2.5 Researching Credible Connections

Jeff Houchens 0004636947

Assignment Topics1. My respected Company found by library DB and why I

chose it2. Two Articles found using DB supporting company.

Evaluations provided after each article3. Two articles found using search engines supporting

company. Evaluations provided after each article.

4. Diigo Link for resources

My Company: Best Buy, Inc.

Why I chose it...

Competitive pricing Stores contain all the latest products from

Beets gaming headsets to a precision mouse from Razer.

Retail stores help provide physical review of the product before purchasing.

I like to promote local jobs here in Winchester

Library Source 1

http://bit.ly/1viPgOT

This article shows the struggle brick and mortar retailers go through compared to their “online only” competitors. #060912059338

Library Source 1 Analysis1. This article originates from Fortune.com, however no author is indicated. 2. The date of the article is 5/23/14, but there is no indication if it has been revised

recently. The author does provide a prior year comparison to the recent quarterly earnings data.

3. The focus of the article is related to Best Buy’s recent poorer than expected sales figures. The article seems biased that sales is low due to poor mobile phone sales, however when looking at the 8K Filings found here http://1.usa.gov/ZlDdCa, this is supported, however it is not the only cause. Without reviewing this information, a author would have succeeding in convincing the reader that mobile sales is the root cause of the poor sales figures.

4. There are no links in the article to help support it.5. This article can also be found on fortune.com’s website, where it has the direct link

to the SEC filings. The author is also indicated on this page: http://bit.ly/1wlPly0

Library Source 1 Is Credible

After verifying through external sources; SEC.gov and Fortune.com, I found this source to be credible. The data provided matches the latest quarterly report from the company.

Library Source 2http://bit.ly/1tRjbYt

This article is about how Best Buy partnered with selected Libraries to help expand teen digital literacy. Once selected, the libraries were given $2000 to use towards new electronics.#03010704434

Library Source 2 Analysis1. The author of this article is Jan Chapman, who serves on the Editorial Advisory Board for

Young Adult Library Services (YALS). She is also the Teen Librarian at the Strongsville Branch of Cuyahoga Public Library. The article originates from YALS as a newsletter.

2. The timestamp on the article is Spring 2014, but it does not indicate if it has been revised. YALSA is a part of the American Library Association, which was founded in 1876 according to their website found here: http://bit.ly/ZVrR9h

3. The article doesn’t go into great depth of Best Buy’s involvement in the funding. It only states that libraries had to apply only and 12 libraries were selected. The remained of the article explains how the schools got creative with their funding. The article is thorough and does not seem to be biased in any way.

4. The author does not list any sources or citations in the article. There are also no other links to select.

5. This newsletter is provided to subscribers only and is not found anywhere else. On the last page of the article, it is clearly copyrighted by the American Library Association.

Library Source 2 is Credible

After reviewing other sources related to this article, it does appear to be credible. Two other other sources I reviewed are: http://bit.ly/1w0XoCd & http://bit.ly/1z1dJL2.

Search Engine Source 1

http://cnnmon.ie/1ypcxjj

This article goes into detail about how Best Buy struggles against online competitors such as Amazon.

#061211039237

Search Engine 1 Analysis1. The author for this article is Paul R. La Monica, who is the Assistant Managing

Editor for CNN Money. The article itself does originate from CNN Money.2. The article was published on August 26, 2014 at 11:09 AM ET. There is an

indication that it has been revised. At the bottom of the article it shows when it was first published. CNN.com has had a long standing as being one of the major news outlets here in the US.

3. The articles main focus is how Best Buy is suffering hits from new trends where consumers are buying more products online. Some products they carrie in the store are no longer relevant such as music CDs and DVD movies (due to streaming media). The article does almost sound bias and that they author is trying to convince the readers that this physical retailer is a thing of the past, however he does mention that the company is still profitable. Online sales in particular have picked up when store sales dropped.

Search Engine 1 Analysis (cont)4. The author does provide links to the stock data for Best Buy, Twitter, Amazon,

Netflix, RadioShack, Sears, JCPenney and Staples to give clarity on where each stand on that front. He also provides links to Twitter feeds of a new people he quoted regarding the negative issues Best Buy has to look forward to. All of the links are in working order.

5. The webpage is easy to navigate, but it has a lot of media (video and images) so I can see it being slow to load with a slow internet connection. However having the option to watch the video is nice. It is clear that the article is owned by CNN.

Search Engine 1 is Credible

Minus the bias remarks and headlines, the article looks to be credible. There is significant factual information provided that proves Best Buys’ status in the electronics market when compared to other online and brick and mortar retailers. The author provides links to other well established sites to support his argument (such as Twitter and Nasdaq).

Search Engine Source 2

http://yhoo.it/ZA4DEXThis article explains how Best Buy plans to use TV’s as part of its future growth. This is another way the company plans to compete with online competitor Amazon.

#070918029987

Search Engine 2 Analysis1. The author for this article is Ashley Lutz, who works for Business Insider. The

article does not provide her title though. The article does originate from Business Insider.

2. The article is dated October 6, 2014 @ 2:23 PM. It does not indicate a revision date anywhere. Business Insider has been around since 2009 and was founded by former CEO of DobuleClick, Kevin Ryan (http://bit.ly/ZA4Nfj)

3. The focus of the article is to inform consumers of Best Buys plans to use TV’s to further their growth in the near future. The article is not biased in any way and is not trying to convince the reader that selling HDTVs will be a good or bad thing for Best Buy.

4. The author references several sources such as Deutsche Bank and CFO Sharon McCollam, however she does not provide links to the sources. The Business Insider link to the actual article does provide a little more information

Search Engine 2 Analysis (cont)4. The author references several sources such as Deutsche Bank and CFO

Sharon McCollam, however she does not provide links to the sources. The Business Insider link to the actual article does provide a little more information on where McCollam spoke; Goldman Sachs’ Annual Global Retailing Conference, but links were provided there either. The Instagram photos were of little use since they didn’t not have any text information to support them.

5. The article is available through Yahoo.com and Businessinsider.com. Both sites load quickly and are freely accessible. The article is clearly copyrighted with 2014 Business Insider Inc, which is located at the bottom of the Businessinsider.com page, not the Yahoo.com page.

Search Engine 2 is not credibleWithout having access to the video on the Goldman Sachs’ Annual Global Retailing Conference, the typical reader is not able to authenticate this article. Additionally, there is no earnings data to back up the claim that the new ultra HDTVs will have a major impact on Best Buys overall sales because this is a future projection. All the reader can confirm right now is that Best Buys overall store traffic and sales has been on the decline.

Diigo Public URL

https://www.diigo.com/user/jhouchens99