I have received comments from students tonight about the copy card refund information that is posted on the second floor. The student, with $10 on an old card, read it and assumed she could get a refund. I read the information and although I know we now have a new vendor, that is not apparent from the posted information. Yes, I know that information was posted about not putting too much money on the old card because there would be no refunds because we have a new vendor. The yellow instructions do not indicate it is a new vendor that is not responsible for the previous vendor. I don't think the student is a regular library user and English is not her first language. She was not happy.
Also, another student suggested that while the directions about how the new copy machine works are good, having them on top of the lid of the copier makes it difficult to remember what needs to be done. (Once the lid is up, you can't read the instructions.)
Rita
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Logging on to the reference desk this weekend--what should the process be?
I've been asked what is the process for logging onto the reference desk computers this weekend? On Friday, are the computers to be left on? Please let everyone know. Also, a good supply of staples would be good for the upcoming weekend. I'll check with Alfredo. Thanks, Rita
Following up on an earlier post about being called prior to students' visits
Following up on Linda Rath's recent post, I too would appreciate being called prior to having students sent in to see me in my office. Thanks, Rita
Access to combined CRSP-Compustat isn't available
Access to the combined CRSP-Compustat database through WRDS isn't available. (It is payment related.) I was alerted to this access problem by an accounting professor. Mike Waldman is working to resolve the problem. Thanks Mike!
No access to National Newspaper Index
The link on our Databases page to National Newspaper Index doesn't work. It takes you to an Infotrac page asking for login info.
Trial of DemographicsNow
We have an on-campus trial to DemographicsNow until 12/31/07. Please share your comments on the database.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Historical Commodity Prices
This afternoon Prof. Jiao helped me tackle a question similar to the eucayptus and mineral examples.
The student was looking for historical spot commodity prices for oil, silver and gold going back many years.
Before I had a chance to get the student onto the designated terminal to use Thompson DataStream (which has historical commodity prices), Prof. Jiao stepped up and showed us a user-friendly print copy of the CRB (Commodity Research Bureau) Commodity Yearbook which allows you to look up commodities by name (like gold) and find historical data trends going back many years without having to construct a query. The student was pleased.
Later I came across a pathfinder via the Portland State College Library which links to a nice web-based Guide to Understanding the Commodities Market. The guide also has a Glossary.
I hope this information is of some help. It was for me. Thank you to Prof. Jiao!
The student was looking for historical spot commodity prices for oil, silver and gold going back many years.
Before I had a chance to get the student onto the designated terminal to use Thompson DataStream (which has historical commodity prices), Prof. Jiao stepped up and showed us a user-friendly print copy of the CRB (Commodity Research Bureau) Commodity Yearbook which allows you to look up commodities by name (like gold) and find historical data trends going back many years without having to construct a query. The student was pleased.
Later I came across a pathfinder via the Portland State College Library which links to a nice web-based Guide to Understanding the Commodities Market. The guide also has a Glossary.
I hope this information is of some help. It was for me. Thank you to Prof. Jiao!
Some suggested resources for PAF 9100 assignment
Today I helped a SPA graduate student during the research consultations who is working on a research paper for PAF 9100. They are to apply concepts from Kingdon (on policymaking) and Wilson (on bureacracy) to one of four options on policy formations. (These are authors that they have read.)
The choices are:
U.S. Housing Act of 1937. I have learned that this act established permanent public housing in the U.S. Also sometimes called the Wagner Housing Act of 1937, or the Wagner-Steagall Act.
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. This act reauthorized some educational programs, established standards to be met, and gave more emphasis to improving reading, among other things. (I don't think there will be any problem with this one.)
The Hart-Celler Act of 1965. (It is misspelled as Hart-Cellar on the assignment, and in a number of references found on Google. Emanuel Celler was a New York representative from Brooklyn who served many terms.) This act is also known as the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. It ended the national origins quota system.
Social Security Act Amendments of 1965. These amendments established the Medicare/Medicaid program.
The students are to use books, scholarly journals, reports by research institutes or (to a small extent) articles from major news outlets.
My student was working on the Medicare/Medicaid program question. Although not exhaustive, the following are suggested possible resources. (Barbara Carrel reminded me of several of the sources listed below.)
CUNY+ for books--using keywords. Books about the presidential terms of Franklin Roosevelt (1937), Lyndon Johnson (1965) and George W. Bush may also provide some insights as these reforms were major ones.
U.S. Code and Congressional News would have some legislative history. Our subscription starts in 1967 but earlier years are available at NYPL-SIBL.
JSTOR, PAIS International, America History & Life, Medline Lexis-Nexis and Westlaw for articles. (The students should probably check to see if the professor considers law review articles scholarly resources.)
Policy File for studies and reports.
The encyclopedias available on Gale Virtual Reference database could provide background information.
The historic versions of the WSJ and the New York Times would be resources for interest groups, etc.
The student and I tried some searches in Facts on File, also good for background,and CQ Researcher (didn't go back far enough for the 1965 passage of legislation.) We also expanded the searches beyond the immediate years of passage of the legislation so that some perspective could be found.
I hope that these suggestions are helpful.
Some of the questions that they are expected to answer are:
Why and how did the issue that the policy addresses get onto the agenda?
Waht was the intended goal of the policy? Was that goal guided by a search for a public good?
Which publics were heard on the issue, in the sense of having their views addressed and supported in the policymaking process. Which publics were ignored or excluded?
What tools of policymaking were used in the policy formation process?
What constraints did policymakers face as they constructed the specifics of the policy?
What was the outcome of the policy process? That is, what did the policy actuall mandate?
Did the policy attain the intended goals, and/or address the issue that originally motivated the policy process?
What were the unintended consequences of the policy as enacted? Etc.
The choices are:
U.S. Housing Act of 1937. I have learned that this act established permanent public housing in the U.S. Also sometimes called the Wagner Housing Act of 1937, or the Wagner-Steagall Act.
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. This act reauthorized some educational programs, established standards to be met, and gave more emphasis to improving reading, among other things. (I don't think there will be any problem with this one.)
The Hart-Celler Act of 1965. (It is misspelled as Hart-Cellar on the assignment, and in a number of references found on Google. Emanuel Celler was a New York representative from Brooklyn who served many terms.) This act is also known as the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. It ended the national origins quota system.
Social Security Act Amendments of 1965. These amendments established the Medicare/Medicaid program.
The students are to use books, scholarly journals, reports by research institutes or (to a small extent) articles from major news outlets.
My student was working on the Medicare/Medicaid program question. Although not exhaustive, the following are suggested possible resources. (Barbara Carrel reminded me of several of the sources listed below.)
CUNY+ for books--using keywords. Books about the presidential terms of Franklin Roosevelt (1937), Lyndon Johnson (1965) and George W. Bush may also provide some insights as these reforms were major ones.
U.S. Code and Congressional News would have some legislative history. Our subscription starts in 1967 but earlier years are available at NYPL-SIBL.
JSTOR, PAIS International, America History & Life, Medline Lexis-Nexis and Westlaw for articles. (The students should probably check to see if the professor considers law review articles scholarly resources.)
Policy File for studies and reports.
The encyclopedias available on Gale Virtual Reference database could provide background information.
The historic versions of the WSJ and the New York Times would be resources for interest groups, etc.
The student and I tried some searches in Facts on File, also good for background,and CQ Researcher (didn't go back far enough for the 1965 passage of legislation.) We also expanded the searches beyond the immediate years of passage of the legislation so that some perspective could be found.
I hope that these suggestions are helpful.
Some of the questions that they are expected to answer are:
Why and how did the issue that the policy addresses get onto the agenda?
Waht was the intended goal of the policy? Was that goal guided by a search for a public good?
Which publics were heard on the issue, in the sense of having their views addressed and supported in the policymaking process. Which publics were ignored or excluded?
What tools of policymaking were used in the policy formation process?
What constraints did policymakers face as they constructed the specifics of the policy?
What was the outcome of the policy process? That is, what did the policy actuall mandate?
Did the policy attain the intended goals, and/or address the issue that originally motivated the policy process?
What were the unintended consequences of the policy as enacted? Etc.
Lit. Res. Center and MLA not working on Firefox
Literature Resource Center and MLA are not working on Firefox right now, perhaps because of the Firefox enhancement. They do work with IE.
Red Hook Employment $
Anyone have useful suggestions in trying to find statistics about money (Federal, state, city, and/or private) going into (any and all) employment programs in Red Hook Brooklyn.
I have tried unsuccessfully: Websites: Indpend. Budget office (NYC), Brooklyn Community Board 6, fedstats, uscensus, nystate gov
Also tried multiple database searches in hopes of finding pr's from agencies/foundations, etc.
Thanks,
Paul
I have tried unsuccessfully: Websites: Indpend. Budget office (NYC), Brooklyn Community Board 6, fedstats, uscensus, nystate gov
Also tried multiple database searches in hopes of finding pr's from agencies/foundations, etc.
Thanks,
Paul
Information about a pilot PACER project at Fordham Law School Library
It was announced recently that Fordham Law School Library is participating in a pilot program to offer public access to PACER, which is the federal judiciary's centralized registration, billing, and technical support center for electronic access to U.S. District, Bankruptcy, and Appellate court records. (You can see what new cases are filed each day, and obtain court records, such as filings related to cases. Our Westlaw Campus and Lexis-Nexis databases do not include these documents.)
It is a fee based service, with charges for searching (if you don't do it yourself) and page fees. (These charges help support the system.) The Pacer Service Center web site is http://www.pacer.uscourts.gov/. The system is used by attorneys and others working in, or writing about, the cases.
Because of some inquiries, I contacted the librarian at Fordham Law School Library.
She sent me the following information:
"We only received the information about this program last week. We are in the process of writing policies for the public use of the PACER terminal. I will send you the finished policies as soon as they are finished. Please note that each user must come in person to Fordham Law Library to use the PACER terminal. We are not allowed to give the password and login to anyone outside Fordham."
I'll let you know the policies when they are received.
Rita
It is a fee based service, with charges for searching (if you don't do it yourself) and page fees. (These charges help support the system.) The Pacer Service Center web site is http://www.pacer.uscourts.gov/. The system is used by attorneys and others working in, or writing about, the cases.
Because of some inquiries, I contacted the librarian at Fordham Law School Library.
She sent me the following information:
"We only received the information about this program last week. We are in the process of writing policies for the public use of the PACER terminal. I will send you the finished policies as soon as they are finished. Please note that each user must come in person to Fordham Law Library to use the PACER terminal. We are not allowed to give the password and login to anyone outside Fordham."
I'll let you know the policies when they are received.
Rita
More on Financial Statements
Financial statements starting with the year 1909 are available in the Moody's Manuals. We have the online version of these print directories in the database Mergent WebReports. Our print collection is incomplete.
Problems with logging on to the reference desks
Has the procedure for logging on to the reference desk changed? I ask because yesterday and this morning people had trouble logging on. I tried to help Stewart and we have been unable to log on. Also, the icon for the help desk request no longer appears on the desk tops. I called Saad and Theresa for help.
Rita
Rita
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
US Conference of Mayors disputes "most dangerous cities"
For someone looking for an example of evaluating information, or the possible misuse of statistics, you might want to point them to this press release from the U.S. Conference of Mayors which takes issue with the CQ rankings of "most dangerous" cities based on crime statistics. The press releases mentions an FBI caution about making comparisons of the variables and rankings.
Sources of pre-1992 financial information for public companies
A number of auditing students are doing assignments dealing with audit failures.
Some are looking for financial filings by the companies prior to the beginning of the SEC's Edgar system. (For some companies, this was 1992, for all companies, it was 1994.) Some of the companies which had audit failures were not publicly traded. The questions the students are being asked to answer for these companies do not focus on the financials.
Among the sources available are:
If the companies were in the Fortune 500, microfiche on the 3rd floor.
Lexis-Nexis Academic. Click sources. Enter AICPA in the search box on the right.
This brings up a listing of the AICPA's financial information for companies. Individual years may be selected, or all years. Then, one can search for the company. The results are the financial statements and footnotes from the companies' filngs.
Older Moody's manuals and ValueLine, the call numbers of which may be found through CUNY+.
A number of our database, such as Thomson Research, removes filings if the company is no longer publicly traded.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Some are looking for financial filings by the companies prior to the beginning of the SEC's Edgar system. (For some companies, this was 1992, for all companies, it was 1994.) Some of the companies which had audit failures were not publicly traded. The questions the students are being asked to answer for these companies do not focus on the financials.
Among the sources available are:
If the companies were in the Fortune 500, microfiche on the 3rd floor.
Lexis-Nexis Academic. Click sources. Enter AICPA in the search box on the right.
This brings up a listing of the AICPA's financial information for companies. Individual years may be selected, or all years. Then, one can search for the company. The results are the financial statements and footnotes from the companies' filngs.
Older Moody's manuals and ValueLine, the call numbers of which may be found through CUNY+.
A number of our database, such as Thomson Research, removes filings if the company is no longer publicly traded.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Possible sources of help for Prof. Shon's accounting students
Prof. John Shon's accounting students have an assignment to apply IAS 16 to a fact situation. They have a short handout that the professors prepared about online access to IAS 16, but in case they come to the desk without it:
Online access is only available through CCH Accounting Research Manager. There is a limit of two users at a time.
If they want explanatory information, I would suggest either searching CUNY+ for books on international accounting standards, such as Miller Accounting Standards Guide, or going to Books 24x7, which has made books on international accounting standards. Once they do a keyword search for those, they could limit their searches to IAS 16.
They are also asked to prepare their answer in a memo format. I am suggesting that they check out the information about memos in The Little, Brown Handbook, or again Books 24x7, which has many books on business corrrespondence. Limiting those results to memos worked better than "memorandum."
They are also to include journal entries. I don't know what the journal entries should be. The Miller International Accounting Standards Guide and the other sources might have some examples.
Although I have received a number of requests for individual meetings, this is all I know to tell the students.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Rita
Online access is only available through CCH Accounting Research Manager. There is a limit of two users at a time.
If they want explanatory information, I would suggest either searching CUNY+ for books on international accounting standards, such as Miller Accounting Standards Guide, or going to Books 24x7, which has made books on international accounting standards. Once they do a keyword search for those, they could limit their searches to IAS 16.
They are also asked to prepare their answer in a memo format. I am suggesting that they check out the information about memos in The Little, Brown Handbook, or again Books 24x7, which has many books on business corrrespondence. Limiting those results to memos worked better than "memorandum."
They are also to include journal entries. I don't know what the journal entries should be. The Miller International Accounting Standards Guide and the other sources might have some examples.
Although I have received a number of requests for individual meetings, this is all I know to tell the students.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Rita
ICPSR launches topic specific resource centers
In an effort to make getting to their data more user-friendly, ICPSR has created a few centers where they pre-selected the data referring to certain topics, so users don't have to go hunting for it (and they add anything new that comes in too). Currently, they have 3 centers:
Minority Data: presenting data for the comparative analysis of analysis of issues affecting racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States. This is a great place to get data on the study of immigration, place of origin, ancestry, ethnicity, and race in the United States.
International Data Resource Center:
Access to international data housed at ICPSR, including such topics as war and peace, economic issues, electoral systems and political behavior, environmental data, health data and more.
Terrorism and Preparedness Data Resource Center: has data collected by government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and researchers about the nature of domestic and international terrorism incidents, organizations, perpetrators, and victims; governmental and nongovernmental responses to terror; and citizens' attitudes towards terrorism.
Minority Data: presenting data for the comparative analysis of analysis of issues affecting racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States. This is a great place to get data on the study of immigration, place of origin, ancestry, ethnicity, and race in the United States.
International Data Resource Center:
Access to international data housed at ICPSR, including such topics as war and peace, economic issues, electoral systems and political behavior, environmental data, health data and more.
Terrorism and Preparedness Data Resource Center: has data collected by government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and researchers about the nature of domestic and international terrorism incidents, organizations, perpetrators, and victims; governmental and nongovernmental responses to terror; and citizens' attitudes towards terrorism.
Data for Metals and Minerals - USGS
Even though I'm a geographer, yesterday I wish I had been a geologist, as I had a number of questions at the reference desk about metals - what they are and how much they cost. A good domestic source for this info is the USGS - the United States Geological Survey, a branch of the Dept of the Interior. Check out their Mineral Commodities Summary page.
You can get a pdf of their annual summary report, or better yet, you can click on an individual mineral which will bring you to a page for that mineral. You'll get a definition of what the metal/mineral is (in case you want to know the difference btw Titanium Sponge Metal and Titanium Dioxide), and links to the pdfs in the annual report which include data on amount produced, average market price, imports, exports, consumption, employment, etc. There are links on this page to another report called the Minerals Yearbook, which provides a nice narrative overview of the industry in pdf AND there are excel files with data for all the number crunchers out there.
You can get a pdf of their annual summary report, or better yet, you can click on an individual mineral which will bring you to a page for that mineral. You'll get a definition of what the metal/mineral is (in case you want to know the difference btw Titanium Sponge Metal and Titanium Dioxide), and links to the pdfs in the annual report which include data on amount produced, average market price, imports, exports, consumption, employment, etc. There are links on this page to another report called the Minerals Yearbook, which provides a nice narrative overview of the industry in pdf AND there are excel files with data for all the number crunchers out there.
Monday, November 26, 2007
New website for NYPL
Don't know when it went live (couldn't have been more than a week), but the new home page for the NYPL offers some notable features:
- search for materials in LEO, CATNYP, NYPL Digital Gallery, NYPL web site, and more all at the same time (here's a sample search for "many are the crimes," which is a book by Ellen Schrecker on McCarthyism)
- a drop-down list of libraries (old site required a few clicks to get a specific branch)
Demographic and Statistical Profiles for NYC Neighborhoods
A basic question that comes up fairly often - a student is interested in doing market research and they want demographic data for a specific neighborhood in NYC. Where should they look?
There are a few good places to go. A number of agencies and institutions produce profiles of neighborhoods or community districts, where they compile data from several sources into one document. These are good sources if a patron wants a lot of different information about one area - a profile. These are NOT good sources if a patron needs one piece of data for many areas (a list of all neighborhoods ranked by total population, for example) in a format that's friendly for data processing (spreadsheet).
Good sources for NYC neighborhood profiles:
NYC Dept of Planning Community District Profiles - demographic data from the Census and from surveys, vital statistics, income, land area and landuse, facilities and schools. Includes maps and charts, and a breakdown of census data for each census tract within the community district.
NYC Dept of Health Community Health Profiles - some demographic and education data, vital statistics, and the results of the department's latest health survey, which looks at smoking rates, prevalence of HIV AIDS, alcohol and drug use, immunizations, and access to healthcare facilities. Each individual report compares the indicator from the neighborhood to the rest of the borough and the city as a whole.
NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy State of NYC Housing and Neighborhoods Report - one page factsheets that include income, poverty, housing stock, homeownership, home loans, and demographic data. Shows the rank for each neighborhood and has helpful graphs for comparing the neighborhood to the city as a whole.
NYPD Crime Statistics - detailed crime statistics for each precinct. Includes some historical data.
US Census Bureau - try their population finder or quickfacts (on right-hand side of the page) to get a profile for a state, city, county, or zip code. No neighborhoods though - the census bureau does not compile data for these areas - the sources listed above use small census divisions, usually census tracts or blocks, and they add them together to create neighborhood stats.
Common question - a lot of the census data is from the year 2000 - is there anything more recent? You can get estimates for states, counties (boroughs), and cities from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. You cannot get more recent data for more detailed levels (census tracts, blocks, zip codes, or neighborhoods). Period. The Census Bureau does not compile data for these areas in non-census years (yet).
Oh OK - there is one source that is more current - The NYC Housing and Vacancy Survey, conducted by the Census Bureau and the city every three years or so. The link will take you to their main page where they have city-wide stats from the survey, but nothing for neighborhoods. There is another site that provides some neighborhood data from this survey, but it's scary and not for the faint of heart. I'll tackle this one in a future posting.
There are a few good places to go. A number of agencies and institutions produce profiles of neighborhoods or community districts, where they compile data from several sources into one document. These are good sources if a patron wants a lot of different information about one area - a profile. These are NOT good sources if a patron needs one piece of data for many areas (a list of all neighborhoods ranked by total population, for example) in a format that's friendly for data processing (spreadsheet).
Good sources for NYC neighborhood profiles:
Common question - a lot of the census data is from the year 2000 - is there anything more recent? You can get estimates for states, counties (boroughs), and cities from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. You cannot get more recent data for more detailed levels (census tracts, blocks, zip codes, or neighborhoods). Period. The Census Bureau does not compile data for these areas in non-census years (yet).
Oh OK - there is one source that is more current - The NYC Housing and Vacancy Survey, conducted by the Census Bureau and the city every three years or so. The link will take you to their main page where they have city-wide stats from the survey, but nothing for neighborhoods. There is another site that provides some neighborhood data from this survey, but it's scary and not for the faint of heart. I'll tackle this one in a future posting.
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