Tucson Public Library - Main Branch – Information Goldmine

by Chuck Umeda 9908

The Main Branch of the Tucson Public Library at 101 N. Stone Ave. is a vast source of information.  Library hours are Mon.-Wed.: 10 am to 9 pm; Thu. – 9 am to 6 pm; Fri. 10 am to 5 pm; Sat. 9 am to 5 pm; Sun. 1 pm to 5 pm.  Tom Farmer, a Business Librarian at the Main Branch, says the library is there to provide information and to help.   There are many ways to contact the library.  The Infoline, 791-4010, which opens at 9 am, is staffed by real live people!  Tom said it your “help desk” for quick information.  Consider it your research department.  They receive more than 250 calls daily of which 85% are answered right then during the call.  If you prefer to actually go there, 2 hours parking is free with validation in the underground parking lot.  The fee is $1 per hour after 2 two hours.  Parking on Saturday and Sunday is free. 

The library has a web site, www.lib.ci.tucson.az.us (no period after the “.az.us”). Available 24 hours each day, the home page has numerous choices, some of which are described below.  The Main Branch has links to other libraries including the University of Arizona.

“About the Library” lists address of the other branches in Tucson.

Catalog is an electronic version of the card catalog, which has information about the books and videos in the library, and an added benefit of knowing if they are checked out or not.  One can also make reservations for these on-line.

EbscoHost has the Magazine Index and more than 3,000 magazines on-line.  Full text versions of more than 1,000 magazines are on-line.  A Library card is needed to access this information.  The site has a search engine to find information based on specific search terms.  A copy of an article can be downloaded, printed locally or even e-mailed to an acquaintance.

Need an Answer?  Ask a Librarian   This is a great service where one can e-mail a question.  The library will research and return with an answer in two to three days typically.  More complex questions require more time.  The library will also fax up to 10 pages of information.  There were more than 160 questions answered last month.

www.lib.ci.tucson.az.us/bkmkspub/bussmall.htm is the Small Business Information Center.  This has links for Assistance, Associations and Organizations, Chamber of Commerce, Consumer Price Index, Demographics, Directories (national, international, Thomas Register of Manufacturers, etc.) E-Commerce, Government, Law, Patents, Phone numbers, Starting a Business, trademarks, etc.  The “Patents” link has further links to US PTO (U.S. Patent & Trademark Office), Noble Library at ASU, a regional patent repository, and even our I.A.A.!!

There are company directory databases: “Reference USA” lists over 10 million businesses.  “PhoneDisc’ covers over 10 million U.S. businesses by location and type of business.  The “Million Dollar Database” covers 160,000 of the largest U.S. businesses.

There is a City of Tucson business database as well.  The Arizona Newspaper Database has The Arizona Daily Star and Arizona Republic papers on line from 1997.  The Tucson Citizen has issues from 1995.

The bottom line is that the Tucson Public Library Main Branch is a goldmine of information available and waiting for the asking.  Dedicated  librarians like Tom will ensure that the information is found and delivered.