NYT announces API for best sellers' book lists

The New York Times today launched an Application Programming Interface (API) for the books that have appeared on the publication's best sellers' lists since June 2008. In future months the NYT plans to add lists going back to 1930. Information currently available includes ranking information and links to NYT reviews and excerpts, according to the announcement.

New York Academy of Medicine changes its access policy

Users are now being requested to call ahead for an appointment. No one will be turned away. Appointments may be scheduled by calling 212-822-7315 or emailing the library.

Syllabus for Spanish course given to security

I turned into security the syllabus that a student in Prof. Cuesta's Spanish class left at the reference desk. I emailed Prof. Cuesta who responded that she will notify the student.

Testing email forwarding of blog posts

Please ignore this test post. Just checking how email of blog posts is working these days.

Baruch Geoserver Provides GIS Data

The library now has a server to provide GIS datasets, static maps, and information about GIS facilities and educational opportunities on campus. All academic libraries that seriously provide GIS services have sites or repositories similar to this one, to provide data and information. The server can be accessed anywhere on campus from machines that are hardwired to the network (it cannot be accessed via wireless or from off campus). While the datasets can be downloaded from anywhere on campus, patrons will need access to GIS software to actually use them. The site provides a list of locations on campus where patrons can find the software.

The Baruch Geoserver is listed on the library's databases page, and can also be accessed on campus at http://gserv. The site also has an RSS feed that users can subscribe to for news and updates. The feed is available from on or off campus.

Most of the information on the geoserver supercedes the content of the Geography / GIS subject guide. The subject guide will be pared down significantly and there will be a link from the guide to the geoserver.

Please pass the news along to anyone who may be interested. I have already contacted about twelve faculty members who use GIS or demographic datasets to let them know that this resource is available. Feel free to contact me or post to the blog if you have any questions.

Library Journal evaluates e-business resources

The article looks at ABI/Inform, Business Source Complete, EconLit, Mergent Online, Proquest Entrepreneurship, and briefly goes over a few others.

LJ, v.134, no. 1, Jan. 2009, s16-s22

Trial: Guide to Reference

Formerly Guide to Reference Books, this new online edition incorporates online resources as well. The trial runs until March 26, 2009 and requires a username and password, which are on the database page. The trial is available on campus only.

Please post any comments you may have.

Journal Citation Reports (JCR) at Hunter College

If faculty inquire about journal rankings (impact factor) within a discipline, please let them know about the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) module available within Web of Science at Hunter College. I have confirmed this is available with a librarian at Hunter. Unfortunately, we do not subscribe to the JCR module at Baruch. They will be able to use the computer terminals at the Hunter Library (they are not required to ask for a username/password).

New Reference Titles in Demography

We've received two new reference titles in demography. Both are handbooks / encyclopedic type works that cover concepts and issues in demography, such as: statistic sources and collection, types of stats (counts, estimates, surveys, projections) population distribution (age, gender, race, ethnicity), components of population change (natality, mortality, migration), and health and education.

The Methods and Materials of Demography, 2nd ed. Siegel and Swanson. Ref HB 849.4 .M484 2004

Handbook of Population, Poston and Micklin. Ref HB 871 .H3447 2006

Both books are available in the reference section, 2nd floor.

Calculators

Calculators will be distributed next week, the first week of the semester, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 10:30 am and 6:30 pm at the third floor service desk.

Help desk request filed for Quicktime 6 installation on reference desk computers

I have made a help desk request, #3205, regarding the need to have QuickTime 6 installed on the reference desk computers in order to launch media such as Accounting Cycle One in the Digital Media Collection. Some students have been asking about these accounting tutorials and currently they can't be launched from the reference desk computers, although it used to be possible.

question about Executives on Campus and printing

While I was working the reference desk this morning an Executive on Campus asked for a guest log in, which I gave him. (These are Baruch alums who volunteer their time on campus..giving talks, meeting with students, etc.) He didn't need to print anything, but that may me wonder what to do if he had something he wanted to print. Sending him up for a vendor printer card didn't seem like a good thing under the circumstances. I don't know if this has occurred before. He asked if the guest log in could be issued for the semester and I explained it couldn't be. Perhaps he is new to the program.

What would be good to do?

Question about Bronx Community College Middle States report

While on the desk this morning someone called and said she had been told that the Baruch library had a copy of the Bronx Community College Middle States Report and wondered where it was. I couldn't find it on our website or in CUNY+ for either school. I called the Bronx Community College library and spoke to the chief librarian who said as far as she knew the report, in draft form, was on the Bronx Com College institutional research department's web page with restricted access since they are still working on it. The phone number of this department is 718 289 5156.

Unfortunately, my pen went dry when I was talking with the person and I don't know whom she was. (I did call John Choonoo and let him know.) So, in case the person calls back, this is the information.

Forthcoming New York Review of Books article re Google and the future of books

A friend sent me the following:
I read this today in the 12 February 2009 New York Review of Books in an article by Roger Darnton called "Google and the Future of Books":


"One of my colleagues is a quiet, diminutive lady, who might call up the notion of Marion the Librarian. When she meets people at parties and identifies herself, they sometimes say condescendingly, 'A librarian, how nice. Tell me, what is it like to be a librarian?' She replies, 'Essentially, it is all about money and power.'"

The article is not yet available online..my friend must read the print version.

Chat reference schedule for spring 2009

Beginning next week (the first of the new semester), a new chat schedule will be in effect and it will look like this:

• Monday: 2 pm - 4 pm
• Tuesday: 12 pm - 2 pm and 2 pm - 4 pm
• Wednesday: 2 pm - 4 pm
• Thursday: 2 pm - 4 pm

The new hours mean that we are more likely to be there for our users when they are asking for help and we can contribute our fair share of coverage to the QuestionPoint academic cooperative. Baruch students have been increasingly using our service. During 2008 we received 1,890 chat requests from Baruch students. Students from the all six of our schools in CUNY that share this QuestionPoint subscription (John Jay, Brooklyn, Hunter, BMCC, Baruch, and the Grad Center) asked over 6,200 questions during this period.

ebrary gets new interface

As previously announced, ebrary launched its new interface today.

Here's a flash demo to get to the details of the new interface:
http://www.ebrary.com/corp/collateral/flash/UIplugind/UIplugind.html

Let me know if you have any comments.

Locked Drawer Problem with Student Printers

Hi,

This morning, as I was replenishing the new student printer paper supplies, I noticed that both machine #2 and #3 drawers (both drawer no. 3) cannot be locked. You can easily open them.

I placed a Systems Helpdesk request, job #3201.

Alfredo

Problem with copy machine and printer problem reported by student

On Saturday, a student reported he lost a $1.00 bill in the first photocopy machine (nearest the door) in Room 309. He said that the machine is accepting coins without problems.

In Room 309 and the second floor student printer room there are no envelopes for students to request refunds for losses. Could we please get some?

A Baruch student reported that she was able to print without problem some word documents using the student printers in the library, but when she sent some jpeg files to the printer, she received the notice that they were sent to printer HPLG 950. Paul and I were unable to locate where this printer is located. Is there a printer with this number, or was this an error. (The student said that the jpeg files had personal information about she and her family, including Social Security numbers. I told her that if the printouts are located, they will be destroyed.)

I will alert Annette about the copycard problems and the need for envelopes and I will ask Saad about the printer problem.

Known-item searches and acquisitions

I'd like to thank Lisa and a few other folks who periodically let me know of specific books in my subject areas (English and philosophy) that students asked for in reference interactions and that we were unable to find in our collections. If you can pass along to me the details on those known-item searches that yield no results or where the item is marked as lost or reported missing, I can look into buying copies of those books.

Would anyone else want to participate in this kind of a reference/acquisitions feedback loop for their subject areas?

Charlie Rose interviews outgoing Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott

Last night Charlie Rose interviewed outgoing Wal-Mart President & CEO Lee Scott, who is reducing his time with Wal-Mart over the next two years. Since Wal-mart is frequently researched by our students this interview might be recommended to them as many issues relating to Wal-Mart and being an executive of a major corporation are discussed. Sustainability and how Wal-Mart and retailing have changed are among the topics covered.

One moment in the interview provides an example of what information is required to be reported by a public company and what isn't. Rose asked Scott how many stores Wal-Mart had in China and he replied, "about 200." Rose then asked, "And they generate how much revenue?, to which Scott quickly replied, "I don't believe we report that....but good try."