Ohio University Libraries - The Business Blog

I do try to keep my other interests and avocations off of the PCC Libtech blog but sometimes my life has other plans. While looking for video blogs I discovered another librarian who uses video in his site, Library Voice.com.

Chad Boeninger and writes about how technology in libraries can and should be of service to the patrons.


Chad is also in charge at the Ohio University Library Business blog where he locates content and material to help students and faculty make sense of these financially constraining times.

One of the challenges that Chad has to face is working with reduced acquisition fund budget. He has to cut books and subscriptions in order to slash $85,000+ out of the budget.



For those of you who have taken Library 101, Library 103 and Library 104 this is the working example of not only weeding materials but also facing the fact that you no longer own a current copy of the information; it is online in a subscription based system.

That may work when the library system can pay the vendor subscription fees but if money get tight you not only loose current information but access to past history and materials as well.

It is a tough balance. In a prior video, Chad goes step by step on the reasons for canceling certain materials and invites the faculty for input.

This is a good opportunity to get insight on an academic library and real world decisions that have to be be made. As I go deeper into the blog there are screencasts that explain research skills, consumer trends, the current marketplace and those things that would support the goals of the library.

I hope that by visiting these sites it will give context to the impact that budget cuts have on libraries and patrons. It is also a good place to get an insight on how to be of technological service to staff and patron.

MeritAid - Scholarship Money Made Easier to Find

There are billions of dollars in scholarship money available. The problem is accessing legitimate places to find those scholarships that are looking for you. I'm testing out a new service called MeritAid.



On the Internet you do have to be careful, there are a lot of flim-flam operations and rip-offs about finding scholarship information. What MeritAid does is gather your information and find schools that match up to your interests.

In addition they will also show you a list of the schools in a certain geographical area that you might be interested in attending. By clicking on the name of the school you can see how much it cost to attend, the acceptance rate and the amount of aid the school could supply.



In addition, you can see if there is funding for freshmen, sophomore, transfer or graduate students. You can filter the result to show just those scholarship that apply to your situation.


In this example from UCLA there is the Blue and Gold scholarship and the UCLA Regents scholarship that is available for transfer students. You do have to register with the site. There is also a place for you to set up your profile so that the more details that you provide the better the potential match between you and the institution.

This is a relatively new service, it is still in Beta but for those of you looking to go on to Library School or to continue your education elsewhere this is an effective way to find out if you can afford the school and if you can obtain scholarship or grant based assistance.

As always you should read the terms of service. The site will share your information with schools but it states that it will not personally identify you. You will also have the option of declining invitations from schools that would like you to attend there place of learning.

I have no desire in going into debt to complete my education. That may not be realistic but it is my primary goal for now. I will continue to evaluate if this site can help me locate a school that I can afford and has the ability to assist me without the use of student loans. I'll keep you posted.

Looking At The Financials - Finding Business Information

This post was inspired by a class exercise in Library 102. Where do you find reliable financial information if you are not an investor, economist or Warren Buffett?

So this is a small sample of websites that have established reputations, clear descriptions of what they do and the information that they provide. As with any site on the web, particularly with financial sites evaluation is extremely important.

For the most part I have collected most of the sites listed below via recommendations from college and university web sites.

Bankrate.com is a free information portal for visitors to compare and find credit card rates, saving, auto, mortgage and interest rates, and retirement plans. If you are looking for the best interest rate to stash your emergency cash this is the place to come to. Bankrate.com helps visitors understand what is happening in the world of personal finance. There are articles, tutorials and calculators.

It is a free service however it is supported by advertising and some of the tutorial content is provided by various financial companies. The site does disclose when the information is provided by a sponsoring company. Bankrate.com also syndicates their content to other websites and publications.

Perhaps you need to locate a company. There are a lot of ways to go about it. According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission:

All companies, foreign and domestic, are required to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms electronically through EDGAR. Anyone can access and download this information for free. Here you'll find links to a complete list of filings available through EDGAR and instructions for searching the EDGAR database.

The Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system, EDGAR is a database of those reports with the names, addresses and legally required documentation (i.e. financials) that are filed with the federal government. There are tutorials on how to use EDGAR and information on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code List.

Another place to locate U.S. company data are Hoover's, which can help you general financial information by company, geographic location or industry. Hoover's also has profile videos that focus on certain segments of industry. This is a subscription site but the general business data is free to view. Hoover's is owned by Dun & Bradstreet.

Michigan State University - Global Edge If your needs are more substantial, such as finding information about international business or trade, academic research, historical trade data select countries.

Global Edge also has industry profiles on specific business area such as food and beverage. The information is produced by the University International Business Center. Global Edge is free and the general public is welcomed to use the information.

The World Bank Data and Research section has extensive statistics in a variety of formats. If you want a quick overview of Napal's poverty level and the economic status of the country this is your place. Huge amount of data.

These are just starting points. The important things to remember about financial websites are that you want to know who is producing the information, the context of the information, what is the relation to advertisers and sponsors and can the information be verified by external sources independent of the web site.