Thursday, December 10, 2009

Balancing work and school number one reason students leave college, according to Public Agenda survey

"The number one reason students give for leaving school
is the fact that they had to work and go to school at the
same time and, despite their best efforts, the stress of
trying to do both eventually took its toll. ..." according to a survey by Public Agenda, http://www.publicagenda.org/files/pdf/theirwholelivesaheadofthem.pdf funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
p 5

"So what would help?"
Most "point first to options that would give them more
flexibility in schedules and help them mitigate the challenge of working
and going to school at the same time. Eight in 10 of those who did not
complete college supported two proposals that they believe would make
college graduation feasible: 1) making it possible for part-time students to
be eligible for more financial aid (81 percent said this would help 'a lot');
and 2) offering more courses in the evening and on weekends so that they
could continue working while taking classes (78 percent said this would
help 'a lot')." p. 18

We were alerted to the study by an entry in an Academic Impressions e-mail which linked to a Washington Post article,
"Majority of College Dropouts Cite Financial Struggles as Main Cause," by Jenna Johnson, Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 9, 2009; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/09/AR2009120903045.html

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Intersecting Social Justice and Public Policy for a Better Understanding of Who Lives in America

Please join us for an exciting, free presentation on Intersecting Social Justice and Public Policy for a Better Understanding of Who Lives in America


Friday, October 23, 2009
5:00 – 6:30 p.m.
Golden Gate University
536 Mission Street, San Francisco, Room 5203

Dr. Johnson’s research centers on social justice and equity within the fields of higher education, human resource management, leadership and public affairs. He seeks to give “voice” to populations traditionally underrepresented such as people of color, LGBT individuals, women and immigrants.

Dr. Richard Greggory Johnson III has edited and contribued to the following books:

• Resilience: Queer Professors from the Working Class (with Ken Oldfield,
SUNY, 2008);
• A Twenty-First Century Approach to Teaching Social Justice: Education for both Advocacy and Action (Peter Lang, 2009) and
• The Queer Community: Continuing the Struggle for Social Justice (Birkdale, 2009).

Dr. Johnson graduated from Golden Gate University with a Doctorate in Public Policy and Administration in 1995 and is currently an Associate Professor with Tenure in the Leadership and Policy Studies Masters and Doctoral Programs at the University of Vermont.

Please spread the word to others who may be interested.


For more information contact: Janice Carter, jcarter@ggu.edu
Director, GGU University Library

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Future of U.S. Hispanic Marketing, Oct 15, 5-6 pm, 536 Mission Street, SF. Room 5207

The Future of U.S. Hispanic Marketing

Thursday, October 15, 2009
5:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Golden Gate University
536 Mission Street, S.F., Room 5207

Hispanic marketing expert Jake Beniflah will discuss his
recent dissertation research and address:

• How companies can conceptualize the Hispanic population differently to address the changing demography.

• How to explore and understand the cultural nuances within the Hispanic market to better develop business strategies.

• The effects of acculturation on the cognitive structure.

Jake Beniflah is a student in GGU’s Doctor of Business Administration program. He has more than 17-years of marketing and advertising experience in the U.S. Hispanic market and is one of the few business practitioners in this country with a doctoral-level background in this area. In 2005, Beniflah started Integrados, a strategic brand consulting and marketing communications firm in San Francisco that specializes in the U.S. Hispanic segment. Beniflah’s clientele includes numerous Fortune 500 clients, such as Procter & Gamble, AT&T, Visa U.S.A., Volkswagen, Bank of America, Sprint PCS, and Chevron. He is also a contributing editor for HispanicBusiness, the only C-level publication for the U.S. Hispanic population.

For more information contact: Janice Carter, Director, GGU University Library, jcarter@ggu.edu

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Sherlock Holmes of Research Shares Tips on How to Unearth "Hidden" Nuggets of Information

How to Find It: Strategies to Unearth “Hidden” Nuggets of Information


Thursday, October 8, 2009
5:00 – 6:30 p.m.
Golden Gate University
536 Mission Street, S.F., Room 3323

Tons of information is available via Google and online databases. But what if you cannot find the information you need in easily accessible sources?

Investigative research expert Amy Stabler will show you how to:

• Identify government agencies, organizations or individuals that may have the information
• Make successful “cold calls”
• Search old telephone books, city directories, trade journals, and newspapers
• Use the “Wayback Machine” for old websites
• Find historical information on companies that no longer exist

Amy Stabler is a modern day Sherlock Holmes. For more than 15 years, she has tracked down “hidden” information on behalf of plaintiffs in asbestos and other types of lawsuits. Stabler is currently completing a Masters degree in Library & Information Science at San Jose State University and has worked as an Intern at the Golden Gate University Library.


For more information contact:
Wendy Giblin at (415) 977-2220 / gwendolynrose@yahoo.com

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

How to Determine a Potential Employer's Culture --from eweek

It is important to find a work culture that works for you. So I was delighted this morning to see in eweek:
How to Determine a Potential Employer's Culture
http://blogs.eweek.com/careers/content001/benefits_perks/how_to_determine_a_potential_employers_culture.html?kc=EWKNLCSM08112009STR4

The eweek article is adapted from an article by Meridith Levinson
which appeared in CIO, July 31, 2009.

8 Ways Job Seekers Can Assess a Prospective Employer's Corporate Culture

Sunday, July 12, 2009

English Language News Sources from throughout the world

Here is a fun source for freely available English language news sources from throughout the world http://www.world-newspapers.com You can search by country or by topic.

Please remember that many other news sources, not freely available via the Web, are available without charge to GGU students and faculty via the GGU University Library databases.

Click on Journals by Title, on the University Library home page, to determine which database provides full text of a specific journal, magazine, or newspaper article you are seeking.

Search University Library databases to find articles on specific subjects.

If you are not finding what you need, please ask!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Mergent Online Now Available

The University Library has added a new business & financial database to the collection.

Check the library's Database page for a link to Mergent Online. Stop in at the reference desk for more information on how to use this GREAT resource!

Friday, July 10, 2009

Introduction to "E-Books"

Get an overview of "e-books" in this primer by Jane Lee of the California Digital Library and then try out the University Library's two online e-book services: ebrary & NetLibrary.

Be sure to contact us if you have any questions about the University Library's e-book service!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Counseling and Therapy in Video

The University Library has recently added the online service "Counseling and Therapy in Video." With over 300 online videos, the collection allows students and scholars to see, experience, and study counseling in ways never before possible.

Look for the link on the library's Database page under the heading "Counseling and Therapy in Video."

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Higher GPA, less info from search engines in research papers

In a survey of more than 400 U.S. college students, Primary Research found
"The higher the grade point average the less information for research papers was obtained from search engines such as Google or Yahoo."

Thanks to Christian for alerting us to the description of the survey found on ResourceShelf:


http://www.resourceshelf.com/2009/06/26/primary-research-publishes-the-survey-of-american-college-students-student-library-research-practices-skills/

which included the following:

"The report presents data from a survey of 400+ American college students about how they go about doing research in their college libraries. The 150+ page report gives extensive data on student use of major search engines, wikipedia, library databases, book collections and other library resources. The study also gives detailed information on how their professors advise them to use the library, and how comfortable they feel about their research skills and how helpful librarians have been in helping them in their research."

The full report is available from http://www.primaryresearch.com/

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Coming Change in Social Media Business Applications

Check out:

The Coming Change in Social Media Business Applications: Separating the Biz from the Buzz, by Josh Gordon, from socialmediatoday.

http://www.socialscoop.biz/SMT_whitepaper_biz.pdf
I was alerted to this from CIOZone Daily

Quote from study, below:

"This study was designed to provide managers with guidance ...by measuring which social media tools are being used right now, and by whom. ...Part I is an overview of both current and future intended business use of social media. Part II focuses on the business use of Twitter, and Part III examines the business use of social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn, with a separate focus on the four general business functions that social media serves: sales, marketing, public relations, and internal communications."
p. 2

Study concludes there is a "... coming shift in the use of social media--from a helpful tool for a variety of communication needs, to an essential tool for customer engagement." ... a "shift toward customer-centric use of social media"

Monday, June 15, 2009

Finding and analzying company financial data --June 20, 11 am

Finding and Analyzing Company Financial Data

How can you “zero in” on
• company financial data,
• company and industry financial ratios
• investment reports
and other sources for indepth analyses?

Join us for this workshop to explore sources that can help you find and analyze the data you need.

Saturday, June 20, 11 am to noon
University Library, meet at the Reference Desk

If you are interested in this workshop but are unable to attend, please stop by the reference desk, call 415-442-7244 or toll free 1-877-448-8542, or e-mail askalibrarian@ggu.edu to arrange for a workshop, in person or by phone and Web, tailored to your needs. Please also send us your ideas for other workshops and library services. We want to hear from you!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Data.gov goes public; see also US Gov Web Services and XML

The excitement over the public availability of Data.gov may grow as more data becomes available through it. Check it out at http://www.data.gov/ which includes the statement: "The purpose of Data.gov is to increase public access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government."

Though resources available via Data.gov are currently limited, a wealth of data is available via http://www.usgovxml.com which "is an attempt to document in one place and in a uniform manner the web services and XML data sources that are provided by the US government." Quote from www.usgovxml.com retrieved May 23, 2009.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

UN World Digital Library

Check out the UN World Digital Library, http://www.wdl.org/en/


Just found the following article by Steve Kolowich on The Chronicle's Wired Campus, see source attribution below:

"United Nations Opens World Digital Library"
"In the latest and perhaps broadest effort to provide instant
access to scholarly resources, the United Nations Educational,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization today inaugurated its World
Digital Library, a Web site that allows visitors to browse
through a trove of artifacts spanning the history of
civilization. The site, four years in the making, brings
together historical manuscripts along with secondary literature
describing them-translated into seven different languages. The
library includes scanned documents from 27 libraries in 19
countries so far, including a manuscript from ancient Japan that
is believed to be the first novel ever. James H. Billington, the
U.S. librarian of Congress, who heads the project, says all
countries are welcome to contribute. The idea is to use Web
technology to put all of mankind's most precious artifacts in a
single, shared repository." -Steve Kolowich
Quote from
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=3726
retrieved April 21, 2009

Googlelabs, Newstimeline, Information and Epistemology

One of my favorite e-mail alerts, Information Aesthetics, led me today to Googlelabs' Newstimeline http://newstimeline.googlelabs.com/

which, according to Information Aesthetics,
"organizes news stories and other information by date ..."

Only problem, the first link I see on the page when I go to http://newstimeline.googlelabs.com/ is

"Dancing With the Stars': Mark Ballas now officially my favorite pro..."

Apr 14, 2009, 02:15 PM | by Mandi Bierly

Nothing against Mark Ballas or Mandi Bierly, but THIS IS NEWS??????

To paraphrase from the Bible in a way that may bring down the wrath of God (or maybe not, maybe she will just put something in her blog about it):

"What is news, that thou are mindful of it?"

Am reminded of T.S. Eliot's line:

"Where is the wisdom we have lost in information?"

As an armchair epistemologist, the choices in Newstimeline are fascinating.
As a librarian, I see here, yet again, the need for increased media and information literacy.

Also for me, this was a discovery of Google Labs, and I will rejoice in that. Check it out! http://www.googlelabs.com/

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Social Data Visualization

"The new website Verifiable [verifiable.com] is yet another contender in the now seemingly crowded social data visualization area, which include other free services like Many Eyes, Swivel, iCharts, Trendrr, Widgenie, Track-n-Graph and Timetric. The goal of Verifiable is to "democratize data" as it allows to easily upload data, visualize it, join it with other data, and allows "the world" to interact with it.

Verifiable seems to be unique for its "clean, low-chartjunk philosophy" and its many included functionalities, including the ability to add one-click small multiples, access the data "behind" the visualization, interactively rechart it using different criteria, or to join the resulting visualizations with any other piece of data for comparison."

Quote from Information Aesthetics no_reply@infosthetics.com, received April 19, 2009.

To explore Verifiable go to http://verifiable.com/

Let us know what social data visualization sites work best for you.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Wikiality from Colbert's Nation

Greetings, So this aired long ago but it is still priceless. Please see Colbert's video on wikiality. http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/72347/july-31-2006/the-word---wikiality tinyurl http://tinyurl.com/6dxqd3

While I don't always agree with everything Colbert says, (I am a lot more liberal than he poses to be) this video has food for thought. And evaluating sources is where it is at these days, So please enjoy and evaluate.

Monday, April 6, 2009

OECD Updates Web Tool for Analyzing Regional Statistics

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), "recently announced a new OECD eXplorer [stats.oecd.org], a very powerful web-tool for analyzing regional statistics. The new online geographic visualization is unique because of its focus on regional and states (versus national) statistical data, its large amount of features (from the choice of the color scale to deciding a percentile or uniform distribution) and its slick visual design. The data is based on OECD Regional Database, containing 30 indicators measuring demography, economic and labour market performance, education, healthcare, environmental outputs and knowledge-based activities. As Hans Rosling lectured before, the economic performance and social indicators can vary within countries every bit as much as they do between countries."

Quote is from one of my favorite alert services, Information Aesthetics
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/infosthetics/~3/8LeKcTsXlAY/oecd_explorer_online_tool_for_analyzing_regional_statistics_updated.html

Tiny url for link just above is http://tinyurl.com/cgpvuv

For easy access to OECD eXplorer, go to http://stats.oecd.org/OECDregionalstatistics/
Access requires Adobe Flash 10

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Global Economic Forecast Update from the World Bank

Greetings, in responding to a student query today, I came upon an updated report from the World Bank on Global Economic Prospects, which was issued on March 31, 2009

Global Economic Prospects 2009
Forecast Update
March 30, 2009
World Bank

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTGEP2009/Resources/5530448-1238466339289/GEP-Update-March30.pdf

tinyurl for this site: http://tinyurl.com/cfm4pg

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Readability

Have you ever felt fed up with trying to read something on the web? Are you tired of seeing a congo line of jerkily dancing teddy bears in the banner ad? Does trying to concentrate on the content with all the badly animated ads vying for your attention drive you crazy?

Readability will get rid of most of these distractions.

A free service, all you need to do is drag a button to your bookmarks bar on your browser. I will not work with databases (but then the commercial databases we pay for do not have animated ads). It may not work with other subscription based services either. But for much of the day-to-day reading of the web, it can cut out the visual noise - quickly and easily.

It can also remember your preferred settings for layout and font size, removing the need for you to make these adjustments with every single web site you visit every time.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Searching throughout the world: Country Based Search Engines

Thanks to Phil Bradley who has comipiled links to country-based search engines throughout the world, see

Country-Based Search Engines

http://www.philb.com/countryse.htm

Scope note at beginning of site reads as follows: "Country search engines and regional search engines - currently a total of 4,017 search engines and 222 countries, territories, islands and regions. When 2 versions of a search engine were available I simply listed the search engine in English. I've tried to match the name to the title of the search engine when possible. Failing that I've used the search engine URL as the name." Quote is from website, listed above, retrieved March 8, 2009.

Thanks to Larry for bringing our attention to this terrific site!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

The Daily Show on the Financial Crisis

Although not a "scholarly" source, this clip from Jon Stewart's The Daily Show gives a factual run-down of hype vs. reality during 2007 and 2008. Useful as a tool for teaching critical thinking skills in evaluating business news reports.

CNBC gives financial advice.

UPDATED March 16, 2009:


In the March 12th appearance by Jim Cramer (host of CNBC's Fast Money) on The Daily Show we find out more about Cramer's background in finance as Jon Stewart shows clips of a 2006 interview of Cramer when he worked as a hedge fund manager. Again, this should not be viewed as a scholarly source, but Stewart gives voice to popular anger over the present financial crisis in a most articulate manner.

By the way, you can also view three "out takes" of Cramer's interview on The Daily Show's home page (as of March 16, 2009). 

Monday, February 23, 2009

How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity

There's a great article in a recent issue of Harvard Business Review penned by Ed Catmull, Creative Director of Pixar Animation, discussing the creative process that the company fosters:
"While I’m not foolish enough to predict that we will never have a flop, I don’t think our success is largely luck. Rather, I believe our adherence to a set of principles and practices for managing creative talent and risk is responsible. Pixar is a community in the true sense of the word. We think that lasting relationships matter, and we share some basic beliefs: Talent is rare. Management’s job is not to prevent risk but to build the capability to recover when failures occur. It must be safe to tell the truth. We must constantly challenge all of our assumptions and search for the flaws that could destroy our culture."
To read the entire article online, follow this link to the library's online Harvard Business Review subscription:

http://0-search.ebscohost.com.library.ggu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=33982981&site=bsi-live

You will need to supply your last name and GGU ID number. If you have problems, be sure to check the Database Troubleshooting Guide.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Resources on the Financial Crisis

Greetings, today while helping a student find overviews of the Financial Crisis, I came across

"Credit Crisis: The Essentials" from the New York Times.

http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/credit_crisis/index.html

I like this source because of the way it organizes information regarding the US aspects of the crisis into a coherent overview.

I especially like this source because it links to
The U.S. Financial Crisis: The Global Dimension with Implications for U.S. Policy, from the Congressional Research Service.
Dick K. Nanto, Specialist in Industry and Trade at CRS coordinated the report, which is dated January 29. 2009.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/02/02/business/CRSGlobalDimension.pdf

To locate more excellent resources on the Financial Crisis, including Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and IMF portals, see Gene Springs excellent LibGuide
on the Current Economic Recession


GGU University Library staff will be glad to help members of the GGU community find more resources on the financial crisis and other topics.

Congratulations to Terry Connelly, Dean of the Ageno School of Business, for his chapter “The Unintended Consequences of the New Housing Recovery Act,” in the new book "The Financial Crisis, A Thomson Reuters/West Report," published by Thomson Reuters/West 2008. We are rush ordering a copy for the University Library.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Your PhD as interpretive dance

Strange but true: last year saw the first ever "Dance your PhD" Contest. A scientist named John Bohannon came up with the idea inspired by his friend Christoph Campreghe, a PhD candidate by day and a DJ by night.

Sadly, the deadline for the 2009 contest submissions passed last November 18th. But that gives all you doctoral candidates time to start working on your submission for next year!

Official Dance your PhD contest page: rules and submissions
(with a few videos too)

For what it's worth, my personal favorite: The role of vitamin D in beta cell function (all PhD research starts in the dark, please be patient).

Watch them go: Dance your PhD at Youtube Select from a wide variety of fascinating PhD dance topics.

For those who care about such trivial matters: Can Scientists Dance? an article in Science magazine telling you all you ever wanted to know and more than you ever wanted to know about the Dance your PhD contest.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Financial Data Statistics Turned into Music by Microsoft Songsmith

Greetings, Though I have a zillion other things I should be doing, have to share with you a resource our local data guru just sent to me:
Financial Data Statistics Turned into Music

http://fromthedeskofthemayor.blogspot.com/2009/02/world-crisis-charts-fed-into-microsoft.html

He found it through Information Aesthetics http://infosthetics.com/

Now I'm a believer.

Monday, February 9, 2009

State Health Facts Database

Looking for health statistics broken down by state? Try the free State Health Facts web site:

http://www.statehealthfacts.org/
"Statehealthfacts.org is a project of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and is designed to provide free, up-to-date, and easy-to-use health data on all 50 states. Statehealthfacts.org provides data on more than 500 health topics and is linked to both the Kaiser Family Foundation website and KaiserNetwork.org." (text from web site)
For more information about the site, or for citation instructions, please visit their "About" page: http://www.statehealthfacts.org/about.jsp

Outsourcing

There's an interesting article over at sfgate.com about outsourcing:

Web-based hiring halls filling workforce gaps
"Outsourcing started as a corporate trend, driven by large companies that had the sophistication to shift factory and office work to English-speaking locations overseas. Now new online tools are giving small businesses and entrepreneurs the same ability to assemble and manage teams of workers anywhere in the world, providing lower-cost, skilled labor without the benefits that come with full-time jobs."

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Podcast: Galbraith (Jr.) on the economy

Bloomberg News Podcast on the economy this week features an interview with economist James Galbraith (son of John Kenneth Galbraith). He discusses the failure of de-regulation and monetarism as well as possible long term solutions to the present financial situation.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Porter Podcast on the Financial Crisis

Bloomberg News Podcast on the economy this week features an interview with Michael Porter (he of the Five Forces theory).  He describes how he applies his 5 forces model to the current situation. 

The interview also ranges over a number of interesting topics, such as the internet's role in the economy, book prices and a particularly interesting examination of the U.S. health care system.  About a half an hour long.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

BusinessWeek article on Innovation

For all you gamers, head over to Business Week Online for a look at their article:

How World of Warcraft Promotes Innovation
"This video game demonstrates in its structure and scoring some fundamental principles for training employees to think creatively"

http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/jan2009/id20090114_362962.htm

If the above link has expired, access it via the Library's Business Source Complete database subscription.

Monday, January 26, 2009

IM a Librarian!

You can now reach a University Librarian via the following Instant Messenger services:

America Online (AOL) AIM: gguaskalibrarian
MSN Messenger: askalibrarian@ggu.edu

Feel free to add us to your Buddy List and then ask us for help!

As always, Reference Librarians are also available via the Meebo chat widget on the library's web site.

(Apple iChat users can also contact us by using the AOL AIM address)

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Free Labor Statistics

Are you looking for international labor statistics? Well, head on over to the ILO Bureau of Statistics and check out their LABORSTA Internet database.

http://laborsta.ilo.org/

"Freely-available online database of labor statistics from 200 countries and territories. Provides yearly data on topics like total and economically active population, employment, unemployment, hours of work, wages, labor cost, consumer price indices, occupational injuries, and strikes and walkouts. Also includes household income and expenditure data. Some estimates available."

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

McDonald's Thriving

For those following the fast-food industry, the New York Times has an interesting article analyzing how McDonald's is thriving in the current economic situation:

It wasn’t too long ago that McDonald’s, vilified as making people fat, was written off as irrelevant. Now, six years into a rebound spawned by more appealing food and a less aggressive expansion, McDonald’s seems to have won over some of its most hardened skeptics.

The chain has managed to sustain its momentum even as the economy and the restaurant industry as a whole are struggling. Month after month, McDonald’s has surprised analysts by posting stronger-than-expected sales in the United States and abroad.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Recession Info from IBISWorld

The University Library's IBISWorld database is now including recession information in its industry reports:
To better serve our clients in this difficult time, IBISWorld has developed an immediate-term Recession Update for each industry in the U.S. economy. Each update includes quarterly forecasted growth and an in-depth look at the shifting business landscape and its immediate repercussions on each specific industry. Together the full report and provisional Recession Update can be used as a comprehensive review of long and short-term economic implications.
To view the updates visit the IBISWorld database and find the chapter named Recession Update in every report's Table of Contents.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Institute for Supply Management releases its December manufacturing report

One of the key economic reports for the U.S., compiled from a survey of corporate purchasing managers. Read the report here.