Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/63428
Technology New Databases Add to Historical Record It's said that those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it. Fortunately, two new information tools may help business researchers avoid that com- mon fate. The Andex Bond Indices. The Center for Research in Securities Prices (CRSP) at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business has added the Andex Bond Indices database to its other financial databases. The CRSP databases maintain comprehensive historical records of stock, bond, and mutual fund securities over the years. new database from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, College Park, Maryland. In partnership with the research firm Webmergers .com of San Francisco, California, the Smith School of Business plans to launch the BPA, a Web-based initiative designed to create a permanent record of the historic dot-com era. School officials say the BPA is part of a major Smith School research project on the dot-com boom and bust period of the late 1990s. The Web site, located at www. businessplanarchive.org, will collect business-planning documents that entrepreneurs and researchers can use to learn from past business successes and fail- ures. Materials Business Plan Archive (BPA) is a 50 Bond Indices data- base, which is an enhancement of CRSP's current treasury indices, comprises 20-year, five-year, and 90-day return indices on treasuries. The new database is now available on CD-ROM on a subscription basis to academic and corporate researchers who gather and analyze financial data. The Business Plan Archive. The The Andex BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2002 sis from its own database of informa- tion on technology mergers and acquisitions that occurred during the dot-com era. The BPA enables former execu- and other electronic documenta- tion will be included. Webmergers. com will contribute data and analy- audio files, Java applets, slide presentations, PowerPoint e-mails, such as startups. Such information provides a valuable historical record, says David Kirsch, assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the Smith School and head of the BPA research project. "If we don't act now to docu- ment the dot-com happenings of the past several years, many of the events and firms that helped define the period will be forgotten," he says. "We must create a mean- ingful digital archive of this historical era." Access to the D ATA B I T tives, employees, investors, and customers who participated in the Internet boom and bust to submit business plans, marketing plans, technical plans, venture presenta- tions, and other business documents from failed and successful Internet documents will be free, but users will be asked to register to use the site. Site organizers hope to have selected planning documents available this month. Although the site's initial purpose is to document the dot-com era, site organizers note that they will accept business plans of all types. For more information about CRSP databases, visit www.crsp .uchicago.edu. For more information about the Business Plan Archive, visit www.businessplanarchive.org. 90 percent of U.S. house- holds have access to high- speed Internet services, such as DSL, cable, or satellite. However, only 7 percent subscribe to these services.