|
Business Reference 101
A four-week, Web-based course
Sessions: #8 -- TBA Do you wish you felt more confident when faced with a business reference question? Want to demystify SIC and NAICS codes, ROI and 10k's? Then Business Reference 101 is for you! This four-week, Web-based professional development course is designed for academic, special or public librarians and other researchers and library staff who have a basic understanding of some business resources but who do not work with them often enough to build expertise. The course will provide students with a framework for understanding the business reference process as well as an overview of business reference sources specific to each of the course modules (see below). Business Reference 101 participants will also have access to proprietary business reference databases such as Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage, Thomson/Gale's Business & Company Resource Center, Ebsco's Business Source Complete and Morningstar, among others.
Week 1: Introduction (1-2 hours)The introduction will include an overview of the Business Reference 101 course objectives as well as provide a framework for understanding business reference questions and business reference resources. This introductory week will provide context for the remaining weeks. Week 1 includes a quiz and one optional chat session. Participants will also be asked to submit a personal profile as well as post some "Business Reference Stumpers" to the discussion board.
Week 2: Company Module & Industry Module (2-4 hours)The Company Module will introduce some of the basics of company information search strategies. Corporate finance and accounting will also be addressed briefly. This module also includes a section on Small Business issues. The Industry Module covers how to approach an industry research question and how to work with industries that aren't easily defined or made up of small, private companies. Industry codes are also explained. Week 2 includes two quizzes.
Week 3: International Module & Marketing/Demographics/Statistics. Module (2-4 hours)The International Module discusses some of the issues involved when a business reference question involves a foreign company or industry. The Marketing/Demographics/Statistics Module presents some strategies on digging for marketing and demographic information and how to approach statistical questions creatively. Week 3 includes 2 quizzes.
Week 4: Investing/Stock Market & Course Wrap-up (2-4 hours)The Investing/Stock Market Module introduces the basics of investing and strategies for finding market information, including historical data and data on defunct entities. The Course Wrap-up reviews the highlights of the course and points to additional business reference resources that aren't included in the earlier modules. Week 4 contains one quiz and an evaluation as well as one optional chat session.
Who Should AttendBusiness Reference 101 is a distance education, Web-based course tailored for public, special and academic librarians and other researchers and library staff who may feel somewhat intimidated when faced with business reference questions. It is a "101" approach, meaning that it is primarily targeted at those who are not very familiar with this subject area. Seasoned business researchers could take Business Reference 101 as a refresher course to brush up on their skills.
Course FormatFor 2008 and onward, ALA has chosen Moodle for all online educational courses. To learn more about Moodle and get acquainted with it, Moodle uses Moodle to demonstrate how it works. Go here for the ALA installation of Moodle.
The course Web site will be open for one week prior to the start date for students to have access to ALA Moodle instructions and set their browsers appropriately. The course site will remain open one week after the end date for students to complete any sections and submit the source evaluation survey.
Instructor: Celia Ross is the Library Instructional Design Coordinator at Columbia College Chicago and the liaison to their Arts, Entertainment & Media Management department. She has gained practical business reference experience in a variety of settings, including a venture capital firm, a large public library, a global consulting firm and academic libraries. She has conducted business reference workshops for local library groups since 2002. Celia developed Business Reference 101 for RUSA in 2005 and has been teaching it to sold-out crowds since March of 2006. She is an active member of RUSA's BRASS division as well as ACRL. She is currently working on a book tentatively titled "Making Sense of Business Reference." She also is expecting her first child and is taking the spring off from the course.
Registration InformationDiscounted group registration rates are available for organizations registering eight or more people for one of the RUSA online courses. The online registration form cannot be used for group registrations, because it is set up to handle only individual registrations.
To register a group, please complete a print registration form (see file below) for each individual, and include a cover letter and/or memorandum that lists each person to be registered as part of the group and payment information. Group registrations can be paid for by check, credit card or purchase order that covers all the registrations.
If you are interested in more information on group registrations and the group rates, please contact RUSA.
Registration limit for each session: 30
Two Ways to Register
- On-Line: Complete the on-line registration form.
- By Mail/Fax: Send your completed registration form (see below) with payment to: RUSA, , 50 E. Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611-27995, Fax: (312) 280-5273.
|
|
