You may not know it, but your library is now informing patrons that content on Morningstar Investment Research Center is provided by you. In October 2008, we sent a survey to clients to rate our service and gather ideas for enhancements. Multiple clients told us they wish there was a way to let patrons know that Morningstar is a paid service that the library subscribes to.

We listened. With the struggling economy, many more people are discovering their libraries' resources. By including your library's name on the database's main interface, we hope to increase awareness that your library is making our paid data and independent analysis available to users.

Not only is this true for our database, but hopefully this will help patrons appreciate other databases, resources, and community services the library provides.

How does a library system with 90 branches, serving a population of 8 million, keep in touch with its patrons?

Susan Halligan, marketing director for The New York Public Library says, "Facebook is something we use to help engage our patrons and staff."

The library engages staff by allowing them to post items about the library's different departments. For example, a research librarian can answer a fan question, a young adult librarian can post photos from a gaming event, and the public relations team can post a press release all on the NYPL Facebook page. You'll also find program listings, library resources, and news updates.

New York Public Library has also expanded its digital marketing to include its own YouTube site. Here you will find a variety of videos, discussions, and its "Treasures of The New York Public Library" video collection. The library's virtual reach doesn't stop there; NYPL is also on iTunes U and Twitter and has a Flickr site for photo albums.

"Our goal is to create a visually rich environment to help attract a younger demographic," explained Halligan.

With so much content on one page, it's no surprise that NYPL has more than 4,000 Facebook fans. Another reason this is a successful marketing vehicle is that you can send updates to your fans to announce new programs or upcoming events.

One way The New York Public Library has been doing this is by having a direct link from Facebook to its Job Search Assistance site. With unemployment rates on the rise, this is great way to put the library's resources in front of its fans. Obviously, something is working for NYPL, as the library's job assistance program has been a feature story on NBC, Fox News, and Nightline.

Setting up a Facebook page is free and has a lot of possibilities. I invite you to check out Morningstar Investment Research Center on Facebook. We hope this can be a resource to keep you informed and foster discussions on Morningstar enhancements, training, and marketing.

Visit the Client Site for posters, table tents, training announcements, and more.

If you would like further marketing ideas or material to help promote Morningstar Investment Research Center at your library, please do not hesitate to contact us at libraryservices@morningstar.com.

At Morningstar, we firmly believe that the best investors are at least as attuned to the risks they're taking as they are the money they're making. For that reason, we've long preached the importance of having an appropriate stock/bond mix given your time horizon, the value of having durable holdings at the core of your portfolio, and the folly of dabbling in overly narrow, risky investments. We've often gotten guff from our readers for our caution, particularly when the market is going up. But we believe that Warren Buffett had it right when he said that the first rule of investing is to not lose money, and that rule number two is not to forget the first rule.

At times like these, it's also important to anticipate and troubleshoot other financial risks that might arise. Here's an overview of some of the key risk-management questions to consider amid the ongoing drumbeat of bad economic news. This is by no means an inclusive list, by the way; I welcome reader feedback on other risks that you've identified and steps you have taken to protect yourself.

Do You Have an Emergency Fund?
One of the fastest ways to start down the path toward financial ruin is not having a cushion to protect yourself against unanticipated events, such as losing your job, or unanticipated expenses like home and auto repairs or medical bills. For that reason, conventional financial-planning wisdom is to put three to six months' worth of living expenses in a highly liquid account such as a savings account, CD, or money market fund. Given the current economic climate; however, I'd recommend building up a more generous savings cushion--six months' to a year's worth of living expenses, if you can swing it. This is particularly important if you are a higher-income earner, because it usually takes longer to find higher-paying jobs than it does those that pay less, or if you have any reason to believe that your job is in peril.

Are You Protected Against Identity Theft?
Consumers have, thankfully, become much more attuned to the issue of identity theft. However, given the trying economic climate, I think it's safe to assume that identity theft could pick up in the months ahead. You can't be too careful about security when conducting transactions online, and you should get in the habit of shredding documents that include identifying information. (I'm admittedly paranoid, but I shred anything that comes into my house with my name on it.)

Do You Have Adequate Insurance?
When making insurance decisions, one of the best pieces of advice is to not insure yourself against risks you can afford to cover. For example, if you have ample savings, you're not going to be sunk if your computer goes kaput and you need to buy a new one. (Sorry, extended-warranty sellers at Best Buy.) On the flip side, you'll definitely want to insure against bigger, more costly risks. For that reason, you'll obviously want to have coverage for your home and autos, as well as good medical coverage. Also look into the following.

Life Insurance: If you're still working and have dependents, your largest asset is your own ability to produce income in the future. Thus, it's essential that you have adequate life-insurance coverage. And if your spouse stays at home and cares for the kids, you may also want to investigate life insurance for her/him. Life-insurance agents may disagree with me, but term insurance is often the most effective (and certainly the most cost-effective) solution for many individuals. If an insurance agent recommends a more permanent type of policy, make sure you thoroughly understand the reasons why he or she finds this type of coverage preferable to a term policy.

Disability Insurance: Fully one third of Americans between the age of 35 and 65 will become disabled for more than 90 days during their working careers. If you couldn't do without your income for an extended period of time, it's imperative that you purchase disability coverage. Your employer may offer cost-effective coverage; sign up to pay for it using aftertax dollars, meaning that your benefits will be tax-free.

Umbrella Policy: If you're a worrywart like I am, you'll find that personal liability insurance (an "umbrella" policy) is one of the most cost-effective ways to purchase peace of mind. These policies usually sit on top of your homeowners and auto policies, and cover you in case you're sued for an accident that occurs on your property. If you have contractors, housecleaners, babysitters, or dogwalkers on your property--and even if you don't--an umbrella policy is a must.

Long-Term Care Insurance: Not everyone needs long-term care insurance. Those with a lot of assets may be able to cover their own long-term care costs, and those with small portfolios may be covered by Medicaid. If you're over 45 and fall somewhere in the middle of that spectrum, however, you should investigate long-term care, because the costs of nursing home or in-home care can quickly gobble up your nest egg. I favor the policies that include inflation protection, though you'll pay more for that type of coverage.

With the unemployment rate rising in January 2009 to 7.6%, I suspect libraries are seeing more and more patrons using library resources for job searches. I'm sure you can think of a number of helpful books, databases, and Web sites to get information, but did you know Morningstar's Stock Screener can also help?

When looking for a job, it's important to identify your criteria. Where would you like to work geographically? Would you like to work for a small, medium, or large company? What industry would you like to work in? And maybe most importantly, is that a financially healthy company? When you take this sort of reverse approach, you can really dig down and find companies that you may like and want to work for.

So let's get started with a company search using my preferences: I want to find a company in Illinois that has around 2,000 employees and is in the publishing industry. (One caveat: The companies we cover are only on the major exchanges, so that limits searches to public companies, but that still leaves more than 10,000 companies to screen from.)

To set up my screen I go into the Stock Screener. Under General information I choose Location of Company, Illinois. The next point is Number of Employees. Don't worry about the distinction between big and small. We have that broken down in quartiles, for some context on size. For my final screen setting, I find Stock Industry and set that equal to Publishing.

Voila! I've found two companies that fit my criteria. Now I can look at company profiles, access their Web sites, and find job openings.

Obviously, this is a far stretch from searching job sites and the classifieds, but for the persnickety job seeker, it's something to consider. For anyone else, brushing up on company information before an interview is always a good idea.