BU Libraries Business Blog

PolicyArchive

PolicyArchive is a digital library of public policy research derived from the U.S. government, institutes, and think tanks. Materials are gleaned from such sources as the Center for American Progress, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Aspen Institute, as well as an extensive collection from the U.S. government. Subject areas of interest to business students include Business, Economics, Labor, Manufacturing and Industry, Law and Ethics, Trade, and much more.

Joe Nocera's Best Business Books

Joe Nocera, Business columnist for the New York Times, recently compiled a list of the best non-fiction business books. Books on the list which are owned by the Libraries are listed below. For a complete list, click here.

The box: how the shipping container made the world smaller and the world economy bigger HG 4928.5 L48 1989
The devil's candy: the Bonfire of the Vanities goes to Hollywood PN 1997.B67963 S26 2002
Do you sincerely want to be rich? Library Annex HG 4530.R37
Father, son and co.: my life at IBM and beyond HD 9696.C64 I4887 1990
The Go-go years Library Annex HG 4910 .B74
Greed and glory on Wall street HG 5129.N5 A8 1986
Indecent exposure: a true story of Hollywood and Wall street Library Annex HV 6684.N5 M35 1982
The informant HV 8144.F43 E53 2000
The kingdom and the power PN 4899.N42 T574
Liar's poker HG 4928.5 L48 1989
The smartest guys in the room HD 9502.U54 E5763 2004
Titan: the life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. CT 275.R75 C47 1997

DocuTicker

If you have ever searched the web, but despaired of getting reports from "authoritative" sources, DocuTicker may be the web site for you. DocuTicker offers a hand-picked selection of resources, reports and publications from government agencies, NGOs, think tanks and other public interest organizations. There are reports available on a wide variety of topics. If you've seen a government or research study mentioned in the news, DocuTicker is a good place to go to find the full-text.

Online & Data Services Move

The computers, statistical programming manuals, and ICPSR codebooks formerly located in the Online and Data Services Office have been relocated. The two computers containing Datastream, World Development Indicators and other data products are now in an alcove in the Government Documents room. The manuals are available on shelves near this area. ICPSR codebooks will primarily be accessible online via the ICPSR website EIU database. The database provides in-depth reports on almost 200 countries and areas of the world. We have access to three sections of the database. Country Reports provide in-depth analysis of political and economic trends in nearly 200 countries. Many reports are updated monthly. The Country Commerce section discusses operating conditions and business regulations in 55 countries. Country Profiles provide background and historical context of current economic and political events for over 200 countries. The database must be accessed on campus. The trial runs through May 30, 2008.

It's Tax Time Again

It is that time of the year again. Federal forms can be found on the IRS tax site here. New York state tax forms are here. For additional tax sites, incuding those for other states, try the Virtual Reference Collection page for Tax Information.

Datastream Upgrade

Datastream, the financial and economic database, has now been upgraded from version 2.5 to 4.0. The database has a different look, and it may take a few minutes to get used to the new format. Although it looks somewhat different, the searching in 4.0 is fairly similar to the earlier version.

Global Warming Resources

Global warming is an increasingly hot (pardon the pun) topic right now. The latest UN Human Development Report, Fighting Climate Change, Human Solidarity in a Divided World is available full-text online. The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently won the Nobel Peace Prize. Their website contains reports and graphs on climate change and its impact. Articles on this topic can be found in many databases, but EconLit and Business Source Premier are probably the best for business/economics students. A short listing of business titles is below:

2007 Voluntary carbon markets : an international business guide to what they are and how they work HC79.P55 V65 2007
2007 Global warming and agriculture : impact estimates by country Science S600.7.G56 C58 2007
2007 Ignoring the apocalypse : why planning to prevent environmental catastrophe goes astray Science GE140 .D382 2007
2007 The economics of climate change : the Stern Review Science QC981.8.C5 G738 2007
2007 Carbon finance : the financial implications of climate change HC79.P55 L33 2007
2007 Assessment of U.S. cap-and-trade proposals H62.5.U5 N3 no.13176
2006 Emissions trading and business HC79.P55 E5 2006
2006 The economics of climate change H62.5.U5 N3 no.11923
2005 Ecological debt : the health of the planet and the wealth of nations HC79.E5 S45 2005
2004 Climate change policy and global trade Science QC981.8.C5 B647 2004
2004 The economics of climate change HC79.E5 E26 2004
2004 Climate change economics : why international accords fail Science QC981.8.C5 V36 2004
2004 Changing drivers : the impact of climate change on competitiveness and value creation in the automotive industry Science TD886.5 .C43 2003
2003 Global climate change : the science, economics and politics Science QC981.8.C65 G59 2003

Most Influential Business Books

Last May, U.S. News and World Report asked 14 business leaders about the five books that they consider indispensible reading for managers. Their responses range from books that are business classics, to biology, history, and fiction. A partial list is below. For a complete listing, go here.

Chris Anderson, Editor in Chief Wired Magazine
Fooled by Randomness: the Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets HG4521 .T35 2001
The Cluetrain Manifesto: the End of Business as Usual HF5548.32 .C58 2000
Microcosm: the Quantum Revolution in Economics and Technology HD9696.A2 G55 1989
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference HM1033 .G53 2000

Carly Fiorina, former CEO, Hewlett Packard
The World is Flat: a Brief History of the Twenty-First Century HM846 .F74 2005
Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of American Industrial Enterprise HD70.U5 C5

Jack Brennan, CEO, the Vanguard Group
Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points that Challenge Every Company HD58.8 .G765 1996
Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors HD41 .P67
Leadership is an Art HD57.7 .D46 1989

Jim Buckmaster, CEO, Craigslist
The Selfish Gene QH437 .D38 200
The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology QP376 .K85 2005
Manufacturing Consent: the Political Economy of the Mass Media P95.82.U6 H47 1988

John W. Rogers, Jr. chairman and CEO, Ariel Capital Management
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York Fine Arts NA9085.M68 C37 1974
Parting the Waters : America in the King years, 1954-1963 E185.61 .B7914 1988

Mark Cuban, owner, Dallas Mavericks
The Gospel of Wealth, and other Timely Essays HB835 .C3 1933
The Fountainhead PS3535.A547 F68 1993
The Innovator’s Dilemma : When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail HD53 .C49 1997

CQ Researcher

December's featured database is CQ Researcher. This is a weekly publication providing original in-depth analysis of the most current major and controversial issues of the day. Recent, business/economic related entries include The Mortgage Crisis in America, Consumer Safety, Aging Infrastructure, and Aging Baby Boomers. Reports provide a look at the current situation and background, the outlook, and list pros and cons of the issue. All reports include charts, graphs, or tables, and contain extensive bibliographies. If you are looking for an overview of a current economic issue, this is a good place to start.

Class Pages

Many of you have had a library instruction session. All library instruction sessions done for classes in the School of Management or the Economics department have their own webpages. Current class pages can be found by going to the Libraries' homepage and using the Services pulldown menu to select Instruction. Class pages from the current semester are listed on the right side of the page under Highlights. Older class pages from previous semesters can be found by clicking on Help and Instruction for Students and Previous semesters.

Wall Street Journal via Factiva

Been assigned a Wall Street Journal article to read, but your professor hasn't put it in Blackboard? The Wall Street Journal is available via the Factiva database. There is a tutorial available on accessing the Wall Street Journal via Factiva. The tutorial runs about 3 minutes and requires the latest version of Flash and that your browser's Javascript be enabled. Instructions for enabling JavaScript in common browsers is available here. To start the tutorial, click here.

Lexis Nexis Academic Universe

Lexis Nexis Academic Universe has updated its website and now has a new, clean look. The new version of the database is searched differently than the previous edition. If you have used the database before, you may need to take some time to explore the new interface. The Lexis Nexis database now features online tutorials to help you with your searching questions. Lexis contains newspaper and newswire articles, SEC filings and financial information, company directories, professional accounting publications, legal resources, and more.

New Databases, Multiple Catalogs, and Other News

It has been a busy summer for the campus Libraries. There is a new version of infoLINK, the Library catalog. In fact, the Libraries now have two catalogs, infoLINK and Encore. Both access the same library materials, but do so in very different ways. The new Encore catalog, called an "amagoogle" catalog by some, uses simple keyword searching to pull up results which are listed by relevancy.

The Libraries subscribed to a new database, Westlaw Campus Research, over the summer. Westlaw provides access to newspaper and newswire articles, Hoover's Reports, and legal information.

There are now online tutorials available for many of the most commonly used management and economics databases and web sites. The tutorials cover everything from how to find Wall Street Journal articles, to browsing the Bureau of Economic Analysis web site.

Time's "Chic-onomics" List

The April 16th issue of Time has an article about recent books and authors that "made us rethink economics". Entitled "Chic-onomics 101", the article briefly describes some of the best selling books that have flown off of bookshelves in the past few years. Many of these popular books are currently checked out--you may need to recall them to get a copy. Authors covered in the article include:

Bill McKibben
Deep Economy: the Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future HD 75.M353 2007
Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age Science QH 438.7 M38 2003
The End of Nature GF 75.M38 1989

Malcolm Gladwell
Blink: the Power of Thinking without Thinking Science BF 448 G53 2005
The Tipping Point: How Little Things may Make a Big Difference HM 1033 .G53 2000

Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything HB 74.P8 L479 2005

James Surowieki
The Wisdom of Crowds --on order

Barbara Ehrenreich
Bait and Switch: the (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream HD 5708.55 U6 E47 2005
Nickel and Dimed: on (Not) Getting by in America HD 4918 .E375 2002

John Perkins
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man UB 271 .U52 P47 2004

Thomas Friedman
The Lexus and the Olive Tree HF 1359 F74 1999 (on Reserves--2 hour checkout)
The World is Flat: a Brief History of the Twenty-first Century HM 846. F74