Wednesday, October 29, 2008

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.

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

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

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.

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.)

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:
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:


  • 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.

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.

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.”