The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that most retail investors do not have access to a Bloomberg machine, but with a bit of digging, you can usually find what you need. The Globe's John Heinzl writes that the best place to start your search is the investor-relations section of the company's website. Say you're looking for historical dividend data for BCE: Search for "BCE investor relations" and, once you are on the page, look for the "dividends" tab. Click on that, and you will get a series of tables showing recent dividends for BCE's common and preferred shares. These tables go back only about one year. If you click on "dividend history" or "view history," you'll get all of BCE's common share quarterly dividends since 1983, including the amount and the declaration, record and payment dates. There is even a link to download an Excel spreadsheet with BCE's dividends going back to 1949. Mr. Heinzl says BCE's website is a great example of the right way to present dividend data. The information is thorough, well organized and easy to find. He adds that he wishes more companies would follow BCE's example. All too often, finding detailed dividend information is an exercise in frustration.