This page highlights a few good research tools for your project. It should help you get started. Certain databases require that you access through your UW account (the modem pool or an on-campus computer). If you use another ISP, and are UW faculty, staff, or student, you can access these databases by going through the UW proxy server.
UW Library Databases - Lots of searchable databases. ACM digital library, ABI-Inform, Lexis, and a whole cast of others!
Engineering Library Databases - Full of science / technology databases. The engineering library also maintains a page of resources by specific engineernig discipline. Actually, almost every UW branch library maintains a web page full of special resources.
The IBM Patent Server - Want to do scientific competitive intelligence on a high tech company? Want to find out who their top inventors are? You can do patent searches at the UW engineering library or you can do them through the IBM patent server. It is the only private free patent search engine and it is far easier to use the official repository at the UW engineering library.
Intellectual Property Page - Contains summary notes by the instructor and links to hot software IP issues.
Lexis/Nexis Universe - Extensive array of full-text news (newspapers, wire services, transcripts and newsletters), business literature, industry and company information, legal, biographical and reference resources. You must connect from your UW account or an on-campus computer to successfully connect to this site from here.
Investex - The Investex Group Research Bank Web brings together investment research and industry analysis. It contains research from over 450 investment banks and 150 trade associations as well as fundamental financial information from Moody's Investors Service. This can only be accessed through the UW modem pool or an on-campus computer to successfully connect. You can also use the UW proxy server.
Free Edgar - This is a searchable database for company filings with the SEC. There's an option for downloading the documents in a rich text format. This format can be read by almost any word processor.
The Standard - A Business IT Journal that advertises itself as "Intelligence for the Internet Economy", and while it's more about industry intelligence, it's about as good as a freebie gets.
Red Herring - For High Technology business news and well researched articles on entire high technology industries.
San Jose Mercury - Forget the New York Times. This IS the Mercedes-Benz of daily digital news.