Making Sense of Business Reference: A Guide for Librarians and Research Professionals, Second Edition

ALA Member
$53.99
Price
$59.99
Item Number
978-0-8389-1926-2
Published
2019
Publisher
ALA Editions
Pages
176
Width
6"
Height
9"
Format
Softcover
AP Categories
A
C
I
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  • Description
  • Table of Contents
  • About the author
  • Reviews

This book is available in e-book format for libraries and individuals through aggregators and other distributors—ask your current vendor or contact us for more information. Examination copies are available for instructors who are interested in adopting this title for course use.

“It reads as if you have an expert coach in business reference helping you each step of the way." That’s how Academic BRASS summarized the first edition of this unique, unparalleled resource authored by Ross, a past winner of the Gale Cengage Learning Award for Excellence in Business Librarianship. Now she’s revised and updated it to tackle even more “bizref” headscratchers related to investment and finance, consumer behavior and statistics, company, and industry research. In addition to general reference strategies in each chapter that give you the lay of the land, inside you’ll find

  • overviews of more than fifty databases for articles, company and industry, directories, consumer, international, or raw data;
  • 33 real-life "Stumper" questions, all new for this edition, drawn from librarians in the field;
  • why asking “who cares about this kind of question” reveals potential sources;
  • techniques for applying reference interview techniques to business questions;
  • advice on where to find the numbers for answering finance questions;
  • expanded coverage of venture capital research and business information literacy;
  • “Start Making Sense” suggestions for further skill-building; and
  • questions to consider when building a bizref collection.

This is the guide to keep at your side when serving business students, job-seekers, investors, or entrepreneurs in your library.

Preface/Updated Introduction
Acknowledgments

1    The BizRef Question
2    The BizRef Resource (a.k.a. the BizRef Database)
3    Company and Nonprofits Research
4    Industry Research
5    Investment Researchc
6    Small Business and Venture Capital Research
7    Consumer Marketing and Advertising Research
8    Business (and Other) Statistics
9    International Business
10    Collection Development, Business Information Literacy, and Other Professional BizRef Resources
11    Business Reference Wrap-Up

Appendix: Stumpers
Index

Celia Ross

Celia Ross is senior associate librarian at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship. She has gained business research experience in a number of settings, including a venture capital firm, a global consulting firm, and a large public library. She is a past chair of RUSA’s Business Reference & Services Section (BRASS) and the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Business Librarianship Award.

"This updated edition of Ross’ bizref bible will be an invaluable resource for reference librarians in both business and general reference settings.”
— Booklist

Praise for the first edition

"An excellent refresher or primer, depending on one's background. It is highly recommended for frontline professionals in public and academic environments … this resource should be required reading for library and information science students. Those who read it will gain not only competence, but also confidence. "
⁠— Public Libraries

"This is an excellent manual … It will be valuable for business researchers in any field and librarians in every type of library."
⁠— CHOICE

"Scoped with just the right amount, and type, of practical guidance to help new business librarians to quickly develop a working knowledge base in this specialty area … it reads as if you have an expert coach in business reference helping you each step of the way. "
⁠— Academic BRASS

"Even the most experienced business librarian will appreciate and benefit from the strategies and tips found in this work. This book is also useful no matter the type of library, and librarians in public libraries and academic libraries will find the advice useful and to the point."
⁠— Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship

"A practical, hands-on guide to business reference for readers who function as librarians, professionals, and researchers … will make an excellent addition to any business collection, reference collection, or business/finance collection at an academic library (community college or four-year college/university) and public library."
⁠— Reference Reviews

"The book begins with an excellent chapter on techniques for conducting business reference interviews. It should be mandatory reading for everyone starting out in the field and is a useful review for everyone else … I highly recommend this book to academic and public librarians who regularly work with business-related questions."
⁠— Public Services Quarterly

"As a practicing business librarian, I found all resources mentioned to be extremely relevant. (Many of them I use regularly.) … This book provides web addresses, database names, research strategies, tips and ideas that any librarian will find relevant and useful. I highly recommend it for any librarian, business or otherwise."
⁠— Australian Library Journal

"Providing direct answers and resources, as well as search strategies and a variety of helpful hints, this book is a must-have for any information professional needing to navigate through the complex world of business databases, governmental resources, and the Internet."
⁠— Endnotes