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St. Thomas Libraries Blog

Database Highlights & Trials

Coming soon – Changes to LexisNexis

AlejandroRemember as long ago as last month when you sat through a whole hour of Larry King Live just to catch a sneak peek at Lady Gaga’s Alejandro video?  (For those of you who have seen it, you’ll understand why I’m not linking to the video.  For those of you who haven’t and know the least little thing about Lady Gaga, I’m sure you can figure it out.)  The hype surrounding the sneak peek and the premier of the video is NOTHING compared to what is happening in the library world.  So brace yourselves.

Ok, you were warned.  Here goes… LexisNexis will soon be releasing a new interface and, in trying to keep up with The Gaga, they’re offering a sneak peak of it.  I mean, can you stand the frenzy?   I know, neither can I.  The old interface was a bit aughts, but the new interface…!  Man, it just screams of the twenty-tens.    The new interface premiers in all its glory on August 7th.  In the meantime, enjoy the sneak peek.

Used to look like:

lexisold

Gonna look like:

lexisnew

Ok, might not look EXACTLY like that, but you get the idea.  If you’re not familiar with LexisNexis you might be asking yourself, “Self, why do I care?”   Well, I can tell you LexisNexis has got a lot going on.  It’s a great place to get news from major and local US news media, as well as international coverage.  As you see from the screenshots above, it’s got legal cases, company info, biographies and country information.  So it’s a good resource to be familiar with in general.

July 14, 2010 by
News & Events, Recently Read

Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest results

The winning entries of the 2010 Bulwer-Lytton contest are available at now .  In case you are blissfully ignorant of this event, it is a “whimsical literary competition that challenges entrants to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels.”

 Here’s this year’s grand prize winner (to use the term loosely):

“For the first month of Ricardo and Felicity’s affair, they greeted one another at every stolen rendezvous with a kiss–a lengthy, ravenous kiss, Ricardo lapping and sucking at Felicity’s mouth as if she were a giant cage-mounted water bottle and he were the world’s thirstiest gerbil.”

Yikes!

 If you are a glutton for punishment, the 2009 results can found at http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/2009.htm , and all the grand prize winners since 1983 are at http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/lyttony.htm.

(reposted without permission from an email from Cathy Lutz–hope she’ll forgive me)

July 2, 2010 by
News & Events

Photos from UST Libraries retiree reception

The farewell reception for Earl Belisle, Sheila Hague, Judith Michalski, Jan Malcheski, Lisa Redmond and Mary Lou Schmidt was held from on Tuesday, June 29, in the leather room of the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library.  The reception was well-attended, and we celebrated their collective 142 years of dedicated service to UST.

You can view photos from the reception on the UST Libraries Flickr site.

Bon Voyage, Earl, Sheila, Judith, Jan, Lisa, and Mary Lou.  We’ll miss you!

July 1, 2010 by
Business & Economics, Database Highlights & Trials

New Mergent Interface

If you’re accessing Mergent Online on July 6th or later, you’re in for a surprise.  The UST Libraries’ best tool for getting public company financials, SEC documents, and more has changed its look.

company lookup

You’ll find a better company lookup tool and more options for finding company information more quickly.  Getting ratio reports and historical pricing for the company is easier, too.

Click here quick tips for using the new Mergent Online.  All of the old features of Mergent Online are still available.  Getting to them has been made easier.

quick tip sheet

July 1, 2010 by
News & Events

UST Libraries bid farewell to six retirees on June 29

The university community is invited to the retirement reception for six staff members who have worked in the Ireland and O’Shaughnessy-Frey libraries.

The farewell reception for Earl Belisle, Sheila Hague, Judith Michalski, Jan Malcheski, Lisa Redmond and Mary Lou Schmidt will be held from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 29, in the O’Shaughnessy Room of the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library, with a brief program at 3 p.m. 

For more information please call Julie Kimlinger, (651) 962-5014.

June 21, 2010 by
News & Events

GOOOOAAL!!! Your guide to the World Cup

If you are anything like me you have the vague sensation that there is this incredibly important, emotional event going on right now all across the globe, but you can’t quite put your finger on what it is.  The global event in question of course is the World Cup, and once every four years almost everyone on the planet comes together for this amazing shared experience.  This year I decided that I wanted to join this global party but I have to admit that I am intimidated because I know so little about soccer/football. 

So in order to help myself, and perhaps others, I put together a guide of links to football sites, podcasts, feeds and some funny videos to get me up to speed about things that the rest of the world already knows. 

If you would like to contribute a link or anecdote I would love to add it to the guide and by 2014 I will really *really* ready.

June 11, 2010 by
News & Events, Recently Read

Libraries Summer Reading List Available

tooth_clawCheck out the Libraries’ summer reading list for 2010.  Now an annual tradition, our staff have submitted a number of title for your consideration.  Many are owned by UST or one of the CLIC libraries, so you can borrow from us if available, or check out your local public library or bookstore.

outliersAt the bottom of the list, we link to prior year lists, so browse to your heart’s content.

Have suggestions of your own? Add them in the comments below.

June 11, 2010 by
Business & Economics

The battle being fought for your computers and your security

The 2008 Conficker computer worm upped the ante in the battle of cyber-security experts against the creators of malicious viruses and worms. While The Cuckoo’s Egg remains a classic book about the onset of tracking hackers, this article from The Atlantic shows that the war is far from over.  As the author Mark Bowden points out the stakes in the battle against newer, more sophisticated and insidious computer viruses have never been higher.  

The security experts profiled in the article employ old fashion Sam Spade-type detective work along with their state of the art technologies and unprecedented collaboration with experts across national borders.  I am hesitant to say that I enjoyed this article because of the serious issues involved, but if you are going to read an article about global cyber attacks what is the harm if it also reads as well as an espionage thriller?

The Enemy Within by Mark Bowden from The Atlantic

June 10, 2010 by
Business & Economics, Charles J. Keffer Library, Database Highlights & Trials

SWOT Analyses in Library Databases

Business students often ask how to find SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analyses of companies.  Until now, our only source for ready-made SWOT analyses was Datamonitor company reports, available via Business Source Premier.

Now we have another source: OneSource Global Business Browser.  And the SWOTs here are more detailed and analytical than those from Datamonitor.

To access the OneSource Int’l SWOTs, follow these steps.

  • From the main UST Libraries page click on the Databases A – Z link.
  • On the OneSource Global Business Browser landing page search for your company
    under the “Companies” search box.
  • Search for your company within the “Companies” box.  Remember, most companies in 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 the Strengths/Weaknesses link among the list of links on the right hand side of the page.

refusa intl SWOT itself

Can’t find a SWOT?  Don’t panic.

Remember that the 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, Factiva, and Business Source Premier to retrieve press releases and media articles on 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–usually the “investors” or “company information” sections–to find the company’s SEC 10-K, 10-Q, and 14-A filings.

Still unconvinced?  (Still reading?)  Here’s a brief explanation of how valuable a SWOT can be, from 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.

June 7, 2010 by