Research on Main Street: Using the Web to Find Local Business and Market Information

Citation

McNicol, S. (2012), "Research on Main Street: Using the Web to Find Local Business and Market Information", New Library World, Vol. 113 No. 3/4, pp. 226-227. https://doi.org/10.1108/03074801211218606

This is a book about researching business information, but interestingly, rather than focusing on national and international level data, this book describes how to find local level information about companies, industries and customers. Non‐US readers should be aware that this is a book written for those researching business information in the USA. The appendix which lists sources described in the book includes just five sources to find information from outside the USA.

The book starts simply, probably over‐simply for a book aimed at information professionals. The first two chapters, “Planning the trip” and “Packing the essentials”, give a broad outline of the main information sources and the key agencies involved, ranging from the census bureau to twitter. This is a useful reminder of the variety of information sources which may be useful in a local search, including national, regional and local government departments, local organisations such as chambers of commerce, news resources and social media. However, the use of terms such as “cool tools” makes this feel like a book aimed at teenagers, rather than professionals.

Chapter 3, which deals with evaluating information on the web, also seems inappropriate in a book targeted at professionals. The checklist for evaluating websites would be useful as a teaching resource for high school students, but I would not expect a professional researcher to need to be told to carry out these basic checks.

Chapters 4 to 8 each focus on a different type of local information which a business researcher may want to discover. At this point, the book vastly improves. These sections are considerably more valuable than the earlier chapters of the book as they deal with finding information on five key themes:

1. 1.

   local demographics;

2. 2.

   economics;

3. 3.

   companies;

4. 4.

   local people; and

5. 5.

   local issues.

These are each described in detail and the author offers many useful ideas and resources. The range of resources described means that even experienced researchers are sure to find some sources which they are not aware of, or have not considered using to find local information. While most of the sources listed are freely available, chapter 9, “Paying at the pump” introduces some fee‐based sources and considers the arguments for and against using these.

The book also includes two useful appendices: a “resources roadmap” which lists all the resources mentioned chapter‐by‐chapter, and a handy “How do I…?” section which suggests the best resources to use for particular problems, or tasks, such as identifying companies with headquarters in a certain city or finding crime information. The links are also available on a website which will be updated if there are any changes or additions.

In summary, the core chapters of this book should prove extremely valuable for experienced researchers wishing to discover local level business information in the USA. However, the initial chapters may be off‐putting to this audience. I hope that researchers and information professionals who could benefit from this useful resource are not deterred by the introductory chapters.