Access problem with Value Line

When connecting to Value Line, the following message appears "You have tried to log in to a premium area of this Web site and based on the user ID and Password you have supplied our records indicate that you do not subscribe to this service." Mike W. has been contacted.

Workshop registration

Registration for workshops is currently unavailable. We hope to have it working by the end of today. Advise students to try later--tomorrow, 1/18, or 1/19, just to be on the safe side. Saad and staff are instituting a module whereby students will not be able to register for workshops (Library, Subotnick Center/Reuters and BCTC) until it is 4 weeks before the date of the workshop. This, we hope, will limit "no shows".

Diane

Edgar Online

Is back on.

Science Direct downtime and upgrade

Science Direct will be upgraded on Saturday January 20th and will be unavailable from 2:30 pm for approximately 6 hours.

What this upgrade will bring can be found at:
http://www.info.sciencedirect.com/news/archive/2006/News_FAST.asp

New interface coming for THOMAS

The beta version of THOMAS won 't be launched til this spring. Details on the beta here at InfoToday's NewsBreaks blog.

FirstGov.gov now known as USA.gov

The main search engine for federal web sites, FirstGov.gov. has been renamed recently to USA.gov. In case you haven't used this site in the past year, you may want to note that search results are clustered (more details about this technology can be found on my Feb. 1, 2006, post about FirstGov.gov).

via Librarian in Black

Guide to citing unusual sources

While looking online for an example of how to cite a Harvard Business School case study, I ran across this excellent citation guide (PDF) put out by the Harvard Business School itself. The guide is based on the 15th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style. In addition to instructions on how to cite the more commonplace items like articles and books, there are dozens of examples of how to handle trickier formats, such as:

• advertisements
• analyst reports
• annual reports (printed and online)
• bond prospectuses
• cases (printed and online)
• email
• government documents
• interviews
• legal cases
• marketing reports
• news web sites
• press releases
• SEC documents (printed and online)
• television programs
• working papers (printed and online)

There is also a nice section detailing how to cite sources or data found in databases, such as:

• Bloomberg
• Compustat
• CRSP
• Euromonitor GMID
  
• Gartner
• Hoover's
• ISI Emerging Markets
• OECD
• Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage
• SDC
• Thomson Research

Remote access restored

Patrons should now be able to access e-reserves and databases from off campus.

Correction: Proxy server is not down

Responding to my post earlier today about the proxy server, Arthur notified me today to let me know that the proxy server is not actually down. The issue is that a network switch has failed, which "has blocked access to some services from off campus and other services from on campus." Until this can be fixed, remind our patrons that they can access a subset of our databases from off campus using the CUNY proxy server at http://libraries.cuny.edu/resource.htm

EZ Proxy down; no remote access to databases or reserves

Today (Sunday) I noticed on chat reference a number of patrons complaining over the past few days that they couldn't get into e-reserves or the databases. I just checked myself from home and see that EZ Proxy doesn't seem to be working at all. If you try to connect to a database or e-reserves, you get an error message without even seeing the login screen where you are asked to type your library ID number.

Bypassing the Home Page to CUNY+

To get to CUNY+ at the moment of the home page error, input an external URL, particularly WorldCat, then search WorldCat for an especially common item, e.g, Charles Dickens, we're sure to have. Click on the item then click on our copy of the item. This brings you into CUNY+, which you can use and reuse time and again.
David

Hamid and SCD

Hamid Rashidzada is working on his honors thesis and I gave him permission to use SDC at the reference desk during the January intersession even after the ref desk closes for the night. Louise Klusek 1/09/07

Vendor Printer

A little while ago I reported a frozen--despite rebooting--Vendor Printer to our help desk.

Naxos Music Library cancelled

Mike recently informed me that we canceled our subscription to Naxos Music Library due to lack of use.

Wilson Web Interface enhancements starting today

The Wilson databases have some enhancements, including:

A new search results page that includes the handy relocation of all icons within the record for both Brief and Full citations displays. It also includes new coloration and record separators that are designed to make reviewing search results much easier for users.
· Now, PDF Full Text records can be emailed as an attachment, if desired. Please be sure to allow for WilsonWeb's domain name (http://wilsontxt.hwwilsonweb.com)in any filtering system you might have employed on your computer to ensure seemless delivery of attached emails.
· Users will also enjoy the newly improved Search History screen.
· Now records can be cited in the Chicago/Turabian style format, if desired.

For more details about the new enhancements, please see the following:
http://www.hwwilson.com/Documentation/WilsonWeb/enhancements/wweb_maintenance.htm.

Off campus access to CUNY-wide databases

Roland Samieske posted this on CULIBS today:

There is a technical problem with off-campus access servers run by the Office of Library Services.

This includes access to the CUNY-wide licenses listed at http://libraries.cuny.edu/resource.htm as well as the proxy servers we run for the Law School, Hostos CC, KBCC, NYCCT, Medgar Evers, Graduate School of Journalism, and York. These servers are down until further notice.

At present, CIS staff is working on solving this problem and we hope to have the service back up soon.

Thanks for your patience.

Cornell student research of interest

To follow up on my earlier post today, I checked out Galdwell's comment in his New Yorker article that Cornell grad students, using SEC filings and doing ratio analysis, had very early recommended a SELL on Enron, and this recommendation was available on Cornell's web site. The report dates from 1998, long before the company failed. They are posted on the Parker Center Johnson Center site at Cornell, and the Enron research is among those available at http://parkercenter.johnson.cornell.edu/research_other_student_reports_9798.htm.

The disclaimer notes, among other things, that the report is intended to solely serve as an example of student analytical work, and it is based on information available to the public, and the report is not intended to provide investment advice.

I didn't know of these reports. I think they could serve as an example to show our students as they incorporate business and industry, accounting and financial analysis and valuation, and comparable company valuation.

Self Checkout machine - PC

The Self Checkout machine is not working. A PC will be placed behind the reference desk in order for repairs to be made on the machine.

New Yorker article of interest re the use of information

I found Open Secrets by Malcolm Gladwell in this week's New Yorker an interesting read on the use of information relating to a number of events, including Enron and Iraq. I liked this paragraph: "Mysteries, though, are a lot murkier: sometimes the information we’ve been given is inadequate, and sometimes we aren’t very smart about making sense of what we’ve been given, and sometimes the question itself cannot be answered. Puzzles come to satisfying conclusions. Mysteries often don’t."

I think his explanations of special entities, and the complex nature of many business transactions, as well as mark to market accounting are easy to understand (At least I think I understand them.)

Student printing accounts during January intersession

Saad contacted Christian Keck, the Director of Student Computing, to get some details on student printing accounts for the January intersession. Here are Christian's comments:

Those students who are registered for a course or courses during the January term can print as of yesterday morning. They must be registered for a course and have paid their bill. There have been a lot of students coming to the help desk yesterday that have confused January intercession with Spring semester which also starts in January. Some students also think that since they had a balance left over from the Fall semester that this would still appear. We start fresh and all old accounts are removed so the new accounts for each term can be updated. The account started yesterday morning at 8:00 AM and are good through Thursday January 25 at midnight. If the students are having problems are questions they may come or contact the help desk for assistance.