Business Source Premier database!

We now have access to Business Source Premier, a great addition to the USF Libraries e-resource collection. NOTE especially that this business database includes articles, market research reports, Datamonitor company reports, and full-text (PDF) of Harvard Business Review, historical and current.

Here's the announcement:

Business Source Premier is one of the definitive scholarly databases in the field of business due to its depth and coverage. The database provides full text articles from more than 2,300 journals, including over 1,100 peer reviewed journals, and indexing for an additional 1,000 titles. Full text coverage dates vary, but some go back to the first issue of the journal. Full text articles from the Harvard Business Review date back to 1922. Business Source Premier also provides full text access to non-journal content. Content with the number of items within that category includes: case studies (166), books (139), market research reports (426), industry reports (5095), country reports (1409), company profiles (10,051) and SWOT analyses (2842). Global Monitor, Datamonitor, Countrywatch, and EIU are the source of this content. Business Source Premier also provides full text for more for more than 50 regional business publications, including titles from Crain Communications.

As one of the EBSCOHost databases acquired by the USF Libraries, Business Source Premier is available to impaired users requiring screen-readers or using keyboard controls.

For this database and other library resources visit http://www.lib.usf.edu. Click on Databases by Title/Subject to begin.

SEC and global accounting rules

The Securities & Exchange Commission tentatively agreed to a 2014 timetable for U.S. companies to adopt international accounting standards. The commission will vote again after a two-month period of public comment. Supporters claim the change will allow U.S. companies to cut costs and compete globally; critics call the move an outsourcing of U.S. regulation.

See the Business Week online coverage (Aug 27, 2008) here.

free iPods for students*

*not USF :)

Universities such as Freed-Hardeman in Tennessee are experimenting with providing free iPhones or Internet-capable iPods to incoming students. An article in today's New York Times (Aug 21, 2008) looks at varying opinions...

New business & economics databases at USF

There are some great new databases in the USF collection for your business and economics research:



"Mintel Oxygen is one of the leading marketing research databases being utilized by 120 of the top U.S. universities. It has become one of the best resources for timely and unique information about the business to consumer (b2c) marketplace. The academic version of Mintel Reports branded as Mintel Oxygen provides comprehensive coverage of the U.S. and European markets from consumer behavior to SWOT and brand share analysis. Academic users can access 400 new reports each year that on average number one hundred pages. Analysis combines consumer habits and attitudes within the competitive landscape."



"IBISWorld provides reports for all of the 723 US industries enabling research on the entire sector of the U.S. economy. Information is updated every four months, ensuring the latest information. Reports are divided into three searchable modules: Industry Market Research; Company Research, and Business Environment....."

"Hospitality & Tourism Complete, covers scholarly research and industry news relating to all areas of hospitality and tourism. This collection contains more than 749,000 records, with coverage dating as far back as 1965. .... Subject areas covered include the culinary arts, demographics & statistics, development & investment, food & beverage management, hospitality law, hotel management & administrative practices, leisure & business travel, market trends, technology and more."



"World News Connection is an online news service that provides translated and English-language news and information from an extensive array of providers. It is particularly effective in its coverage of local media sources, allowing a researcher to determine what is happening on the ground in a specific country or region. Compiled from thousands of non-U.S. media sources, the information from World News Connection covers significant socio-economic, political, scientific, technical, and environmental issues and events. "

For these databases and other library resources visit http://www.lib.usf.edu. Click on Databases by Title/Subject to begin.

Rising textbook prices and open-source e-books...

From the Los Angeles Times (Aug 18, 2008), a discussion of the rising cost of textbooks and how some are challenging the market:

"Caltech economics professor R. Preston McAfee finds it annoying that students and faculty haven't looked harder for alternatives to the exorbitant prices. McAfee wrote a well-regarded open-source economics textbook and gave it away -- online. But although the text, released in 2007, has been adopted at several prestigious colleges, including Harvard and Claremont-McKenna, it has yet to make a dent in the wider textbook market."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-textbook18-2008aug18,0,4712858.story?page=1

SEC's EDGAR to become IDEA

The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) announced that it will replace the EDGAR filing system with a new system named IDEA - Interactive Data Electronic Applications. Public companies use the EDGAR system to make their financial filings with the SEC. The EDGAR system is document-based; the new IDEA system is an interactive database that will identify individual data items on financial statements. IDEA will enable downloading data into spreadsheets and facilitate analysis by investors, financial analysts, students, and other users.

There will be a transition period (of unspecified duration) as IDEA-like features are gradually added to EDGAR. EDGAR will later become the historical archive of company SEC filings.

MBA applications during a recession...

Common wisdom holds that applications to MBA programs increase during a recession, as executives decide to improve their business skills as they wait for economic recovery.... According to a brief article in The Economist (August 7, 2008) the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) is reporting preliminary figures which show that 77% of full-time MBA programs have reported higher demand for places this year.