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Science, Industry and Business Library > SIBL's Anniversary  It's SIBL's tenth anniversary! Please take a moment to tell us how you used the SIBL library. We'll be posting more patron stories, so please check back often! I still have great memories, from my teenage years, of meeting my grandmother for lunch at Charleston Gardens in the old B. Altman department store. Blue-haired ladies in white aprons, the antebellum murals, dainty tea snacks. Flash forward a couple of decades, I'm a grown-up entrepreneur and the store building now houses my favorite library, SIBL! Pocket Prep Partners was formed to provide instructional design services to corporations and educational institutions. Our focus -- helping our clients deliver training programs to prepare students and staff to pass professional certification exams -- is not exactly a "hot" retail sell. In fact, we don't sell anything to the public, but only to a narrow business market. We needed an efficient and effective way to reach prospective clients without spending too much of our (dwindling) seed capital. My business partner Sue-Rae Rosenfeld and I turned to SIBL as a haven, a resource, and a community. Since we live at opposite ends of the city, we found it convenient to meet at SIBL, to talk quietly in a public area, and to access the Internet in the Electronic Resource Center. The research librarians helped us identify data bases to search for prospective clients. We quickly decided to leverage our efforts by reaching out to the professional associations that our target customers might belong to, and we tapped the SIBL librarians for suggestions. Within a week, we had lined up our first speaking engagement at an association's annual conference, and things really started to take off from there. During our first year of business, we've steadily
built a base of clients and opportunity. Perhaps we could have made
the
same progress
without SIBL, but not as quickly or as conveniently. It's
a great rendezvous point, a haven for study and research, and
a place
to connect with people and ideas through SIBL's public classes.
(We've
picked up lots of valuable legal, tax, and accounting pointers
at SIBL workshops.) The architecture of the building itself
has been
an inspiration. Its elegance and spaciousness -- and the combination
of historic style with modern amenities -- remind us that
this
building was built for people to touch great ideas, and to
use them to create
worthwhile enterprises. We call it SIBL-style, and it works
for us! I got my corporate catering job
because of SIBL. SIBL is not just a library, but an oasis that offers a sense of calm from the hectic pace of NY life. When I started Casauri - we make desigher laptop bags and travel accessories - SIBL was a key resource in providing information vital for a start-up. I love SIBL!! posted by: Emily McHugh - CEO/Creative Director, Casauri I have used the library on several occasions for company research and to use the Bloomberg terminal. The library staff is both courteous and very accommodating. They are always willing and pleasant when I ask the most rudimentary questions. The environment and ambiance are nice and the terminals always work. In short, it is a very helpful place to do research on companies prior to job interviews. posted by: Pamela Marcus Founded in 1998, LineTech Industries develops and manufactures color and image QC systems for the textile industry to monitor and measure the visual properties of yarns and fabrics. These QC systems are used in both textile laboratories and in textile factories where they are integrated into the production process. Leading textile companies on five continents use LineTech's QC systems, including synthetic fiber producers, yarn spinners, texturizers, fiberglass producers, carpet yarn dyers, knitters, weavers, testing and trade organizations, and major apparel retailers. LineTech owes much gratitude to both the Science, Industry, & Business Library and SCORE for being an invaluable resource for research and business counseling for many years. posted by: Toby Jackson SIBL has been such a valuable resource not only for me, but for my company and friends. I use the Electronic Information Center constantly to obtain information for the business needs of my company - databases such as Dun & Bradstreet, S&P, idEXEC, Factiva, and many others. In times when budget constraints are a reality for many corporations, these databases have proven an extremely valuable resource. On a personal basis, I have also used these resources to obtain information for friends who are unable to personally get there. One of my friends was asked to speak about Earth Day in a public library in Suffolk County, so I searched Factiva for relevant articles. She said that she changed the focus of her talk because the articles provided little-known and interesting information that enabled her to presentation to be very successful. I also provided information/articles about facebook.com and other such "venues" to the leader of the (large) Youth Group in our church, giving him more "tools" (Factive articles) to create awareness about something that could potentially have a negative influence on these adolescents. He really appreciated this support. Recently I provided company information to a friend who was about to have an interview, which not only made her feel confident, but also impressed the person conducting the interview. She landed the job. These are a few examples of how I use the library resources. However, equally important - if not more so - are the human resources at SIBL. The staff is very knowledgeable, easy to approach, and gladly go the extra mile to help me obtain the information I need. They are what makes the library so special, in my book. Thank you! When you celebrate, also celebrate the great resource YOU are! posted by: Christel Haesicke MS Ed., MLS SIBL has been both a wonderful source for information unavailable elsewhere and, perhaps even more importantly, a truly excellent teaching venue for students preparing for required research in our marketing courses. The SIBL training staff provide a superb student experience and, when one considers the international students for whom English is a second language, a fully comprehensible introduction to SIBL's research tools provided by SIBL's highly knowledgeable, patient and articulate instructors. They cannot be sufficiently thanked for the help and encouragement they have provided for our students. posted by: Professor Robert A. Garino SIBL is one of the city's best kept secrets. I use the library daily -- most often docking my laptop in one of the quiet corners available for work. I use the library's resources to do my research. Unfailingly the staff has not only guided me to the rich data banks, but also pressed me into using the future -- for instance a SunDisk to store data and save my back! I feel so privileged to share this treasure. posted by: Susan Hall Thanks for all your help with my investments. I'm a retiree and I bike down to the SIBL library once a month to check out Value Line. Partly due to that, last year my portfolio, which I manage myself, was up 11.6% and, this April, its up over 15% year to year. PS. I'm also a CUNY grad. posted by: Barbara D. Congratulations to SIBL for the article, "All you Need Is an Idea...", in the Sunday New York Times. I will be using copies of it with my clients. In this complex and changing world, getting a business from zero to something is increasingly difficult and so few resources have even the slightest idea of the whole process, a few are so comprehensive as SIBL. As long as I can remember, I have had enormous regard for SIBL and a million years ago, SIBL's director was kind enough talk with me regarding some possible joint events with the now defunct American Womens Economic Development Corporation. Over the years, SIBL has been one of the standing resources to which I have referred nearly all of my private clients and as recently as two weeks ago, yet another was referred. Thanks again for the visionary and proactive support you offer. posted by: Charlene Ray I've used SIBl as both a teacher and an entrepreneur. As a teacher, I've brought many college students in both Marketing courses and Entrepreneurship classes. They are always amazed at the sheer volume of resources and it's always listed as one of their favorite highlights of the class. As an entrepreneur, I've used SIBL's research to plan our products. IBM and Crayola's Paint and Play Pony computer game was born when I researched the history of top selling toys and discovered that horses were always on the top ten lists of favorite toys for girls. I also always research any new ideas I have to see what the size of
the market might be
and who might be my competitors. The two classes I enjoyed the most was our session at the library to discuss the availability and usage of research, and the class on public speaking. This was one of the most enjoyable class experiences in our two year graduate career. The trip to the library was very useful. I think it can be used for any research not just for this class. The library trip was informative and helpful for our final project. I truly enjoyed going to the NYC Public Library at SIBL, it allowed us to be able to have access to information that we otherwise did not know exist or we knew existed but would cost a lot to obtain. I've been able to use the library both for research for this class and for my personal business. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you bringing us to SIBL and showing us how to really research a business idea. It seems our team almost drowned in the wealth of sources the library had to offer. This class was absolutely wonderful. I would like to see only one improvement, Have more sessions at SIBL. The trip to the library and the speaker on how to improve our presentation skills also contributed for this class to be ranked very high on my list of preferred classes. Professor Shaw's field trip class to the New York Public Library and the class for learning presentation skills are extraordinary. I like the class on presentation skills and also the visit to New York Public Library (SIBL). The trip to library was very useful to me. Excellent tour of NY Business public library. Thank you for the trip to the library. From Susan Shaw's Class – 2006 |
