Online Resource of the Month - October 2003

Listed on the Articles & Databases' page.

ReferenceUSA

What is it?
ReferenceUSA contains three parts:

1. a residential "white pages" directory;
2. a directory of company information, including contact information, number of employees, sales volume, line of business, corporate parent/child ownership, and more; and,
3. a healthcare directory of doctors and dentists.

Residential searching includes features such as searching by MSA, County, or Area Code.

This database is a paid subscription database, provided by SDPL for its users.

When should you use it?
This telephone and address lookup database -covering business, residential, and health care-- will commonly be used in two ways:

• to get information about a known company, person, or health care provider;
• or to create lists of companies or individuals matching certain criteria.

Additionally, it may be used specifically to gather corporate parent/child information (who owns whom). Residential information will generally be used to look-up a name by city, county, address (reverse lookup), or area code.

How do you use it?
At the initial screen, select either Business , Residential, or Health Care Database to proceed. Once in any directory, use the tabs at the top of the screen to move between the types of listings, and the lower tabs to move between ‘Quick Search’ and ‘Custom Search’ screens.

In Business, to get information on a known company, the Quick Search screen displays by default. Enter the company name, and if known, the city and/or state in which it is located.

To lookup a phone number, enter it here, no spaces, hyphens, or parentheses.

In Residential, to find information on individuals, enter the last name, first name, and city or state. You can enter a phone number here, to look up individual phone numbers, and find the address and name (reverse lookup). You can view all the people with last name JOHNSON, in SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, for example.

In Health Care, you can look up a physician or dentist by last name, first name, and the city and state. You can also lookup phone numbers for physicians and dentists in this database, degree granted date, board certification, and more.

You can also find lists, such as all dentists with last name JONES in SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

Sample Business Profile
Below image shows a typical "business profile," basic information about the company. This is the opening screen for information about Qualcomm.

Custom Search (Business Directory)
Select the tab in any database to conduct a Custom Search. This section provides a guide on searching using a Custom Search in Business. Each directory has a similar Custom Search that works the same.

With Custom Search, you can discover companies matching a set of criteria. Select the types of criteria you wish to include, then select the 'Create Search Form' button. Available criteria are:

• Company Name, Executive Name, Ticker Symbol, Heading or SIC(s), Primary SIC(s), Major Industry (Manufacturing, Retail Trade, etc.), NAICS(s) Codes, Address, Zip Code, State, MSA, City, County, Area Code, Business Phone , (number of) Employees , Sales Volume, Executive Title, Headquarters/Branch (to retrieve only headquarter, subsidiary or branch locations), Government Offices, Public Companies/Stock Exchange, and Years in Database/Yellow Page Ad Size.

Reminder: you can use the asterisk (*) to match any number of characters in your search. All searches use Boolean AND by default.

The next screen in conducting a Custom Search will display tools for selecting the specific criteria to match. The choice of tools can be modified using the column of criteria selects in the left column. When you have the tools you want, enter your terms and/or selections and select the 'Refine & Search' button. You may be presented with a display to clarify some choices. Make those selections and Select 'Search Now'. A list of results will display, 25 matches to a page.

• Companies with corporate parents or children will display up and down arrows in the 'Linkage' column on the far right. Arrows are linked to parent/child listings.
• To view or print details on a company, select the blue hyperlinked name. For multiple companies, mark those with a check . A Check 'All' button is at the top of the column. Then, select either the 'Print' or 'Details' button across the top of the table. You can also see maps (from MapQuest) and other details here, search for nearby businesses with radius up to 20 miles, by all businesses or by SIC Code.

Custom Search (Residential Directory)
A Custom Search for residential information works in general as described above for business searches. The Custom Search fields for residential searches are: Last Name, First Name Middle Initial, Phone Number, Address, ZIP Code, Area Code, City, County, MSA, and State.

Custom Search (Health Care Directory)
A Custom Search for health care information works in general as described above for business searches. The Custom Search fields for health care searches are: Physician Name, Physician Title, Physician Age, Physician Gender, Prescriptions Per Week, Patients Per Week, Office Phone, Primary SIC, Primary Specialty, Type of Practice, State of License, Year Graduated, Board Certification, Dentist Name, Dentist Title, Dentist Age, Dentist Gender, Office Name, Office Manager Name, Address, ZIP Code, State, MSA (Metro Area), City, County, and Area Code.

Downloading Records
To download company records for use in a spreadsheet, use the check boxes to choose companies then click 'Download' in the row above the table. You'll be asked to select a file format for the download. You can download up to 100 records at a time in a library, and 20 per session from home. For more information and help, see the page on the SDPL Web site help pages about downloading records from ReferenceUSA.

Recent Updated Changes and News

• EDGAR (Annual Reports)
  EDGAR annual report data for public companies is now linked within ReferenceUSA. Select the highlighted company's ticker symbol to receive more detailed financial information on publicly traded companies.
• 2000 Census Data
  Public government statistical information adds to the functionality of our residential listings without giving away sensitive data. ReferenceUSA has updated the residential records with 2000 Census data. The median home value and income are reported from this data, and not from an individual's real private information.
• North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS)
  Developed jointly by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the NAICS system was designed to replace the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification system (SIC). ReferenceUSA has added the NAICS codes, and they are available as data elements and selectable as search critera. SIC Codes will remain in ReferenceUSA as well.
• Enhanced Radius Search by SIC
  Simply choose a result item, then select the radius search, and pick a distance between 1/10 mile and 20 miles, and finally narrow the search by SIC or Yellow Page heading. For example, you might wish to find all of the restaurants within walking distance of a hotel.
• Purchase Record List
  You now have the opportunity to download your full results'list, up to 25,000 records at a time. You select the purchase list option, and pay by credit card over secure connection.
• New Data Elements
  When you use a business record, you will receive these new data elements: the number of personal computers, square footage of building, owned or leased building indicator, and latitude / longitude coordinates of the location.

Additional Help
For more help on ReferenceUSA, please contact the staff of BusinessLink, and the Social Sciences Section, Central Library. They are specialists, and can help with searching ReferenceUSA, creating custom searches, and downloading records. They will be glad to help.

Explore Questions - Sample Question to Try

• Business: Create a list of businesses in National City with more than 250 employees.
• Business: Find all locations of Pizza Hut in New York with 20 or more employees.
• Residential: Find all people with last name "Johnson" in ZIP CODE 92122.
• Health Care: Find all doctors who graduated from Stanford Medical, who are licensed in the State of California, and over 70 years old.