Has something changed with the login for Books24x7?

I am doing email reference today and two forwarded chat reference transcripts involve how to access Books 24x7 from home. I was going to tell the students that they first must create an account, by emailing Books 24x7, but when I tried accessing the database here at my office computer and at the reference desk it goes straight into the database now and there is a message "anonymous user" Baruch where previously my login name appeared. I can retrieve chapters in books without any problems. But apparently remote access is a problem, even after they enter their webmail addresses for remote authentication. Does anyone know about the change?

IBM has new report on corporate social responsibility

IBM has posted a new report Achieving Sustained Corporate Growth through Corporate Social Responsibility for which 250 business leaders throughout the world were interviewed. Three factors examined are impact, information and relationships.

Industry Directories at SIBL

Students doing industry research should be aware of the many industry-specific directories available at SIBL, New York Public’s Science, Industry and Business Library. SIBL has posted aides to this collection on their website. Finding the directories is easy with a list of Industry Specific Directories or the new list of Directories with Industry Indices. SIBL also maintains a list of Industry Surveys available through Business Source Premier.

Today I saw that they have added a link to Boston University Pardee Management Library’s Industry Survey Locator. This is a searchable list of industries covered in the following sources that we subscribe to including Datamonitor, Hoovers, Encyclopedia of American Industries, Mergent Industry Reports, S&P Industry Surveys and Value Line, as well as a few titles that we do not own like Mintel, Plunkett’s, SourceOECD Reports and the Securities Industry Fact Book.

BU did a great job with the indexing of this resource. For example, a search on “pharmaceuticals” brings up a wide range of related industry sectors such as cough remedies, cancer drugs, analgesics, and the biotech and genetics industry.

RIA Checkpoint adds free Economic Stimulus Refund Calculator

RIA Checkpoint, one of our databases, has added a new calculator which can help you, and others, estimate the amount of refund to be received under the recently passed Economic Stimulus Act of 2008.

How to find it:
Log on to RIA Checkpoint.
Click the tools tab
On the left, Tools by Type appears
Then, click on the hyperlinked 2008 Rebate
It will require a small download and you will also need to use Excel.

SPSS upgrade

The SPSS software on the Graduate Workstations will be upgraded from version 15 to 16. The upgrade will start late Thursday and continue into Friday. Access to SPSS will not be available until the upgrade is complete. Hopefully, there won't be any problems and access will resume on Friday.

The upgrade is happening campus-wide, most likely at different times. If grad students are not able to access SPSS in the library, you may want to recommend the 6th floor lab with the caveat that the upgrade may effect access there as well.

SEC Filings now available through Westlaw Campus

Since Monday, Westlaw Campus has offered SEC filings back to 2003. They can be searched in the News and Business party of Westlaw Campus. (In the past year Westlaw Campus has offered News and Business information, in addition to legal cases, statutes, etc. Although I haven't made a great study of this change, it is likely do to the fact that West is now part of Thomson, which owns many business information sources.)

So why would you want to search SEC filings on Westlaw Campus rather than Edgar Online I-Metrix, Mergent, Thomson Research, or Hoover's? An advantage is you can easily select specific exhibits to search, such as subsidiaries, or you can combine a keyword search of Hoover's company information and SEC filings, for example CEOs who have been hired in the past year. You can keep track of your research using their research tracker. You can search by CUSIP number, or SEC filing number, which one is unlikely to know.


So why wouldn't you want to search SEC filings on Westlaw Campus? First, we have a limited number of simultaneous users so other databases, including the SEC's free site might be preferred. Also, it seems to be running slow. The filings are available as word documents, so I don't know if they have been rekeyed from original filings or if the documents have been copied from the SEC filings. I looked at several filings, and found that throughout one filing the possessive demonstrated by 's had been transformed into R17;, which was rather distracting, and might cause some doubt on the accuracy of the other information.

Although you can search by SIC Code, you can't search by the NAICS Codes, which have been used for almost 10 years now.

So, you may want to give it a try and keep it in mind.

Firefox Browsers at the Reference Desk

Stephen Francoeur has configured the Firefox browsers in each of the four reference desk computers so that they have the same bookmarks, buttons, and extensions. This was accomplished by installing the Foxmarks Bookmarks Synchronizer. This Firefox extension allows you to save a set of bookmarks that can be shared across a set of computers. If you loose your bookmarks and need to reconfigure, you will find the details on how to use the synchronizer on the Wiki.

Audited financial data for Apple

A number of students have been coming to reference (the desk as well as chat and email) asking for help in locating audited financial data for Apple back to 1986. As I learned from Peggy Teich yesterday, the best place to get that is in COMPUSTAT in WRDS. Here's how:

1. Launch WRDS via databases page
2. Click on "COMPUSTAT North America"
3. On the left under "Tools" select "Balance Sheet and Income Statement Extract"
4. On the search window that opens, select the appropriate date range
5. In the "Company Codes" box type in the ticker symbol for Apple: AAPL
6. In the "Variables" section, select the relevant data points (such as "Sales" in the "Income Statement Variables" section.
7. In the "Output" section, you may want to select "comma-delimited text (*.csv)" if the student is interested in manipulating the data in an Excel spreadsheet.
8. Click the "Submit request" button and wait about 10 seconds. Voila!

JSTOR Business II added

We've just added access to the JSTOR Business II Collection -- you can find a title list here.
Enjoy!

CMR AdSpender Not Working

A faculty member came in last night to use CMR AdSpender. We were unable to connect to the database from any of the reference computers. Systems has been notified.

Marketing Campaign Assignment

We have had at least two students come to the desk looking for marketing campaigns for beverages that came out in the 1960s and 70s. There are a number of things that might be of help, including:

Advertising Slogans of America (reference HF6135 .S53 1984 )
Every Bite a Delight and Other Slogans (reference HF 6135 .U73 1992)
International Directory of Company Histories (Reference HD2721.I54)

Advertising Age may also be of help, though it does not go back to the 60s and 70s in full text. We found a number of articles in the New York Times historical database. You can also search ABI/Inform and Factiva for news sources and trade journals that might have more on these campaigns. Business Company and Resource Center covers corporate histories as well.

Trial - Shakespeare Collection

We have a trial until 4/10/08.

This collection brings together general reference data, full-text scholarly periodicals, reprinted criticism, primary source material and the full-text annotated works from The Arden Shakespeare, the world's most recognized scholarly edition.

Trial - Oxford English Dictionary

We have a trial until April 5, 2008.

Buenos Aires mandates sustainability reports for companies with more than 300 employees

According to the Global Reporting Initiative, the city of Buenos Aires recently mandated sustainability reports for companies with 300 or more employees.

Reuters Terminal at the Reference Desk

The Reuters terminal is up and running. Students from BUS1000 have been in all day working on their homework assignment. Policy details and passwords are on the wiki. Rules of use are posted next to the terminal. Students can use Reuters in the library only when the reference desk is open so please be sure to log off when closing for the day.

SFX (Find It) not in MLA Intl. Bibliography

Ever since Gale changed the interface for Literature Resource Center and MLA International Bibliography, the SFX buttons (Find It) have gone missing from search results in MLA International Bibliography. I don't know if this is a CUNY-wide problem or not.

Card for Tania Colmant-Donabedian

Our adjunct librarian Tania Colmant-Donabedian recently lost her father. Please sign the card for her that is at the reference desk. I will mail the card on Friday afternoon. If you want to send a separate card, please contact me and I will provide her address.

Trial - Palgrave dictionary of economics

Trial until 4/3/08 - on campus only.
Palgrave is having some trouble with IP access, so you have to click "log in" on the top right in order to enter. You can get full text once you click "log in."
You can also use this Username: citynewyt /Password: campv6

The online edition of the New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics contains the full text of the 8 volume print edition. In addition, the online Dictionary is a dynamic resource for economists.

This is an ERAC sponsored trial.

Trial - Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia

We have a trial of this online scientific encyclopedia until April 18. Please share your comments.

New Databases from the SEC

The SEC has recently released two new products to give investors access to SEC filings from the group of about forty companies participating in the XBRL Voluntary Filing program. These products give us a "preview" of what the new EDGAR will look like. EDGAR is currently undergoing a $54 million dollar overhaul in a project that is expected to be completed by year end.

Financial Explorer is a visualization tool. It represents all the line items in the financial statement as "atoms" labeled with the item value as well as the percentage change from the previous period. It is a nice easy way to see how a company performed in the current fiscal period in relationship to a prior period. You can also drill down into the components of the line item to understand how the numbers are compiled. To get a sense of this, choose a company and look at its expenses or its assets.

The Interactive Financial Report Viewer can be used to view financial reports in XBRL, export financial data to Excel and chart selected data items.