Thursday, October 30, 2008
Science Style Manual Relocation
For the reader, who seeks a recent format and style manual in the sciences, refer them to Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers. This is a 2006 edition. It is now at to the reference desk collocated with the other style manuals.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Identifying Corporate Officers
There have been several question lately at the desk and through e-mail from students wanting a list of all CFO's or all Investor Relations Officers or all the names of officers in another type of corporate management position. Peggy and Linda and I tested a few databases looking for the best one to answer this type of question. Mergent Online in their Executive Search tab allows searching by job function but you must type in all variations of the job title.
A better source is the Corporate Affiliations database. Use their advanced search page. When you search by job title they actually pull all jobs together with a "value" or number regardless of the the title used. This means that when you put in the value for Investor relations you will be searching for all the investor relations personnel regardless of whether they are VP's, managers, directors, etc. You can limit your results to public or private companies and parent or subsidiaries. Results can be downloaded into Excel. You can save either the company list or the "people" list. The people list includes name, title, company name, address, phone & fax, company URL and corporate e-mail address as well as a sales figure and the number of employees in the company.
A better source is the Corporate Affiliations database. Use their advanced search page. When you search by job title they actually pull all jobs together with a "value" or number regardless of the the title used. This means that when you put in the value for Investor relations you will be searching for all the investor relations personnel regardless of whether they are VP's, managers, directors, etc. You can limit your results to public or private companies and parent or subsidiaries. Results can be downloaded into Excel. You can save either the company list or the "people" list. The people list includes name, title, company name, address, phone & fax, company URL and corporate e-mail address as well as a sales figure and the number of employees in the company.
Corporate Strategy During an Economic Downturn
Students in BPL5100 who are analyzing corporate strategy will need to take into account the unusual economic conditions of the current financial crisis. Michael Porter, Harvard Business School professor and author of the "Five Forces" theory, recently spoke at the INSEAD World Knowledge Forum about how companies should think about strategy in a crisis. His advice: think long term. INSEAD has posted a short article and a longer webcast of Porter at the Forum.
LJ features a new "green library" in my hometown
Monday's Library Journal has an article I wrote about the new "green library" in Marshalltown, IA, my hometown. The new "green library" will replace a Carnegie Library built in 1902 and expanded in 1974. It is the first Iowa public library to seek LEED silver certification.
Like a century ago, financing the library involves public and private funds.
While researching about the Carnegie Library program, I learned that it was a public-private partnership. The Carnegie Foundation contributed $30,000 (a formula of $2 each for the population of 15,000, and the town had to agree to contribute, also based on its population. There were 101 Carnegie libraries built in Iowa. (This information isn't in the article. I found it in books in our collection.)
If you want to attend Friday's free LACUNY-NYPL Greening Libraries Greener Communities at the Bronx Library Center, you can still register. It is the first green public building in New York City.
Like a century ago, financing the library involves public and private funds.
While researching about the Carnegie Library program, I learned that it was a public-private partnership. The Carnegie Foundation contributed $30,000 (a formula of $2 each for the population of 15,000, and the town had to agree to contribute, also based on its population. There were 101 Carnegie libraries built in Iowa. (This information isn't in the article. I found it in books in our collection.)
If you want to attend Friday's free LACUNY-NYPL Greening Libraries Greener Communities at the Bronx Library Center, you can still register. It is the first green public building in New York City.
About reporting computer problems in Classrooms 130 and 135
Dear Colleagues,
We realize that our exchange of comments on the blog on Monday and Tuesday might have left you puzzled. So, after further discussion, and better thinking because of a cooler office (thanks to the new fan), we would like to offer the following:
If there is a computer related problem in a classroom, please call the systems office (1640) for immediate help, or submit a library Helpdesk request to systems if it is something that can wait until the class is complete. (Note from Rita: I forgot to do this. I have apologized to Saad and the systems staff for my oversight, especially after posting to the blog about problems. It's lame but I don't think well a lot of times, but especially not when I'm hot.)
Please also blog about the problem so that others, who will be using the classroom, will know of the problem. (Include that you have alerted systems to the problem.)
The number on the computers to report to systems is the four digits number found on the side of the CPU on embossed label next to CUNY barcode. First digit indicates floor.
The two digit numbers on the computer monitors in Rm 135 are not systems’ numbers, they were probably added by the summer camp instructor. They will be removed.
The port for the computer that was not logging in is being reset by BCTC.
Saad and Rita
We realize that our exchange of comments on the blog on Monday and Tuesday might have left you puzzled. So, after further discussion, and better thinking because of a cooler office (thanks to the new fan), we would like to offer the following:
If there is a computer related problem in a classroom, please call the systems office (1640) for immediate help, or submit a library Helpdesk request to systems if it is something that can wait until the class is complete. (Note from Rita: I forgot to do this. I have apologized to Saad and the systems staff for my oversight, especially after posting to the blog about problems. It's lame but I don't think well a lot of times, but especially not when I'm hot.)
Please also blog about the problem so that others, who will be using the classroom, will know of the problem. (Include that you have alerted systems to the problem.)
The number on the computers to report to systems is the four digits number found on the side of the CPU on embossed label next to CUNY barcode. First digit indicates floor.
The two digit numbers on the computer monitors in Rm 135 are not systems’ numbers, they were probably added by the summer camp instructor. They will be removed.
The port for the computer that was not logging in is being reset by BCTC.
Saad and Rita
Computer Problems in the Classrooms
A few months back I was advised by Theresa that sometimes the problem with the computers in the classroom is that the old connection adapters are loose. I can often -- not always -- clear the problem by crawling under the workstation and making sure the connection is good. In order to login successfully after fixing this connection, one usually has to exit out of the logon menu screen, going back to the screen that asks you to hit alt/control/delete and then logging in.
I know it's a bit awkward as the instructor to get down on your hands and knees to do this, but it does work.
Jerry
I know it's a bit awkward as the instructor to get down on your hands and knees to do this, but it does work.
Jerry
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Sources re Iranian Jews resettled in the U.S.
Harry and I had an interesting question Tuesday afternoon as a student, who has read The Namesake, wanted assistance in finding information about Iranian Jews who have resettled in the U.S. Although he didn't go into great detail, he said his idea was to show some similarities in the experiences in his paper. These are some sources that I found helpful:
Ethnic Newswatch for feature stories about Iranian Jews who have resettled in the U.S.
Many came after the Shah of Iran was overthrown; there are large communities in New York, including Great Neck, and Los Angeles (80,000 live in L.A.)
Factiva and the New York Times for features and news articles.
There are several memoirs that have been written that have been reviewed in the NYT and in Factiva. These include Wedding Song by Goldin and Journey from the Land of No, by Roya Hakakian. Other CUNY schools have the two titles.
I didn't locate much in the sociological or anthro databases that we have, or in SSRN. I tried WorldCat and found several books that included information about the resettlement of Iranian Jews. The student received the information. If anyone has other suggestions, please share them.
Ethnic Newswatch for feature stories about Iranian Jews who have resettled in the U.S.
Many came after the Shah of Iran was overthrown; there are large communities in New York, including Great Neck, and Los Angeles (80,000 live in L.A.)
Factiva and the New York Times for features and news articles.
There are several memoirs that have been written that have been reviewed in the NYT and in Factiva. These include Wedding Song by Goldin and Journey from the Land of No, by Roya Hakakian. Other CUNY schools have the two titles.
I didn't locate much in the sociological or anthro databases that we have, or in SSRN. I tried WorldCat and found several books that included information about the resettlement of Iranian Jews. The student received the information. If anyone has other suggestions, please share them.
UN launches audiovisual library of international law
The following was just posted on the SLA-NY listserv and I thought it might be very helpful for students and faculty.
"Today, the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs launched the Audiovisual Library of International Law. This website has three main parts:
The Historic Archives present documents, photos, and digital film
footage relating to the UN role in the development of international
law;
The Lecture Series contains lectures by leading scholars on topics in
international law, and includes a bibliography of related materials;
The Research Library provides links to other web-based research
resources in international law, including other UN sources, national
treaty series, and selected scholarly articles provided by HeinOnline
(?still in pilot/beta).
The Audiovisual Library aims to provide free, scholarly resources to students and practictioners around the world, particularly in regions where there are few resources for the study of international law."
(Regarding HeinOnline, I had a request earlier this year by a faculty member for articles he had found on HeinOnLine, a fee based service. We had access already to many of the articles through our databases; two others were obtained via ILL. I realize that may not be the case for many users of the UN audiovisual library.)
"Today, the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs launched the Audiovisual Library of International Law. This website has three main parts:
The Historic Archives present documents, photos, and digital film
footage relating to the UN role in the development of international
law;
The Lecture Series contains lectures by leading scholars on topics in
international law, and includes a bibliography of related materials;
The Research Library provides links to other web-based research
resources in international law, including other UN sources, national
treaty series, and selected scholarly articles provided by HeinOnline
(?still in pilot/beta).
The Audiovisual Library aims to provide free, scholarly resources to students and practictioners around the world, particularly in regions where there are few resources for the study of international law."
(Regarding HeinOnline, I had a request earlier this year by a faculty member for articles he had found on HeinOnLine, a fee based service. We had access already to many of the articles through our databases; two others were obtained via ILL. I realize that may not be the case for many users of the UN audiovisual library.)
Updated guides re FASB and International Accounting resources and tax research
Two updated guides, one showing Newman Library resources available for accounting research, including resources for FASB and the IFRS standards, and another one relating to resources for doing tax research have been added to the Numan drive, under IS, instructional materials, work in progress.
Both guides have a lot of screen shots to helps students become familiar with the databases.
I did class related lectures for Prof. Lale Guler's Acc 3000 classes last week. They are doing the "gift card" assignment similar to last year's assignment. (This topic has been covered much more in the accounting literature in trade publications such those available on ABI Inform Global and Business Source Premier, which may be an easier way to start than the official FASB literature. The students know that the terms "gift cards" do not appear in the FASB literature.)
It is a team project, due Dec. 8, for Prof. Guler's class.
Some things to note:
I didn't order new FARS CDs this year as the information is available online through subscription databases. So, students should not be referred to the FARS disks as they are not current.
The format of CCH Accounting Manager and RIA Checkpoint remain basically the same.
Some revisions are:
RIA Checkpoint has added "Advance" to the FASB information new this year. So Advance FASB Original Pronouncements means pronouncements issued in 2008.
RIA Checkpoint has added a "text" feature for the options given with print, download, email. The Text feature allows you to highlight and then copy, print, or email, the selected text.
The handy U.S. Master GAAP Guide, is no longer available on Lexis-Nexis Academic. To research it, go to CCH Business & Finance, click Securities tab, scroll down to Accountant's Module, and it is listed in the resources. (We also have print copies. The print copies refer to levels of the GAAP hierarchy.)
The tax resources guide was updated from last year's guide. I did workshops for Prof. Korman's graduate class. They will have an assignment relating to capital gains. Next week I will do a lecture for Prof. Egan's graduate class. I think their assignment is going to be relating to whether a drama history professor is operating a trade/business or only a hobby when she is audited for her expenses relating to her play writing. (The factual situation is she has more expenses than income, and has had for several years.)
I think these assignments are good examples of requiring analyzing information resources.
Please let me know if you have any questions. The students have been told that if they need help from me that they are to call or email me ahead of time for appointments. They have also been told that help is available at the reference desk.
Both guides have a lot of screen shots to helps students become familiar with the databases.
I did class related lectures for Prof. Lale Guler's Acc 3000 classes last week. They are doing the "gift card" assignment similar to last year's assignment. (This topic has been covered much more in the accounting literature in trade publications such those available on ABI Inform Global and Business Source Premier, which may be an easier way to start than the official FASB literature. The students know that the terms "gift cards" do not appear in the FASB literature.)
It is a team project, due Dec. 8, for Prof. Guler's class.
Some things to note:
I didn't order new FARS CDs this year as the information is available online through subscription databases. So, students should not be referred to the FARS disks as they are not current.
The format of CCH Accounting Manager and RIA Checkpoint remain basically the same.
Some revisions are:
RIA Checkpoint has added "Advance" to the FASB information new this year. So Advance FASB Original Pronouncements means pronouncements issued in 2008.
RIA Checkpoint has added a "text" feature for the options given with print, download, email. The Text feature allows you to highlight and then copy, print, or email, the selected text.
The handy U.S. Master GAAP Guide, is no longer available on Lexis-Nexis Academic. To research it, go to CCH Business & Finance, click Securities tab, scroll down to Accountant's Module, and it is listed in the resources. (We also have print copies. The print copies refer to levels of the GAAP hierarchy.)
The tax resources guide was updated from last year's guide. I did workshops for Prof. Korman's graduate class. They will have an assignment relating to capital gains. Next week I will do a lecture for Prof. Egan's graduate class. I think their assignment is going to be relating to whether a drama history professor is operating a trade/business or only a hobby when she is audited for her expenses relating to her play writing. (The factual situation is she has more expenses than income, and has had for several years.)
I think these assignments are good examples of requiring analyzing information resources.
Please let me know if you have any questions. The students have been told that if they need help from me that they are to call or email me ahead of time for appointments. They have also been told that help is available at the reference desk.
The Political Campaign: Verifying the Facts
Jerry put together this list of political fact checking web sites for an ENG2100 class. I though it might be helpful at the reference desk. For a brief discussion of these websites see the article by Peggy Garvin in LLRX.
FactCheck.org
This is a nonpartisan, nonprofit site maintained by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. They have been around since 1994 and covered their first campaign in 2004. They monitor ads, speeches, debates and news stories.
PolitiFact.com
This web site is sponsored by Congressional Quarterly and the St. Petersburg Times (Florida). Features a "Truth-o-Meter."
Fact Checker
New this year is a blog by Michael Dobbs from the Washington Post that reports on news from other fact checking sites and tips from readers.
Several of the major network news web sites also have fact checking sites:
CNN News
CBS News
FactCheck.org
This is a nonpartisan, nonprofit site maintained by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. They have been around since 1994 and covered their first campaign in 2004. They monitor ads, speeches, debates and news stories.
PolitiFact.com
This web site is sponsored by Congressional Quarterly and the St. Petersburg Times (Florida). Features a "Truth-o-Meter."
Fact Checker
New this year is a blog by Michael Dobbs from the Washington Post that reports on news from other fact checking sites and tips from readers.
Several of the major network news web sites also have fact checking sites:
CNN News
CBS News
Monday, October 27, 2008
Computer problems in Room 130 Monday night 10/27 and an interesting observation
During a workshop for graduate tax students tonight, students were unable to logon to
computers 1148A and 1216B. The student using 1158 said it was running very slow.
The graduate students were in a first semester tax class. Although this situation did not occur for workshops given Sunday to class members, of 20 attendees Monday night, only four knew their Baruch user name and password prior to the workshop. Some knew it had been sent to them, but they didn't have it and didn't know where to get the information. They had used Blackboard. I believe that many students attending the workshop tonight are working during the day but the lack of knowing their use name and password indicated their lack of use of library resources.
computers 1148A and 1216B. The student using 1158 said it was running very slow.
The graduate students were in a first semester tax class. Although this situation did not occur for workshops given Sunday to class members, of 20 attendees Monday night, only four knew their Baruch user name and password prior to the workshop. Some knew it had been sent to them, but they didn't have it and didn't know where to get the information. They had used Blackboard. I believe that many students attending the workshop tonight are working during the day but the lack of knowing their use name and password indicated their lack of use of library resources.
Computer problem in Room 135 during workshop and question about access to RefWorks on the classroom computers
Yesterday during a workshop in Room 135 students using computer 13 were unable to connect to the Internet. I wanted to report this problem. Computer 10 also initially had a problem but we were able to connect once the computer was rebooted.
The graduate tax students, who will have a paper to research and write for their course, were interested in RefWorks, which I was able to demonstrate very briefly and with some trouble. Most, but not all the students, were unable to view the RefWorks screen where they can log on for the first time and create their own accounts. The screen did not indicate it was RefWorks for CUNY-Baruch College. This did appear on some of the classroom computers. When I first used the instructor's computer,via Firefox I was able to log on, but RefWorks went directly to my list of references, so I was unable to demonstrate how to create a folder, the tutorials, etc.
If there is a solution, I told the students I would email them. They were very happy to see that this database is available for their use. They thought it would save a lot of time.
The graduate tax students, who will have a paper to research and write for their course, were interested in RefWorks, which I was able to demonstrate very briefly and with some trouble. Most, but not all the students, were unable to view the RefWorks screen where they can log on for the first time and create their own accounts. The screen did not indicate it was RefWorks for CUNY-Baruch College. This did appear on some of the classroom computers. When I first used the instructor's computer,via Firefox I was able to log on, but RefWorks went directly to my list of references, so I was unable to demonstrate how to create a folder, the tutorials, etc.
If there is a solution, I told the students I would email them. They were very happy to see that this database is available for their use. They thought it would save a lot of time.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Yankees (W)one and New York City Nothing
For another book on sports and public benefit see Mark S. Rosentraub, Major League Losers . . .
Science Direct Maintenance
To support scheduled maintenance, ScienceDirect will be unavailable from 9 p.m. EDT on Saturday 1 November until 8 a.m. EST on Sunday 2 November .
In addition, on 15 November, this application will be unavailable due to scheduled system enhancements including the addition of new functionality. Exact timing will be communicated soon.
In addition, on 15 November, this application will be unavailable due to scheduled system enhancements including the addition of new functionality. Exact timing will be communicated soon.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Package left at Ref Desk for pickup Friday by alum
I left a large envelope at the reference desk for pick up by Arthur Ainsberg, a Baruch alum and member of the Baruch College Fund board, on Friday. His assistant Corinne, a Baruch grad, might be the one picking it up. I will be teaching a workshop from 8:30 to 10:30 Friday morning.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
The Yankees Again
Students are still working on the assignment about the financial situation of the Yankee's baseball team. In addition to the sources listed in previous posts to this blog, I'd like to suggest that many books have been written on the topic of the economics of sports and they are available in CUNY libraries.
LC subject headings include:
Major League Baseball (Organization)
Baseball--Economic Aspects--United States
You might be surprised to see that Brookings has published several titles on this topic. We have their books: May the Best Team Win: Baseball Economics and Public Policy, and Sports, Jobs, and Taxes : the Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Stadiums.
In addition there is a business database devoted to the sports industry available at SIBL. It is the Sports Business Research Network. It includes statistical market research data for 63 sports, 85 product categories, plus full-text articles and reports in more than 10 leading trade publications covering U.S. and international sports marketing and sporting goods business.
LC subject headings include:
Major League Baseball (Organization)
Baseball--Economic Aspects--United States
You might be surprised to see that Brookings has published several titles on this topic. We have their books: May the Best Team Win: Baseball Economics and Public Policy, and Sports, Jobs, and Taxes : the Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Stadiums.
In addition there is a business database devoted to the sports industry available at SIBL. It is the Sports Business Research Network. It includes statistical market research data for 63 sports, 85 product categories, plus full-text articles and reports in more than 10 leading trade publications covering U.S. and international sports marketing and sporting goods business.
Thanks from a patron
With the whirlwind of the fall semester upon us, I thought it might be nice to share these nice comments a student added to the survey that pops up at the close of chat sessions:
(NOTE: Click to enlarge)
Great service. I use it all the time. It is convienent and available. thank you for providing it. Baruch students are blessed.Since we started using QuestionPoint for our chat and email service, we've received nearly 600 surveys from our patrons. If you are viewing this blog post on the web and not in your email, you can see here a summary of how our patrons have responded to the survey questions:
(NOTE: Click to enlarge)
Friday, October 17, 2008
Red States Blue States Contest !
The library will be hosting a contest for the 2008 election, where students can compete to win a $270 gift certificate to the bookstore (a candidate needs to have at least 270 electoral votes to win). The contest will run from Weds 10/22 to Fri 10/31. Students will use the library's Red State Blue State exhibit to learn about the election process, and can participate in the contest by doing two things:
The ballot box will only be available when the reference desk is open, from the 22nd to the 31st. At the end of the night, whoever is working will need to take the box and place it in the reference office so that it is locked up for the night. The map-ballots will be removed and date stamped the next morning, and the empty box will be returned to the desk by 9am. The person working the first morning shift need not do anything - the ballots and box will be taken care of. We'll have to make special provisions for the weekend - stay posted for details.
An announcement and flier about the contest with the basic rules is available on the news portion of the library's website. The contest is open to Baruch undergraduate and graduate students (with the exception of library employees) who are currently enrolled and working towards a degree, but anyone can login to Blackboard and join the Red States Blue States group (if you were interested in seeing the complete rules). If students have any questions, you can refer them to the flier and blackboard.
If you have any questions, feel free to post them here.
- Taking a 10 question quiz on the electoral college that is available on Blackboard. Students will login in to a special Red States Blue States group where they can access the full contest rules (available now) and the quiz (available starting Oct 22nd).
AND - Using the interactive map on page 7 of the exhibit to make their prediction of how they think the election will turn out. Students will then print out their map (it need not be in color), write their name, email, and phone number on it, and will submit it in a ballot box that we'll keep at the reference desk.
The ballot box will only be available when the reference desk is open, from the 22nd to the 31st. At the end of the night, whoever is working will need to take the box and place it in the reference office so that it is locked up for the night. The map-ballots will be removed and date stamped the next morning, and the empty box will be returned to the desk by 9am. The person working the first morning shift need not do anything - the ballots and box will be taken care of. We'll have to make special provisions for the weekend - stay posted for details.
An announcement and flier about the contest with the basic rules is available on the news portion of the library's website. The contest is open to Baruch undergraduate and graduate students (with the exception of library employees) who are currently enrolled and working towards a degree, but anyone can login to Blackboard and join the Red States Blue States group (if you were interested in seeing the complete rules). If students have any questions, you can refer them to the flier and blackboard.
If you have any questions, feel free to post them here.
Field Choices in Business Source
Peggy and I discovered a problem in Business Source Premier yesterday. The drop down "field" menu no longer showed company, ticker, NAICS and the other business specific fields. A phone call to Ebscohost solved the problem. Our default choice of databases included a product called "Research Starter" which limited the field choices to only the standard author, title, and abstract. Please report these types of problems to me or Mike.
Gale Virtual Reference and the Catalog
As you know, our Gale Virtual Reference titles have records in the catalog, where the URL should link you to the database. That is working on some computers, but not on many others, in particular the ones at the reference desk.
So if you find a Gale Virtual Reference title on CUNY+ and the link does not take you there, please go to the database via the database page and find the book that way.
We are not sure why this is happening but it is being investigated.
So if you find a Gale Virtual Reference title on CUNY+ and the link does not take you there, please go to the database via the database page and find the book that way.
We are not sure why this is happening but it is being investigated.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Recent amendments to Americans with Disabilities Act expand protections to many more and redefines the laws relating to disabilities
Recent amendments to the Americans With Disabilities Act expands protections to many more workers, and rejects U.S. Supreme Court decisions on what constitutes a "disability" according to an article I received today from a law firm at which I was once a legal assistant.
These amendments had the support of groups advocating for the disabled, the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and others, according to some news articles I located in Factiva. The amendments help reach the original intent of the Act.
Sometimes students come to the reference desk looking for human resources issues. This might be one to suggest as an Oct. 6 issue of Business Insurance quotes an employment law expert as saying, "I thought this was a big deal," said Gerald L. Maatman Jr., a partner in the Chicago-based law firm Seyfarth Shaw L.L.P. "The amendments necessitate that employers will have to go back to the drawing board on job descriptions and protocols to provide reasonable accommodation decisions. The burdens will be significant but well worth the effort in terms of proactive steps to avoid future litigation," he said.
There will probably be much more information about these amendments in publications in the coming months.
These amendments had the support of groups advocating for the disabled, the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and others, according to some news articles I located in Factiva. The amendments help reach the original intent of the Act.
Sometimes students come to the reference desk looking for human resources issues. This might be one to suggest as an Oct. 6 issue of Business Insurance quotes an employment law expert as saying, "I thought this was a big deal," said Gerald L. Maatman Jr., a partner in the Chicago-based law firm Seyfarth Shaw L.L.P. "The amendments necessitate that employers will have to go back to the drawing board on job descriptions and protocols to provide reasonable accommodation decisions. The burdens will be significant but well worth the effort in terms of proactive steps to avoid future litigation," he said.
There will probably be much more information about these amendments in publications in the coming months.
Mark-to-Market Accounting
The current issue of The Ticker (October 14, 2008) has a special section on the “Market Meltdown” and one of the stories is an interview with Prof. Terrence Martell where he is asked about the suspension of FASB 157 which requires mark-to-market accounting. He tells a compelling story about how mark-to-market works today.
FASB157, called the Fair Value accounting rule, requires companies to value their assets based on market prices. But what happens when there is no market because the credit markets are frozen? Here is how the SEC, FASB, and others are addressing the problem.
On September 30th the SEC offered clarification of the rules that addressed how to determine fair value when there is no active market for a security.
FASB issued a Staff Position Paper that addressed “Determining the Fair Value of a Financial Asset When the Market for That Asset Is Not Active.”
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act included a provision that the SEC, along with the Fed and the Treasury, study the impact of mark-to-market accounting on banks. Details are in the SEC press release.
A panel of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) produced a report on “Measuring and disclosing the fair value of financial instruments in markets that are no longer active.”
FASB157, called the Fair Value accounting rule, requires companies to value their assets based on market prices. But what happens when there is no market because the credit markets are frozen? Here is how the SEC, FASB, and others are addressing the problem.
On September 30th the SEC offered clarification of the rules that addressed how to determine fair value when there is no active market for a security.
FASB issued a Staff Position Paper that addressed “Determining the Fair Value of a Financial Asset When the Market for That Asset Is Not Active.”
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act included a provision that the SEC, along with the Fed and the Treasury, study the impact of mark-to-market accounting on banks. Details are in the SEC press release.
A panel of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) produced a report on “Measuring and disclosing the fair value of financial instruments in markets that are no longer active.”
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
E-Commerce Data
Students in an entrepreneurship class have been asking for data on web or online sales for particular industry sectors. This data is often hard to find but there are some reports that collect e-commerce data that could be good starting points.
U.S. Census E-Stats Reports
Their E-Commerce Multi-Sector Report breaks out the value of e-commerce sales for industry sectors based on 3 or 4 digit NAICS codes. The data tables cover sectors in wholesale trade, retail trade, selected service industries and various types of electronic shopping and mail order houses (NAICS 4541). This is an annual report that has been published since 1999.
e-Marketer
This publisher is an aggregator of market research reports on all aspects of e-business and online marketing. You can browse all the reports on their website but you will find that although some articles are free, all the market surveys must be purchased. SIBL subscribes to the e-Marketer database.
ClickZ Stats
This website offers data and many articles of the “Top 50” type on various aspects of e-commerce including advertising, demographics, B2B, and retailing. The scope is global so you can find country focused reports here.
IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC)
These reports of about 15 pages come out twice a year and focus on measuring advertising revenue from various internet advertising outlets. The reports do contain data on internet ad revenues for nine major industry categories. These are broadly defined industries including retail, financial services, entertainment and consumer packaged goods.
Students should also search business news databases. Tablebase uses the concept terms "e-commerce" and "electronic commerce" which can be combined with either industry or product categories. Factiva has industry codes for e-commerce, e-business (B2B), and etailing (B2C).
U.S. Census E-Stats Reports
Their E-Commerce Multi-Sector Report breaks out the value of e-commerce sales for industry sectors based on 3 or 4 digit NAICS codes. The data tables cover sectors in wholesale trade, retail trade, selected service industries and various types of electronic shopping and mail order houses (NAICS 4541). This is an annual report that has been published since 1999.
e-Marketer
This publisher is an aggregator of market research reports on all aspects of e-business and online marketing. You can browse all the reports on their website but you will find that although some articles are free, all the market surveys must be purchased. SIBL subscribes to the e-Marketer database.
ClickZ Stats
This website offers data and many articles of the “Top 50” type on various aspects of e-commerce including advertising, demographics, B2B, and retailing. The scope is global so you can find country focused reports here.
IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC)
These reports of about 15 pages come out twice a year and focus on measuring advertising revenue from various internet advertising outlets. The reports do contain data on internet ad revenues for nine major industry categories. These are broadly defined industries including retail, financial services, entertainment and consumer packaged goods.
Students should also search business news databases. Tablebase uses the concept terms "e-commerce" and "electronic commerce" which can be combined with either industry or product categories. Factiva has industry codes for e-commerce, e-business (B2B), and etailing (B2C).
Resolution codes in chat reference
When you are adding a resolution code at the end of a chat session, please make sure that you are selecting the correct resolution code. One of the more confusing codes is the "Lost Call" code, which should only be used when a patron sends a question, never replies to your messages, AND did not login with an email address.
Julie Strange, the administrator of the statewide chat service in Maryland, AskUsNow!, has a nice chart detailing when to use each of the codes (PDF). (Please note that I'd recommend you never use the "Followup by Me" resolution code.)
Make sure that when you select a resolution code and click the "Add" button, you pause for about 5 seconds to ensure that the code is actually appended to the chat transcript. If you click "Add" and then rush to close the chat session, your code will not get assigned to the transcript, leaving it adrift somewhat in the system.
Julie Strange, the administrator of the statewide chat service in Maryland, AskUsNow!, has a nice chart detailing when to use each of the codes (PDF). (Please note that I'd recommend you never use the "Followup by Me" resolution code.)
Make sure that when you select a resolution code and click the "Add" button, you pause for about 5 seconds to ensure that the code is actually appended to the chat transcript. If you click "Add" and then rush to close the chat session, your code will not get assigned to the transcript, leaving it adrift somewhat in the system.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Global Industry Surveys on S&P NetAdvantage
We now have access to Standard & Poor's Global Industry Surveys in NetAdvantage. These reports cover three regions: Europe, Asia and Latin America. They follow the same format as the U.S. Industry Surveys and include the list of competitors in each sector, in this case sub-divided by country.
Industry coverage varies by region. Only three industry sectors: banking, wireless telecom and oil and gas, are provided for Latin America. Two industries, computer hardware and consumer electronics are unique to Asia and the aerospace and defense industry is unique to Europe. Reports are available for 23 industries in both Europe and Asia. These industries are advertising, airlines, autos and auto parts, banking, biotechnology, boradcasting and cable, chemicals, construction and engineering, electric utilities, foods and nonalcoholic beverages, healthcare-pharmaceuticals and products and supplies, industrial machinery, insurance- life & health and property/casualty, publishing, real estate, retailing-specialty, supermarkets and drugstores, telecommunications-wireless and transportation.
You will find the Global Industry Surveys under the "Industry" tab.
Industry coverage varies by region. Only three industry sectors: banking, wireless telecom and oil and gas, are provided for Latin America. Two industries, computer hardware and consumer electronics are unique to Asia and the aerospace and defense industry is unique to Europe. Reports are available for 23 industries in both Europe and Asia. These industries are advertising, airlines, autos and auto parts, banking, biotechnology, boradcasting and cable, chemicals, construction and engineering, electric utilities, foods and nonalcoholic beverages, healthcare-pharmaceuticals and products and supplies, industrial machinery, insurance- life & health and property/casualty, publishing, real estate, retailing-specialty, supermarkets and drugstores, telecommunications-wireless and transportation.
You will find the Global Industry Surveys under the "Industry" tab.
The Credit Crunch on Bloomberg
Bloomberg has added many new data pages to its coverage of the credit crisis. For a list of their pages on the worldwide credit crunch, type WWCC-GO. You will see data on "Bank Losses" including details on individual bank write-downs and amount of capital raised. Bloomberg is also tallying the number of jobs lost at these banks.
For an overview of the credit crunch, type CCRU-GO. This page includes the short selling restricted list at SSR-GO. Credit defaults are at CXE-GO.
Use EXPO-GO for a list of companies exposed to short term rollover and interest rate risk. The top corporate bond issuers and the top government entities are ranked based on the value of their debt maturing in the next 30 days.
Students needing definitions of the many new structured products will find them at SND-GO.
For an overview of the credit crunch, type CCRU-GO. This page includes the short selling restricted list at SSR-GO. Credit defaults are at CXE-GO.
Use EXPO-GO for a list of companies exposed to short term rollover and interest rate risk. The top corporate bond issuers and the top government entities are ranked based on the value of their debt maturing in the next 30 days.
Students needing definitions of the many new structured products will find them at SND-GO.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
CreditWeek Now Available in S&P NetAdvantage
Standard & Poor’s has added CreditWeek to the list of publications available through its NetAdvantage portal. This weekly news magazine covering the global credit markets is available for all issues since 2006. All issues are in PDF format. The best way to access CreditWeek is to open the “Company” tab (at the top of the home page) and scroll down to the CreditWeek banner and its pull-down menu of issues.
Why would you want to use CreditWeek? CreditWeek covers credit market trends in-depth. These articles focus on specific credit instruments, the credit situation in specific countries or, a favorite of corporate librarians, an analysis of credit quality in an industry sector. Look at their analysis of the oil and gas industry in the August 27th issue. Often there are special issues like the recent ones devoted to the Housing Markets (September 24th) and Resurgent Russia (September 17th). Each issue includes the “Credit Spotlight,” short articles on recent rating actions, and the last piece in most issues is the “Featured Analysis,” an in-depth examination of the credit quality of a corporate issuer like Chrysler (September 17th) or a sovereign issuer like Brazil (October 8th).
Although each issue opens with a detailed table of contents, there is no index to the issues and the NetAdvantage “search” does not return results from CreditWeek. One work around is to use the Standard and Poor’s website which includes a browsable list of every issue from January 2006.
Why would you want to use CreditWeek? CreditWeek covers credit market trends in-depth. These articles focus on specific credit instruments, the credit situation in specific countries or, a favorite of corporate librarians, an analysis of credit quality in an industry sector. Look at their analysis of the oil and gas industry in the August 27th issue. Often there are special issues like the recent ones devoted to the Housing Markets (September 24th) and Resurgent Russia (September 17th). Each issue includes the “Credit Spotlight,” short articles on recent rating actions, and the last piece in most issues is the “Featured Analysis,” an in-depth examination of the credit quality of a corporate issuer like Chrysler (September 17th) or a sovereign issuer like Brazil (October 8th).
Although each issue opens with a detailed table of contents, there is no index to the issues and the NetAdvantage “search” does not return results from CreditWeek. One work around is to use the Standard and Poor’s website which includes a browsable list of every issue from January 2006.
Corporate bond info
A research assistant stopped by the desk asking for information that may not be available. She is helping a professor see if there is a data source that tells you what percentage of a given company's corporate bonds are held by institutional investors. After consulting with Harry Gee, it seems as though that data is not likely to be disclosed by anyone, which means there is no likely data source on it.
Here's what we looked at or considered as possibilities before ruling them out:
FYI: I found the Business FAQ from the Lippincott Library at U Penn to be a nice starting point in thinking about possible sources of info.
Here's what we looked at or considered as possibilities before ruling them out:
- Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage: Offers descriptions of the corporate bonds but no details on who owns them.
- Bloomberg: Doesn't have the specific info needed although it does offer some details on the bonds themselves.
- WRDS: There is a data set in WRDS called FISD (Fixed Income Securities Database) that we don't subscribe to and that isn't likely to have the specific info needed.
- Mergent Online: Also offers specific details on different bonds issued by corporations but not who owns them or in what percentages.
FYI: I found the Business FAQ from the Lippincott Library at U Penn to be a nice starting point in thinking about possible sources of info.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Japanese Company Profiles
A student in one section of BPL5100 alerted me that their class assignment included a comparison of their U.S. company with a competitor in a foreign market. So we should be seeing students asking for annual reports and company profiles of foreign public companies. Thomson Research is the best source for annual reports since they cover many international markets.
The standard source for profiles of Japanese companies is the Japan Company Handbook. This title is now available through LexisNexis Academic. The easiest way to search is to access the handbook through our journal finder tool. If you go to LexisNexis directly, choose the handbook from the list of sources in the General Search.
If the foreign company is a large multinational, profiles could be available in Euromonitor GMID or Business Monitor.
The standard source for profiles of Japanese companies is the Japan Company Handbook. This title is now available through LexisNexis Academic. The easiest way to search is to access the handbook through our journal finder tool. If you go to LexisNexis directly, choose the handbook from the list of sources in the General Search.
If the foreign company is a large multinational, profiles could be available in Euromonitor GMID or Business Monitor.
Library Open 24 Hours During Mid-terms
The mid-term schedule when the library will be open 24 hours for Baruch students will start at 7:00 AM on October 23rd and run through 11:59 PM on October 30th.
Global Public Finance
We have added a new module to our SDC database coverage. Global Public Financing covers U.S. municipal issues as well as public financing in Canada and internationally.
Fax Service Available for Students
The BCTC computing lab on the 6th floor now offers a fax service. Students can send faxes at no cost to local exchanges. More information on this service will be announced in a press release.
Monday, October 06, 2008
Printing in NetLibrary
Eric Neubacher just alerted me to something that seems to be a change in NetLibrary. In the past, I recall that you could print 5 pages at a time from NetLibrary titles. Now, it looks like only 1 page at a time is allowed, as is clearly spelled out in the Help pages in NetLibrary:
Print and copy selections from a full-text eContent item. You are allowed to print one page at a time using your Web browser's print function or the print function on the Adobe Acrobat toolbar. Printing the entire eContent item violates copyright laws and precautions are taken to protect those copyright laws. If a suspicious usage pattern indicates excessive printing or copying, the activity is logged and you are sent a copyright warning message.Am I mistaken about NetLibrary's past printing policy being 5 pages? Is 5 pages the rule for one of the other ebook services (Books 24x7 or ebrary?)
Lost Flash Drive
Dear Colleagues:
This morning I found a flash drive plugged into the cpu in room 135 of the library. To "claim" it you can find it in my mail box in the second floor office suite. Thank you. David Brodherson
This morning I found a flash drive plugged into the cpu in room 135 of the library. To "claim" it you can find it in my mail box in the second floor office suite. Thank you. David Brodherson
Friday, October 03, 2008
Can't renew books in CUNY+
In the next day or two, the ability to renew books in the My Account feature in CUNY+ should be restored. At present, renewals must be done in person or by emailing the circulation department.
Gale Directory of Publications
After meeting with most of the librarians, we are not renewing this resource as of 10/31/08, mostly because of the unsatisfactory interface. We are investigating a new product that Gale has just launched that covers directories, where we can choose which directories we want to include. Meanwhile we have the Encyclopedia of Associations in paper for 2007.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
The Thomas website has details about the history of what the Senate is calling the "financial industry bailout package" in their legislative calendar. The legislation is offically called the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. The bill numbers of the House version that was voted down is H.R. 3997 and the Senate bill that passed is H. R. 1424. The full text of the bills, House and Senate, is also available from GPO Access in PDF format.
Creating a List of Non-Profits
I had a tough e-reference question, and wanted to ask for advice. A graduate student wants to compile a list of International NGOs (non profits) in NYC. In this list, she would like to have data for: budget, staff, members of the board, mission statement, web site address, and locations of other offices in the world.
She was using Guide Star, but to get all the info she needed she needs access to the premium edition (which I presume isn't cheap). She is also using a site called Charity Navigator, and said it has a lot of the info she needs, but not budget info.
I suggested that finding a single source that has the list of everything she needs is probably unlikely, and that she would have to compile data from several sources. Which ones?
I searched through this blog and found references to previous posts about this topic which suggest looking at the IRS 990 forms, and I gave her the link to those posts. I'm guessing that even if the NGO is international, they still have to file this form if they have an office in the US.
I looked in our business directories but there was no way to filter for non-profits. I had a hard time searching the encyclopedia of associations, and even if I was searching it correctly I don't think it has the info she needs. I tried some public websites, like idealist.org, but they don't go far beyond the basics of name, address, etc.
Then I searched CUNY+ and found this at BMCC:
It's a paper copy and is from 2002, which is rather dated for something like this. But NYPL Research has an electronic version which is updated. I am going to contact the student to let her know about this, but does anyone have any additional suggestions?
She was using Guide Star, but to get all the info she needed she needs access to the premium edition (which I presume isn't cheap). She is also using a site called Charity Navigator, and said it has a lot of the info she needs, but not budget info.
I suggested that finding a single source that has the list of everything she needs is probably unlikely, and that she would have to compile data from several sources. Which ones?
I searched through this blog and found references to previous posts about this topic which suggest looking at the IRS 990 forms, and I gave her the link to those posts. I'm guessing that even if the NGO is international, they still have to file this form if they have an office in the US.
I looked in our business directories but there was no way to filter for non-profits. I had a hard time searching the encyclopedia of associations, and even if I was searching it correctly I don't think it has the info she needs. I tried some public websites, like idealist.org, but they don't go far beyond the basics of name, address, etc.
Then I searched CUNY+ and found this at BMCC:
Encyclopedia of associations. International organizations : a guide to more than 22,000 international nonprofit membership organizations including multinational and binational groups, and national organizations based outside the United States, concerned with all subjects or areas of activity.
It's a paper copy and is from 2002, which is rather dated for something like this. But NYPL Research has an electronic version which is updated. I am going to contact the student to let her know about this, but does anyone have any additional suggestions?
Financial Comment
I doubt that the paid-subscription web site, www.whiskeyandgunpowder.com packed with financial commentary is worth a library acquisition. It might be more notable for incorporation into Ripley's Believe It Not. Either way it might make you laugh, scream or think about the huge spectrum of ideas and analysis in corporate performance.
LLMC unaccessible
Currently LLMC is not accessible and asks for a password. This is a problem to all CUNY schools that subscribe and the vendor has been notified.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Free access to all Sage journals until 10/31/08
Sage is offering free online access to their journals until October 31, 2008. You have to register individually.
SpringerLink book trial
We have a trial until the end of October of a number of e-books from SpringerLink. They have digitized a large number of their books and are doing a big push to put them out there. They are mostly in the sciences, but there are some business and social science titles. Because it is on the same platform as the e-journals I have not created a separate link for this trial.
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