We’ve added AP Images to our databases giving users access to images, graphics, audio, and text files that are constantly updated. They can be downloaded and copied.
Year: 2009
Printer Problems in Library
Currently, there are issues with multiple printers in the library. Systems has been notified and is working on it.
Test Post
testing email notification
Mergent Horizon connection issue
There is a connection issue with Mergent Horizon. Currently, a “Network Timeout” error message appears. The message says, “The server at www.mergenthorizon.com is taking too long to respond.” I left a message with Mike W. about the problem.
NBER Working Papers
The NBER site is down for the moment. You can refer students to Social Science Research Network (SSRN) Database for these documents in the interim.
Database Command Cheatsheet
I don’t know about you, but my brain doesn’t seem to remember all the different commands such as truncation symbols for commonly used databases. To aid myself and hopefully to help you, I’ve compiled a table of common commands and posted them on the Reference Wiki. The page is called “Database Command Cheatsheet” and can be viewed here: https://www.baruch.cuny.edu/confluence/display/lib/Database+Command+Cheatsheet
Please feel free to add to this list.
Preview the Forthcoming NYPL Site
You can get a sneak peek at the soon-to-be launched web site redesign for the NYPL, which was completed rebuilt using open source software for managing content (Drupal) and for indexing and searching (Solr). There is also a video offering an overview of the changes.
Feedback about the new site is welcomed via this online survey.
Living Stories Project for News
Today, Google Labs, the Washington Post, and the New York Times launched an experimental service called Living Stories that does some interesting things to present news stories in a way that makes them more webby (i.e., content that is designed to be “of the web” instead of just “on the web.”) It offers these features:
- Each news topic gets its own URL: health reform, climate change, Afghanistan, etc. Google explains that this allows you to “quickly navigate between news articles, opinion pieces and features without long waits for pages to load.”
- Each topic has a summary at the top and sections that will show you the latest news, key events, who the players are, images, videos, etc.
- If you create a Google Account (if you’ve got a Gmail account or a Google Calendar or a Blogger login, then you have a Google Account already) and use that to log in to the Living Stories page, then the service will remember what stories you’ve already seen on a given news topic and will highlight any new ones that have been added since you last visited. Another way to be notified of new developments for a particular topic is to set up an email alert or subscribe to an RSS feed.
This might be a useful complement to databases like Facts on File and CQ Researcher, particularly for students who are trying to get background information on a developing news story.
Additional coverage of this project:
Kirkpatrick, Marshall. “Beyond the Web Page: Google, NY Times, and Washington Post Launch News Experiment. ReadWriteWeb, 8 December 2009. Web.
Singh, Neha and Josh Cohen. “Exploring a New, More Dynamic Way of Reading News with Living Stories.” Official Google Blog, 8 December 2009. Web.
Ratios on Factiva
When the subject of industry ratios comes up with students at the reference desk, I usually direct them to the subject guides for industry info. Factiva is listed there as a source of ratios. I’ve never been able to find them, even using the instructions on the subject guide ratios page. Linda R. helped find them today. Here’s how to get to the (buried) ratios (and by the way, the source is Reuters):
1. Click on Companies/Markets
2. Click on Company
3. Enter ticker symbol or name
4. Click on the search icon and you’ll see a “Snapshot” page
5. Click on Reports (left nav)
6. Dropdown to “Ratio Comparison Report”
7. Click on “View Report” in either HTML or PDF
8. Voila!
Enough clicks for you? Thanks Linda for helping to figure that out.
Citing Twitter and Facebook in APA Style
This post from the APA Style Blog might prove useful for student struggling with how to cite Twitter or Facebook messages using APA Style.
Subscribe to the APA Style Blog feed here.