Training
Reference Services staff provide hands-on training for state employees on how to use the various information sources Reference Services provides. There is a regular schedule of classes, and special training sessions can be arranged.
Regular Sessions
Regular training sessions are provided once a month at the MOTEC training lab in Jefferson City. Full descriptions of the classes provided are listed below.
Business Research Featuring AtoZ Databases - Focused on helping state employees use the business-specific databases in our collection, this class highlights tools such as AtoZ Databases, which state employees can use to find Missouri businesses and generate lists by city or county, company size, industry code and other factors. Also featured in this session are additional databases that provide business and industry information, trend reports and articles.
Introduction to Library Resources - Designed with the new library user in mind, this session is geared toward those who would like to learn more about searching for journal, newspaper, or magazine articles in general. The fundamentals of search strategy are introduced through examples run in our multidisciplinary subscription databases. Exploration of some selected subject-specific databases is included as well, in addition to a discussion of other key services available to Missouri state employees through the Missouri State Library.
Introduction to Internet Searching - This hands-on class focuses on using the Internet more efficiently to find web resources and provides information on effective searching and evaluation of web sites and search engines. Leading search engines are explored, with each search engine’s unique search features highlighted.
Laws and Legislation with LexisNexis – State Capital Universe, a LexisNexis database, is introduced in this class. This database allows keyword searching of bills, statutes, and regulations from all U.S. states in one convenient environment. Included in this class are explanations of search features and instructions on how to pull needed information from this database.
Navigating the Census - This class is focused on providing basic information and tools to help data seekers find needed material in the U.S. Census website. Step-by-step instructions on how to use the Census website's American Fact Finder service to retrieve data files from the 2010 Census and the Census Bureau's yearly American Community Survey are introduced.