Business Schmissness.

There's not much humor in this week's lesson. Not much fun either. No fancy pictures or puns. Bear with my learnings. I'll tell a joke at the end maybe. I thought about putting on a suit to write this but that would simply be amusing for me and probably wouldn't translate into the blog. Either way picture me, briefcase at my feet, clad in a suit. A suit Cee Lo would wear. Now there's humor.

Business Source Complete
FM radio. It's apparently way more complicated than four AV nerds hamming it up in someone's basement. With thousands of hits it was nice to be able to filter some of the results. I also like the limit to full text feature.
Visual search creates a sort of flow chart of information which could be useful in research and linking references and articles. Not particularly necessary but perhaps visually appealing.

EconLit
"Investigating Whether a Lack of Marketing and Managerial Skills Is the Main Cause of Business Failure in South Africa" is not really what I was expecting when attempting to find "resources for small business owners". With a little tweaking I did indeed find some helpful info particularly on how small business owners can be better leaders, how small businesses have more of an impact in their communities than expected. The publication date slide bar is handy. Especially in regard to standards that may quickly change. A resource on the EPA circa 1970 might not be prudent to dive into in 2012. Also useful when looking up tax info as standards can change quickly.

Regional Business News
A search for Barnes and Noble yields results all over the map. Several features promoting John Lehrer's Imagine caught my eye. Guess B&N backed the wrong pony at that race. Also some interesting stuff on author announcements and new titles released. I can't leave a business lesson alone - there must be reading!

I looked up Hannaford as a regional business and then couldn't remember if they were New England or just Maine. Nifty stuffs either way. I found the plans to open up the "most environmentally advanced supermarket in the US" fantastic.

Though I contend that toothpaste should always be minty I admire Tom's of Maine for its creative toothpaste flavors. It's beyond me how brushing with "fennel" or "honeysuckle" could make a mouth feel clean but hey whatever floats your boat. Or bubbles your tooth. In addition to being hygienic, Tom's of Maine is greatly philanthropic. I found several articles about initiating recycling programs, community outreach, and even a story time with Kristi Yamaguchi.

Value Line
My portfolio is pretty much tied up in food and shelter at this point (plus new shoes) so talk of stocks, funds and midcap surveys is Greek indeed. Other than a craving for yogurt I got nothing. It is amazing how much info can be crammed into one screen. I was overwhelmed for sure. Netflix NFLX seems to be doing okay. As does Home Depot HD.

Wall Street Journal
Small business and health care. I thought election week was over and we could stop endlessly hearing about this. No such luck. But ProQuest was a familiar sight. More politicos could be found under the Person tab. I again liked the Publication Date filter option. And the now familiar save research options.


Without any prior business knowledge it seems the resources in this week's lesson are more for show than anything else. It seems the people who would benefit from the different websites would already have go-to sites of their own. Maybe the reason business men and women are underserved in the library setting is that said business men and women know more than the average librarian regarding businessy things. I'm sure Van Gogh could have whitewashed a fence, but seems a little out of his wheelhouse. Or something. This statement mostly pertains to Value Line.

WHEW.

As promised: two nuts are walking down the street. One's assaulted.

Happy Reading & Cheers!