Research and Reference Resources

Quick guide to ReferenceUSA Business

Search Fourteen Million Businesses in a Single Click!

Need to find out where you should send your resume?
Want to identify your business competition?
Looking for a fax number for a corporate office?

Find the answers to these questions and much more with ReferenceUSA.

• What is ReferenceUSA?
• How do I access ReferenceUSA?
• Let's get started!
• Can I view some detailed examples?
• How do I save or print results?
• I would like more information or a group demonstration.

 

What is ReferenceUSA?

ReferenceUSA is a subscription database that contains many data sets.  Our libraries subscribe to U.S. Businesses, which includes information on almost 14 million U.S. businesses. Data is compiled from Yellow Page and Business White Page telephone directories; annual reports, 10-Ks and other SEC information; federal, state, provincial and municipal government data; Chamber of Commerce information; leading business magazines, trade publications, newsletters, major newspapers, industry and specialty directories; and postal service information.

Search by phone number, address, CEO, estimated sales, and more. Information on corporate contacts, company name, divisions and subsidiaries, address, line of business, number of employees, annual sales, credit rating, Fortune 1000 ranking, stock quotes, and news articles is available.

ReferenceUSA is an Internet-based reference service from the Library Division of infoGroup. The infoGroup databases power the directory services of the top traffic-generating Internet sites, including Yahoo!, InfoSpace and Microsoft. Find more information about the database at in the About Us section of the database.

 

How do I access ReferenceUSA?

Access the database here or follow the link to the Online Databases page in LINKcat.
Due to licensing restrictions, the database is only available in the following libraries or remotely to these libraries' cardholders: Adams County Library, Baraboo, Belleville, Black Earth, Brodhead, Cambria, Cambridge, Columbus, Cross Plains, Dane County Library Service, Deerfield, Lodi, Madison, Marshfield, Middleton, Monroe, Monona, Monticello, Mount Horeb, New Glarus, Oregon, Portage, Portage County Public Library, Poynette, Prairie du Sac, Verona, Waunakee, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin Rapids

If accessing the database from home, enter your full library card number without the spaces.

ReferenceUSA's main page will come up. Click on U.S Businesses and you're ready to search.

 

Let's get started!

The database has powerful search features and can be used for company identification, direct marketing, telemarketing, market research, sales lead generation, sales planning, customer analysis and credit decisions.

There are 2 ways to search ReferenceUSA: Quick Search by Business Name, Executive Name, City, State or Phone, and Custom Search, which offers flexible searching of over 30 different search criteria, alone or in combination.

• Quick Search

  • Use Quick Search if you know the exact name of a company or if you want a quick list of companies in a specific city.
  • Click on U.S. Businesses to begin.
  • Fill in one or more of the search boxes.
  • Click View Results.

• Custom Search

  • Use Custom Search if you need more search options than Quick Search permits.
  • Click on U.S. Businesses to begin.
  • Click the Custom Search tab (next to Quick Search).
  • Click on the headings to the left or click on Expand All to explore your options.
  • When you have selected and filled in all the desired criteria, click View Results.

• The Results

  • Up to 25 results are listed per screen. Click the company name for more details.
  • To load details for more than one company at a time, click on the box to the left of the company name or click All. Click Details to see more information about each of the companies selected
  
  

Can I view some detailed examples?

• Example 1: I'm interested in working for Rayovac. How can I find out more about the company?
• Example 2: How many female catering executives are there in the 53703 zip code area?
• Example 3: I'm going to the Alicia Ashman Library on the West Side of Madison. Is there somewhere nearby I can have lunch?
• Example 4: I own stock in a company but all I can remember is the ticker symbol, ABCW. Can I find some information on the company from that?

 

How do I save or print results?

From the Results page, choose to download or print your results.

• To download, insert a disk or memory stick into the appropriate drive.
  • Click the Download button on the Search Results Screen.
  • On next screen, choose file format and level of detail for each record.
  • Click Download.
  • Make sure to Save.
• To Print, click on Print on search results screen (don’t use File>Print)
  • On next screen choose level of detail you want to print.
  • Click Print. ReferenceUSA will format the data for printing.
  • Now go to browser’s File menu and Click Print.

You can print or download up to 25 records at a time. These restrictions are part of our contract with ReferenceUSA. To save records, you will need to know the file format and and the platform (Windows, Unix, Macintosh). The "comma delimited" option opens data directly into an Excel spreadsheet if Excel is loaded on your computer.

 

For more information, or a group demonstration, contact:

Terry McMenaimin
201 W. Mifflin St.
Madison WI 53703
(608) 266-4953
terrymc @ scls.lib.wi.us

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