Libraries as a source of information
Information is a key resource for the
budding exporter. There are many sources of information
that you can turn to help you in your quest to break into
the export market. The Internet is clearly one of the
easiest and most accessible sources of information available
to you. Even if you don’t
have Internet yourself, you can visit an Internet Café in
order to spend some time online. Another source of information
is the South African trade representative stationed in a
foreign country who you can call, fax or email and ask for
the information you need. A further source of information
is the public library system that keeps stocks of books
and magazines on hand that might help you in your quest
to learn more about foreign markets. Bear in mind, though,
that public libraries are not likely to have specialised
publications available; they are likely to be quite general
in nature. Nevertheless, you should spend a few hours of
your time browsing through the shelves of your public library
to see if there is anything of interest to you. The time
will be well spent. |
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What about university libraries?
Universities also maintain quite extensive
libraries and many of these carry fairly specialised books,
magazines and journals (and their offerings are likely
to be more extensive than what your local public library
has to offer). Consider visiting your nearest university
library to see what they have available. University libraries
may charge you a small ‘browsing’ fee to be
able to use their library and if you want to take out
a book, you may have to pay an additional fee to join
up.
Click here to access a list of universities in South Africa.
Trade associations often have small libraries too
Local industry and sector associations often keep small
libraries of books and magazines available related to their
area of expertise (some of these may be copies that they
have received from their counterpart associations overseas).
Most associations will be willing to allow you to browse
through the magazines they have available as long as you
do not want to remove them from their offices (they are
not libraries, after all).
Click
here to search for a particular trade association
Then there is the Chamber network
Chambers of commerce and industry also
maintain small libraries of trade and business-related
information (magazines, journals, books, newspapers, etc.).
Like with the trade associations, many of these are complimentary
copies received from other Chambers in other parts of
the world. While you may not be allowed to ‘loan’ the publications in question,
an hour or two spent in your local Chamber’s offices
may prove quite rewarding. There are also several bilateral
chambers that exist in South Africa, such as the SA-Japan
Bilateral Chamber, and these may have very specialised and
relevant information/publications available that you can
work through.
Click
here to access a list of local chambers of commerce
and industry and local bilateral chambers.
Finally, don’t forget the foreign
missions in South Africa
Most foreign countries that have missions in South Africa
also have libraries of information and publications on their
respective home countries. These missions are generally
not keen to promote South African exports to their country,
but prefer to promote exports from their country to South
Africa. For this reason, they are sometimes reluctant to
help South African exporters beyond basic visa and consular
services. Your best bet, therefore, is to tell the trade
representative within the mission that you are interested
in doing business with their country (including importing from
their country) and that you consequently want to learn more
about the business environment and industry developments
in his/her country. Ask him or her whether he/she has a
library available that you can browse through. They may
well be willing to help you (although recent security issues
have made access to missions more problematic).
Click here to access a list of foreign missions in South
Africa.
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