Business Development Centre - Reference Resources

This Resource Centre provides listings of alphabetically arranged topics that will be useful to you in starting and operating a small business.

The first section contains a condensed glossary of business terms and articles on various topics created by the staff and advisors at the BDC. Please check back regularly for postings of new articles.

The second section contains listings of: a) excellent small business resources on the Web; b) online resources that provide dictionaries, detailed business glossaries, grammar and style guides and other reference materials.

The third section provides specific information for small business articles on a particular website, arranged by subject. For each article we've provided the title, the URL and the introductory paragraph.

We are constantly updating our links and adding new resources. Visit us regularly!

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Web Resources Click on the titles below to access resources.
Reference resources: dictionaries, business glossaries, grammar guides, etc.	Acronym Finder The Acronym Finder is a world wide web searchable database of more than abbreviations and acronyms about computers, technology, telecommunications, and the military. Acronym Finder currently has over 475,000 human-edited definitions for acronyms and abbreviations, and adds more than 5,000 new acronym and abbreviation definitions to its database each month. Every term is reviewed for accuracy, verified from multiple sources, categorized, and edited by an experienced human editor.
	Atlapedia Atlapedia Online contains full color physical maps, political maps as well as key facts and statistics on countries of the world. The Countries A to Z section provides facts, figures and statistical data on geography, climate, people, religion, language, history, economy and more. The World Maps section provides full color physical maps and political maps for regions of the world.
	Bartleby.com – multiple reference sections the preeminent Internet publisher of literature, reference and verse, providing unlimited access to books and information on the Web, free of charge. - The Reference section contains multiple links for: General resources, the American Heritage Dictionary, Roget’s Thesauri, Quotations, English Usage, Etiquette, etc. - search the sections on Verse, Fiction and Non-fiction for anthologies and specific authors, subjects or titles.
	Basic Bookkeeping (COBSC) Before starting your small business, it is important to make sure that you have done your homework and gathered as much information as possible on government regulations, assistance programs, marketing and the aspects of business operation in which you have little knowledge or experience. Many business owners overlook the importance of record management and bookkeeping and yet it is crucial to business success.
	Canada Revenue Agency Business Glossary List of definitions related to taxes for businesses.
	Citation Styles Thank you for using the Citation Styles Handbook at the Writers' Workshop, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This handbook summarizes and illustrates the bibliographical formatting rules for two different citation styles: the American Psychological Association (APA) style and the Modern Language Association (MLA) style.
	CNNMoney.com Glossary Glossary of business terms from CNNMoney.com Magazine.
	Dictionary of Occupational Titles Following is the alphabetical index to the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) revised fourth edition, as supplied electronically by the US Dept. of Labor
	Economist Economics A – Z Searchable Dictionary
	Economist Style Guide This guide is based on the style book which is given to all journalists at The Economist.
	Encarta World Atlas
	English as a Second Language Welcome to this English as a Second Language website, a starting point for ESL learners who want to study English through the Web.
	Glossary of Marketing, Advertising, Internet, and Promotion Terms Partners & Levit is a full service advertising agency that leverages marketing research, branding, advertising, sales promotion, direct mail and the new media to guide prospects along the sales continuum until they become customers. Their online Glossary provides definitions to hundreds of marketing terms.
	Grammar Handbook Thank you for using the Grammar Handbook at the Writers' Workshop, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This Handbook explains and illustrates the basic grammatical rules concerning parts of speech, phrases, clauses, sentences and sentence elements, and common problems of usage.
	Guide to Grammar and Writing The Guide to Grammar and Writing is sponsored by the Capital Community College Foundation, a nonprofit 501 c-3 organization that supports scholarships, faculty development, and curriculum.
	HighBeam™ Encyclopedia Welcome to HighBeam™ Encyclopedia - the Internet's premiere free encyclopedia. Search or browse over 57,000 articles from the Columbia Encyclopedia.
	International Business Glossary
	Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary & Thesaurus Merriam-Webster is America's foremost publisher of language-related reference works. The online dictionary includes the main A-Z listing of the Collegiate Dictionary, as well as the Abbreviations, Foreign Words and Phrases, Biographical Names, and Geographical Names sections of that book. It also includes 1,000 illustrations and 25 tables.
	N. Y. Times Glossary of Financial and Business Terms Over 2,500 Entries. Compiled by Campbell R. Harvey, J. Paul Sticht Professor of International Business, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University.
	Online! A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources Here you’ll find detailed advice for citing online sources, along with links to all the URLs in the text.
	Purdue University O.W.L. Grammar Guide Brought to you by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab. In this section of our site, we offer you handouts and exercises on grammar, spelling, and punctuation. We also have PowerPoint presentations related to grammar, and we have an entire section of handouts and resources for English as a Second Language learners that might also prove useful.
	Refdesk Since 1995, Refdesk is a free and family-friendly web site that indexes and reviews quality, credible, and current web-based resources: Each day on the Net begins anew with a visit to First Things First. To stay current with additions, see New Sites Added during the week. Other features include Indispensable Sites and Editor's Picks. Recognition for refdesk is at Awards and Reviews. Feedback from site visitors is available at Comments and Testimonials. For beginners to the Internet, aka newbies, start with Internet Beginner's Guides & Tutorials and Internet Help. For thumbnail snapshots: Fast Facts, Quick Reference / Research, and Facts Subject Index. For a more studied approach: Newspapers - USA & Worldwide, Search Engine Resources, Internet Help, and Writing Web Documents. For an in-depth exploration: Facts Encyclopedia with over seventy volumes of indexed subjects and acts Subject Index with twenty-four subject categories. Since the vast majority of Internet users prefer 'surfing' from one site to another, refdesk presents: Daily Almanac Indispensable Links Weather Links, Fast Facts, Select Sites of the Day Best of the Net, and Windows Operating Systems Resources.
	TechEncyclopedia Definitions for more than 20,000 Information Technology terms.
	The Columbia Guide to Online Style The Columbia Guide to Online Style (CGOS) by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor (Columbia UP, 2006 ) presents a guide to locating, evaluating, translating, and using the elements of citation for electronically accessed sources in both a humanities style (i.e., MLA and Chicago) and a scientific style (APA and CBE). CGOS's unique element approach makes this a useful reference book for citing electronic sources regardless of the specific bibliographic style you may be required to use.
	University of Calgary: The Basic Elements of English Grammar Guide Welcome to the grammar tutorials offered by the English Department at the University of Calgary. We have divided the tutorials into four major sections: Parts of Speech, Sentence Elements, Punctuation and Word Use. You can test your grammar skills and get immediate feedback by trying the exercises at the end of the tutorials.
	University of Wisconsin Writer’s Handbook – Grammar and Punctuation In this section, you will find many instructional materials we've developed for our Writing Center teaching. The Grammar and Punctuation handbook provide clear examples of common mistakes and how to avoid them.
	US SBA Business Glossary Search for business terms by: All Definitions, Complete Phrase, Any Word in Phrase, Starts With or Ends With.
	Wordsmyth Wordsmyth’s aim, from the beginning, was to write for a general audience who wanted a readable source of information about meanings. We wanted to reach people in their offices, workplaces, homes, and schools. We wanted to produce the highest quality and most readable definitions possible. The result of our work is a dictionary that has several important and distinctive qualities. Chief among the distinctive features are (1) clarity, simplicity, and precision of style resulting in definitions that are more accessible than those of American college dictionaries; and (2) the integration of dictionary and thesaurus data, so that only one entry is required instead of both dictionary and thesaurus entries.
	World Wide Web Acronym and Abbreviation Server An acronym is a label formed from the beginnings of words (Greek: acro [head] and nym [word]) -- or very rarely, from letters in the middle of words. There is no requirement that an acronym be pronounceable as a normal word (this is a curious myth perpetuated by American dictionaries): IBM is just as much an acronym as LASER. You can search here for acronyms and for words used in acronyms.
	Writing Tips Thank you for using the Writing Tips Handbook at the Writers' Workshop, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. This Handbook offers advice on various elements of the writing process. To go directly to a specific topic, click on the appropriate item in the following index.
	WSU Common Errors in English The aim of this site is to help you avoid low grades, lost employment opportunities or lost business at the way you write or speak. This is not a site dealing with grammar in general, but with errors in usage. You will find certain words or phrases criticized here listed in dictionaries. Note carefully labels like dial. (dialectical), nonstandard, and obsolete before assuming that the dictionary is endorsing them. The goal of a usage guide like this is substantially different: to protect you against patterns which are regarded by substantial numbers of well-educated people as nonstandard.

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