ReferenceUSA

Are you a small business owner looking to create a list of potential customers? Are you a job hunter who wants to find companies to send resumes to? Or are you just looking for the address and phone number of your favorite taco joint? St. Louis County Library’s ReferenceUSA database can do all of this and more.

To access ReferenceUSA go to www.slcl.org/, then click Research toward the top of the page. On the research page, click Business & Investing in the middle of the page under the heading Subject Guides. Underneath Business & Investing scroll down the page and click ReferenceUSA (Home Access) if you’re using the database from home. Fill in your last name, SLCL library card number and PIN number in the appropriate boxes and you’re in!

You can find businesses by clicking U.S. Businesses and Residential information if you click U.S. Standard White Pages. Finding your favorite taco joint is as easy as clicking U.S. Businesses and typing the joint’s name and state in the boxes. Like many of us non-natives, ReferenceUSA sometimes has trouble with Metro St. Louis municipalities, so I wouldn’t use those. (Fortunately, ReferenceUSA doesn’t care what high school you went to.)

To create a list of companies based on criteria like location, business type and size, try clicking the Custom Search tab. Be sure to click Expand All to see all of your search options. ReferenceUSA lets you get as broad or as narrow as you’d like when conducting your search.

If ReferenceUSA sounds like your kind of database, the Reference department would be happy to show you how to use it. Just give us a call at 314-994-33000 ext. 2050 and ask to “Book a Librarian.”

--Paul S., Headquarters

Need a phone number?

Where are those white pages when you need them? Did you recycle them? Did the puppy chew them up? Or did you just not receive one? Don’t stress about it, we can help! Reference has several phone number directories listed at http://www.slcl.org/research/subject/835. Once at this link, Anywho or Switchboard are a couple of the options. These are even better than the white pages, because you can look up phone numbers in other states, too. Sorry though, if a phone number is unlisted or is a cell phone number, then it won’t be available.

So go ahead, check for that friend who moved to Peoria, your uncle in Tennessee, or your old neighbor.

--Mari C., Reference