This document provides an overview of resources for business, law, and health information. It discusses key databases for researching public and private companies, as well as non-profits. It also outlines the structure of the US legal system and describes primary and secondary legal sources. Additionally, it lists important medical databases and government health websites for researching clinical topics and finding medical statistics and guidelines.

1. “Business, Law and
Health Information”
LIS 5603, Intro to Information Services
Dr. Lorri Mon, FSU SLIS – Florida’s iSchool
Florida State University, College of
Communication & Information

2. Reference Interviews
• What did you find worked best in
conducting your interviews?
• What did you find was difficult or a
challenge as the interviewer?
• What was your experience as the “user” or
“patron” in chat/IM?

3. http://questionpoint.org/
YOU MAY BE ASKED
TO CHANGE YOUR
PASSWORD - you
can use whatever
password you like
On questionpoint.org click
“Librarian Logon.”
USER ID = the number you
were given;
PASSWORD = your email
address

4. You can launch chat
from two places

5. Checkmark the “Primary
Queue: IPL” and click SAVE.
DON’T use the Practice
Queue.

6. When you’re “in” Qpoint Chat
Waiting for a question to
come along ….

7. Doubleclick the person in
“New” to “pick up” a
question to answer ;
click on MyActive to work
on Answering the question

8. When you “pick them up” the patron
is moved to “MyActive”
Now no other librarian can
respond to your patron unless
you “Transfer”
Type/paste your responses:
URLs go here Recommendation:
Text goes here Don’t COBROWSE for
and click “SEND” now!

9. Scripts (Prewritten Responses)
http://wiki.questionpoint.org/Clearinghouse-for-QuestionPoint-Scripts
http://wiki.questionpoint.org/Clearinghouse-for-QuestionPoint-Scripts

10. Synchronous Chat Reference
• “three at once is just too much…at least for
me…too much for my brain to handle at once
with the desired level of quality.”
• “if my first caller doesn’t respond to my greeting
within 30 seconds to a minute I will usually pick
up a second caller…sometimes the first and
second callers will be slow, so then I pick up a
third. If the third is also slow, I will then pick up a
fourth. Four is the maximum number we are
allowed to work with at once.”
Quotes from chat reference librarians on the DIG-REF listserv, June 2004

11. Business Questions…
Business questions you might be asked:
– Finding Businesses (and products)
– Researching Businesses
– Researching Industries
– Starting a Business
– Doing Business
Small Business Administration: http://www.sba.gov

12. …and “Money” or “Industry” Questions
• Where can I find the cost of living / inflation
calculators?
• Where can I find information about a mutual
fund or a stock?
• What’s the industry outlook for construction?
• What’s the exchange rate, dollars to Euros?

13. Types of Businesses
Public Companies (“publicly held”)
– Hoovers.com, the Edgar Database on SEC
Private Companies
– Public Records Databases (State/Local)
Non-Profit Organizations ALSO –
– GuideStar.org International
and
Foundations
Subsidiaries
– Foundationcenter.org

14. Public Companies
Useful for research: Stock Market Ticker Symbol (e.g. DIS)
Easiest type of business to research:
• Quarterly Reports (10Q) – filed quarterly with
Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC)
• 10K Reports (10K) – filed annually with SEC
• Annual Reports to shareholders (“Corporate
Reports”) – on corporate web sites and in
some subscription reference sources (e.g.
Compact Disclosure)
In Annual Reports: stock prices, earnings per share, corporate
earnings, assets, debt, liabilities, historic financial summary
Hoovers http://www.hoovers.com , Edgar http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml

15. EDGAR (SEC)
http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html

16. Hoovers (free version) – Apple Inc.
http://bit.ly/UuDDk5

17. Hoovers (subscription db)
https://login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/hooverscompa

18. Gale Business & Company Resource
Center
http://proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/?db=BCRC

19. Microsoft 10Q (from Mergent Online)
https://login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://www.mergentonline.com

20. Private Companies
Harder to research:
• SEC – no SEC reporting requirements
• Annual Reports – no shareholders, therefore
possibly no available annual reports
• Business licenses – filed in local public records
Example: Florida Licensee Search
https://www.myfloridalicense.com/wl11.asp
Better Business Bureau
http://www.bbb.org/
Other strategies: web domain registration, web sites,
news and magazine articles, directories (e.g. Thomas)
Mergent Online: https://login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://www.mergentonline.com
WhoIs.net: http://www.whois.net/ (domain name search)
Thomas Register: http://www.thomasnet.com/index.html

21. Foreign, Overseas, Subsidiaries
For foreign companies, US companies
operating in other countries, US subsidiaries:
– D&B Principal International Businesses (Dun &
Bradstreet)
– Directory of American Firms Operating in Foreign
Countries
– Directory of Corporate Affiliations / LexisNexis
Corporate Affiliations (often referred to as “Who
Owns Whom”)
Kompass http://us.kompass.com (products & companies online)
Thomas Register http://www.thomasnet.com (products, companies)

22. Non-Profit Organizations
Harder to research:
• IRS Form 990 - may file with the IRS
http://www2.guidestar.org/ (free registration required)
http://foundationcenter.org/
Example info: year founded, number of board
members, number of employees, number of volunteers,
IRS 990 tax forms
Other strategies: web domain registration, web sites,
news and magazine articles, directories

23. GuideStar Search (nonprofits)
GuideStar
Entry
http://www2.guidestar.org/

24. Nonprofit Form 990

25. Florida State University Law Librarians

26. “Primary Sources” and
“Secondary Sources”
Primary Sources Secondary Sources
Law review American
journal with Jurisprudence
Text of law on Text of court legal
women’s vote articles about
case decision laws and cases encyclopedia
Constitution Heritage Guide to
of the United the Constitution (a
States of America book explaining the
Constitution)

27. Structure of Government
AGENCIES LOWER COURTS
Laws, Codified Executive Orders, Case Law,
Into Code Rules, Regulations Rulings

28. Thomas (Legislative)
http://thomas.loc.gov

29. ProQuest Congressional (legislative -
subscription)
https://login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://congressional.proquest.com/congressiona

30. remanded appealed
downward U.S. Judicial System upward
U.S. Supreme Court
State Supreme Courts
of Appeal
State Intermediate U. S. Circuit Courts U. S. Court of Appeals
Courts of Appeal of Appeal Federal Circuit
State Trial Courts U. S. District Courts U. S. Court of
International Trade
U. S. Claims Court
http://www.uscourts.gov/Court_Locator.aspx

31. “Updating”
Subscription sources for
finding out what is the latest
status of a law – is it still “good”
law?

32. Finding Court Cases -
Federal, State & Local Courts
Courts Links:
Example:
http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/
521 US 844
http://www.uscourts.gov/court_locator.aspx Reno vs. ACLU
521 U.S. 844 (1997)
Primary sources: U.S. Reports = US
Reporters – texts of decisions and rulings. 521 (volume#)
Some examples: 844 (page#)
U.S. Supreme Court in U.S. Reports - U.S.
U.S. Courts of Appeal - Federal Reporter, 3d Series - F.3d
U.S. District Courts - Federal Supplement - F.Supp.
State Appellate Courts - Southern Reporter, 2d Series - So.2d
Thus you’d see: 521 U.S. 844 (Volume#, Source, Page#),
907 F. Supp 1361, or 89 F.3d 1257
Research Strategy: Secondary sources to primary sources:
secondary – law encyclopedia (Am Jur), law review journal
article (Lexis-Nexis), treatise or book (catalog), etc. Concerns:
“Good” law (citators and Shepherdizing)

33. Health Questions
• Where can I find recipes to cook for a
dialysis patient?
• What side effects does Albuterol have?
• How can I find a doctor in my area?
• Is this a good medical facility?
• How can I get an experimental drug?

34. FSU Medical Library: Finding Map
FSU Medical Library: http://med.fsu.edu/?page=library.medMap

35. Medical Databases and “Zebras”
“Zebras”
FSU Medical Library: http://www.med.fsu.edu/library/FindInfo.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20060209082110/http://med.fsu.edu/library/FindInfo.html

36. Health Resources
Medline/Pubmed (free) CINAHL (nursing db)
http://www.lib.fsu.edu/get/cinahlft
http://www.lib.fsu.edu/get/medline-pm
MeSH (Term Finder) DynaMed (db)
http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov http://www.lib.fsu.edu/get/dynamed
PsychInfo (db)
http://www.lib.fsu.edu/get/psycinfo Merck Manual
http://www.merck.com/pubs/
Physician’s Desk Reference (PDR)
QV 772 P575 2000
FSU Libraries : Health and Medicine
http://www.lib.fsu.edu/find/bysubject/healthandmedicine.html

37. Medline/PubMed (free)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/

38. CINAHL (subscription db)
https://login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://www.lib.fsu.edu/get/cinahlft

39. DynaMed
https://login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://www.lib.fsu.edu/get/dynamed

40. Merck Manual http://www.merckmanuals.com

41. Government Sources
Healthfinder.gov Cancer.gov
http://www.healthfinder.gov/ http://www.cancer.gov
Clinical Trials Food & Drug Administration
http://clinicaltrials.gov http://www.fda.gov
NLM Locatorplus Center for Disease Control
http://www.locatorplus.gov/ http://www.cdc.gov
Locatorplus, MedlinePlus, PubMed FastStats, NCHS
Medical Libraries http://www.nlm.nih.gov/network.html