I would like to thank Renee Cullmann, Donna Fisher, Karen Lasnick, and
Joan Schipper for their suugestions about Reference USA. This list is
amazing! The comments are summarized below.
--Bryan
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You may also want to look into Hoover's and/or D&B.
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Our public library has Reference USA freely available to anyone with a
library card, as one of their free electronic databases.
Might be an option to consider depending on your needs.
****************
I find this to be a hit and miss service, though I always give it a
shot. We are a private law firm and we purchased it on CD for years,
then went to the web version. Our staff really liked it, but the price
just got more and more outrageous and we gave it up altogether. Then I
discovered I could access it as an individual through a local public
library. Problem solved. I use it for tracking down individuals and
businesses.
****************
We bought the PhoneDisks for years and loved them. Now, the vendor
wants us to pay too much money for access to Reference USA. Turns out,
we have remote access to the database via the local public library.
We don't have the flexibility of working with the disks, but it suits
our needs. We are happy not to pay the subscription fee and donate money
to the Friends of the Library instead.
Your volume of usage may make the subscription a reasonable purchase.
-- Bryan M. Carson, J.D., M.I.L.S. Associate Professor/Coordinator of Reference & Instructional Services Western Kentucky University Libraries Author, "The Law of Libraries and Archives" (Scarecrow Press)1906 College Heights Blvd. #11067 Bowling Green, Kentucky 42101-1067 Phone: 270-745-5007; Fax: 270-745-2275 bryan.carson@wku.edu
All original content copyright 2007 Bryan M. Carson
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