Finding People and Businesses

The Stark County District Library offers a variety of reference books, online databases, and a list of recommended websites to assist your search for people or businesses. While reference books can only be used in the library, the databases can be accessed through the library’s website www.starklibrary.org both in the library and from home using your library card number. Websites can be accessed from home, in the Main Library’s Technology Center, or at any library branch location.  The library’s professional staff will be happy to assist you in finding information. Come to the library, call Reference Services at (330) 458-2754, or email the staff at Ask a Reference Librarian for further assistance.  

Finding People - Books Finding People - Databases Finding People - Websites
Finding Businesses - Books Finding Businesses - Databases Finding Businesses - Websites

Finding People

Finding People - Reference Books: The books listed in this tutorial are reference books located at the Main Library on the second floor. These books can not be checked out but may be photocopied or used within the library.

Canton McKinley High School Alumni Directory  Planning a high school reunion? This directory lists McKinley High School attendees from 1917 to 2001 and provides biographical information as well as name changes along with addresses and phone numbers.

Haines Criss Cross Directory  This directory searches for people by address or by telephone number. The library has directories for Canton, Akron, and the surrounding area.

How to Locate Anyone Anywhere Without Leaving Home  Written by a former FBI agent, this work describes how to conduct searches for people using a wide variety of resources such as: telephone directories, police departments, city and county permits, licenses, and reporting agencies.

How to Locate Anyone Who Is or Has Been in the Military  Use this resource to locate current and former members of the military, service numbers, retired members, veterans, military unit records, Reserve members, National Guard members and ship rosters.

Polk City Directories  Search for people by name, address, or telephone number. The directory provides information such as head of household, home ownership, home value, and median age of household. The library has directories for the following Ohio cities: Canton, Akron, Alliance, Massillon, and New Philadelphia.

Public Records Online  This work provides information about 8,500 federal, state, and county government agencies.

Telephone Directories The Main Library’s Reference Division has telephone books for almost every location in Ohio, as well as many major cities within the United States.

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Finding People - Online Database: The library subscribes to a wide range of databases available to the public from the library’s website at www.starklibrary.org/databases.htm. These databases are available at any library location. The majority of databases can be accessed from home by using your library card number.

ReferenceUSA This database is a national criss-cross telephone book with detailed information on more than 12 million US businesses and 102 million US residents. The database can be searched by last name, address, or telephone number.

Finding People - Websites:
* denotes a subscription website

BigBook  www.bigbook.com

InfoSpace  www.infospace.com

Lycos Search  www.whowhere.com

Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction  http://www.drc.state.oh.us

*The Search Systems DirectPass Ohio   http://www.searchsystems.net/list.php?nid=507

*The Search Systems Free Criminal Records Search Guide  http://www.searchsystems.net/free-criminal-records-search-guide.php

*The Search Systems Public Records Guide  http://www.searchsystems.net

Switchboard   www.switchboard.com

White Pages Phone Directory   www.whitepages.com

Yahoo! People Search  http://people.yahoo.com

Finding Businesses

Finding Businesses - Reference Books: The books listed in this tutorial are reference books located at the Main Library on the second floor. These books can not be checked out but may be photocopied or used within the library.

American Big Businesses Directory  Detailed information is provided for 63,000 organizations in this directory, including SIC codes, sales volume, number of employees, key personnel, and credit rating scores.

American Manufacturers Directory  Use this directory to find information on 171,000 manufacturers with 20 or more employees includes annual sales figures and credit ratings.The directory is indexed by company name, city, and SIC classification.

American Wholesalers and Distributors Directory  The directory offers details on more than 27,000 companies and contains information about the products, number of employees, date the business was established, and sales figures.

Brands and Their Companies  Looking for the company that produces your favorite brand or product? This directory is indexed by the product name and the company.

Constructor: Directory of Membership and Services  Arranged by state, this directory indexes construction members and provides company profiles. The directory has a buyers guide listing, index of suppliers, and related organizations.

D&B Directory of Service Companies  This directory focuses on both private and public service oriented companies. The directory utilizes easy cross referencing along with the names and titles of key personnel of over 50,000 companies.

D&B Industrial Guide: A Guide to US Manufacturing Companies  A multi-volume set used to locate private and public manufacturing companies. Each entry includes hard to find information such as the square footage of the company’s facility and provides the company’s web address.

D&B Million Dollar Directory: America’s Leading Public and Private Companies
This five volume set of the top 160,000 public and private businesses in US, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands contains alphabetical, geographical, and industry classification indexes of companies which includes their names, addresses, line of business, officers, and marketing data.

Directory of United States Exporters  Use this directory to find companies that export products. It is indexed by state, name of company, and by product.

Directory of United States Importers  This directory provides an alphabetical listing of companies that import products by state as well as a listing of products with their Harmonized Commodity Codes.

Haines Criss Cross Directory  This directory searches for businesses by address or telephone number. The library has directories for Canton, Akron, and the surrounding areas.

Harris Ohio Industrial Directory  Descriptive and statistical data are included in this directory for companies comprised of manufacturers, machine shops, fabricators, assemblers, and printers.The directory provides information on the number of employees, sales figures, and square footage of each company.The library has individual industrial directories for each state.

LexisNexis Corporate Affiliations  In eight volumes, this set covers public and private US companies, and International companies that have at least $50 million in sales.  Information included in this set is company name, geographic, and SIC code index. Subsidiaries of a parent company are also listed.

Ohio Business Directory  The Ohio Business Directory contains 511,000 business listings arranged by city and by yellow page category. Besides providing address, fax number, and company officers, this directory includes national statistics, top 50 companies, and chamber of commerce listings.

Polk City Directories  You can search for a business by name, address, or telephone number. The directory also provides information for marketing research. The library has directories for the following Ohio cities: Canton, Akron, Alliance, Massillon, and New Philadelphia.

Telephone Directories The Main Library’s Reference Division has telephone books for almost every location in Ohio as well as many major cities within the United States.

Finding Businesses - Online Databases:

Business Source Premier  This is a database providing full text for more than 36,000 scholarly business journals covering management, economics, finance, accounting, international business, and much more.

MasterFILE Premier  This database indexes 1,900 various periodicals covering a wide range of subjects including business and consumer information.

National Newspapers Premier  This database provides coverage of 27 national newspapers in one seamless search.

Regional Business News  Regional Business News database provides full-text newswire service that incorporates international business wires as well as 75 national business journals and newspapers.

Finding Businesses - Websites:

AnyWho Online Directory   www.anywho.com

Business.gov: The Official Business Link to the U.S Government  www.business.gov

Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce   www.cantonchamber.org

City of Canton Community/Economic Development and Planning   www.cityofcanton.com/citygov/ecdevdept

Ohio Business Gateway  http://obg.ohio.gov

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