The high-tech information commonly used by corporate giants will be available to smaller businesses thanks to a $6 million program spearheaded by the New Jersey State Library.
By: Gwen McNamara
Score one for the little guy.
Small business-owners, entrepreneurs and start-up companies will soon have access to all the high-tech information commonly used by corporate giants thanks to a $6 million program spearheaded by the New Jersey State Library.
The library’s "Knowledge Initiative" is designed to bring the latest in science, technology, medical and business electronic information resources to the fingertips of entrepreneurs, small businesses, researchers and students throughout the state.
"Much of this information has never been available to small businesses," said Norma Blake, state librarian. "It’s too expensive. Large corporations are able to get ahold of it because they can afford it. But now these online databases will be at all of the state’s colleges and universities, at libraries throughout the state and on the desktops of small businesses that work with the state Economic Development Authority and New Jersey Science and Technology Commission."
Some of the databases the State Library is considering include the Association for Computing Machinery Digital Library, EBSCO Host research databases, Nature and its research and review journals, Factiva.com, Reference USA, ScienceDirect and the Thomson Gale Business & Company Resource Center.
"These resources will give New Jersey an edge in terms of a technology infrastructure that it never had before," Ms. Blake said.
Whether its access to medical periodicals, market data for the United States and Canada or the latest in business news, small companies that normally wouldn’t have the resources to purchase databases on their own will be able to use such research to improve and grow, said Ms. Blake.
She expects the Knowledge Initiative to be up and running as early as April.
"Our funding had been frozen, but after talking with acting Gov. Richard Codey, the treasury says we should have our funds by the end of January," she said in late January.
Once the State Library has its $6 million in funding, it will begin to set up contracts with specific vendors.
The Initiative got started at the beginning of 2004 after the State Library began to assess all the services it offered for the business community.
"We went to visit Caren Franzini (CEO of the state Economic Development Authority) and she said ‘You have a marketing problem’," Ms. Blake said. "She had no idea we did so much for business. We also got in touch with U.S. Rep. Rush Holt’s people about the Einstein’s Alley concept and discovered despite all the plans to make central New Jersey the high-tech center of the state, there was no plan for information infrastructure support. That’s when we knew we could help fill that need."
The library began by getting endorsements from organizations like the Business and Industry Association, the League of Municipalities and state and local chambers of commerce, and conducted an Internet survey where businesses were asked if the Knowledge Initiative would make a difference or help companies stay in New Jersey?
"Ninety percent said yes," Ms. Blake said.
Once the Knowledge Initiative is complete, small businesses, entrepreneurs and start-ups will be able to access the specialized information resources for free at every college and university in the state, four selected public libraries, the New Jersey State Library, technology companies funded by the EDA and business incubators supported by the New Jersey Science and Technology Commission.
"Large companies like Merck or Johnson & Johnson may already have these kinds of databases," said Ms. Blake. "Some large universities may as well, but by distributing this information statewide, it frees up such universities to use the money they would have spent on the databases to buy more or improve in other ways. But our goal is to really help the little places that don’t or couldn’t get access otherwise."
For more information visit the State Library Web site www.njstatelib.org or call (609) 292-6200.

