Libraries specialising in business information have become increasingly important in recent years.In particular the wealth of information they can provide is of immense help to small companies or sole traders who do not have the resources to employ information specialists.
Business Libraries can be part of a commercial company eg.a Bank or property company or they can be a specialised library within a public authority eg.Shropshire County Council,Barnsley Central Library and the City of Westminster all have well resourced business information collections. The City Business Library in London is the major public business reference library in the UK.
Librarians working in business libraries carry out a mixture of research and enquiry work from both electronic and hard copy sources.The range of material is broad:
- market research reports
- company reports
- company profiles
- government statistics
- trade journals
- product directories
- financial information
- salary guides
- worldwide trade information
- European information
- marketing information
The important factor in using business information is its currency.It has to be available to its users very soon after publication.Users need enquiries answered quickly and accurately so ability in accessing both online and hard copy sources is vital.
Further information on working in business information can be found on the special interest groups section on CILIP's website under CLSIG (Commercial, Legal & Scientific Information Group
www.cilip.org.uk/clsig)
The City Information Group is a London based key membership organisation for those interested in or working in or working with business information.
http://www.cityinformation.org.uk/