James V. Kimsey, chairman of America Online Inc., delivered the inaugural Library of Congress Business Research Project Lecture on Small Business and Entrepreneurship May 18.
The first Business Research Project lecture series was cosponsored by the George Washington University School of Business and Public Management. Mr. Kimsey has served as chairman, CEO, and president of America Online, since he founded the Northern Virginia-based interactive computer services company in 1985.
During his presentation, Mr. Kimsey spoke about America Online's origins, the services that the company provides and about his vision of the information superhighway. He answered a number of questions following the lecture, which was held in the Library's Mumford Room.
Each Business Research Project lecture series will feature presentations on small-business and entrepreneurship issues by businesspersons and administrators from both the public and private sectors. The fall 1994 lecture series, to begin Sept. 14, will present speeches by entrepreneurs who have redefined their industries. Mostof them were included in "America's Hot Young Entrepreneurs," Fortune magazine's listing of the 40 most successful American entrepreneurs under age 40.
Each speaker will discuss the success of his or her business enterprise and offer advice and insights for entrepreneurs interested in starting companies of their own.
The Library of Congress established the Business Research Project in 1993 with a gift from the Edward Lowe Foundation. Its mission is to stimulate entrepreneurship, productivity and innovation in the United States by creating and distributing business information tools, with emphasis on the needs of small and startup businesses.
LC Business Research Project Interns Deliver Papers. Nine LC Business Research Project student interns from the George Washington University School of Business and Public Management on April 25 delivered oral presentations at the Library of research papers they wrote during the spring semester. The papers, called "BusinessBriefs," will be published in print form by the Business Research Project later this summer and made available on the Internet on LC Marvel (address: marvel.loc.gov,port70) as well.
BusinessBriefs are eight-page reports designed specifically for small-business persons and entrepreneurs. Each BusinessBrief provides the reader with an overview of the most current information about a particular topic along with a bibliography of resources for further study.
The papers are one of the Business Research Project's efforts to create accessible, specially designed business research and reference tools for the small-business community. The project will sponsor a group of undergraduate or graduate business student interns from area universities to write a set of BusinessBriefs each semester.