If you’re interviewing for jobs or are just starting to think about other organizations you might want to work for, you’ll need to do some research.

Research sounds about as much fun as preparing your taxes, but the good news is that you can do a lot of it from home using your Internet connection and your library card number. Many larger U.S. library systems provide access to its card holders to Internet databases for researching companies. Also, chances are if you’re a college or community college student, faculty member or staff, your institution’s library offers remote access as well.

Obviously public companies are much easier to find information about than private companies, since they are required to file particular information with the SEC. However, if a private company is large enough, there will be information on it available somewhere.

Databases on business and finance that you can access through your library system include ABI Inform Trace & Industry, Business & Company Resource Center, Business & Industry, Mergent Online (public companies only), and ReferenceUSA.

It’s a good idea to read what has been written about the companies you are researching. Two databases of magazine and newspaper articles that can help you do that are Onefile and Proquest. Visit www.bizjournals.com to search the archives and view full-text articles of this group of over 40 regional business journals.

Here’s a quick guide to where to go for particular kinds of information:

To find out basic information on a company, try ReferenceUSA.
For a quick overview of a company, try Business & Company Resource Center or Mergent.
For information to prepare for an interview, try Business & Company Resource Center, Mergent, Onefile, or Proquest
For a company’s annual report, try Mergent or that company’s website.

If you live in an area whose library doesn’t offer access to databases from your Internet connection, you can visit them in person. While you’re there, you can conduct even more focused research by looking at Lexis Nexis Corporate Affiliations, International Directory of Company Histories, Standard & Poor’s Industry Surveys or Ward’s Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies. Ask a business librarian to walk you through these resources.

There are many different ways you can find out about a company - through its own website, through Google or another search engine, talking with your friends who work there, and using the databases listed above. The information you bother to collect and sort through will help you enormously when you prepare for job interviews and when you decide whether a company deserves your talent. And I promise it will be a far more interesting process than preparing your taxes!