Some helpful information re searching Mergent's WebReports

When I tried to search Mergent's WebReports for some information on the Eli Lilly company dating from the 1920s (for a request by a member of the Baruch College Fund), I kept coming up with nothing. (There was no information or message after the search was done.) Doing a company search I received a listing that the earliest manual listed was from 1956. I had checked and I knew the company was publicly traded in the 1920s. (The manuals started in 1908.) I also had problems with Ford Motors (searching the transportation manual didn't retrieve all years.) So, I turned to their technical help via email and received this reply, which provides some helpful information on the database coverage, searching and as a reply that shows they really wanted me to get the information I needed:

This is the reply


"In the earlier years fewer companies were listed so for many years at the beginning of the century some manuals may not exist. In addition, for those years in the
1920’s where an Industrial Manual was published, the electronic table of contents may not yet be accessible through WebReports. A manual search of the document’s table of contents is necessary to locate particular organizations. I performed the search and found Lilly in the following:

1920 – No Manual for This Year
1921 – No Manual for This Year
1922 – No Manual for This Year
1923 – page 550-551 (Since there is no table of contents listed on the website for this manual, I searched the document’s index manually and found Lilly Company listed on XCII or page 95 of 2458.)
1924 – page 652-653 (Since there is no table of contents listed on the website for this manual, I searched the document’s index manually and found Lilly Company listed on CCXXX or page 233 of 2977.)
1925 – page 331-332 (Since there is no table of contents listed on the website for this manual, I searched the document’s index manually and found Lilly Company listed on CXXX or page 138 of 4980.)
1926 – page 320-320 (Since there is no table of contents listed on the website for this manual, I searched the document’s index manually and found Lilly Company listed on CLIV or page 156 of 2809.)
1927 – page 396-396 (Since there is no table of contents listed on the website for this manual, I searched the document’s index manually and found Lilly Company listed on CLXII or page 171 of 6510.)
1928 – page 901-901 (Since there is no table of contents listed on the website for this manual, I searched the document’s index manually and found Lilly Company listed on CLIX or page 166 of 6954.)
1929 – No Manual for This Year

The numbers in parentheses are the pages where you can locate Lilly Company in the alphabetical index. The numbers listed after the year dates are the pages in the actual document where information about Lilly Company appears. Please keep in mind that the page numbers I have listed are those published in the printed document. These page numbers differ from the page numbers in the quick search function of the viewer. So, for example, Lilly Company is found on page 901 of the 1928 Industrial Manual. However, typing 901 into the page number textbox will actually take you to page 633 of the printed document. You must type 1219 into the viewer’s page number textbox to view the printed document’s page 901.

1923 – Type 710 to view Lilly Company on page 550
1924 – Type 963 to view Lilly Company on page 652
1925 – Type 535 to view Lilly Company on page 331
1926 – Type 592 to view Lilly Company on page 320
1927 – Type 671 to view Lilly Company on page 396
1928 – Type 1219 to view Lilly Company on page 901

If you have any further questions or requests regarding Mergent WebReports, please contact our Technical Support desk at 1-800-955-8080 or 212-413-7744. Please note that the hours of our support desk are from 8:00am to 8:00pm (EST), Monday through Friday. You can also send an Email to technicalsupport@mergent.com.

Thank you.
Technical Support"

Regarding their comment, "In addition, for those years in the 1920’s where an Industrial Manual was published, the electronic table of contents may not yet be accessible through WebReports. A manual search of the document’s table of contents is necessary to locate particular organizations...." our collection of Moody's Manuals (now Mergent)has various dates, depending upon the manual. The Industrial Manual dates back to 1963. NYPL has the Moody's manuals on microfiche and also in off-site storage, which may be the easier way to search for information.

Eli Lilly was only one of the companies for which reference information was requested.