Ann Schoenenberger, MLIS
Business Librarian
Kenton County Public Library
SoapBlog 2: Enriching today: expert business tools you may not be using yet
Armed with blogs, PCs, and laptops, we are now photographers, reporters, publishers, bankers, travel agents, and, loaded with gigabytes of memory and instant connections, librarians. So, endowed by the supreme saving and searching devices, we create our own personal libraries. These electric mountains of financial, health, leisure, professional, and historical information are guarded by secret codes and surge protectors. Depending on your personality or mood, this is cause for joyous celebration of historic auspiciousness or grounds for a nagging paranoia that something somewhere needs attention or has been lost forever. All this in addition to the physical world that needs tending to…
To be an official librarian, you need an ALA accredited master's degree. While I respect the history, research, and theories of my profession, I think that as we can invest our own money, fix our own car, and book our own flights, that everyone has the capacity to seek, organize, classify, and manage collections. In fact, for any worker or entrepreneur, I would suggest that it is an essential skill set to develop. Decisions are made and problems are solved based on accurate, reliable, timely information.
3 Tools that to enrich your work life that will make you an expert searcher
1. Databases and other e-library resources
Libraries subscribe to databases that contain premium content not available on the web. Not only is it not accessible from search engines, it is selected by professionals and is often peer reviewed so you can validate it faster. You can also now check out e-books, digital films, music, and more from your library website. Your library card is your access key.
Examples of what you can do: make custom lists and see estimated sales figures for private companies with ReferenceUSA, check your media hits with Newsbank, download the latest popular business book, and read your field's trade publications.
2. Worldcat
Libraries share information on the books they purchase and librarians access these records through a shared union catalog called Worldcat. The free and open version is available at http://www.worldcat.org Type in book, CD, DVD, etc. titles, authors, and subjects to see what library system has it locally or even worldwide. You can also add reviews and save booklists.
3. Advanced searching
A quick tip to update your search skills fast: experiment with the advanced search function in the library catalog, search engines, and databases. You can bypass popular pages and get to interesting Powerpoints and PDFs or limit your search to the "edu" and "org" domain to limit your search to educational institutions. Put in a little more time in crafting a search and spend less time sorting through results. You also be amazed at what you find.
For more information on using these tools contact:
business@kentonlibrary.org