Business Reference Experts Select Annual List of BRASS Best of the Best Business Web Recources

CHICAGO — The annual BRASS Best of the Best Business Web Resources Award list was announced today by the Reference and User Services Association’s (RUSA) Business Reference and Services Section (BRASS).

The 2023 Award recognizes four web-based resources that are highly relevant to information professionals involved in providing business reference services. Members of the 2022/23 BRASS Education Committee selected the awardees based on quality of content, ease of use and technical execution. While some publisher content requires registration and/or payment, this award recognizes tools and information that are promoted as no-fee access.

The BRASS Best of the Best Business Web Resources Award list debuted in 2009. All award recipients are noted on the award website, https://rusaupdate.org/awards/brass-best-of-the-best-business-web-resour....

The 2023 list includes:

The Business Model Canvas, https://www.strategyzer.com/canvas/business-model-canvas

Used to create and document business models, the BMC is a strategic analysis tool that visually maps the relationships between customer segments, value propositions, channels, customer relationships, revenue streams, key resources, key activities, key partnerships, and cost structure. Developed by Alexander Osterwalder and released to the public in 2008 with the Creative Commons license "CC BY-SA", this tool has been adopted by organizations throughout the world. Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur described the tool in the book, “Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers” (2010). The publisher website, Strategyzer.com, provides free explanatory content and users can register to access an official copy of the BMC.

Free

Ethics Unwrapped, https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/

Designed to teach ethics in “every academic discipline where human beings think, interact, and work”, this educational program encompasses an introductory section and eight focused areas, including ‘Organizational Ethics’ and ‘Sustainability and CSR.’ This resource includes more than 100 transcribed videos, insightful case studies, a comprehensive glossary of terms, bibliography, and engaging discussion questions with accompanying teaching notes. Ethics Unwrapped was launched in 2013 by a collaborative team of authors, artists, and advisors and is supported and maintained by the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.

Free

Harvard's Atlas of Economic Complexity (version 3, 2021), https://atlas.cid.harvard.edu/

The Atlas is a globally recognized tool “intended to advance the understanding of inclusive economic growth.” Interactive data visualizations enable researchers to explore relevant international business information focusing on imports/exports, drivers of economic growth, and GDP growth prospects of certain countries. The data, which is collected by United Nations and IMF, covers 250 countries and territories, and is cleaned and presented as 20 categories of goods and 5 services. First published in 2013, the annually updated atlas is part of The Growth Lab at Harvard University.

Free

Tax Notes' Tax History Project, https://www.taxnotes.com/tax-history-project/

This educational resource presents the history of taxation in the United States through three chronological collections. The ‘Tax History Museum’ is an encyclopedic overview from colonial America in 1660 to the present. The ‘1040 Archive’ provides copies of all IRS 1040 Forms beginning with tax year 1913. The ‘Presidential Tax Returns’ collection includes digitized copies of available individual tax returns for Presidents beginning with Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1913 return, most major party nominees since 1976, and the last four Vice Presidents. Additionally, historical research by Joseph J. Thorndike (historian and director) is available in the ‘Article Archive’ collection. Tax Analysts, a nonprofit tax publisher, established the Tax History Project in 1995.

Free

The 2023 Best of the Best Business Web Resources selections were made by the 2022-23 BRASS Education Committee: Gary Arave (Indiana University Bloomington), Adele Barsh (UC San Diego), Chad Boeninger (Ohio University Library), Natalia Tingle Dolan (University of Colorado Boulder), Rachel Anne Kirk (Middle Tennessee State University), Andrea Levandowski (New Jersey State Library), Amy Nykamp (Sonoma County Library), Carmen Orth-Alfie (University of Kansas Libraries), Margaux Patel (University of Cincinnati), Genifer Snipes (University of Oregon) Chair, Alyson Vaaler (Texas A & M University), Nicole Webber (University of Northern Colorado), Jennilyn Wiley (Auburn University Libraries), Alan Witt (SUNY Geneseo). Carmen Orth-Alfie organized the nominations/voting process and authored the awardee descriptions.

The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers’ advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more at www.rusaupdate.org.