St. Thomas Libraries Blog - News, Events and Musings from the UST Libraries

New Books!

Business librarians have been busily buying new books!

That’s certainly a tongue-twister, if I ever heard one. The results are some great brain gymnastics, as well.

Here are a few recent arrivals:

The Accountant’s Guide to the Universe: Heaven and Hell by the Numbers

Dilbert meets Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in this hilariously quirky book about God “outsourcing Heaven and Hell” to an accounting firm. A quick and fun read – by the end, you’ll be amazed how much you’ve learned about finance and accounting.

Fixing the Game : Bubbles, Crashes, and what Capitalism can Learn from the NFL

What better way to learn than combining your favorite Sunday afternoon activity with your study of corporate management? Author Roger Martin discusses how and what corporate leaders can learn from the NFL’s success, including everything from finance to customer loyalty.

Brand Champions: How Superheroes Bring Brands to Life

This is chock-full of great case studies showcasing the individuals within organizations who nurture and sustain brands, bringing them to lifethrough their everyday, superhero performances.

World 3.0 : Global Prosperity and How to Achieve It

“In World 3.0, Pankaj Ghemawat provides a fresh look at cross-border integration and its implications. He demonstrates why integration and regulation must be seen as complementary. And he offers great recommendations that should inspire all stakeholders in times of major global challenges. A must-read.”
–Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Interested in seeing more? A list of this month’s newest business books is always available on the library homepage, or you can subscribe to it as an RSS feed.

Purchase recommendations are always welcome, as well – simply fill out this form!

October 8, 2011 by

TRIAL – Three Additional Collections in Emerald Management 175

The UST libraries have subscribed to Emerald Management 175 for over five years because of the access it provides to scholarly full text management and international management journal articles. Now for a limited time UST is putting on trial other collections in Emerald previously unavailable in our current subscription.

To search the additional collections, go to the main Emerald search page and conduct a keyword search. From the results you may choose to look at all of the results or limit the hits within an individual collections.

emerald2

Emerald’s Business, Management and Economics eBook Series Collection
This collection contains over 400 volumes across multiple business and economic topics such as Management Science, Business Strategy and Organization Studies with new titles added regularly. The interface allows users to search through entire books or books on the chapter level. Many books and chapters are written from authors world-wide to ensure a global perspective.

Emerald Social Sciences eBook Series Collection
The Emerald Social Sciences eBook Series Collection extends the current Emerald business portfolio with high-profile international authorship and high quality cross-disciplinary research with over 240 volumes from over 35 book series titles in the fields of politics, psychology, sociology, health care and education.

Emerging Markets Case Studies Collection
Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies is a new online collection of peer-reviewed case studies focusing on business decision making and management development throughout key global emerging markets written by case writers working in developing economies that offer local perspectives.

The trials end 11/5/11. Please get any comments or questions to Andrea Koeppe at arhudson@stthomas.edu.

October 6, 2011 by Andrea Koeppe

News & Events, O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library

O’Shaughnessy Library hosts Telos Project weekly meetings beginning Thursday, Oct 6 at Noon

This Thursday, October 6^th, marks the first in a semester-long series of open discussions between St. Thomas faculty and students. This inaugural meeting features Dr. Catherine Deavel of the philosophy department. Along with telling students about the importance of her area of expertise, Dr. Deavel will also share her perspective on why a liberal arts education is important.

The Telos Project is an effort to bring a renewed focus on a crucial aspect of the University of St. Thomas’ commitment to the pursuit of truth: the integration of knowledge across disciplines. It is the purpose of The Telos Project to re-introduce to the St. Thomas community the dialogue and discussion that is essential for any intellectual community.

Meetings are scheduled to take place over Convo hour, from Noon to 1pm, in the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library. Each week a professor from a different department will give a brief but provocative presentation on (a) what his/her discipline is, (b) what attracts him/her to it, and (c) why the larger UST community should care. The meetings will take place in the O’Shaughnessy Room, (Leather Room/Rm 108) and will follow this format:

12:00 – 12:15: Introduction by professor to his/her discipline and area of expertise.
12:15 – 1:00: Discussion and conversation among/between students and faculty.

All students are invited to participate in discussion this Thursday, October 6 at Noon. For more information, visit The Telos Project Facebook group or send any questions to TheTelosProjectUST@gmail.com. Cookies and juice will be provided.

October 3, 2011 by

Database Highlights & Trials

Bible dictionaries

It’s that time of year (or semester) where we get a lot of requests for Bible dictionaries. If you are in the library, the librarian can point out where in the reference room you can find a multitude of them. But if you are at home, or in your dorm, or on the bus, or, or (you get my drift) you can still use UST libraries’ Bible dictionaries. We have the Oxford Dictionary of the Bible and the Oxford Annotated Bible Dictionary – this one is in the Oxford Biblical Studies resource. To get to the Oxford Annotated Bible, go to Oxford Biblical Studies, click BROWSE and then BROWSE BIBLE TEXTS:

You’ll see several Bible texts, but the Annotated Bible should be the first listed.

Just using the Oxford Biblical Studies resource itself can probably answer a lot of questions you may have. It’s a pretty robust, in-depth source on the Bible.

September 30, 2011 by

Database Highlights & Trials

Making sense of the world today

As we all know, it’s been a crazy few months. The world is experiencing major shifts and changes. There’s the Arab Spring, the Eurozone, the war in Afghanistan, and closer to home we have the mortgage crisis, unemployment and the US economy. Where do you turn for information that is reliable, up-to-date and concise? You could use any one of our newspaper resources to find thousands of articles on any of the above topics or you can try using Facts on File World News Digest.

Facts on File World News Digest is easily searchable and navigable. Here’s a search on Arab spring

You’ll notice that all results come up (there are 5 pages of results for those of you who like to gather info in bulk). For those of you who want foundational information, who need to know the whole story, there’s analysis and background. The articles range from written last week to written decades ago so you can follow the story from the beginning until very recently. Here are some of the 33 analysis and background articles on Arab spring

You can get country profiles, primary documents, key issues and perhaps the handiest, research features. The research feature here, called Focus On: Unrest in the Arab World (Research Feature) was updated in September 2011 and if printed out would be over 12 pages long. There is a section for each country explaining the unrest that happened in each in 2011 with links to related articles.

So if you need to clearly, easily and quickly make sense of the world before it changes again, give Facts on File World News Digest a spin. I think you’ll find it to be very useful.

September 29, 2011 by

Business & Economics, Database Highlights & Trials

TRIAL – AdData Reference

Attention marketing researchers! Our trial for AdData Reference is live starting today.

AdData Reference provides facts, figures and insights into the 10,000+ leading brand advertisers in the U.S. It details each brand’s ad spending for the past 5 years, identifies target markets, relationships to parent companies, the brand’s different ad agencies, plus full contact information for key personnel. To log in, use your St Thomas email address to create an account.

Trial ends Oct. 31

Please send comments to Laura Hansen

September 29, 2011 by

News & Events, O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library, Uncategorized

October is new trials month

Just a head’s up to everyone keen on trying out new, potential resources… October is new database trials month*. We trial new products twice a year and love to get feedback. A few of them are starting to trickle in a bit early. Look at the Database Highlights and Trials blog over in the lower right corner of the Library’s homepage. Some trials last for a week, some for a month. So if you see them and they strike your fancy, give ’em a test run. And send us your comments – good or bad. We’re always interested in hearing what you have to say (or write).

* New database trials month is competing with an awful lot of other month-long celebrations to get your attention. According to Wikipedia, October is also

3D Ultrasound Awareness Month
American Pharmacist Month
Black History Month (in United Kingdom)
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Celiac Sprue Awareness Month
Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Dwarfism Awareness Month
Fair Trade Month
Filipino American History Month (in United States)
German American Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15 in the United States)
Health Literacy Month
Healthy Lung Month
Italian American Heritage Month: Italian Heritage and Culture Month
Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender History Month (LGBT History Month) (in United States)
Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month
National Arts & Humanities Month (in United States)
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (in United States and Canada)
National Cyber Security Awareness Month (in United States)
National Dental Hygiene Month (in United States)
National Domestic Violence Awareness Month (in United States)
National Down Syndrome Awareness Month (in United States)
National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15 in the United States)
National Infertility Awareness Month (in United States)
National Lupus Erythematosus Awareness Month (in United States)
National Physical Therapy Month (in United States)
National Spina Bifida Awareness Month (in United States)
Polish American Heritage Month
Rett Syndrome Awareness Month (in United States)
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Month (in United States)
World Blindness Awareness Month

I didn’t know it was 3D ultrasound awareness month. Good thing I found that out before the month began so I can be aware of it. I did know, however, that it was Italian American Heritage month. With a last name of DeLuca, that can’t get past me.

September 28, 2011 by

News & Events, O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library, Uncategorized

Larry McDonough, jazz pianist, Thursday afternoon in the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library

You are cordially invited to Celebrate National Coffee Day with us on September 29!

larry mcdonough

Music in the Library invites all to hear Larry McDonough (jazz pianist, composer, arranger, educator) in an encore performance in the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library, this Thursday, September 29, between 2pm and 3pm in the O’Shaughnessy Room – right next to the coffee shop!

His Bio: Larry McDonough has been performing in the area for 35 years. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in music education from the University of Minnesota in 1978, performing on piano and trumpet, and in school ensembles with Clark Terry and Thad Jones, and for President Nixon and the President of Mexico.

He played extensively in the Twin Cities in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, performing solo and in his own duos and trios. He regularly performed at the old Night Train club in the Como Avenue warehouse area, and at the Jax Restaurant. He also taught, and composed and arranged for high school band.

McDonough moved away in the earlier 1980’s, and after returning a few years later, he performed primarily at private functions, including a performance for First Lady Hillary Clinton. He began playing jazz publicly again in the late 1990s, performing solo and in his own duos and trios, and with BOZO allegro. McDonough appeared on BOZO allegro’s second CD, Relentlessly Cheerful.

He has released five CDs under his own name. Two are CDs of solo piano jazz, “Small Steps” and “Tuscarora: Short Stories for Jazz Piano,” two are of his ensembles, “Live, Cooking at the Dakota” and “Simple Gifts,” and “My Favorite Things: Odd Times for Jazz Ensemble, Orchestra and Concert Band,” a compilation of high school ensemble performances of original pieces and arrangements. He records for his own independent label, LM Jazz.

McDonough has performed with legendary saxophonist and composer Benny Golson, Trombonist Fred Wesley, and trumpeter Duane Eubanks. He also has performed with such groups and performers as the Wolverines; vocalists Patty Peterson, Shirley Witherspoon, Connie Olson, Diane Jarvi, and Vicki Mountain; bassists Bruce “Pooch” Heine, Tom Lewis, Tom Hubbard, Billy Peterson, Paul Peterson, Kevin Barnes, and Chuck Adams; guitarists Mike Elliott, Brian Barnes and Bill Bergmann; mandolin player Chris Silver; drummers Dave Stanoch, Dave Hagedorn, Phil Hey and Kevin Washington, and horn players Eric Leeds, Dave Jensen, Kathy Jensen, Phil Holm, Ruston Reynolds, Dave Hagner, and Jeff King; as well as cover bands Jules and the Mystics.

In 2007 he was inducted into the Minnesota Rock Country Hall of Fame for his work in the group Danny’s Reasons.

He now performs solo, as well with his group, Larry McDonough Quartet. A former high school band director, he also works at Minneapolis Legal Aid as a tenants’ attorney, where he has been recognized by the Minnesota Law and Politics as a “Super Lawyer,” and by William Mitchell College of Law as one of “100 Who Made a Difference” over the 100 year history of the school.

Visit Larry’s website http://larrymcdonoughjazz.homestead.com/ for more information and and watch him perform two of his pieces on You Tube: Ode to Joy and Sirocco.

Questions? Please contact Julie @ jakimlinger@stthomas.edu or call 651-962-5014.

September 27, 2011 by

Archbishop Ireland Library, Charles J. Keffer Library, Libraries, News & Events, O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library

Banned Books Week!

As you can tell by some of the decorations going up around the library and on the website, we’re gearing up for a fun week of celebrations. The reason? Next week is Banned Books Week!

Not sure what Banned Books Week is? Contrary to what you might think, it is not a celebration of banning books as much as it is a celebration of intellectual freedom. The American Library Association defines intellectual freedom as

“the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular…..BBW stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them.”

Each year during the last week of September, we celebrate books that have been challenged or banned. How do books make the list? According to the ALA website, “A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others.”

So Happy Banned Books Week, 2011! Get involved throughout the week by browsing the displays at the UST Libraries and checking out the information on our Libguide. You can also:

Vote for your favorite Banned Books (let’s get a list of UST favorites going!)

Play the BBW Daily Tri via Contest! A new question will be posted every day – so check in often!

Check out – or participate – in the 2011 Virtual Read-Out!

Look for updates of Trivia winners and Poll results throughout the week, and feel free to ask any library staff if you have questions (we all get pretty pumped up about this). More importantly, thanks in advance for helping us celebrate!

September 23, 2011 by

Business & Economics, Charles J. Keffer Library, Database Highlights & Trials

Finding SWOT Analyses

swot-analysis-image Business students often ask how to find SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analyses of companies.

SWOTs are very useful tools. According to the The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management:

An acronym of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, SWOT analysis provides a simple but powerful tool for evaluating the strategic position of the firm. It is especially useful for senior executives undertaking a fundamental reappraisal of a business, in that it permits a free thinking environment, unencumbered by the constraints often imposed by a finance driven budgetary planning system

Did you know UST Libraries currently have two sources for ready-made SWOT analyses?

(you can also find both of these databases in our libraries’ A-Z list of Databases)

Datamonitor company reports, available via Business Source Premier

The SWOT analyses are always part of a company report. Find them by searching for a company by name and clicking the “company report” radio button within Business Source Premier.

OneSource Global Business Browser’s International Company Profiles

Find them by searching for your company within the “Companies” field. Remember, most companies in Global OneSource are large, publicly traded corporations. Once you’ve identified your company among the search results (yours will usually be the one headquartered in the US, with a US stock listing), click on its name to open up a company profile. There will be a menu on the left-hand side with a link to the Strengths/Weaknesses analysis

refusa intl SWOT itself

Can’t find a SWOT? Don’t panic.

A SWOT analysis is not difficult to make. First grab a SWOT from Reference USA International (using the process outlined above), to use as a template. Use Proquest Newsstand Complete, Mergent, and Business Source Premier to retrieve press releases and media articles on a company and its executives for the past twelve months. (Focus on CEO, Chairman, and CFO interviews, new product releases, earnings releases, and stock analyst opinions on the industry or company.) Within Business Source Premier, also look for a Datamonitor company profile. If the company is public, go to their website or to Mergent Online–usually the “investors” or “company information” sections–to find the company’s SEC 10-K, 10-Q, and 14-A filings.

Using the information you’ve found, it should be fairly easy to make your own SWOT analysis of any company, public or private.

(Look familiar? This is a repost of a blog post we made in June of 2011. The interfaces have changed a bit, so we decided it was time for an update. If you already knew this, please pat yourself on the back for being a database guru!)

September 21, 2011 by

Older Posts

Newer Posts