[Publib] Investor's Business Daily

[Martha Grenzeback]

I'm not sure how useful my insights are, since the only one I've read 
personally is the Wall Street Journal, and that rarely--but we do 
subscribe to all three at my library. We keep them all behind the 
counter, presumably because they are more likely to be stolen, so 
it's easy to gauge how often they are used. Value Line and Wall 
Street Journal are requested on a daily basis--we have a few patrons 
who come in solely for that purpose. I can't remember anyone ever 
asking for the Investor's Business Daily, although admittedly I am 
not there every hour of the day. One option might be to try a free 
trial of the digital version and see if anyone uses it (although I 
must say that our patrons who read Value Line and WSJ like paper). 
IBD apparently prides itself on offering information NOT available in 
WSJ--though that may be their hype.

Hmm, maybe I should actually read it.  :-)

Martha Grenzeback
Omaha Public Library (this week, depending on budget cuts)



At 05:05 PM 8/31/2009, John Richmond wrote:
>Occasional small skirmishes are arising at our ref desk.  We subscribe
>to Value Line.  Just when we thought (almost) everyone who used it had
>died, suddenly we have at least ten people who use it and want it to
>stay forever.  Meanwhile, a couple of patrons are lobbying for
>Investor's Business Daily, and have no use for Value Line--literally
>or figuratively.  One woman said, jokingly, that if we didn't get a
>subscription to IBD, she would quit paying her property taxes.
>Presumably to punish us.  Ha, ha.  Both Value Line and IBD are
>expensive, and these are hard times.  Oh--and one of the Value Line
>devotees said the IBD was so much like the Wall Street Journal--which
>we get--that we shouldn't bother ordering IBD.
>
>There are no magic answers out there, but...does anyone who gets IBD
>and/or Value Line and/or the WSJ and/or Whatever have thoughtful,
>well-reasoned arguments for why we ought to subscribe to IBD?  I
>mean...even after having looked at it online, a bit...I wonder if IBD
>*is* as wondrous as the people who want it say it is?  Is it really
>enough like the WSJ that we can say, with conviction, and not as
>dysfunctional, people-pleasing librarians, that we are very sorry
>BUT--we subscribe to the WSJ, we're watching our budget, and would you
>kindly be happy with what we provide, thank you ever so much?
>
>We serve a mostly blue-collar-to-rural population on the edge of
>Peoria (itself a city of blue-collar heritage), and we don't seem to
>have huge numbers of people with a) money, and b) investments.  So I
>want to use resources wisely.
>
>Thank you.
>
>John (I've been off Publib for eons) Richmond, Director
>Alpha Park Public Library (No, there is no Beta or Omega PL) District
>Bartonville, IL 61607
>
>
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