Monitor Today! (http://www. monitortoday.com/research.html), "Ottawa's Technology Information Portal," provides links to over 100 consulting firms' Web pages. Along with each link is a brief summary of the field in which the firm specializes. The Quirk's Marketing Research Review Web site (http://www. quirks.com) "is designed to be a onestop source of information on marketing research." Researchers can search a database of over 6,200 research providers by company name, research specialty criteria, industries and markets, or geographic region. Because the Quirk site focuses on marketing research firms, links to financial consulting firms most likely will not appear. If you already know the name of a market research firm, you can also use the GreenBook (http://www.greenbook.org), a "Worldwide Directory of Marketing Research Companies and Services." As with the Quirk's site, the GreenBook covers market research firms only.

HIDDEN INFORMATION

When a consultant is quoted in a trade publication, you can be sure that not everything he or she said was printed. Therefore, it is definitely worthwhile to look for the firm's Web site for additional information. While searching for the Web pages of consultants I've quoted in my industry overviews, I found that some firms' Web sites provided little information or it was nonexistent. However, in many cases my efforts were rewarded with additional and very useful information. Once you've located a site, do not be surprised if you must register in order to gain access to the company's reports. I've registered with several dozen sites and have never been bombarded with junk mail or phone calls.