Category: databases & e-resources

Get Informed! Resources for Voters

Liz

Vote!The 2012 elections are coming up fast, and there are a lot of races on the ballots of all states – not just the presidential one. Arm yourself with the best information from library resources and the web with our Election Resources Research Guide. It includes voter information (including specific information for Massachusetts voters*), and the best places to get nonpartisan and bipartisan information. Check it out before you go to the polls!

*FYI: The registration deadline to vote in Massachusetts is October 17. Look at our guide to see how to register!

October 11 is National Coming Out Day

Liz

October 11 marks the anniversary of the March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1987, and every year since then, it has been celebrated as National Coming Out Day, and October more generally as Coming Out Month. We thought we’d take the opportunity to highlight just a small number of the library’s many LGBTQ-related resources. A shout-out to Bentley PRIDE for reminding us of Coming Out Day, and contributing suggestions!

Our collections include a wealth of books, films, and e-resources. We’ve hand-picked some suggestions for you to start with: just check out our Pinterest board we’re calling “Out in the Stacks.” Never read Alison Bechdel’s award-winning graphic memoir Fun Home, or seen the classic documentary The Celluloid Closet? Check them out, or try some recent acquisitions like It Gets Better, a book of essays stemming from Dan Savage’s “It Gets Better” project.

Or take a look at the Gender & Sexuality section of our streaming film database, Films on Demand, to see videos ranging from interviews with transgender people to documentaries on LGBTQ people in Latin America and the Arab world.

For even more books, check out the complete list of winners of the Lambda Literary Award, given to books that make a significant contribution to LGBTQ literature and nonfiction.

For more information about the history of National Coming Out Day, take a look at the Human Rights Campaign’s website.

Database of the Month: Morningstar

Kimberly

Many of you may have used this database to retrieve a company’s annual report, but Morningstar Investment Research Center offers so much more than that!

Morningstar covers all stocks traded on the NYSE, NASDAQ, and AMEX, and nearly 14,000 mutual funds – nearly 20,000 securities in all. Morningstar Investment Research Center contains powerful screener tools and detailed financial information on stocks, funds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), analyst reports for 1,000 stocks and 2,000 funds including buy and sell directions, market sector and industry reports, portfolio management tools, and more.

To learn about this database, the new Tutorial Section provides 8 excellent 2 to 4 minutes clips which introduce you to navigating the database content and using the screening and graphing tools.

In addition, Morningstar offers online self-paced training on investment topics such as Stocks, Funds, Portfolio and Bonds with various content levels from 100 to 500 on these topics.

Learn More

Visit Morningstar’s Investing Classroom (available under the Help & Education area) to discover what additional topics are offered.

Connect to this Database

Please visit  Morningstar Investment Research Center to explore the database further.   You may also access library databases via our Databases A-Z and Databases by Subject pages.

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Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to an important research database, highlighting key features of the database that you should know about. If you would like more information about this database (or any of the library’s databases) please Ask a Librarian.  If you would like a demonstration of this database for a class, please contact our Coordinator of User Education, Elizabeth Galoozis.

Database of the Month: Encore

Stephen

The Bentley University Library is pleased to announce the launch of our new discovery service, Encore.  Over the past few years, in both formal and informal settings, patrons have told us they wanted the ability to search topics from multiple resources, including the LIBCAT library catalog and articles from aggregated database vendors such as ProQuest and EBSCOHost, with one search interface. The Encore discovery service provides users with ability to do just that and to filter results with multiple facets.  Over the coming months patrons will see the Encore search box appearing on Bentley Library webpages and online research guides.

  • The Bentley Library Encore homepage can be accessed by pointing your browser to http://encore.bentley.edu. (The Encore search box also appears on our homepage at http://library.bentley.edu).  Because Encore provides access to licensed electronic resources it is only available to current Bentley University students, faculty and staff.  You will need your Bentley University Email Address and Network Password to login to Encore.

  • To use Encore simply enter a search term in the search box and click the arrow.  Use and “and”, “or” and “not” to expand or narrow a search.  To limit a search to just those items in LIBCAT or the Library’s articles databases click on the “Articles” or “Catalog” (the default) options at the top of the page.
Encore Search
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  • Encore provides an “Advanced Search” option that allows patrons to search using keyword, author, title, and subject indexes just like LIBCAT.  Users can also limit their search by language, format (book, DVD, E-Resource, etc.) and date range.
Encore Advanced Search
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  • Once the search is completed it is now time to filter and organize the results. By default Encore will return results by relevance. If the search was completed using the “Catalog” option, items from LIBCAT will be listed first, followed by links to articles from aggregated databases vendors.  There is also a link to “WorldCat” on the results page, under Other Resources, that will search the WorldCat multi-library catalog for items not owned by the Bentley Library that may be available via Interlibrary Loan (see the “Database of the Month: WorldCat” post from April 17, 2012).  Searches completed using the “Articles” option will only return results from databases.
Encore Search Results
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  • Users who wish to continue using the classic LIBCAT search interface can simply click on the link titled “Classic Catalog” or point your browser to http://libcat.bentley.edu.
  • Encore does not search all of the Bentley University Library’s databases.  It is designed to search articles databases from aggregated vendors such as EBSCO, ProQuest, JSTOR, Gale/InfoTrac, Project Muse,  Elsevier, CQ Researcher, IEEE, and ACM Digital Library. The “Article” search will return by broad subject categories from those vendors indexed by Encore.

For questions regarding Encore (or any library service) please contact the Bentley University Library Reference Desk at 781.891.2300 or refdesk@bentley.edu.

Database(s) of the Month: Ebooks at the Bentley Library

Macee

Historically, databases of electronic books have often been limited to on-screen viewing and limited printing. Now, with easier availability to affordable personal devices that allow you to read on the go, downloadable books have gained in popularity. The Bentley Library provides both types of ebook databases. Whether you are downloading the latest fiction and nonfiction to take to the beach, studying for licensing or other examinations, or researching and writing a paper, we have a database for that!

Overdrive Downloadable BooksOverdrive Downloadable Books

What’s included? Over 500 eBooks and audiobooks with an emphasis on classic and popular fiction and nonfiction, but including some research materials. New materials are added on an ongoing basis; suggestions for new materials are welcomed at our Suggest a Purchase page.

Is it downloadable? Every book and audiobook in this collection may be downloaded to some combination of computers, tablets, e-readers, smartphones, mp3 players and iPods. Available formats include Kindle, ePub, and PDF for ebooks, and mp3 and WMA for audiobooks. Not all formats are available for all titles.

How does it work? Browse by category, or search the database by keyword, title, author/creator, subject, and more. Then, follow the download instructions provided on the title’s information page.

How to gain access? Direct access is via Overdrive Downloadable Books. A Bentley username and password is required to use the database both on- and off-campus.  In addition, depending on your desired format and device, you may need to download additional software. More information is available in the Getting Started area on the Overdrive home page.

Books 24×7Books 24x7

What’s included?  Books on business, finance, information technology, health and wellness, and productivity. Also included: study guides for exams such as the CFA, and software manuals for business and statistics applications such as SAS and SPSS.

Is it downloadable? Books in this database are presented in electronic format, but must be read on a computer screen.

How does it work? This database is searchable by title, author, keyword, publisher and more, and browsable by broad topic areas such as Business, Finance, IT/Technical and Well-Being. Clicking on a title displays a linked Table of Contents, from which you can navigate the book’s content. If you conducted a keyword search, your search terms appear in the Top Section Hits area.

How to gain access? Direct access is via Books24x7.com (Business & IT Books). A Bentley username and password is required to use the database both on- and off-campus.

EBSCO EbooksEBSCO Ebooks

What’s included?  Nearly 8000 electronic books are included in this general-interest collection. Both scholarly and popular titles are available.

Is it downloadable? The full PDF text of all books in this database may be viewed on-screen. Printing and/or emailing documents is possible, but is limited.

How does it work? Using the EBSCO search interface, browse by category, or search the database by keyword, title, author, subject, and more. Click the link titled eBook Full Text to view the content, then navigate using the linked Table of Contents, or jump to desired sections using the search box.

How to gain access? Direct access is via EBSCO eBooks. A Bentley username and password is required to use the database off-campus.

Safari Tech Books (ProQuest)Safari Tech Books

What’s included? 150 books from the O’Reilly publishing series, focused on technology, digital media, and desktop and Web applications. Sample titles include Designing Social Interfaces, Javascript: the Definitive Guide and Analyzing Business Data with Excel.

Is it downloadable? Books in this database are presented in electronic format, and can be read on the computer screen in HTML or in the Safari Books Viewer. Books can be printed two ways: by chapter in HTML format, or by page in the Safari Books Viewer format. Users may also email a link to the book for later viewing.

How does it work? Search this database by author, subject, or software vendor, or browse by category or software vendor. Once you’ve chosen a book, you can search within the book, or read it via the links provided in the Table of Contents.

How to gain access? Direct access is via Safari Books – Tech Books Database. Off-campus, a Bentley username and password is required to use the database.

In addition to the direct links above, all of these databases may be found at the Databases A-Z page on the Library’s website. If you would like assistance with searching and/or downloading material, please contact us. Happy reading and researching!

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Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to an important research database, highlighting key features of the database that you should know about. If you would like more information about this database (or any of the library’s databases) please contact the Reference Desk.  If you would like a demonstration of this database for a class, please contact our Coordinator of User Education, Elizabeth Galoozis.

Database of the Month: DemographicsNow [New Database!]

Lisa

Demographics Now logoJust a few weeks ago the Bentley Library added DemographicsNow to our collection of databases.  DemographicsNow provides demographic, business and consumer data from the U.S. Census and other public and private sources.

Although U.S. Census data is freely available via their American Factfinder database, DemographicsNow has a more intuitive interface and built-in reporting features that gives it an edge over the Census’ site.  DemographicsNow also provides information on 23 million businesses and 206 million people/135 million households. This combination of data and business intelligence makes DemographicsNow an important resource for anyone needing to analyze the demographic and market potential of a geographic area.

There are three main components to the database: Demographics, Businesses and People. A mapping function is also available, allowing users to create custom thematic maps.

Demographics

This is the most impressive of the three components.  Use it to access U.S. Census data  from 1980-2010, view current year estimates, and get 5-year projections for any U.S. geographic area. A custom area can also be created using radius or drive time (minutes).  Users can choose from three report types – summary, comparison and rank – each of which can be downloaded in Microsoft Word, Excel, PDF and HTML formats.

This will be a “must-use” database for anyone developing a business or marketing plan (this means you, GB320 students!).  Marketers, sociologists, economists, and political scientists alike will find many uses for this data and will appreciate its easy retrieval. Data includes:

  • income
  • housing
  • race
  • age
  • education
  • retail spending
  • consumer expenditures (CEX)
  • businesses
  • MOSAIC segmentation (MOSAIC is a consumer segmentation that describes/classifies American consumers in 71 types and 12 groupings that share similar demographic and socioeconomic characteristics)

Businesses

Search for information on a specific company or perform a custom search to compile a list of businesses that meet certain criteria, such as size, industry, location and ownership type. The database even includes out-of-business listings back to the year 2000. This component of DemographicsNow is especially useful to entrepreneurs, job-seekers and others who want to create a customized list of businesses.

People

Search for information on a specific person or perform a custom search to compile a list of contacts that meet specific criteria, such as address, area code or U.S. Census neighborhood data averages (household income, family size, median age, number of vehicles, etc). Small business owners or salespeople may use this database to create targeted customer mailing lists.

Mapping

The mapping tool allows users to map their results, create custom geographies and view demographic variables in thematic coloring scales.

Connect to this Database

Please visit DemographicsNow to explore this valuable database further.  A series of brief, informative tutorials may be accessed using the “Help & Info” link in the top right corner of the DemographicsNow database.  You may also access library databases via our Databases by Subject and Databases A-Z pages.

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Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to an important research database, highlighting key features of the database that you should know about. If you would like more information about this database (or any of the library’s databases) please contact the Reference Desk.  If you would like a demonstration of this database for a class, please contact our Coordinator of User Education, Elizabeth Galoozis.

Database of the Month: CQ Researcher

Nicholas

CQ Researcher is a source of in depth, comprehensive reports on a range of social, political, economic, and scientific issues. The reports provide an overview, background and chronology, maps and graphs, and bibliography related to a particular issue. Each report is written by an experienced journalist and addresses a specific question related to an issue. For example, the report titled Campaign Finance Debates poses the question “Should regulations be loosened further?”. The reports go back as far as 1991 and continue to be published every week.

History

CQ Researcher was originally published as Editorial Research Reports from 1923 to 1956,  before being bought by Congressional Quarterly. During these years, Editorial Research Reports provided in depth reports on current events to subscribing newspapers.  The publication changed its name to CQ Researcher in 1991 and is currently owned by SAGE Publications.

Searching CQ Researcher for Reports

You can search CQ Researcher for reports on the topic you’re interested in in two basic ways: keyword searching and browse by topic. Use the Quick Search box at the top of the screen for basic keyword searching. This will oftentimes be enough to find a report on your topic.  When you’re looking at a list of search results, be sure to check out the date of the report on the right.  If you are interested in up to date information, an older report isn’t what you’re looking for. You can arrange the reports in chronological order from oldest to newest or newest to oldest by clicking on the blue arrows under Date.  There is also an advanced search option available where you can limit your search by date range, topic, and specific section of the report.

You can also browse for reports by topic by selecting Topic from the Browse Reports drop down menu in the upper left hand corner of the screen.  Once you select one of the topics listed, a listing of more specific topics will appear, related to the original topic.  For example, the U.S. Presidency topic brings you to a list of 4 sub-topics: Campaign Finance, Campaigns and Elections, Party Politics, and Powers and History of the Presidency.  When you click on one of the more specific topics, a listing of reports related to that topic will appear.

What’s in the Reports?

Each report has the following sections:

  • Introduction
  • Overview
  • Background
  • Current Situation
  • Outlook
  • Pro/Con
  • Chronology
  • Short Features
  • Maps/Graphs
  • Bibliography
  • The Next Step
  • Contacts

The Pro/Con section provides the two sides of the argument discussed in the report, each argument put forth by an individual associated with the issue. The Next Step section lists additional published sources, mostly articles and books, on the topic of the report.  The Contacts section has contact information for government agencies, advocacy groups, and think tanks related to the topic of the report.

Each report also lists related reports in the Issue Tracker for Related Reports area in the upper right corner of the report.  The Cite Now link will create a citation of the report in APA, MLA, Chicago, and Bluebook citation styles.

Connect to this Database

Please visit CQ Researcher to explore this valuable database further or visit our Databases page to view a complete list of our resources.

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Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to an important research database, highlighting key features of the database that you should know about. If you would like more information about this database (or any of the library’s databases) please contact the Reference Desk.  If you would like a demonstration of this database for a class, please contact our Coordinator of User Education, Elizabeth Galoozis.

Database of the Month: WorldCat

Liz

Wouldn’t it be great for research if libraries worldwide put their collections together into one searchable database?  Well, WorldCat is just that database. When you search WorldCat for a subject, author, title, or keyword, you’ll be searching the physical and digital collections of thousands of libraries around the world. WorldCat is a service of OCLC, a nonprofit research, libraries, and information organization. It grows every day from member libraries adding new items.

Why WorldCat?

You may wonder why you would want to search WorldCat instead of only searching Bentley’s own catalog and databases, or instead of a bookselling site like Amazon. Here are a few reasons:

  • You can get a comprehensive picture of the research. If you’re trying to find everything that’s been published by a particular writer or on a particular topic, WorldCat covers a larger, different set of items than either the Bentley catalog or Amazon. It includes archival and other local-level items, dissertations, electronic journals, and more.
  • Unique and out-of-print items will always be included. WorldCat provides information about resources for the purposes of research, not sale, so neither its records nor its search algorithms reflect what has sold the most copies, but what’s most relevant to researchers.
  • Many of the same useful features are available. WorldCat includes the capabilities to read and post reviews (it pulls in reviews from GoodReads and other sites), add tags, create lists, and export records in several ways.

See Who Has What

WorldCat also zeroes in locally (based on your zip code) to show you libraries near you who own the item you’re looking for.* While we do our best to build a collection useful to our users, Bentley doesn’t own everything. If you’re looking for an obscure book on the history of horticulture, or maybe pulp novels from the 1950s, your needs are probably better served by another collection. WorldCat will show you a local library where you can find the item, or you can immediately request it through our interlibrary loan service by clicking “Request via Interlibrary Loan.” An example of how you can see libraries near you that own an item is below, using Mad Men: Season One.

 *Always double-check that the library (including Bentley) owns the item, and that it is available to be checked out or examined. Contacting individual libraries is the best way to do this.

Connect to this Database:

You will find WorldCat listed on the library’s Databases A-Z page, and every database subject page. Just look for this box:

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Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to an important research database, highlighting key features of the database that you should know about. If you would like more information about this database (or any of the library’s databases) please contact the Reference Desk.  If you would like a demonstration of this database for a class, please contact our Coordinator of User Education, Elizabeth Galoozis.