 |
Fall River Public Library |
|---|
Library Print Resources
The Fall River Public Library has a large business reference collection, including magazines, books and directories. Reference materials may be used in-library only.
Some frequently used reference works include weekly or monthly publications like Morningstar, Value Line, Banker & Tradesman, Barron’s and Fortune. Helpful books include Best’s Key Rating Guide, Brands and Their Companies, Dun & Bradstreet Million Dollar Directory, Harris New England Manufacturers’ Directory, Lexis Nexis Corporate Affiliations, Small Business Sourcebook, Standard & Poor’s Register and Standard & Poor’s Stock Reports. Library print resources may be searched at home through the iBistro catalog, accessible in the library or at home. If a book you want isn’t available at this library, you can reserve it using your SAILS card, and it will be delivered, usually within one week. If an item doesn’t appear in the iBistro catalog, try the Virtual Catalog link to search for items all over Massachusetts, in both public and academic libraries.
Library Online Resources
If you live in Massachusetts and have a SAILS library card, you can access public library resources 24/7, free from your home or school computer. A quick link to the library catalog is available on the Fall River Public Library home page.
Just log in to the iBistro SAILS catalog (using your library card and PIN, usually the last 4 digits of your phone number).
Next, Click the Online Resources tab, then select Databases Available at Home.
Available resources include a variety of magazine and newspaper databases, with full text article searching, and e-books. Some of the resources you’ll find helpful are Academic OneFile (magazine articles), Business & Company ASAP (more than 200,000 company articles and profiles), Business Leader Profiles, Newsbank (newspaper articles) and Encyclopedia of Small Business.
SEARCH TIP: When searching Business & Company ASAP, if you enter a company name (for example, Starbucks), you’ll get a list of articles about that company, with the most recent first. Scroll down to the end of the article to see a link for Profiles of companies in this article. This will give you a quick look at vital information.
More Specialized Resources
You may need to go beyond the typical public library collection for some specialized business, industry and demographic research resources. University libraries, in a university that offers a business major, generally have a good variety of books, periodicals and online business databases. UMass Dartmouth has some excellent business databases, including Mintel and Mergent, which may be used in the library by Massachusetts residents. These resources are not available remotely except to student cardholders.
Boston Public Library also has a good selection of business resources, and many of these can be accessed from your home computer. You will need to apply for a special Boston Public Library e-card, which you can do online. This process is free and takes less than a minute. You will gain instant access to information sources from Dun & Bradstreet, Mergent, Reference USA and many others.
General Online Resources:
ALA Best of the Best Business Web Sites
A quick guide to web sites that business reference librarians have voted the best. They are arranged in categories, such as advertising and marketing, e-commerce and small business. (If you don’t want to type in the long URL, just Google “ALA best business web sites” and it will come right up.)
IPL Business & Economics
http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/bus00.00.00/
Comprehensive guide to web resources, with helpful links in many categories, from business plans to statistical data.
Bureau of Labor
Statistics Data
http://www.bls.gov/data/home.htm
From the government web site, this is the best source for statistics on employment, wages, productivity and technology.
Hoover’s
Well-established company information site. A more detailed version is available by subscription (or through the UMass Dartmouth Library) but the free online edition gives basic information for most large companies, including stock symbol, corporate headquarters, sales, growth, key executives, number of employees and industry profile. Hoover’s also publishes an annual Handbook of American Business and other corporate guidebooks, found in most libraries.
Occupational Outlook Handbook
Published yearly as a book and now also available online. For any job category, find out the education and training needed, salary expectations, working conditions and projections for future growth.
The Thomas Register
A comprehensive resource for industrial information, products, services, CAD drawings, and more.
United States Census
http://www.census.gov/census2000/states/us.html
A lot of data to wade through, but the most comprehensive demographic information can be found here. The FedStats site helps break the information down into commonly used tables.
General Search Tip: Power Googling
When you Google, maximize your results by using “quotations” around specific phrases or names to narrow your search; use the + sign to link terms in a single site, limit to trustworthy .edu or .gov sites by using the Advanced Search function, and try Google Scholar for full-text, peer-reviewed articles.
© by the Fall River Public Library. Last updated January 8, 2008