#1 Business Source Complete
OK, searching for FM radio...yikes, that's a whole lot of jargon (and an odd amount of results for FM radio in African nations)...a good variety of sources, from Billboard magazine to trade journals. Now starting a visual search...oh, cool. Yes, I think that the visual search is definitely easier, especially given the broad topic. I asked for my results to be sorted in blocks and by publication, and I limited the results to the last two years. Very nifty tool.
#2 EconLit
Just like Business Source Complete, I see...there are scholarly publications, trade journals... Africa again...searching "EPA and small businesses"...I'm told my initial search query did not yield any results, but the database used smart text searching and results were found based on my keywords. Hmm, the EPA has a small grants program, let's look at that...it's a working paper. I click the article linker; it wants information I can't give it. But I can go to the website listed, or mark this using the tools to the right to explore it further later. On to the search for tax policy and small business...there's a lot of results dealing with foreign countries, I wonder if I can limit the search to Maine or the US? I change my search to "US tax policy and small businesses", and of my first five results, two deal with South Africa, one with Uzbekistan, and one compares the US and UK. Not helpful. I'll try to return to this later, other searches await.
#3 Regional Business News
(The option to choose databases at the top of the search box is nice!) I'm going to choose LL Bean as my Maine company, so working from that I decide to do Cabela's as the national search...lots to choose from nationally, but when I add "Maine" to my search, I don't get any results. I click open "subject" to refine the results, and see "New Hampshire", so I click that and get two articles from the New Hampshire Business Review. (Is there a Maine Business Review? No.. I search Maine and refine by scholarly journal...no...there's a small business opportunity.) Now I search LL Bean and get 7 results.There's a wide range, from the arrival of the LL Bean Bootmobile to safety recalls to a study on the internet and mail-order retail industry.
#4 Value Line
This one is very intimidating, as I've always done the equivalent of putting my hands over my ears and singing whenever the subject of stocks come up. But, deep breath, here I go... this seems like a database with lots to offer, and is relatively easy to navigate once I stop shuddering and open my eyes...I search Apple in the general search box, which, since it yields results similar to a google search, lessens the panic. Next I do the company lookup...ha, where is that?...oh, found it...what do you mean, 0 results for "Apple"? Oh, I was searching by "ticker" and not "company"...no, I don't want Dr. Pepper/Snapple, but here is Apple. I click that and get a report which I think is an overview, and looks pretty comprehensive. I'm not sure it's a "full research report" or not, so I search for this. Nothing is coming up quickly. I have to say this remains intimidating to me, although I suppose much of that is due to my attitude (not to mention the fact that I'm three assignments behind and would like to catch up, so slowing down to explore this feature calmly is hard to do right now). I'll try to come back...
#5 Wall Street Journal
Oh, it's like the Maine Newsstand. This will be easy...I think the suggested subjects would all be pertinent, especially after clicking "view all". I see the same options we explored in the Maine Newsstand assignment to create alerts via email or RSS feed. These would be very helpful for a small business owner wishing to follow proposed legislation, for example. This one is lots easier for a non-financial person to deal with than Value Line!
So, I just looked over what I've written, and there's lots of "I'll try to come back". I can see that this is a personal area of opportunity, and I really must come back to explore all of these databases when I'm not feeling rushed. I'm not sure how much our patrons would use them, as we serve a rural area whose main industry is tourism, but you never know, and it would be wise to be comfortable with these features.
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