Research Blog : directories

Be A Smarter Consumer

SuDocQueen@evpl — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:39:00 GMT

That’s what it says on the front of the 2009 Consumer Action Handbook, and that’s what this book is trying to help us all become. Created by the GSA ( U.S. General Services Administration) Federal Citizen Information Center in conjunction with several other federal agencies and corporations, the book offers a multitude of useful information and resources for the in-the-know and the wanting-to-know consumer.

The book breaks into IV sections. The first gives detailed tips for consumers on subjects that range from buying a car or TV to choosing health insurance and a doctor to how to protect oneself against identity theft and how to handle wills and funerals. The subjects are too numerous to completely list here, but each topic is addressed fully. The second section offers advice for filing a complaint, how to use Dispute Resolution Programs, and covers Small Claims Court as well as contacts for reporting fraud and safety hazards. The third part lists additional sources for consumer information, and the fourth is a long list of direct contacts for assistance from the government and corporate America.

We have two circulating copies of this little gem as well as a reference copy here at Central. Or, since those of you reading this obviously have computer access, if you prefer you can get the same information from the www.ConsumerAction.gov website. If the website’s information seems too chaotic and you’d prefer the information displayed the same way it would be in the book, you can use the PDF from the website instead. One nice little extra on the website is the Consumer News section. It’s a box situated on the right hand side of the main page and offers links to events of consumer interest like “Kolcraft Recalls 1 Million Play Yards Due to Fall Hazard” or “Five Tax Facts About Summertime Child Care Expenses.”

Let your cursor do the walking

googler@evpl — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:55:00 GMT

Central Library discontinued its collection of most out-of-state phone books last year, because the Reference USA database contains more up-to-date information than the books did (mostly because we didn't always get the most recent phonebooks in a timely manner). And we still enthusiastically use and recommend the database for its highly versatile searching.

But people do miss the browsability of the actual books -- being able to see listings in an alphabetical sequence, being able to compare yellow page ads. So we were happy when a colleague in the Library's adminstrative offices pointed out an online version of all the AT&T phonebooks that allows users to do just that.

The "RealPages" at AT&T allow you to search by keyword and browse by category. They provide seperate tabs for the business, residence, yellow page, and government sections (and the community guide section). It's fast, easy to use, and actually kind of fun to navigate. They even show the cover of the phonebook so you can verify how recent the edition is.

The phone company is not known for giving stuff away for free -- take advantage of this resource!

New database for corporate info

googler@evpl — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:53:00 GMT

EVPL is now subscribing to the Million Dollar Database, which provides detailed information on over 250,000 public and private companies with at least $9 million in annual sales or at least 180 employees. Company data is updated frequently to ensure the most accurate information possible.

Company profiles include specialty information like executive biographies, number of employees, sales, year established, and Dun & Bradstreet's "prescreen score," assessing the risk of delinquent payment. The database offers you unlimited searching, viewing and printing of detailed company profiles with contact information.

The database is especially designed to help you find in-depth company and contact information, find new sales opportunities, conduct marketing research, and identify potential job opportunities. With that in mind, the database includes a Basic Search for simple company lookups, and a Search Designer that lets you search by a combination of over 30 criteria. And using the Million Dollar Database's File Builder, you can easily download a list of leads in minutes.

The initial search screen is a very simple, with search boxes for company name and location. (On this screen you can also search by phone number or SIC codes if you have that data but no company name.) For more complex searches, choose "advanced search" and choose from the list of criteria (zip code, minority owned, size by sales or employees, etc.). Be sure to click "add to criteria" and then make sure your "current search criteria" contains the ones you chose.

After you click "run search," you'll be able to sort the result list, click an entity name for detailed info, and select records to download.

A PDF file with more information on using the database can be found here.

As with all databases, call Reference Services at 428-8218 if you have any questions!