New Student Printers Paper Drawer Keys

Hi,

Today, Systems placed two more HP Laserjet M4345 MFP printers, that will replace the current student printers.

One machine is operational, Pharos #2. Students can login their username and password to print their jobs. This machine has a yellow instruction sheet on how to print. There is another yellow instruction sheet on the bulletin board, near it.

All new machines have locked paper drawers. The key to open them is available at the Reference Desk locked drawer, in the wooden key ring. Another one is in the Reference office in a key ring in at desk drawer opposite my desk.

The key number is W-23. The key is small and silver colored.

Any questions let me know.
Alfredo

Bookmarks, guest logins, and the Firefox browser

If you ever log in to a computer at the reference desk and the bookmarks are missing from Firefox or you find that the guest logins print out weirdly from Firefox, you'll want to install two different add-ons for Firefox. I've added detailed instructions in the wiki about how to get these two add-ons and how to configure them:

• Foxmarks (this is the add-on you need to install and set up so that you get the standard set of bookmarks across all four PCs at the desk)
• IE Tab (this is the add-on you need so that the guest logins you print out come out clearly)

If there are steps missing from the wiki pages detailing installation of these add-ons, I encourage you to edit the pages and help improve them.

Weeding of accounting and tax collections and a question about the collection of RMA, Troy and D&B business ratio books

I have started weeding the accounting and tax collections in reference. Please don't disturb green or white paper slips inside the books. (Green means see if a new edition is available and white means keeps but move upstairs.)

I was wondering about the collection of "financial ratio" books published by RMA (Risk Management Associates now, but formerly Robert Morris Associates ), D& B and Troy. We have all years of each series in reference. I would like to suggest keeping the most recent five years in reference and moving the remaining years to noncirculating in the stacks. From my experience here, the accounting students, among those who have assignments to use these resources, are frequently asked to compare a company over the past five years. The older copies might be consulted by graduate students doing more detailed research.

What do you think of this suggestion?

Updated wiki page on fax machines

I updated the wiki page for "fax machine" to include the area codes that faxes may be sent to (the machine does not allow faxes to be sent to it, though).

Information re how NFL teams do financially

The online BNET has posted a story on the business behind the NFL teams which includes financial information about the teams.

Printing

When I was at the desk this afternoon, a few students taking winter classes were having problems with their printing accounts. They could login to the system but the printer wouldn't recognize the print jobs they sent. If they call the help desk, they can get their account fixed and will be able to print.

New Reference Titles

Audit Bureau of Circulation. Magazine Trend Report (REF PN4888 .C59M33 2008)
Circulation, paid subscriptions, renewals, price data and advertising rates for individual magazines. Data covers the five-year period from 2003 to 2007.

Bond’s Franchise Guide (REF HF5429.235 .U5S66 2008)
Profiles of over 2,400 U.S. and Canadian franchisers. Provides data on geographic distribution, projected business growth, capital requirements and fees, and training and support for new franchisees.

Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law (REF K346 .E53 2008)
Two volume encyclopedia devoted to this new area of study. Some of the key themes are the death penalty, divorce and child custody, eyewitness memory, juvenile offenders, mental health law, trial processes, and victim reactions to crime.

Trade and Development Report, 2008 (REF HF1008 .T7 2008)
This annual report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development focuses on a trade-related theme each year. For 2008, the theme is “Commodity prices, capital flows and the financing of investment.” Chapter II examines how commodity price hikes especially food prices affect the world economy. Chapter IV covers sources of finance through banks and capital markets in emerging market countries.

Who’s Buying Series
This series from New Strategist publishers provides market share data and demographic profiles of the buyers of various products and services. Individual reports cover spending for health care, groceries, travel, pets, entertainment, information products and services, apparel, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, household furnishings and restaurants and take-outs. Additional reports cover who’s buying by age and by race and Hispanic origin. All the data is based on analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Expenditure Survey.

WSJ Financial Meltdown Video

The Wall Street Journal just put up a three-part video series about the 2008 financial crisis: The End of Wall Street: An Oral History.

SimNet Enterprise CD installation question

If students ask for help regarding the SimNet CD (Microsoft Excel Skills test), please refer them to the BCTC Help Desk.

Please note that the Help Desk may not be able to answer all questions related to the installation of the SimNet CD. So, please provide the SimNet customer support phone number as well. The number is 1.800.331.5094.

A student contacted chat reference regarding problems with installation (needed a subdomain). I called BCTC, and they stated there could be a problem with the CD itself or another issue and advised me to have the student contact SimNet directly since BCTC has not encountered this problem before.

Weeding reference books in the Ps

Chris Tuthill and I are taking a look at reference titles in the Ps to see if anything might be withdrawn from the collection. If you see green or yellow sheets of paper sticking out of books in this area, please leave them in, as they are part of a system Chris and I set up to notify each other of our thoughts about specific titles as we independently review the collection.

Turkish Literature Collection

You may have noticed that the Turkish literature books are now on display in the reading room. Mike and I put them up earlier today, and Mike is going to have their location set as 'New Books' in the catalog. I wanted to make sure everyone at the desk knew in case students are asking about them.

Vendor printer not working

I submitted a help desk request (#3174) to report that the vendor card printing system is not working properly. Students are able to send their jobs to the vendor printer and see them listed in the print release station in the printing room, but when they try to actually print out those jobs, their copy cards are debited for the job but nothing ever comes out of the printer.

Laptops distributed from circulation desk in January

Until the spring semester begins, laptops will not be distributed from the 3rd floor desk. Instead, students should stop by the circulation desk.

No more daily reference statistics

Today is the first day that we won't be collecting daily reference statistics. There is no longer a need to open the desk by getting out a clean statistics sheet and making tally marks all day. As you may recall, we'll soon be collecting statistics during selected, representative weeks a couple of times a year.

Winter Session Printing Accounts

Students taking classes during winter session (January 2 - 23) have activated printing accounts with $30 credit. Students not enrolled for winter session will have to use the vendor printer during this time. They will be able to log on to their student accounts on the library computers but the student printer will not recognize their log on.

New Subject Guide

Dear Colleagues:

Thanks to the assistance of Aisha, Louise and the web master, Rasun, the new suject guide, "Biology and Envioronmental Studies," is now published on our web site for future student use.

Please refer our readers to the guide as you feel appropriate.

David

TI-89 Calculators

Students are beginning to return their TI-89 calculators they borrowed for the semester. Please have them return these calculators to the Circulation Desk, not the Laptop counter.

Besso Lab as Study Room during the Finals

The Besso Lab (Room 320) is open as a temporary study room to students during the finals until 6:00pm. - From Arthur

Robert Shiller on Financial Markets

Yale Open Courses just released several new courses from the spring 2008 semester. One of the courses that might interest our students is Robert Shiller, author of Irrational Exuberance and The New Financial Order: Risk in the Twenty-First Century, teaching Financial Markets (ECO 252). Carl Icahn and Stephen Schwartzman are guest lecturers and Lawrence Summers lectures in two class sessions on “Learning from and Responding to the Financial Crisis.”

All courses are free and include video and audio clips of each lecture as well as the syllabus and class transcripts.

If you don't know Shiller, you can read a profile of him and his work in the December issue of the IMF's magazine, Finance and Development.

.

Group Study Rooms During Finals

During the final exam period when the library is open 24 hours, students can use group study rooms until midnight. Keys that normally would be due at the closing time of the circulation desk will be due at midnight. Keys should be returned to the secure drop box located at the security desk on the 2nd floor of the library. Keys that are not returned by midnight will accrue late fees.