Matt’s excellent recent post detailed the wealth of marketing-related resources that reside only a few clicks away on the Internet. But we also wanted to make sure to favor our local friends with a little something-something that is only available to those in a position to visit the library here in person. 

And so we once again take the opportunity to point out some titles of trade journals and book resources recently added to the library’s collection. These items are available only in print here at the library, so come on down. If these titles look intriguing but you are outside the Saint Paul, Minnesota area, check with a library near you to see about availability, or contact us to see if certain articles or book sections can be delivered to you electronically.

Industry Journals
• American quilt retailer
• Scrapbook retailer
• Canvas. “Developing high achievement in print sales”

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In a previous post about the new journal titles we've added to the Hill Library collection, I promised a run-down of the new books we've acquired as well. Be sure to click the "More" link for additional titles... 

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Industry trade journals! The mother's milk of staying current with trends and statistics and competitors, and a true strength of the Hill Library's business collection. We subscribe to over 700 of these publications in print, and because of how frequently they are published, and how tightly they can focus on a specific industry or niche or segment, we're always keeping an eye out for more intriguing titles that can help entrepreneurs find the information they need.

Every once in a while, we like to update our blog-reading public on the titles we've recently acquired, and I'd like to take the opportunity to do that again now. Here are the names of some trade magazines we've added to our august collection in the first quarter of 2008:

While most trade journals maintain some presence on the Internet, rarely do they make the full text of all articles from past issues available online for free, or make them easily searchable. So sometimes the print versions of these publications can be the only way to track down that article or study or survey that will help your business succeed. If you're in the Saint Paul area, come by and pay us a visit to see these journals; otherwise, check with a library in your area to see about accessing some of these titles.

As an added bonus, to make your searching even easier: references to any outstanding articles published in the above journals --- state-of-the-industry reports, top companies lists, forecasts, buyer's guides, salary surveys, etc. --- will now be included in the Hill Library Special Issues Index.

And by-the-by: in addition to the trade journals we've added in the last three months, we've also behaved the way a library sometimes behaves and, you know, bought some new books. Stay tuned for an update on our new book acquisitions soon.

While it's true that more business information can be found online now than ever before, it's also true that hitting the books is not yet an obsolete strategy for business research.

Consider: if a publisher has collected information it sees as sufficiently valuable, that publisher will not give it all away for free on the Internet, but rather, print it between the covers of an old-fashioned book, and hope that someone will purchase it. Chumps that we are here at the Hill Library, that's exactly what we'll do, when we see resources that may be of use to the entrepreneurs and small business owners that are able to visit the library in person.

Here is just a sampling of the many books and journals we have added to our print collection over the past months, and we continue to add similar resources regularly. To see what we have for your research question, view the library catalog and search by a title, author, or subject keyword. If you can't make it to the library in person, check with a library in your area to see if any of these titles are available, then read while you pretend you're at the Hill Library. Or consider a HillSearch membership, which, among other benefits, would entitle you to up to 24 document deliveries (pages or articles or sections of print books) per year.

Food Industry

• Functional ingredients
• The food retailing industry speaks
• Technomic top 500 chain restaurant report
• The U.S. food marketing system: recent developments, 1997-2006

Healthcare / Pharmaceuticals

• Directory of investor-owned community hospitals, hospital management companies & health systems, residential treatment facilities & centers, key management personnel
• Assisted living & extended care facilities
• HMO-PPO digest
• Consumer healthcare
• Supermarket pharmacy trends

Business Startup / How-to

• Start your own clothing store and more: children's, bridal, vintage, consignment
• Start your own executive recruiting business
• Start your own photography business: studio, freelance, gallery, events
• The specialty shop: how to create your own unique and profitable retail business
• From entrepreneur to infopreneur: make money with books, e-books, and other information products
• Craft, Inc.: turn your creative hobby into a business
• Financing business growth: proven strategies for women business owners from women business owners
• Selling art without galleries: toward making a living from your art
• Smart start-ups: how entrepreneurs and corporations can profit by starting online communities
• Construction business management: what every construction contractor, builder & subcontractor needs to know

International

• Doing business with India
• Dancing with giants: China, India, and the global economy

Industry data

• Leisure market research handbook
• The state of the nation's housing 2007
• Used-book sales: a study of the behavior, structure, size and growth of the U.S. used-book market
• U.S. - International travel and transportation trends: 2006 update
• 2006 CHA attitude & usage study: craft industry

Industry journals

• Bottled water reporter
• Venue safety & security
• Electronic news
• The Nilson report

E-commerce

• Selling online subscriptions summit 2007: transcript
• The ... e-commerce market research handbook

Marketing

• Beyond buzz: the next generation of word-of-mouth marketing
• Branding a store: how to build successful retail brands in a changing marketplace
• Citizen marketers: when people are the message
• Creating customer evangelists: how loyal customers become a volunteer sales force
• Riches in niches: how to make it BIG in a small market
• The art of digital branding

Misc. / Management

• Retail store planning & design manual
• The changing role of the COO: is the chief operating officer headed for transformation or extinction?
• The right projects done right!: from business strategy to successful project implementation
• Environmental sustainability: the power of green