Tom Kessler and I (Stan Lyle) will have regular hours during the fall 2009 semester in the Curris Business Building to assist students in finding journal articles and other information needed for assignments on companies, industries, and other business and economics topics.

One of us will be in the student lounge on the first floor every Monday (noon-2 p.m.) and Thursday (10 a.m.-noon), from the first week of October through the week before Finals. We'll be at one of the study tables with a laptop and a sign that says, "HELP!"

Students can ask me for help at other times (BizBlog includes contact info on right side of screen). You can also get help through the Rod Library Ask Us! service.

Posted by Stanley Lyle at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Panther Prowler interface has been redesigned, based on the Xerxes model developed by the California State University system. The intent is to provide an interface that is simpler and gets people to the full text of desired articles faster.

As before, there are groupings of databases in Accounting, Economics, Finance, Management, and Marketing, as well as more general groups such as Social Sciences, Humanities/Fine Arts, and Sciences. These databases can be searched as a group, but individual databases also can be selected and searched in their "native interfaces."

Icons for many peer-reviewed journal articles have been added to citations. Machine-generated citations in various formats (APA, etc.) are included as well.

Panther Prowler can be accessed from the Rod Library home page and from the Rod Library Business Portal.

Posted by Stanley Lyle at 3:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Rod Library web site has been redesigned; the change went into effect in mid-August. This page provides a general overview of the new design.

If you have trouble finding something, the site search box in the upper right corner of the home page may help. The new home page will have a link to the old home page for some period of time. Ask Us if you have trouble finding something.

The Rod Library Business Portal is using the new look; its content is essentially the same as before.

Posted by Stanley Lyle at 3:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"On July 1, 2009, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) instituted a major change in the way accounting standards are organized. On that date, the FASB Accounting Standards Codification™ (FASB Codification) became the single official source of authoritative, nongovernmental U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP). Now, only one level of authoritative U.S. GAAP exists, other than guidance issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). All other literature will be non-authoritative" (source.)

Webcasts, press releases, and related information are available through this FASB Codification Resources page.

UNI Accounting Department faculty and students will have access to a "professional view" of the Codification through the Academic Accounting Access program, sponsored by the American Accounting Association.

All currently enrolled UNI students and employees can access the FASB Codification through another database licensed by Rod Library: RIA CheckPoint. The Codification is available under the "Accounting, Audit & Corporate Finance" Library in the RIA Table of Contents.

A "Basic View" of the Codification is available for no charge to registered users.

Posted by Stanley Lyle at 2:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Two Rod Library databases recently made changes that affect access: IntelliConnect (formerly CCH Internet Tax) and RIA CheckPoint. Both now utilize an SSL connection. The effect is that when accessing these databases from on campus or off campus, the web browser (i.e., Internet Explorer or Firefox) will in some circumstances display a security certificate warning message.

If your browser does display a security certificate warning, you can accept the certificate and connect to the database.

Rod Library staff are examining other access methods that will not get this inconvenient browser message.

Posted by Stanley Lyle at 2:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The publisher of the CCH Internet Tax Research Network database changed its name to IntelliConnect over the summer. IntelliConnect can be accessed from the Rod Library Business Portal or from the Rod Library home page Databases A-Z list.

They also changed the log-on process. Before, the database could be accessed by entering your email address. Now, new users must create individual accounts the first time they log on, using the "New User" link on the right side of the initial screen.

Last, the IntelliConnect interface is significantly different from the the CCH interface. After logging on the first time, you may want to click the Help/Getting Started link on the left side of the screen. The material here includes a short video tour.

Posted by Stanley Lyle at 9:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The publisher of ABI/INFORM Global (ProQuest) has expanded our subscription at no additional cost. The Rod Library subscription now includes the following, which as a group is called ABI/INFORM Complete:

*ABI/INFORM Global
*ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry
*ABI/INFORM Dateline
*The Wall Street Journal

ABI/INFORM Complete can be picked to search everything, or the individual components can be picked from a drop-down on the ABI/INFORM home page.

ABI/INFORM Complete can be accessed from the Rod Library Business Portal and the Rod Library home page under Databases A-Z.

New types of sources include:
*Industry and market research reports from Business Monitor International and FirstResearch
*Country Finance and Country Forecast reports from Economist Intelligence Unit
*Commodity reports from Economist Intelligence Unit

Other types of resources that may be of interest include:
*ProQuest Annual Reports Collection (10Ks and Annual Reports to Shareholders)
*Doctoral dissertations
*Social Science Research Network working papers

Posted by Stanley Lyle at 3:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)