InfoPeople2: Business Resources: Non-Profit Entities

After I've done the obvious, like perform a keyword search for "nonprofit," the following may be useful to consult:

The Executive Director's Survival Guide: thriving as a non-profit leader, by Mim Carlson. We don't have this book, so I looked it up on WorldCat and found the following subject headings that may be useful to find similar books:

• Nonprofit organizations -- Management.
• Organizations, Nonprofit -- organization & administration. 
• Financial Management.
• Decision Making, Organizational.

To find out whether an organization is a non-profit try referencing:

• The Foundation Directory, by David G. Jacobs, also available at Foundation Center (fdncenter.org)
• Guidestar- from the about page: "we gather and disseminate information about every single IRS-registered nonprofit organization. We provide as much information as we can about each nonprofit's mission, legitimacy, impact, reputation, finances, programs, transparency, governance, and so much more."
• Associations Unlimited - My current system carries the print reference Encyclopedia of Associations, published by AU/ Gale. (as well as the International Organizations set and the Regional, State and Local Organizations set) It is a three volume set, volume one being so large, it is divided into three separate books. Entries include contact info, when founded, number of members, staff, languages for conducting business, a description, awards they give, price to join and more.
• v. 1. pt. 1-2. National Organizations of the U.S. -- Descriptive listings: 
1. Trade, Business and Commercial;
2. Environmental and Ag;
3. Legal, Gov'tal, Public Admin, & Military;
4. Engineering,Tech & Natural and Social Sciences;
5. Educational; 
6. Cultural;
7. Social Welfare;
8. Health and Medical;
9. Public Affairs;
10. Fraternal, Nationality, & Ethnic;
11. Religious;
12. Veterans', Hereditary, & Patriotic;
13. Hobby and Avocational;
14. Athletic and Sports;
15. Labor Unions, Associations, and Federations
16. Chambers of Commerce, Trade and Tourism
17. Greek and Non-Greek Letter Societies, Associations and Federations
18. Fan Clubs
•  v. 1. pt. 3. Name index (I'm disappointed b/c the Name index is pre-sorted into the various keywords and then the org.s are listed alphabetically. I would have liked a straight alphabetical list of the Names, with the page number of where to find it in the main parts 1 or 2) and keyword index. --
•  v. 2. Geographic and executive indexes. - Organizations listed by their location and a listing of the execs and the organization they work for.
• v. 3. Supplement - updates of v.1 parts 1& 2, printed between editions.

For those seeking funds on behalf of the organization there's

• The Annual Register of Grant Support, a print publication published by Information Today
• And while there's no end of books helping people to write a grant proposal, the PDF Writing a Successful Grant Proposal by Barbara Davis for the Minnesota Council on Foundations comes recommended.

And if someone is looking up nonprofits because s/he wants to work for one, recommend searching:

• Opportunity Knocks - I'm not terribly impressed with this site. Basic keyword searches for "librarian" found nothing, for "information" brought up many director positions, for "research" other director positions, as well as chief exec officer. This kind of site I would think would be more used by lower level workers. People in the upper levels have other types of recruitment sources, so there's a mismatch in the type of simple search query to the upper job positions. There are some useful filters on the left-hand side, so you can weed out the jobs by salary or education, geographic location, etc.
  
  My preferred job search strategy is to identify organizations that I would be interested in working for and then contact them directly for their job openings. This way there's more of a connection of employee to employer. It is way more work, but is also more focused. A site like this one is such a shotgun in the barrel and though you never know what gems may come floating up, those gems are obscured by the trash.
• Idealist.org

Infopeople Core2: Business Resources: Overview Notes

I signed up for Infopeople's online, self-paced tutorial Core2: Subject Area Mini Courses. It covers as many or as few of the following choices:

• Business resources and job hunting
• Consumer information
• Legal resources
• Medical information
• Genealogy
• Poems, songs, and quotations
• Homework help

I didn't take these classes in school because I was focused on doing digital library related stuff. I'm also very familiar with some of the resources, such as the homework help, having recommended them to patrons when I worked at Sacramento Public. However, I expect to still learn lots that I haven't been exposed to through the course of work, so I'm just going to work my way down the list, spending about 1-2 weeks per subject.

Notes:
Business Resources and Job Hunting
Overview Section

• If people ask for you to define a business term you could use a print resources like The American Heritage Dictionary of Business Terms or an online one such as Investopedia.com: Financial Dictionary
• These two print resources look as though they would be very useful:
• Strauss's Handbook of Business Information: a guide for librarians, students, and researchers, by Rita W. Moss (Libraries Unlimited, 2004)- a 400 page guide, sort of like the directory of public information. It tells you what sort of resources to consult for to locate different types of business info, such as company information and statistics. There is a 2013, 3rd edition.
• Encyclopedia of Business Information Sources (20th edition, Gale, 2009), (print and Gale Cengage ebook) From the WorldCat abstract: "comprehensive listing of business related finding aids including abstracting and indexing services, almanacs and yearbooks, bibliographies, biographical sources, directories, encyclopedias and dictionaries, financial ratios, handbooks and manuals, online databases, periodicals and newsletters, price sources, research centers and institutes, statistical sources trade associations and professional societies, and other related sources of information on each topic."
•   These two online resources were part of the "Time to Explore" section:
• The Library of Congress' Business Reference section (lcweb.loc.gov/rr/business). Like, hello, this is the LOC! I'm amazed that they provide business reference service to the general public, but the do. From the "about" page, "...business reference librarians thoroughly familiar with the indexes, online catalogs, computerized databases, CD-ROMs, and reference sources available in the Division, other locations in the Library of Congress, the Washington area, and indeed, throughout the world, are ready to assist readers with their inquiries and searches." It's interesting to me that the FAQs they have are not so exotic. People consult the LOC Biz Ref Division to learn how to find old stock certificate values, acquire sample business plans, SIC (and NAICS) Codes (more about that later), performance of companies and info on starting a business. This FAQ page provides both online and print recommendations pointing the user in a direction to begin their research. Other links bring the visitor to pages that describe the Biz Division collection. Bibliographies and Guides (if someone were to ask me to come up with Biz Bib List, I'd stop here first), a subject list to internet resources, links to historical information and current information. My mind is boggling as to what subjects and resources these librarians are required to know how to find.
• Internet Public Library's business page (ipl.org/IPLBrowse/GetSubject?vid=13&tid=6607&parent=0) As of this blog post, clicking on this link will take you to a list of over 500 online resources, sorted in no particular order (possibly in entry order?). Since nobody wants to browse through a list of 500+ links, in the left hand column there are sub-headings such as "Labor and Workplace" and "History of Business and Economics."
• The two terms on the overview page that I have difficultly remembering or even thinking about are the SIC Codes (Standard Industrial Classification) and NAICS Codes (North American Industry Classification System). Businesses are given these codes to classify the industry in which they work so that businesses in the same classification may be compared to each other. I remember using this we I was searching Reference USA to locate the businesses around my zip code.
• The overview sections lists these databases as some of the more popular:
• Business & Company Resource Center (Cengage/Infotrac)(being transformed into Business Insights: Essentials)- more than journal articles- for analyzing businesses and data research
• D&B Million Dollar Database- more than journal articles- for analyzing businesses and data research
• EBSCOHost Business Source (Complete, Primier, Elite and Corporate, depending on the institution subscribing and their level of needs)- Indexing of Biz Journal Articles
• Mergent Online (formerly Moody's)- company data, insider reports, fact sheets, annual reports, bond info, corporate family trees, etc.
• Poor's NetAdvantage- from the site, "source of business and investment information, offering on-line access to S&P's independent research, data and commentary on stocks, bonds, funds, and industries."
• Reference USA- business and residential directories with corporate family trees. "create marketing plans, conduct competitive analysis, etc.
• Finally, there's IP's Resources Listing of Business Resources and Job Hunting

Learning the RC: Public Information and Resources for Libraries

When I first started working for a public library in Sacramento, I had a supervisor who made it a hobby to do background checks on people. It might be about a person she read about in the new, or some gossip she was digging up on a disgraced staff member. But the stuff she found was always in the public record. I've always wondered how a person could perform a background check on someone else. The Sourcebook to Public Record Information (026.973 SOU 2008) is probably how. The first section basically tells you how "public" information is organized, such as how info gets into the public record in the first place, where it is held (government or business databases), and your rights to access it. The second section is the breakdown of the agencies that hold the information by state. A very handy book. I had a patron who was interested to learn which house his mother owned back in 1940s. It wasn't online and I wasn't sure where to point him. This book would be that resource to try to find those older records.

Now, I love libraries. And when I plan my trips, if there is a cool library where I'm going, then for sure I'm gonna check it out. But read a "guiness" record book on libraries? Pass. The Library World Records (027 OSW) book by Oswald is just that. It has lists on movies featuring libraries and the biggest and smallest books and the most "fascinating" libraries. (Seriously, can that really be a list?) But while it may tell me what the first book written in Dutch is, it doesn't tell me which library holds said book. Thanks Oswald, but no thanks.

Margaret A. Edwards's The Fair Garden and the Swarm of Beasts: The Library and the Young Adult (027.626 EDW) is a book of ideas on developing the "people in their teens who have outgrown the role of children and have become the eager, anxious understudies of adults" into readers. Edwards collected a selection of her articles, written through out her career in order to define her philosophy of why are how to serve this population, the most notable in the second article being, they are looking to define themselves and they will soon be the ones leading the nation. What better time to turn them into "thoughtful readers"? While this collection may not be modern, I recognize the title as canon within the YA field. Edwards's writing is clear and humorous and I think I will read this book.

I'm thinking of moving to Colorado. I'm a librarian. I want to get a job in libraries. Other than public libraries, what other library institutions might I work in? I open the American Library Directory 2012-2013 (027.073 AME 2012-2013 v. 1 & v.2) and turn to the Colorado section and I see in alphabetical order by name of city the libraries I may apply to for work, such as the USDA Agricultural Research Service (if I perhaps had a specialty in Agronomy). Should I wish to work for an Armed Forces Library, I can quickly turn through the pages and scan for the appropriate letter designation (A) to see that Fort Carson has one. Volume two also has information about networks and consortia, training courses, libraries in Canada and the US territories and military libraries overseas. A very handy directory.

The Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (of the ALA) drew together a selection of documents related to the Americans with Disabilities Act to help libraries "implement the law." Titled The ADA Library Kit : sample ADA-related documents to help you implement the law (027.663 ADA ), it looks as though they surveyed their member libraries to see what they were doing to obey the law and how they were going about it and then asked, very nicely, if they could reproduce their documents in one book. The chapters tell you the titles of the documents, grouped according to subject. The index in the back lets you quickly see what topics are addressed (such as accessibility in the book stacks). I think I'd rather just call my lawyer, but for small libraries I could see how borrowing a ready made document could quickly speed the institution through the process and demonstrate intention to comply.