So you've received your 2004 edition of the San Diego SourceBook, an invaluable business resource published annually by The Daily Transcript.
So now what? How can you get the best use out of this publication, today and throughout the year?
To help you dig deeper into the many layers of the San Diego SourceBook, we offer you this quick tutorial of its features. It's intended to serve as a practical guide to a practical tool.
For instance, it's important to know that The Daily Transcript's Web site is designed for navigation, rather than as a search engine. We have already linked many of the key words you would search to key sections of the site. You should be able to look at the homepage or one of the other pages and see links related to your interests.
The SourceBook is designed as an everyday reference tool. The print version is where the supply of data begins, serving as an index to what you can find on our Web site.
The SourceBook is valuable to you as a research base and as a supply of sales leads and contact information. The electronic version is continually updated.
Where to start
Open your browser on www.sddt.com, The Daily Transcript's Web site.
If you're a subscriber, please sign in. If not, take this opportunity to click on the " Subscribe Today!" link on the homepage's upper right-hand corner. Much of the Web site is accessible only to paid subscribers. The homepage for the San Diego Source is your key to online information from the San Diego Daily Transcript.
On the homepage you'll find a snapshot of everything that the San Diego Source has to offer. "Today's News" has links to the local stories also published in our daily business newspaper. "Breaking News" offers scrolling headlines of the most up-to-the-minute news from national wire services. At the very bottom of the page is a five-day news archive; click on the date to see what stories you might have missed in the recent past.
At the far right, you'll find links to useful information: calendar listings of event, the latest weather reports, stock market activity and interactive street maps.
The navigation bar on the far left of every page on the Source allows you to easily search the Web site, by industry sector or community.
To find the SourceBook, your search should begin with the navigational bar on the far left-hand side of the Web page. Over here, you'll be able to navigate the San Diego Source by industry sectors, for instance, by construction, finance, law or technology; by community, perusing local landmarks, movie schedules or hotel information; and, under "Resources" you'll find links to several Daily Transcript reference products, including the San Diego SourceBook.
Move your cursor to San Diego SourceBook and click once.
SourceBook homepage
The San Diego SourceBook starts at sourcebook.sddt.com.
While the print version of the San Diego SourceBook provides a limited amount of data and information about business in San Diego County, there's no telling what you can find on the online version.
On this page you should be able to still see the left navigation bar available on every page of our Web site, and the familiar San Diego Source logo at the top, left-hand side of the page. That logo will always take you back to the Source's main homepage; the link that says "San Diego SourceBook" in the left navigation bar will always take you back to the SourceBook's homepage.
Just like with the print version, the online version has businesses and articles grouped by San Diego region. More narrowly, you can search the corners of the county, to the north, south, east and central. There are spotlight articles, too, about communities in different areas of the county.
Business listings
There are several ways to access the business listings. One of the most direct ways to get to the lists is to go to the "Business Listings" tab at the top of the San Diego SourceBook homepage.
That should take you to sourcebook.sddt.com/2004/Listings.cfm.
The online version of the San Diego SourceBook includes business listings organized alphabetically and by category.
Business lists are organized alphabetically and also by category. For instance, to find a list of casinos, alphabetically you might find the link after "Biomed & Biotech Firms." By category, casinos are also grouped under "Business and Business Services," just after "Auto Dealers."
Searching by industry
Once you've identified the industry you're interested in, you should be able to click on that link -- for instance, "General Contractors" -- to pull up its list.
The business lists in the SourceBook contain relevant, basic data about the companies in a particular industry, such as General Contractors.
Companies within each list are ranked by various criteria, such as alphabetically, by number of employees, or even by square footage. The ranking criterion is listed at the top of the list. The ranking isn't intended as an endorsement of any company, nor does its placement on the list indicate its quality or service.
Here you will be able to find relevant, basic data about each company. In the case of the "General Contractors" list, data includes the number of annual contracts, the worth of those contracts, employee headcount and what year each company was founded.
You'll see that each company's name is also a link to more specifics, such as contact information and revenue history; each listing indicates the date when it was last updated. Most of the profiles even include a link to the company's own Web site, and a mapping tool to pinpoint the location of a company and get driving directions to its facility.
Try it out
Ultimately, the best way to learn how the San Diego Source is configured is to try it out firsthand.
The Web site is designed to be both intuitive and seamless.
There is no one, narrow way to find something on www.sddt.com. There are many ways.
You'll find throughout the print version of the San Diego SourceBook helpful links to the online version. Use both to get the full benefit of the information that has been amassed.
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