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Conducting Business Research with REFERENCE USAThe Clearwater Public Library and the Pinellas Public Library Cooperative offer the Reference USA database to registered library patrons as a means to search for basic business information and to compile lists of businesses according to various criteria. Reference USA includes information on over 11 million US businesses and 120 million US households. ACCESSING REFERENCE USAClick here to access ReferenceUSA from inside a CPLS branch If you are inside a library, the Reference USA page will appear; if outside
a library, you will need to type in your library card number. QUICK SEARCHThe QUICK SEARCH tab at the upper left-hand corner of the screen lets you do a very simple search without creating the search form required for a more complex search. COMPANY SEARCH: Simply type in the name (or part of the name) of a company and select SEARCH NOW! Results will appear in a brief listing that includes company name, address, and phone number. To view more details about the company, select the company name. You may also narrow this search by entering a city and state. PHONE SEARCH: To look up a business by its phone number, Type the 10-digit number in the blank and select SEARCH NOW! CREATING A CUSTOM SEARCH FORM AND PEFORMING A COMPLEX SEARCHTo perform more complex searches, you must select the categories of criteria that you will be using and create a search form. There are a variety of ways you can combine criteria to get lists of businesses. Take your cues from the following examples. Example One: FIND ALL VETERINARIANS IN CLEARWATER, FL A. Under the Custom Search tab and beneath Yellow Pages, click in the check box next to Heading or SIC. Beneath Geography Selects, choose City. Click Create Search Form.
B. Your search form will appear with blanks for your criteria. In the Heading blank, enter VETERINARIANS. For City, enter Clearwater and choose Florida by scrolling alphabetically through the list of states. Click Refine & Search.
C. At the next screen you will see a list of headings that match or are similar to your choice. To choose one, simply click on it. Each heading you click will appear in the Selected Choices box. Click Search Now.
D. Your results will appear in a mailing list format. 20 results will appear per page. To view the next page of results, click the Next arrow at the top or bottom of the page. To view the full record for an organization, click on its title.
Example Two: FIND ALL COMPANIES WITH 20 EMPLOYEES OR MORE IN THE 33755 ZIP CODE A. Beneath Geography Selects choose Zip Code and under Business Size choose Employees. Click Create Search Form. B. Enter your zip code in one of the boxes. You may use additional boxes to search more than one zip code at a time. In the Number of Employees box, hold down the CTL key while clicking on each employee number range of 20 or more. Click Search Now.
Example Three: FIND ALL COMPANIES IN THE TAMPA/CLEARWATER/ST. PETERSBURG METROPOLITAN SERVICE AREA WITH A SALES VOLUME OF OVER $500 MILLION PER YEAR A. Choose MSA under Geography Selects and choose Sales Volume under Business Size. Click Create Search Form. B. Select the state in which the MSA is located. While holding down the CTL key, click every Sales Volume range of 500,000 or more. Click Search Now!
C. Highlight the desired MSA from the list that appears next and click Search Now.
Example Four: FIND ALL COMPANIES ON QUEEN PALM DRIVE IN TAMPA, FL A. Select Address and City from Geography Selects. Click Create Search Form. B. Enter the street name, leaving off drive, street, lane, avenue, etc. Enter the City Name and select the State. Click Search Now!
PRINTINGYou may print company information for up to 50 marked companies in the brief view or the detailed view. To print information in the brief listing format, either check the box next to each company of interest or click on All at the top of the screen to automatically check mark every item that appears on the screen. You may continue with this procedure moving forward through your results lists until you are done or you reach the limit of 50 listings. Once the items are checked, click the oval Print button. At the next screen, you may choose Summary to keep the list in the brief format or Detailed for the full record of each company. Next click the gray Print button. When your list appears on the screen, click the gray Print button. The printer’s dialog box will appear. Click OK when you are ready to print. Click here to access Reference USA from anywhere Click here to access ReferenceUSA from inside a CPLS branch
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