Reference at Newman Library

Year: 2011

Printing Accounts for Summer Students

Students enrolled in either summer session have a printing balance of $30. Today, there have been problems with some students unable to access their printing accounts; send them to the Help Desk on the 6th floor with  a copy of their bursar’s receipt showing their enrollment in a class this session so the staff there can fix their account problem.

BPL 5100 team building exercise

Several students in a BPL 5100 class came by the reference desk tonight. As part of a team building exercise, they have numerous items to locate, including a magazine with a page 36.  It didn’t seem that a print out would be acceptable, although I didn’t inquire directly.  I had a supply of old magazines in my office that satisfied the need.  Some students had expected to be able to take a magazine out of the library.  One inquired about ripping out the needed page, which was of course strongly discouraged.  There may be other requests for a page 36 so I thought I would post this information.

New Database: Cambridge Collections Online

This database offers the full text of 393 different reference works from Cambridge University Press in the subject areas of literature, the classics, philosophy, religion, and culture. Each year a few more titles are added to the collection. Here are some newly added titles:

The Companions to Literature and Classics

  • Copeland/McMaster, The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen (2nd Edition)
  • Hirst/Zwicker, The Cambridge Companion to Andrew Marvell
  • Bigsby, The Cambridge Companion to Arthur Miller (2nd Edition)
  • Diver/Niles, The Cambridge Companion to Anthony Trollope

The Companions to Philosophy, Religion and Culture

  • Morrison, The Cambridge Companion to Socrates

Links to this database have been added to the databases page and to the literature and philosophy subject guides.

New database: Mergent Bondviewer for Corporate and Municipals

Today, Mike Waldman has added Mergent Bondviewer to  the Newman Library databases.

This database includes both U.S. corporate and municipal bonds.  This is the first time we have had access to extensive municipal bond information online in the library.  Bonds and notes are promises to repay money  that has been borrowed with interest, at specific time periods.   They do not convey ownership in a company or in a municipality.  Active issues are those in which some debt is still outstanding.  Inactive issues have been repaid.

There is very good help available on the database.  I have learned the following from the help, and asking our vendor representative for details:

Corporate or Municipal Portfolios can be created to save search results.  A maximum of three portfolio per email address  can be saved at one time. Maximum number of issues in any portfolio is 200. Use Baruch email address to create portfolio.

Here’s a description for the library’s web page.

Includes active and inactive U.S. corporate bonds, municipal bonds, and retail notes, and offers ratings, historical pricing, summary of issue’s covenants and provisions, and portfolio tracking. Limited coverage through 1950; extensive coverage begins in 1993. To access, click on Enter Bondviewer. Use Baruch email address to set up maximum of three portfolios per email address. For individual companies, long term debt information also included in Company Details through Mergent Online database.

This  information was provided by Mergent:

Right now there are roughly 273,846 securities going out to customers in the corporate database.  There are about 2,659,445 maturities (around 278,352 total issues containing those maturities) for the muni side.

Corporate Issue Inclusion Criteria: the database includes publicly underwritten corporate securities issued in the United States: Yankees (U.S. dollar-denominated securities issued by foreign issuers), U.S. agencies, supranational securities, convertible bonds, Short, Medium and General Term Notes (Notes began in September 1993); high yield, adjustable rate securities, ESOP securities, underwritten exchange offer securities, equipment leased-back securities, strips (not secondary market derivatives); and mortgage-backed agency securities. In addition, Rule 144A issues (including non-U.S. dollar denominated securities) are included in the data base on a best-efforts basis.

The database does not track publicly traded bonds that are issued outside of the United States, including Canadian, foreign bonds or Eurobonds (securities registered in Europe, but issued by U.S. firms). At this time the database also does not include secondary insured remarketed bonds nor certificates of deposit; municipal securities, REMICs, CMOs, PASS-THRUs, PAY-THRUs or other Asset Backed securities.

Although the database does have some publicly traded bonds issued outside of the United States, we do not have a provider for this information. If we come across an issue of this type, and are able get the information, the security may be added to the database.

There are a handful of securities in the database from the late 1800’s through 1950. Limited coverage starts in 1950 with the number of securities representing each year thereafter growing almost exponentially. Extensive coverage begins in 1993.

Municipal bond coverage—which has not previously been available in any of our databases:

Municipal Bonds (Coverage of 2,659,445 bonds)

 

The following types of bonds are in Mergent’s coverage for Municipal Bonds:

All General Obligation Bonds including short and long term notes including taxable bonds

  1. All Revenue Bonds including short and long term notes including taxable bonds
  2. All Variable Rate Bonds including bonds which have a daily, weekly, monthly…etc reset.  As well as Auction Rate, Floating Rate, Adjustable Rate and Index Linked Bonds.  Coupons are not reported on Index Linked Bonds or Variable Bonds in the daily, weekly, monthly or adjustable modes.
  3. All Derivative Bonds on a best effort basis
  4. All Zero Coupon Bonds including Capital Appreciation, Deferred Interest, Compound Interest, Stripped Principal
  5. All Build America Bonds and Recovery Zone Economic Bonds (except for tax-credit bonds) including make-whole calls. (only for 2009 & 2010)
  6. Qualified School Construction Bonds (If not a Tax-Credit)
  7. Others – Certificates of Participation, Certificates of Obligation, Tax Anticipation Notes, and Bond Anticipation Notes…etc.
  8. Remarketed Bonds including Tender Data
  9. Hospital, Industrial, Serial, Term, Housing, Education, and Healthcare Bonds are in coverage
  10. New Issue Bond Program Bonds
  11. All Prerefunded, Unrefunded and Secondary Insurance CUSIPs.

The following types bonds are not in Mergent’s coverage for Municipal Bonds:

 

  1. 144A’s of any type
  2. Commercial Paper (unless there is a valid CUSIP)
  3. Qualified Zone Academy Bonds (QZAB).
  4. Any type of Bond which is only paid out as a Tax-Credit
  5. Bank Bonds
  6. Some Private Type Deals

Before I became a librarian I worked as legal assistant in a public finance department of a Minneapolis law firm so if you have any questions about municipal bonds, or other offerings, please let me know.