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Libraries and Local Businesses

Best practices for supporting your entrepreneurs


Nicolette Warisse SosulskiMLIS, Business Librarian,

Portage District Library

Heather DrayLibrary Relations Manager, SAGE PublishingModerator


While we do our best to answer as many questions as we can, time constraints may not allow us to answer every question. Thank you for

understanding.

Send us your questions!Send in your questions via the Question Box on your screen. →

Using Twitter? Use the hashtag

#SAGETalks.

What Do Entrepreneurs Think of When They Think of Libraries and Librarians?


Business Librarian• Bunhead Shusher• Storytimes• Moldy Books• Card Catalog• Study Carrels• Agatha Christie, Danielle

Steel, Tom Clancy, Janet Evanovich

• Introverted Book Custodian• Protected Public Servant in

Book-filled Sanctuary

• Search Ninja• Market Research Classes• Recent Statistics & Databases• Internet Guru• Wi-Fi on the Road• Guy Kawasaki, Chris

Anderson, Sheryl Sandberg, Seth Godin

• Community Networker• Tough Cookie

Stereotype



Business Librarian

• Weird Brain• Exposure to multiple disciplines• Search Term Strategist • Classes in Taxonomy and

Classification (otherwise known as “what would they call it and where would they have put it?”)

• Practice, Practice, Practice (I probably have 20K hours of searching under my belt. One learns stuff)

Search Ninja

We can save you from search results like this…

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One program rather than desired list


Entrepreneur Expectations: Types

• Entrepreneurs who are not used to using libraries, and who think you cannot do anything.

• Entrepreneurs who are not used to doing market research, and who think everything is available on the Internet for free. Your job is to find it.

• Entrepreneurs who have recently cut ties in one way or other from large company with research department or house librarian, and who have no idea how many resources were dedicated to market research in their former space.


Entrepreneurs Who are Not Used to Using Libraries and Who Do Not Think You Can Do Anything

• These people can be among your staunchest converts, because everything is a wonderful gift.

• Push resources and actively engage them in discussions of what they are doing right now, because they have little idea what you might be able to do for them.



• These patrons may not know the wealth of knowledge that the librarian possesses

• Referrals• Help with search terms (explain that they may be a

subject expert, but you are a searching expert).• Free resources on the web—even if they say they’ve

“already searched Google.”



• Associations-one secret for getting more research for less

• Databases—they are unlikely to know about them• DVDs• Personnel or hiring or job description manuals• Business plan resources



• Make a call to one of your larger libraries to see if the information is available there.

• Tell them that you can make a try at finding something.• Give them contact information of agencies or

associations who may have the information that they need.


Entrepreneurs who are not used to doing market research, and who think everything is available on

the Internet for free. Your job is to find it.

• Show them through the wonders of Google advanced search how to get at government data or the census. Again, there may be “some assembly required” but it is valuable.

• Explain, kindly, that your job is to help find some materials, and to get them started and over humps, but that resources do not permit you to do the entire research task for them. Give them your card, but with the explanation that they contact you “if they run into snags.”


Entrepreneurs who have recently cut ties in one way or other from large companies with research

departments and/or house librarians, and who have no idea how many resources i.e. dollars were dedicated

to market research in their former space.

• These are your hardest customers. They are on their own doing some process possibly outsourced by their former employers in major industries (like Big Pharma in my case). Be ready for them to

• Refuse to believe you that the information is not available to you without a price tag.

• Suggest that you get it from a neighboring library who does have it.• Suggest that you hack into a neighboring library or company.• Ask you to teach them to hack into a neighboring library who has it.


Entrepreneurs who have recently cut ties in one way or other from large companies with research departments or

house librarians, and who have no idea how many resources were dedicated to market research in their

former space.

• Feel their pain. You are not going to have the specialized resources that they do unless possibly you are a major research university . They may be temporarily filled with despair that they cannot compete in the only arena they really know.

• Try to find out what government information might be available to help them—permits lists, bids from agencies. Teach them to not be afraid to call government agencies.


Entrepreneurs Who “Pay Your Salary” So Expect You to Be Their Unpaid Personal Researcher on Retainer:

“Yours Is a really interesting concept, and I wish I could spend much more time on it, but I have to divide my time and effort among services to other taxpayers as well. I can get you started, and trouble shoot when you run into snags.”

Entrepreneurs Who Do Not Get Why Market Research/Articles is Not Just Free on the Web:

“Information is a business just like yours. If you were hiring researchers, writers, editors, graphic designers, web professionals, and purchasing server space, would you put your content on the web for free and hope for ad click revenue, or would you make people subscribe?”

Useful Responses



Stereotype Business Librarian• Bunhead Shusher• Storytimes• Moldy Books• Card Catalog• Study Carrels• Agatha Christie, Danielle

Steel, Tom Clancy, Janet Evanovich

• Introverted Book Custodian• Protected Public Servant in

Book-filled Sanctuary

• Search Ninja• Market Research Classes• Recent Statistics & Databases• Internet Guru• Wi-Fi on the Road• Guy Kawasaki, Chris

Anderson, Sheryl Sandberg, Seth Godin

• Community Networker• Tough Cookie

Business Information

CenterInstead of those Moldy Books and Romance Novels that you pictured, would these be helpful? (Warning: Library Collections May Vary).


CenterInstead of those Moldy Books and Romance Novels you pictured, would these be helpful? (Warning: Library Collections May Vary).


CenterInstead of those Moldy Books and Romance Novels that you pictured, the concepts which may be the “corporate religion” of firms you are working with.


CenterInstead of those

Moldy Books, Maps to Where the

Rubber Meets the Road.(Warning:

Library Collections May Vary)


CenterInstead of those

Moldy Books and Romance Novels that you pictured, would these DVDs from Stanford Business School be helpful? (Warning: Library Collections May

Vary)


Center

Instead of those Moldy Books and Romance

Novels that you pictured, would these DVDs be

helpful? (Interesting fact: the entrepreneurial

population has a higher incidence of dyslexia than

the population at large)


CenterInstead of those Moldy Books and Romance Novels that you pictured, would these tips on talking to a web designer you are about to hire help?


Business Librarian

• Search Sectors• Search Terms• Related Fields• Industry Classification• Business News• Market Trends• Census Statistics• Professional Associations• Reliability Validation

Market Researcher


Databases. Look for these on the web pages of any library. They may be under “online resources” or “research tools.”

Databases are collections of articles, research findings, patents, directory listings, or other information points that are collected in searchable and sortable formats.

Library budgets in the digital age are more and more heading to these types of resources. If we still have print, it is because of availability, or more likely, cost.


Center


What can we do for the small businessman competing with the big boys

• Some-Assembly-Required Analysis• Professional Associations and Publications• Contacting other libraries to see if they have something

we do not• Interlibrary Loan• Professional Referrals


Business Librarian

Market research is more and more searching the web and databases. Ask your library if they will partner with you to offer search and market research courses. I teach Business Research Essentials once a month and get referrals from the SBTDC and SCORE, among others. Even if you have access to research through the SBTDC for a start-up, the entrepreneur who is updating his or her business plan regularly needs to be able to do some of it on his or her own.

Trainer Coach


Business Librarian

In your business we know it gets tough. Things get real—we get that. It does not get much more real than the public library….

We have to meet a budget, balance inventory costs vs. personnel costs, keep stakeholders satisfied to maintain cash flow, and do more with less. Sound familiar?

Tough Cookie


Breakdown of Attributes and Responsibility

You (Patron) Librarian• Knowledge of your business• Knowledge of your industry

(though we will help you better that through market research assistance)

• Explanation of information needs and timeframes

• Some assembly possibly required—analysis or bringing together of data from multiple sources may be necessary

• Search strategist• Source expert and friend of

source experts• Source location and/or

acquisition assistant• Search coach, trainer, and

consultant rather than researcher on retainer (though some libraries do offer research for a fee)


Types of LibrariesPublic Libraries Academic Libraries• May have generalists rather

than a business specialist• Open to all—even those from

out of district• Databases usually accessible

in-house even without library card

• Can interlibrary loan for cardholders

• Primary focus is cardholders in the library district

• More likely to have a specialty business liaison

• Some sources may be restricted

• Some access to the library may be restricted in case of private institutions. Many online resources accessible from within the building

• Larger collection budget• Primary focus is university

community, though some places are hiring “Entrepreneur Librarians” to assist the public


And one last note about resources…

There is no universal library card good at all libraries—not even for librarians. We can usually see the electronic resources they have but can’t get into them—only those who are taxpayers in that library district or affiliated with that college or university can access the resources paid for by their taxes or tuition dollars. However, the Library of Michigan—as do many state libraries--provides a quality set of online resources for all Michiganders, as well as the opportunity to see the holdings of other libraries and borrow them through MeLCat or WorldCat.

Resources

The Bible. Buy It. Now.


Resources

Friend Other Librarians. Keep them in: • Your Facebook• Your Messenger• Your Google Chat• Your Hangouts• Your Cell Phone

As Taylor Swift—one heck of an entrepreneur demonstrates, it is important to have “a squad.”


Resources: Biz Librarian Organizations

BRASS, Business Reference And Services Section• Join or prowl its pages at http://www.ala.org/rusa/sections/brass ,

especially online learning, professional tools, and publications and products.

• Join its listservs, BUSLIB-L http://lists.nau.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=BUSLIB-L and BRASS-L http://lists.ala.org/sympa/info/brass-l

New Business Librarians Google Grouphttps://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/new-business-librarians-group

Look for Facebook and LinkedIn groups—always popping up!

http://www.ala.org/rusa/sections/brass

http://www.ala.org/rusa/sections/brass

http://lists.nau.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=BUSLIB-L

http://lists.nau.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=BUSLIB-L

http://lists.ala.org/sympa/info/brass-l



https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/new-business-librarians-group

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/new-business-librarians-group


Resources: Some Other Business Web Pages and Blogs

BRASS libguidehttp://brass.libguides.com/BusinessReference

Making Sense of Business ReferenceFollow the fb page and buy the book. Now.https://es-la.facebook.com/MakingSenseBizRef/

Biz Ref DeskFree Sites Compiled by Therese Terry, Wharton’s longterm Business Librarianhttp://www.bizrefdesk.com/

Chad Boeninger’s Blog, Ohio State UniversityHe has offered tips, tricks, and tools to Ohio State University business and economics researchers since 2004.https://www.library.ohiou.edu/subjects/businessblog/

University of Vermont Libraries’ Bailey Business LibraryBusiness Research Assistanthttp://library.uvm.edu/guides/subjectguides/BIZ/

Your nearby university’s business libguides…

http://brass.libguides.com/BusinessReference



https://es-la.facebook.com/MakingSenseBizRef/

https://es-la.facebook.com/MakingSenseBizRef/

http://www.bizrefdesk.com/



https://www.library.ohiou.edu/subjects/businessblog/

https://www.library.ohiou.edu/subjects/businessblog/

http://library.uvm.edu/guides/subjectguides/BIZ/

http://library.uvm.edu/guides/subjectguides/BIZ/


Lets Get to Work!


While we do our best to answer as many questions as we can, time constraints may not allow us to answer every question. Thank you for

understanding.

Send us your questions!

Send in your questions via the Question Box on your screen. →

Using Twitter? Use the hashtag

#SAGETalks.


Webinar recording, slides, and follow-up Q&A will be emailed to you and available on sagepub.com/sagetalks

Thank you!

Nicolette Warisse Sosulski

Be sure to check our website for updates on our webinar series!