Yesterday, DerDoktor wrote a diary that suggested there's more than one way to skin a cat. That got me thinking, and it made me recall my college job, shelving reference materials for a city library. One of the most common things I had to reshelve were business publications--Standard & Poors, Dun & Bradstreet, Morningstar, etc. The "suits" always had them in a state of disarray.
So that got me thinking, "I wonder if Dun & Bradstreets might have something on the executives of Bain Capital in 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002?"
Thinking every library was like my hometown city library, I trekked over to the library at the college where I work, and...
...drew a blank. They didn't have the kinds of business reference materials my hometown city library does.
Not to be deterred, I checked the city library where I currently live. Another blank.
In a fit of inspiration, I checked the Library of Congress online to see if there were any business publications that might help me out.
There is.
But I've got a problem, and I need your help.
What I'm looking for is Dun & Bradstreet's
D&B Reference Book of Corporate Managements
Library of Congress Call Number: HD2745.D85
Dewey Decimal Call Number: 338.8 D915
It has run annually from 1967 to the present, although it's changed titles a couple of times; the current title (above) has run from 1997 to the present.
My problem is not only does my college not have it, neither does my city library, nor does the university library in town.
It's frustrating. My hunch tells me there's got to be an entry on Bain Capital in there, but I do not know that for sure. My alma mater's library (Love Library at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln--mad propz!) has it--I worked there for two years after graduating from college, and I could have just popped down and found the entry on my break.
But now, it appears the closest library to me that actually carries it in UCLA, and possibly the Los Angeles City Library, and either one is at least a seventy-minute drive--one way--and I don't have the time until Friday to go check it out on my own.
So I need your help.
I've checked the catalogs of the truly big libraries of the country. The New York City Library has it. The truly major university libraries have it, and a lot of minor university libraries do, too.
Here's how you can help me:
If you live near or work for one of these libraries, could you pluck the 2000, 2001, and/or 2002 editions off the shelf and see if there's an entry for Bain Capital in them? If there is, who are listed as executives? A copy or a picture of the entry--if it even exists--would be great!
I'm playing a hunch. I think there's a "there" there, but it's just a hunch.