Open Access to Information is Here To Help You Grow Your Business
This article is written by Reece Samuels.
I am not sure about you, but many of our key business decisions ARE reliant upon up to date, concise and reliable data. It is difficult to know where to turn within this environment of ‘information overload’. So often we feel that important concepts are either poorly articulated, bogged down in way too much/little detail or delivered from a source with a very stark ideologically driven perspective.
If you are start-up, freelancer or a small business owner, you may just want to grasp the piece of research that can help you make the best-informed decision for your organisation. At Westminster Business Library, we have our own array of online resources and databases that are designed for UK start-ups to develop and scale-up their enterprise quickly and effectively.
However, and quite crucially, most online business databases are incredibly expensive for an entrepreneur who is launching their business idea. We have recently added ‘Financial Times: Online’ to the list of databases that library users can access. FT.com is not just the world’s best business newspaper but is also a broad, deep and trusted archive of commentary and articles on lifestyle, finance, travel, arts business analysis, careers and tech. This digital resource can cost up to £660 per year, but if you were to access this resource through Westminster Libraries it would be absolutely free.
Here at Westminster Business Library, we believe that open access is fundamentally important to learning, growth and self-development. Placing key information about global events behind a paywall disenfranchises large swathes of the business community from accessing the knowledge needed to stay up to date and on trend with society’s changes. As physiologist and neuroscientist commented ‘access to information is a human right but is often treated as a privilege. This has to change – and it will take all of us to make it happen’. Bringing such a large resource such as FT.Com under our library, for free public access is a significant step for users to access high quality journalism, market data and even information on financial literacy. Hoping to pave the way for other resources to be used as efficiently and ethically.
