Script:
Free File of the Month for October 2009:

Overview of American Business Directory (File 531)

Slide 1
In today's global economy, having access to the latest business and industry information is all important. Databases that contain information about businesses and industries are key to understanding competitors and markets that are changing minute by minute. A company known for its focus on business information is infoUSA, a member of InfoGroup. InfoUSA provides Dialog with the American Business Directory, File 531. In the following overview you will learn a bit about this file and the information it contains, as well as the process of obtaining the information, and how its data can help you in your business.

Slide 2
The American Business Directory excels in three areas: coverage, accuracy and recency. Here's why.

• File 531 contains approximately 14 million business records compiled from over 5,000 public sources.
• infoUSA uses all U.S. Postal Service postal standardization, and hygiene software is utilized to improve accuracy and consistency.
• In addition, infoUSA compiles and phone verifies records on a daily basis, making over 24 million phone calls on an annual basis to make sure that the database is as current as possible.

Slide 3
To illustrate why data in File 531 is so reliable, you need to know a bit about the process of acquiring and compiling the information. When you invest valuable time and money on mailings or sales calls, you need the most accurate data available. InfoUSA's 270 full-time researchers at its 132,000-sq ft Database and Technology Center are solely dedicated to building the data, verifying it and updating it for you. They also invest more than $50 million dollars to ensure their technology and resources are secure and maintain their essential data year after year.

To build the database, InfoUSA starts with more than 4,300 telephone directories and more than 350 new business sources, such as secretaries of state, county courthouse records and public record notices. Each source is catalogued, scanned, and processed by the library division. Once the records are authenticated, the records are standardized. Approximately 92% of the records include a zip code plus 4 to insure accuracy. Then over 200 teleresearch associates telephone each business to verify the data with over 24 million calls made each year to make sure the data is as fresh as possible. That is more than 80,000 calls a day. The database is then checked for accuracy one last time before it is sent to Dialog.

Slide 4
Now, let's take a look at the American Business Directory (File 531) in more detail. The file covers more than 14 million U.S. public and private companies, small businesses, government agencies, schools and professionals. Over 5,000 public sources are used to create the database, including government sources such as the FCC and Census Bureau. Other sources include public company filings and press releases, daily feeds from utility companies on connects and disconnects, monthly updates from the National Change of Address (NCOA) and more. The Dialog file is reloaded monthly so that the most current data is available.

Slide 5
Each record contains the company name and address (96%), telephone number (99%), employment data, key contact and title, primary SIC code and Secondary SIC code, if available, number of locations and stock exchange and ticker symbol. Actual and estimated financial data are included as well. If available franchised trade names and immediate and ultimate parents are given.

To provide accurate records with this much information requires a lot of work. For example, infoUSA made 1.2 million plus company name changes; more than 1.3 address changes in the past 12 months and approximately 370,678 phone number changes in the last 12 months.

Slide 6
To see what is in an American Company Directory we'll look at records for both large and small companies. This is a sample record for a large public company—Intel. The record was retrieved using the company name and the Dialog special feature to find the headquarters location. Other locations for Intel are also listed in the database. At the top of the record is the company name, address, phone and fax numbers. The type of industry is also listed.

You can see the primary Standard Industrial Classification Code or SIC code. In this case 3674 is the more general government code and the more specific code 367401 is also provided. Use this code to retrieve any number of industries within the code. Secondary SIC codes are given, when available. Note here that a large company like Intel has diverse product lines and thus may be listed under a number of codes.

Slide 7
As we look further at the record we see the number of employees at the Santa Clara location and the sales at that location. Note that there are 43 different locations for Intel. To find a Washington location, for example, we can search by state postal code. Total number of employees at all locations is given and executives and their titles are named.

Notice that companies that are public are so listed and in this case, it is also the headquarters location. You can use the Dialog special feature SF= to retrieve only the headquarters location. Public companies will also have the stock exchange where the company is traded and the ticker symbol. The Dialog Bluesheet provides all the different ways you can search for information about this company—by company name, SIC code, number of employees, by zip code or state to name a few.

Slide 8
The following sample record illustrates the type of information you can find on a small private company. This record was updated on August 9. At the top of the record is the company name, address and phone number. The type of industry is given, as well as the Primary SIC code indicating the line of business for the company. Employees at this location and the location sales are still indicated no matter how few the number of employees.

Slide 9
What value does the American Business Directory have for you, the business researcher? First of all, infoUSA has a compilation process that is comprehensive and complete. More than 600 highly-trained and dedicated associates in the Library, Compilation, Teleresearch, and Quality Assurance departments work to ensure that infoUSA maintains a competitive advantage.

• Second, quality is a key differentiating factor for File 531. Before reaching the customer, the information collected by infoUSA must first pass quality checks. The customized compilation process alone contains over 2,000 information validation checks. These checks are then supplemented by computer data cleansing processes such as duplicate removal and address standardization. Company names focus on the business name as they are known on the street with few LLC names.
• Different kinds of specific indexing are added to each article so File 531 is especially useful to find targeted information. Indexing lets the searcher retrieve a selective collection of companies based on specific criteria, such as specific companies in a particular industry in a specific state.
• American Business Directory can be used to find sales leads, create marketing lists, marketing or customer profiling, telemarketing and much more.
• The database is largely recognized as the highest quality, most comprehensive and most accurate data solution for business applications. A competitive audit conducted by an independent auditor, reported that, "InfoUSA is clearly the industry leader in providing accurate business information."
• Because infoUSA processes all businesses through telephone verification at least once per year, out-of-business locations are regularly cleansed from the database. Moreover, infoUSA processes transaction-based data which identifies probable out-of-business listings from across the country each month.

Slide 10
To validate the quality of American Business Directory, infoUSA contracted with an independent auditor to conduct a statistically valid comparison of File 531 against two national competitors' databases. The goal was to create a competitive analysis which would evaluate the quality of specific data elements: Company Name, Phone Number, Fax Number, Address, Executive Name & Title, Employment Size and Primary Industry. These data sets were extracted as statistically representative samples of each vendor's database, matched to one another, and tested for accuracy using telephone verification and first class mailings. Table 1 illustrates that the American Business Directory outclassed the other databases in all data sets. Table 2 compares unique records, a record that exists in one database but not the others. Table 2 includes information related to the quality of information unique to each database, again infoUSA having the higher numbers.

Slide 11
As you can see, American Business Directory (File 531) provides authenticated information about businesses in the United States. InfoUSA is proud of its data and goes to extremes to make sure it is accurate and meets your needs.

• You can try this file as Dialog's Free File of the Month in October. Read the story on the Free File in the October Chronolog and try searching Files 531!
• Make sure you are signed up for the Chronolog to see all the news at Dialog including other free files each month.
• If you have any questions, you can also contact the Knowledge Center by phone or email at .

Slide 12
This completes our overview of American Business Directory. Thank you for your interest in this comprehensive directory of business information on Dialog and put it on your list to try for free in October.