SBN Business Blog

FREE Business Research Class

2009-08-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

FREE! Business Information Class For Entrepreneurs who want to grow or start a business will be offered on Tuesday afternoon or evening once a month in the Training Loft Science, Business & News department of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Main Library, 96 S Grant Ave, Columbus, Oh 43215.

Advanced Registration is NOT required.

Use our Events Calendar to find future business classes. Limit your search to a specific month, and search for keyword business. Select the Remind icon for an email reminder for each class.

During these hands-on classes you will learn:
How to use Reference USA to target B2B customers
How to use Business & Company Resource Center to find industry rankings and market research
How to use our demographic books to target your market
How to use EBSCOhost Business Searching Interface to find SWOT analyses
How to use our Catalog to find print and downloadable books on business finance
For more information, call our Infoline 614-645-2ASK

FREE Program for Social Entrepreneurs Monday June 29

2009-06-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

The Foundation Center in cooperation with the Columbus Foundation and the Columbus Metropolitan Library will be hosting two free programs for Nonprofit Organizations on Monday, June 29, 2009. Registration is Required. See below for information:

Program 1
Introduction to Foundation Directory Online Professional with a special Dialogue with Donors in Education

Monday, June 29, 20091:00pm - 3:00pm
Columbus Metropolitan Library Third Floor Board Room96 S. Grant AvenueColumbus, Ohio 43215
PH: 614-645-2275
A special session focused on the needs of education-focused nonprofits.
Do you need to secure funding for your programs? Join us for this session at our Columbus Cooperating Collection for an introduction to the Foundation Center's comprehensive Web subscription databases, The Foundation Directory Online Professional.
Following the class, we will host a conversation with representatives from two regional funders of education programs, including:
Sidney R. Hargro, Senior Officer, Strategy & Organizational Learning, The Columbus Foundation
Marlene A. Casini, President/CEO, Community Foundation of Delaware County
To Register: register online or Contact Diana Zepp at the Columbus Metro Library at (614) 645-2275
***************************************************************************
Program 2
A free program featuring resources, advice, and networking for Columbus-area nonprofits and anyone interested in the nonprofit world:Resource Market: Tackling Tough TimesColumbus Metropolitan Library
Main Library AuditoriumMonday, June 29th, 20094:30 - 7:00pm
PH: 614-645-2275
Register here: http://foundationcenter.org/cleveland/training/resourcemarketcolumbus.html or http://tinyurl.com/l3zdo3
The Foundation Center wants to help your organization successfully weather the current financial storm, and our resource market can get you started. We are gathering top-tier professionals from a select group of Central Ohio nonprofits and businesses to share information about their services for nonprofits in a fun, trade fair atmosphere. Meet and greet (and eat!) while visiting 'vendor tables' and attending mini-sessions for must-know tips from each organization.For more information and REGISTRATION go to: http://foundationcenter.org/cleveland/training/resourcemarketcolumbus.html

or http://tinyurl.com/l3zdo3

or call the Foundation Center /Cleveland (216) 861-1933 x325 or Diana Zepp at the Columbus Metropolitan Library 614-645-2275 asked to be transferred to Science, Business & News.

FREE! Business Information Class

2009-05-29T07:42:00.000-07:00

FREE! Business Information Class For Entrepreneurs who want to grow or start a business will be offered once a month in the Science, Business & News department of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Main Library. Advanced Registration is NOT required.

The next class is Tuesday July 28, 2009 from 12:30 to 1:30 in the 3rd floor Training Loft. Use our Events Calendar to find future business classes. Limit your search to a specific month, and search for keyword business. Select the Remind icon for an email reminder for each class.

During these hands-on classes you will learn:

How to use Reference USA to target B2B customers
How to use Business & Company Resource Center to find industry rankings and market research
How to use our demographic books to target your market
How to use EBSCOhost Business Searching Interface to find SWOT analyses
How to use our Catalog to find print and downloadable books on business finance

For more information, call our Infoline 614-645-2ASK

Microloans for Small Businesses in Central Ohio

2009-04-01T08:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my colleague, Diana, for pointing out the recent Philanthropy News Digest news story, Credit Crisis Leads to Increase in Demand for Microloans.

Small businesses in Central Ohio can find information on microloans from the Small Business Administration http://tinyurl.com/c27soo. Also check out the Finding Funding section of the Columbus Metropolitan Library's Business Page for a list of local microlenders.

Liber8 Newsletter from the Fed

2009-02-17T10:32:00.000-08:00

Business researchers, university students, and librarians should look at this newsletter from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: http://liber8.stlouisfed.org/. The Liber8 newsletter contains information about the current recession, and economic statistics from the federal government. Thanks to Chad Boeninger, the business librarian at Ohio University's Alden Library for his interesting "Monday Night Lecture" http://www.library.ohiou.edu/subjects/businessblog/.

Learn & Play 14-- Web 2.0 and Library 2.0

2008-12-01T08:09:00.000-08:00

What are the practical applications of Web 2.0 for our library patrons? This is the question that occurred to me way back in December 2006 when I attended an OLC workshop on Web 2.0 at the Westerville Public Library.

I am sure many of you are familiar with the "lightbulb moment" that 1st and 2nd grade teachers see all of the time, when their students finally understand how to read. Picture a lightbulb turning on in a little bubble above your customer's head, like in the comic strips. I have had a few of these illuminating moments with library customers here in Science, Business & News.

My lightbulb moments have occured on two memorable occasions. The first one was when I demonstrated how a group of market researchers could set up a feed reader (I used my MyYahoo! account to demonstrate), then feed in full text trade journal articles from EbscoHost Research Databases, or ProQuest Direct. A feed reader can also help you keep track of news and research developments in your industry. One of the workshop attendees actually said "Aha".

My second lightbulb moment was with a library patron who is starting up a nonprofit organization. He was looking for ways to communicate with other social entrepreneurs in the Columbus Metro area. I demonstrated to him how he could set up a Delicious account, and participate in social bookmarking. He said that a Delicious account would help him keep track of valuable articles that he finds online, and make his search for funding more efficient.

Just for fun Dewey Decimal Quiz, Thanks Helene!

2008-11-27T09:18:00.000-08:00

The Dewey Decimal Quiz was fun, because it let me cheat! Of course, I ginned the system by using 590 as my favorite number. This reminds me of how I let my son cheat at the little math game we used to play when he was 3 or 4. I figured that if he was smart enough to count ahead and do multiplication in his head at 4, then let him cheat. Here is my results:

Barbara Beardsley's Dewey Decimal Section:
590 Animals (Zoology)

Class:
500 Science

Contains:
Math, astronomy, prehistoric life, plants and animals.

What it says about you:
You are fascinated by the world around you, and see it as a puzzle worth exploring. You try to understand how things work and how you can make them better. You might be a nerd.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

Learn & Play--Thing 13 Delicious!!

2008-11-18T11:06:00.000-08:00

I set up a Delicous account several months ago because Rachel Rubin told me that she used her own account frequently, and was kind enough to give me a quick tutorial. Going through the 23 things has prompted me to re-visit my own Delicious account.

Tagging shows up in many of the social networking sites, but I think that Delicious is an excellent site for me to use, because I can hang onto interesting tidbits of information without using a post-it note, or computer print-out.

My Delicous account is linked on this blog. If you have the time, look at the Hill Business Library site from Minnesota.

Learn & Play-- Thing 12 Twitter

2008-11-18T10:29:00.000-08:00

I set up a Twitter account and posted something, which was interesting. I couldn't see the attraction, until my colleague Nancy R gave me a brief Twitter tutorial. I am now following several people, and NPR. My twitter "handle" is bbeardsley59, which is not at all anonymous.

Mike Bowers & the staff of the Ohio SBDC @Columbus State Community College is using twitter in a really interesting way. They recently used their social networking site to announce a tour of Ohio Stadium for the Central Ohio tweeting community. I forwarded the info to Largesse, LibraryJoy and Jimmer, but you can look at the info yourself at http://sbdcfreeadvice.ning.com/. Look for the Events listing on the right side of the page.

Library Thing

2008-11-01T20:54:00.000-07:00

I set up my own Library Thing account: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/BBeardsley . I thought that the information about Library Thing for Libraries was really cool.

Thing #10 Image Generators

2008-10-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

I had some fun with image generators, and used the Einstein chalkboard to save a picture we can all enjoy.

A Great Library Related Blog--The Shifted Librarian

2008-10-20T18:11:00.000-07:00

From Jenny Levine, The Shifted Librarian always contains some content that is interesting to me as a librarian. Since my library (Columbus Metropolitan Library) has a new levy looming on our horizon in November 2010, I found this post really interesting: http://theshiftedlibrarian.com/archives/2008/07/29/swinging-236-votes-can-libraries-do-it.html.

RSS Feed Readers

2008-10-19T19:27:00.000-07:00

I set up my first feed reader, a MyYahoo! account about 2 years ago. I use it to demonstrate the practical application of RSS feeds to adult students and business people. I see no reason to set up a bloglines account, when my MyYahoo! page works just fine.

I can use EbscoHost, or ProQuest to set up an RSS feed with full text journal articles. The problem with this service is, I cannot read the full text of the articles when I am not in the library, because of authentication requirements from the database provider.

I can set up RSS feeds from blogs I admire, like the Kegliography, Common Craft, and Library Bytes to stay informed.

Databases That Warm My Geeky Heart

2008-10-19T19:08:00.000-07:00

So, I'm an unabashed library geek, you gotta problem with that? I really like the new database, or Premium Resource (in CML parlance) called Gongwer News Service. Any CML cardholder with internet access can select this database from our list of Premium Resources on our Reference page http://columbuslibrary.org/reference, and find informatin on Ohio government, legislation in the Ohio House or Senate, and Ohio related news articles.

The Gongwer News Service should be of interest to Ohio business people looking for government legislation information on their industry.

Flickr Mashups

2008-10-19T18:37:00.000-07:00

I was truly delighted by the various ways to experiment with color on flickr. My favorite was the science fiction magazine cover mashup. When you roll the cursor over the tiny blocks of color, a specific cover pops up, and you can click on it for a larger image.

www.coverpop.com/pop/visco/

Flickr Exploration

2008-10-12T18:16:00.000-07:00

Continuing with the Columbus Metropolitan Library staff activity, Learn & Play, I explored Flickr, and set up my own Flickr account. I used some pictures taken by Dan Zwyer, when I was traveling with my family in Washington State in October 2008. There are so many wonderful pictures that Dan took, I hope I can add more to my Flickr account soon! A link to my photostream is here: http://flickr.com/photos/30674012@N04/

Ideas to Deals

2008-08-24T18:40:00.000-07:00

Michael Bowers, the Director of the Ohio SBDC at Columbus State Community College, has created a blog with lots of interesting content for Central Ohio entrepreneurs http://ideas2deals.typepad.com/my_weblog/. He mentions CML in a recent post, entitled "Can I at Least Get a Feasibility Plan?" http://ideas2deals.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/08/can-i-at-least.html. It's great to know that Mike recommends Columbus Metropolitan Library to the local business community.

23 Things!

2008-08-24T18:30:00.000-07:00

I am exited about this new learning opportunity, and I hope to learn from my CML colleagues. I already use a MyYahoo! feed reader to organize my favorite blogs, news feeds, and research updates from EbscoHost and ProQuest. Here's hoping that this blog will stretch my abilty to communicate.