The Sloan Work and Family Research Network at Boston College (with funding from the Sloan Foundation) is a great resource for students in human resources or general management courses. There is a section on relevant state laws and statutes, searchable by topic or geography, and a "literature database" of journal articles. "Statistics" offers factsheets on topics such as elder care, child care, family leave, etc. "Syllabi" is a collection of work-family syllabi from faculty in a variety of disciplines. There is also an annotated list of links to other relevant organizations and web sites.
At the top right of the home page there is a link to subscribe to their bulletins to stay informed on work-family issues.
http://wfnetwork.bc.edu/index.php
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Trendwatching...
For those in marketing and following consumer trends, the folks at Trendwatching.com published their "8 trends to capitalize on in 2008" (http://trendwatching.com/briefing/):
1. status spheres
2. premiumization
3. snack culture
4. online oxygen
5. eco-iconic
6. brand butlers
7. MIY make it yourself
8. crowd mining
While it may be a bit difficult to interpret these catch phrases, the narratives include interesting tidbits on consumer behavior and consumer trends. Many of the examples provided are global. There were several products/services I hadn't heard about -- like Wrangler laundromats at outdoor concerts in the Netherlands ("brand butlers") or Porsche baby strollers (premiumization).
You can also sign up to receive their newsletters (and ads/promotions) via email.
1. status spheres
2. premiumization
3. snack culture
4. online oxygen
5. eco-iconic
6. brand butlers
7. MIY make it yourself
8. crowd mining
While it may be a bit difficult to interpret these catch phrases, the narratives include interesting tidbits on consumer behavior and consumer trends. Many of the examples provided are global. There were several products/services I hadn't heard about -- like Wrangler laundromats at outdoor concerts in the Netherlands ("brand butlers") or Porsche baby strollers (premiumization).
You can also sign up to receive their newsletters (and ads/promotions) via email.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Social Networking and Philanthropy, Nonprofits...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/12/giving/12social.html?ex=1352610000&en=220a611bbfcf88e0&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
A recent article in the NYTimes entitled "My Network, My Cause" discusses the roles of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace in the world of philanthropy and non-profits. For example, the "Causes on Facebook Project" enables Facebook users to promote their favorite causes and then solicit and track donations. Mycommitment.org, a project of the Clinton Global Initiative, is another example of non-profit causes in the Web2.0 world.
While some in the non-profit world are enthusiastic about the potential of social networking for fund-raising, others point out that the internet still represents only a very small percentage of all giving.
...Some interesting ideas for those that are working on marketing strategies for non-profits...
A recent article in the NYTimes entitled "My Network, My Cause" discusses the roles of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace in the world of philanthropy and non-profits. For example, the "Causes on Facebook Project" enables Facebook users to promote their favorite causes and then solicit and track donations. Mycommitment.org, a project of the Clinton Global Initiative, is another example of non-profit causes in the Web2.0 world.
While some in the non-profit world are enthusiastic about the potential of social networking for fund-raising, others point out that the internet still represents only a very small percentage of all giving.
...Some interesting ideas for those that are working on marketing strategies for non-profits...
Friday, November 9, 2007
"OFFSTATS" - Official Statistics on the Web
I recently became aware of a very useful site "OFFSTATS" - Official Statistics on the Web (http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/subjects/stats/offstats/) - from the University of Auckland Library in New Zealand.
This site organizes free statistics from official sources -- governments and large international organizations such as the United Nations. From the main page you can get a list: 1) by country (A-Z); 2) by Region (e.g., Arab States, Latin America, etc.); or 3) by a list of topics such as banking, climate, or trade. Most (not all) sites are in English; many offer downloadable text or data files. Because the sites are limited to official statistics, there is not a lot of junk to sort through.
Very user-friendly!
This site organizes free statistics from official sources -- governments and large international organizations such as the United Nations. From the main page you can get a list: 1) by country (A-Z); 2) by Region (e.g., Arab States, Latin America, etc.); or 3) by a list of topics such as banking, climate, or trade. Most (not all) sites are in English; many offer downloadable text or data files. Because the sites are limited to official statistics, there is not a lot of junk to sort through.
Very user-friendly!
Friday, November 2, 2007
Featured Database - ICPSR Data Access and Analysis
Need datasets?
I plan to regularly post about a library database that may be useful for business research. Today's featured database is "ICPSR Data Access and Analysis." I briefly demonstrated this database recently for students in Business Statistics II.
To locate this database from the USF Libraries main page, select "Databases by title/subject" and type in ICPSR. When you click on the link, the database will open in a new window. This is a subscription database to which we have access because USF is a member institution of "ICPSR" - the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research.
To begin, I recommend you read through the brief "Data Use Tutorial". It will explain some important features of the database. For example, you will need to do a quick, one-time registration in order to view or download any data.
You then have two primary options for locating datasets -- search or browse. Scroll down to "Browse", "Data by Subject" for a list of subject categories. Try Education / United States -- and you should receive a set of about 351 datasets. The datasets are sorted by title but you may want to change the sort option to date or relevance. For each dataset title, there is a link to a "description" of the data, a "download" feature, and "related literature". (Some will also offer "online analysis").
"Description" includes the scope of the data, methodology, and subject keywords. "Download" options include SAS, SPSS, or ASCII formats. Most of the files will be zipped. (Be aware that some of these files are huge!). "Related literature" is a nifty little feature that will take you to a few studies or reports that have used the specific dataset.
You can also search by keyword -- try fishing, camping, abortion..... and see what datasets might be available for those subjects.
In addition to ICPSR, a few other resources for locating datasets (and/or statistics) include:
1) From my list of web sites on del.icio.us (selecting the tag "statistics")
http://del.icio.us/marcylibrarian/statistics
2) From the Business Reference portion of the USFSP web site:
for general information on statistics and data sources: http://www.nelson.usf.edu/reference/subject_guides/business/statistics_data.html
3) OR, for the Business Statistics II course guide (handout):
http://web.nelson.usf.edu/reference/documents/BusStatistics.html
I plan to regularly post about a library database that may be useful for business research. Today's featured database is "ICPSR Data Access and Analysis." I briefly demonstrated this database recently for students in Business Statistics II.
To locate this database from the USF Libraries main page, select "Databases by title/subject" and type in ICPSR. When you click on the link, the database will open in a new window. This is a subscription database to which we have access because USF is a member institution of "ICPSR" - the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research.
To begin, I recommend you read through the brief "Data Use Tutorial". It will explain some important features of the database. For example, you will need to do a quick, one-time registration in order to view or download any data.
You then have two primary options for locating datasets -- search or browse. Scroll down to "Browse", "Data by Subject" for a list of subject categories. Try Education / United States -- and you should receive a set of about 351 datasets. The datasets are sorted by title but you may want to change the sort option to date or relevance. For each dataset title, there is a link to a "description" of the data, a "download" feature, and "related literature". (Some will also offer "online analysis").
"Description" includes the scope of the data, methodology, and subject keywords. "Download" options include SAS, SPSS, or ASCII formats. Most of the files will be zipped. (Be aware that some of these files are huge!). "Related literature" is a nifty little feature that will take you to a few studies or reports that have used the specific dataset.
You can also search by keyword -- try fishing, camping, abortion..... and see what datasets might be available for those subjects.
In addition to ICPSR, a few other resources for locating datasets (and/or statistics) include:
1) From my list of web sites on del.icio.us (selecting the tag "statistics")
http://del.icio.us/marcylibrarian/statistics
2) From the Business Reference portion of the USFSP web site:
for general information on statistics and data sources: http://www.nelson.usf.edu/reference/subject_guides/business/statistics_data.html
3) OR, for the Business Statistics II course guide (handout):
http://web.nelson.usf.edu/reference/documents/BusStatistics.html
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