Math Sci Library construction projects finished

September 29th, 2010

Patron access to library materials and study spaces has been restored in the Mathematical Sciences Library after successful installation of a new sprinkler/fire alarm system and new windows throughout the library.

MEL’s Database of the Week for 9/24/10

September 24th, 2010

Welcome to this feature from the Management & Economics Library (MEL).  These database snapshots will give you basic information about our most relevant and beneficial online resources.

Database name: Mediamark Reporter, from GfK Mediamark Research & Intelligence.

Link: www.lib.purdue.edu/mel, in the pull down Quick Access to Business Databases alpha list right below the Libraries’ search box.

Description/focus: Mediamark Reporter provides demographic, lifestyle, product usage, and media data.

Start with this hint: Mediamark Reporter (use Internet Explorer) requires first-time users to create an account using your Purdue email and a password of your choosing.  After you login and enter the database called MRI+, you can explore the choices under Getting Started, but the real substance is accessed by clicking on Mediamark Reporter in the banner next to the tabs. Once in Mediamark Reporter, click on a Report Volume, such as Fall 2009, then select a Report, such as Travel.  The resulting page displays the default data for that report.  Each time you change a Category (Cruise Ships, Domestic Travel, Theme Parks), Base (Adults, Men, Women) or Target (Legoland, Six Flags, Wisconsin Dells), the numbers in the column on the right also change.  If your goal is to find out which groups are the best potential market for your selected product or service, look in the column of Index numbers for scores that are 100 or higher.  In this example, you can find out that women 18-49 are a big target for Cedar Point, Ohio, and that those who use the Web Site LinkedIn are a huge target for hotel rewards programs. For details about the other columns displayed, email your request to kranlib@purdue.edu.

Why you should know this tool: Mediamark Reporter includes historic demographic data back to 2005 so that comparisons can be made.

How this will help students: A marketing plan should include data on user preferences.  This kind of information is included in SimplyMap (see Database of the Week for September 10, 2010) but Mediamark Reporter displays in a spreadsheet which might be more straightforward than a geographic display to some students.

Cost: Paid annually by the Libraries.

——————————

Database of the Week comes to you from the Management & Economics Library (MEL). Our intent is to give you a brief introduction to a database that you may not know.  If you would like more information about this database, or if you would like a demonstration of it for a class, contact kranlib@purdue.edu.  Database of the Week is archived  at https://blogs.lib.purdue.edu/news/category/MGMT/.  For more Purdue Libraries news, follow us on Twitter (@PurdueLibraries).

If you would like us to promote your favorite database, send an email to mdugan@purdue.edu.

Fiction novelist T. Coraghessan Boyle event rescheduled for March

September 21st, 2010

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A lecture by internationally recognized author T. Coraghessan Boyle planned as part of the Purdue Libraries Distinguished Lecture Series has been moved from this week to the spring.

Boyle, who has authored more than 20 fiction novels, was forced to postpone his scheduled talk Thursday (Sept. 23) at Purdue. He will now speak at 7 p.m. March 29 in Stewart Center’s Fowler Hall. It will be free and open to the public.

Boyle’s most recent novels include “Talk Talk” in 2006, “The Women” in 2009 and  “Wild Child” this year. His next work, “When the Killing’s Done,” will soon be released.

His stories have appeared in national and international magazines, including The New Yorker, Harper’s, Esquire, The Atlantic Monthly, The Paris Review, GQ and McSweeney’s.

The Purdue Libraries Distinguished Lecture series began in 2005 to bring people with notable creative and intellectual achievements to speak at the university. In addition to Purdue Libraries, this year’s sponsors include the Office of the Provost, College of Liberal Arts, Department of English and master of fine arts program in creative writing.

Writer: Jim Bush, 765-494-2077, jsbush@purdue.edu

Source: Judy Schumaker, 765-494-7987, jschumkr@purdue.edu

MEL’s Database of the Week for 9/17/10

September 17th, 2010

Welcome to this feature from the Management & Economics Library (MEL).  These database snapshots will give you basic information about our most relevant and beneficial online resources.

Database name: lynda.com, from Lynda.com.  lynda.com was Database of the Week in August 2009; today’s email is updated information.

Link: www.lib.purdue.edu/mel, in the pull down Quick Access to Business Databases alpha list right below the Libraries’ search box.

Description/focus: lynda.com provides online video lessons on the usage and techniques of software products.

Start with this hint: lynda.com lets you select lessons with a keyword search or from dropdown menus.  The menus cover Subject (try Game Development), Software (such as Quicken), and Vendor. The Vendor list includes Apple and Sony, but also includes Open Source. The lessons list shows the level of difficulty and the time required to complete the lesson.  The lessons cover the expected software such as Microsoft Office, Adobe,  SQL, AutoCAD, Dreamweaver and other common tools, but also include 2D character animation, and many others.

Why you should know this tool: The lessons at lynda.com are short, focused, and  have the right amount of information without being overwhelming. Over the last year, the most viewed lessons have guided Purdue users through Acrobat, ActionScript game development, Captivate, CSS website design, Illustrator, Google Apps including Calendar, Outlook, Photoshop, and SQL. Closed captioning and a transcript are available for many of the lessons.

How this will help students: Students can go at their own pace to learn the basics, and they can learn techniques that will make their presentations more professional and more logically organized.  Types of software include web design, content management systems, digital video, graphics, and more.

Cost: 3 seats, paid annually by the Libraries.

——————————

Database of the Week comes to you from the Management & Economics Library (MEL). Our intent is to give you a brief introduction to a database that you may not know.  If you would like more information about this database, or if you would like a demonstration of it for a class, contact kranlib@purdue.edu.  Database of the Week is archived  at https://blogs.lib.purdue.edu/news/category/MGMT/.  For more Purdue Libraries news, follow us on Twitter (@PurdueLibraries).

If you would like us to promote your favorite database, send an email to mdugan@purdue.edu.

MEL’s Database of the Week for 9/10/10

September 10th, 2010

Welcome to Database of the Week — a feature from the Management & Economics Library (MEL). These database snapshots will give you basic information about our most relevant and beneficial online resources.

This Week’s Featured Database: SimplyMap from Geographic Research, Inc..

Link: www.lib.purdue.edu/mel, in the pull down Quick Access to Business Databases alpha list right below the Libraries’ search box.

Description/focus: SimplyMap provides demographic, business, and marketing data.

Start with this hint: Create a personal workspace on your first visit to SimplyMap. Begin with a Location, such as Florida, narrow to Pinellas County, and hit Go. To select elements to display on the map, click the Variables tab and start expanding categories (click the +) to narrow your choices.  You can pick Census Data, Consumer Expenditure (for example, expand Housing Related to see Child care), Business Counts (narrow by SIC Code), Market Segments (including, for example, In the Armed Forces), Quality of Life (showing crime, earthquakes, temperatures), (Consumer Price Index, MRI Consumer Data, Life Stages; and Simmons Data (formerly Choices 3).  Click Add Selected Variables.   The information that is represented on the map but can also be presented in a spreadsheet: click on the top tab Reports and then Update Report. Each side tab offers a different way of finding information.  For example, in Points if you enter Starbucks the map will show you the locations of the Starbucks coffee shops in the area.

Why you should know this database: SimplyMap has such an incredible amount of data that there is the potential for it to be overwhelming, but it definitely warrants exploring. The Tutorial Videos are excellent guides to help get you started with this database and are recommended.  In addition, one-on-one training is available from the vendor.

How this database can be integrated into the curriculum: SimplyMap online workspaces can be shared.  This database can be used for any class that requires a business plan or forecasting.

Compared to Google: Google does show a list of demographic maps, but we were not able to find any that were interactive.

Cost:  2 simultaneous users, paid annually by the Libraries.

——————————

Database of the Week comes to you from the Management & Economics Library (MEL). Our intent is to give you a brief introduction to a database that you may not know.  If you would like more information about this database, or if you would like a demonstration of it for a class, contact kranlib@purdue.edu.  Database of the Week is archived  at https://blogs.lib.purdue.edu/news/category/MGMT/.  For more Purdue Libraries news, follow us on Twitter (@PurdueLibraries).

If you would like us to promote your favorite database, send an email to mdugan@purdue.edu.

Purdue UP Welcomes New Faculty

September 7th, 2010

Founded in 1960, Purdue University Press is the university’s scholarly publishing arm, reporting to the Dean of Libraries. It is celebrating its 50th year with a number of events on campus, and a joint broadcast series with WBAA public radio.

With a team of five editorial, production, and marketing staff, Purdue University Press publishes around 30 books a year and 11 journals, including six Open Access titles where content is free to read immediately upon publication. The quality and direction of the Press’s publishing program is supervised by an Editorial Board of nine Purdue faculty members, and the Director of the Press receives strategic guidance from a Management Advisory Board including top administrators and outside experts among its membership.

The last few years have been challenging ones for university presses, as scholarly publishers struggle to meet the challenges of shrinking library book budgets and the transition from print to digital. However, Purdue University Press has been responding to change by focusing its editorial program on areas of strength at Purdue, updating its workflows to produce electronic books and journals, and experimenting with new types of business models. In 2010, the Press has published important books in subjects ranging from building construction management to veterinary studies, and comparative literature to Jewish studies. Some further information about these “signature areas” of publishing can be found on the http://www.thepress.purdue.edu

With its renewed focus on scholarship produced at Purdue, the Press is always interested in exploring publishing opportunities with faculty. Further information about the Press and guidelines for prospective authors are available on the website, but Charles Watkinson, the Press’s new Director, also very much welcomes the chance to talk to authors in person. Faculty members are warmly encouraged to contact him at cwatkinson@purdue.edu with questions or to arrange a more informal discussion at the Press’s centrally located offices in Stewart Center Room 370.

MEL’s Database of the Week for 9/3/10

September 3rd, 2010

Welcome to Database of the Week — a feature from the Management & Economics Library (MEL). These database snapshots will give you basic information about our most relevant and beneficial online resources.

This Week’s Featured Database: Forrester Research from Forrester.

Link: www.lib.purdue.edu/mel, in the pull down Quick Access to Business Databases alpha list right below the Libraries’ search box.

Description/focus: Forrester Research is the source for IT-related market research.

Start with this hint: Forrester Research requires an extra layer of security with an additional login and registration, but navigation  in the database through the menus and submenus is simple.  The tabbed options that are probably most useful for academic research are Research, Consumer Data, Business Data, and the search box.  If you enter the name of a company, such as Apple, the reports can be refined through tools on the left side of the web page by geographical region, industry, or other parameters.  If you enter a concept such as security, the list of hits is headed by categories for browsing, such as Client Security & Management.

Why you should know this database: Forrester Research covers IT issues as they affect other industries.  Airlines, for example, nets 1108 results.  Enter pharmaceuticals for reports on issues such as vaccine delivery, direct to consumer marketing, social tools in the industry, and others. Under the tab Consumer Data, Technographics Research includes reports on online consumer behavior and the future of market research.  Under Business Data, you can find reports that can be filtered by industry, topic, or region.

How this database can be integrated into the curriculum: Forrester Research sub-categories can be explored by using the tool on the left column of the home page, Browse Topics – View all topics.  The list ranges from Application Development, through IT Management, to Retail, and more.  This list can help with the selection of a project topic or provide information on IT aspects of a topic.

Compared to Google: The first page of a search for in Google for internet access on airplanes  includes magazine and newspaper articles.  Forrester Research includes 2 relevant reports.

Cost: For information on the cost of this database, contact mdugan@purdue.edu.

——————————

Database of the Week comes to you from the Management & Economics Library (MEL). Our intent is to give you a brief introduction to a database that you may not know.  If you would like more information about this database, or if you would like a demonstration of it for a class, contact kranlib@purdue.edu.  Database of the Week is archived  at https://blogs.lib.purdue.edu/news/category/MGMT/.  For more Purdue Libraries news, follow us on Twitter (@PurdueLibraries).

If you would like us to promote your favorite database, send an email to mdugan@purdue.edu.