A single volume reference designed to present all the information essential to an American businessperson ranges from telephone numbers of important and legal information to tips on international communication. 75,000 first printing.
More than 750 topics are covered in this comprehensive new almanac, which offers recent and reliable data drawn from over 1900 public and private sources. It contains sections on business law and government, communications, corporate administration, finance, human resources, international trade, manufacturing, marketing, office management, and personal computing. This information is complemented by maps of the largest American cities, lists of useful reference titles and industry newsletters, directories of major corporations and labor unions, stock market statistics, a glossary, and much more. Features such as thumb tabs and a detailed index make fact-finding easy and quick. Highly recommended for all public, academic, and business libraries.
- Leonard Grundt, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, N.Y.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Claiming to be the "first one-volume business library" ever published, this book can answer such general business questions as "How do I reach the Small Business Administration?" to the more elusive "Where do I rent a blimp?" or "What is the cab fare from Narita Airport to Tokyo?" In this first edition, the almanac is arranged in 12 broad areas roughly similar to the way a corporation is organized: "Communications," "Finance," "Corporate Administration," "Marketing," etc. More than 450 topics are arranged under these headings. For example, within the "Human Resources" section are lists with addresses of speech and image consultants and employee-relocation firms, a summary of parental- and medical-leave policies by state, tables of unemployment benefits by state, charts on the job outlook, and information on various types of health-insurance plans. Most topics are accompanied by a recommended reference source. Boxed facts add interest, for example, "In the average office, 19 paper copies are made of each original document." Most information is taken from other sources, and the source is always noted. Among the sources cited are
Statistical Abstract,
Survey of Current Business,
Fortune,
National Real Estate Index Market Monitor,
Working Woman, and the Futures Industry Association.
Many entries give addresses or telephone numbers of federal and state regulatory agencies. Others give step-by-step tips, such as "Time Management Techniques." Maps of 26 major metropolitan areas are provided for the corporate traveler. Among the unique listings are companies that can provide Japanese-English business cards, contacts for the Federal Laboratory Consortium, average warehouse rates in major cities, Packaging Award winners, and top infomercial companies.
The last section of the book, "Reference," includes a glossary of business terms, telephone numbers of large public libraries (with the suggestion to call the Honolulu Public Library for after-hours research), industry newsletters, and media contacts. There are indexes of companies mentioned on lists, of reference sources, and of the 450 topics. Unfortunately, there is no true subject index, so a lot of browsing will need to be done to use this book effectively.
Priced under $30--and including more than $100 in coupons for discounts on business products and services--this book will be very useful as a desk reference for the corporate manager. (One of the coupons is for a free update of the book to be published in January.) But public and academic libraries should consider a copy, too, because of the way facts from a wide variety of sources are pulled together. Librarians in large business collections could find most of this information, but even with the skimpy indexing, this book has some ready-reference value.
