Important notice about the closure of the Frank Lowy Library

On 14 December 2007 the Frank Lowy Library will be closing and the collection and services will be moved to the UNSW Library.

From January 2008, the Library collection and services will be part of this fully integrated library serving the Australian School of Business.

For more information on these services and resources, contact UNSW Library via Ask libraryinfo@UNSW

Books on loan from the Frank Lowy Library can be returned to the UNSW Library. Please drop in the UNSW Library return chute or mail to this address:
Level 2 Loans Desk - (AGSM returns)
UNSW Library
University of NSW
UNSW, Sydney 2052

UNSW Library contact details
Phone: (02) 9385 2650; Fax: (02) 9385 1235; Email: libraryinfo@unsw.edu.au
Web: http://info.library.unsw.edu.au/

The Frank Lowy Library

The Frank Lowy Library is a dedicated library for business faculty and postgraduate students. Its mission, of supporting the AGSM MBA and AGSM Executive Programs, is as relevant in today’s Australian School of Business as it was when the original AGSM was established over 30 years ago.

The Frank Lowy Library has access to a large number of premium business research tools, and the staff are familiar with the research and teaching needs of the business school faculty. Our staff have experience with research in the private sector, and we are familiar with tight deadlines and exacting levels of service.

What you can expect if you use the Frank Lowy Library

• Friendly and personalized service. We take pride in satisfying your particular research or teaching preferences.
  


• Multi-skilled staff. You will get to know staff in the library with particular areas of expertise.
  


• Prompt service. Most of our research staff are familiar with the tight deadlines of conducting research in the private sector.
  


• Pleasant physical space. Big enough to contain an up-to-date and relevant collection of business books and journals.
  


• Flexible attitude. We appreciate that different people have different working styles and we can work in the way which best suits you.

Examples of requests

• Where can I find the last 3 months financial press on XYZ Telco, and a report by the J group on the role of organic growth in companies?
  


• Can you do a literature search on women re-entering the workforce after a break issues. I’m looking for the barriers they might face?
  


• How can I find Total return analysis and historical share information for ABC Mining Company?
  


• Can you find two articles published in the Australian Press last month on K Company and development of Centrepoint with a quote mentioning “an ever watchful little brother?”

A Few Frequently Asked Questions about the Frank Lowy Library

I used to work in the AGSM building but now I’m in the Australian School of Business building, can I still use the Frank Lowy Library?
Yes, you certainly can!

Before the merger, I was in the Faculty of Commerce and Economics, can I use the Frank Lowy Library?
Yes you can. You'll need to register, please bring a form of ID and we can join you up on the spot. More details here.

Is there any way of borrowing or returning items that doesn’t involve making the trip to AGSM building?
The Frank Lowy Library is happy to send books to you via the internal mail. It is also possible to request that a book be set aside for a short time so that you can arrange for a representative to pick it up for you. Please contact us for further details.

Where is the Frank Lowy Library located?
On the first floor of the AGSM Building.

Meet the Frank Lowy Library Staff

Raj Saxena
Frank Lowy Librarian
9931 9397
As the person in charge of the Frank Lowy Library, he is happy to have a high-level discussion with faculty and administrators about library services. He can also answer copyright questions from faculty and assist with using EndNote.

Natalie McDonald
Manager, Client Services.
9931 9395
She is committed to giving all clients the best service possible and is interested in exploring new ways to offer services to a range of library clients. With her background in corporate libraries she understands the value of good information in the decision making process. After completing her MBA a number of years ago she understands the balancing act that is managing study and life 'outside' an MBA.

Dianna Hand
Research Librarian.
9931 9395
With a background in the resources sector, she is extremely experienced in company research, whether it be company background or financial analysis. Dianna supports faculty by helping find cases and other readings for courses. She is accustomed to performing literature searches and citation counts for faculty. Dianna can also make presentations to your postgraduate students on available information resources.

Françoise Rodriguez
Serials and Research Librarian
9931 9556
With over 8 years experience in a variety of information/knowledge roles, Françoise has in-depth knowledge of the wide variety of on-line and web-based information sources, including the latest resources in business, management, accounting, company and industry information, law and arts & humanities. In addition to her research work, Françoise is responsible for managing the serials unit.

Karl Lehtonen
Serials Technician
9931 9390
Serials and Inter-Library Loan
Karl has a background in IT and has worked at the UTS Library where he honed his serial management skills. Karl assists in the day-to-day operations of the serials unit.

Tamara Sushkova
Collection Management Librarian
tamara@agsm.edu.au

Cathy Sayer
Technical Services Technician
9931 9575
Tamara and Cathy make up the Collection Management team. Their work ensures the library collection is balanced, with enough current and relevant material in each section of the Library. Tamara oversees the growing DVD collection in the Library. Tamara works closely with academic staff to ensure there are updated resources, including textbooks, to support teaching activities.

Morgan Wilson
Electronic & Research Services Librarian.
9931 9415
Morgan has a background in legal research and competitive intelligence. He is particularly interested in how libraries can use new technology and electronic media such as blogs and wikis to provide better library services for all library users, whether they are located on or off campus. In addition to his research work, Morgan is responsible for maintaining the various library websites and making sure that the software which organizes the Library runs smoothly.

Specialist services provided & who to contact

Managers:
Raj Saxena, Frank Lowy Librarian
Natalie McDonald, Client Services Manager

Ask a Librarian
Natalie McDonald
9931 9390 library@agsm.edu.au

Borrower Registration
Library Desk
9931 9390 library@agsm.edu.au

Case Ordering
Dianna Hand
9931 9394 caseorders@agsm.edu.au

Copyright
Raj Saxena
9931 9397 rajs@agsm.edu.au
Natalie McDonald
9931 9395 nataliem@agsm.edu.au

Class presentations on resources and research tools
Dianna Hand
9931 9394 diannah@agsm.edu.au

EndNote
Raj Saxena
9931 9397 rajs@agsm.edu.au
Morgan Wilson
9931 9415 morganw@agsm.edu.au

e-journals, journal collection queries
Françoise Rodriguez
9931 9556 f.rodriguez@agsm.edu.au

Literature searches
Natalie McDonald
9931 9395 nataliem@agsm.edu.au

Records and Archives
Cathy Sayer
9931 9575 cathys@agsm.edu.au

Research Consultations
Natalie McDonald
9931 9395 nataliem@agsm.edu.au

Textbook and book ordering
Tamara Sushkova
9931 9396 tamara@agsm.edu.au

Further information about the duties and background of Frank Lowy Library staff.

The Frank Lowy Library and Executive Programs

The Frank Lowy Library has been piloting some innovative services to support AGSM Executive Programs. The goal is two-fold. Improve the learning experience of participants before and during program by working closely with course co-ordinators to provide readings which are relevant and accessible. In addition to the usual journal articles, the Library also provides self-updating pre-made searches. Recognizing that participants in ASGM Executive Programs are usually time poor, the Library also highlights the best of the web on the given topics.

The other goal is to ensure participants get value from their Executive Program even after the course has finished. The Library is assisting the establishment of these virtual communities by providing current and relevant content.

Bloomberg at the Frank Lowy Library

Bloomberg is one of the world’s premier financial databases. Bloomberg collects data for 3.7 million securities across all markets worldwide. Use Bloomberg to find nearly any type of financial and historical data.

The markets covered include: government and corporate bonds, mortgage, money-market, stock market indices, currency (spots, futures, options on over 100 currencies), commodities and equities.

Current students, faculty and staff may use Bloomberg at The Frank Lowy Library.

Blog round up, the slightly bigger edition

Because it's been a little while since my last blog round up, this will be a little longer. I've also found some good posts from the project management blogs I've recently added to my reader.

Marc Andreessen, The Pmarca Guide to Career Planning, part 1: Opportunity, blog.pmarca.com
"Career planning = career limiting. ... The second rule of career planning: Instead of planning your career, focus on developing skills and pursuing opportunities." See also part 2 and part 3.

Penelope Trunk, Business schools shift to accommodate the biological clock, Brazen Careerist
"People have been talking in hushed voices of creating faster ways to get through school in order to attract women. And people have been talking off the record about how top schools accept women at an earlier age than they accept men. But Harvard has made it official. In order to attract women into business school they are allowing women in after just two years of work."

Alexander Kjerulf, How NOT to lead geeks, Chief Happiness Officer
"Geeks hate management-speak and see it as superficial and dishonest. Managers shouldn't learn to speak tech, but they should drop the biz-buzzwords. A manager can say "We need to proactively impact our time-to-market" or simply use english and stick to "We gotta be on time with this project"."

Fast Company Now, Madonna's Moves Herald the Future of Music Distribution
"The bottom line: having to abandon DRM will force record labels to think more innovatively, and more comprehensively, about how to market their music. LiveNation's deal with Madonna is a prime case in point."

Steven D. Levitt, Paul Krugman Hits the Blogosphere Running, Freakonomics
"While economists are well aware of the patterns in inequality, there is less agreement concerning the reasons for its ups and downs. Krugman believes that the primary factor driving inequality is politics. I suspect that most economists would disagree."

Martha Lagace, Management Education's Unanswered Questions Q&A with: Rakesh Khurana, HBS Working Knowledge
"Given the rapidity by which our business context is changing, the graduates of business schools should be able to access continuing education. If we really do believe that knowledge is important for effective practice, then it would seem that having some mechanism for connecting graduates to what is relevant would be very important."

Garry Emmons, Encouraging Dissent in Decision-Making, HBS Working Knowledge
"Edmondson says this reluctance to speak up stems variously from fears that superiors will not like the idea or that it may appear to criticize the status quo, which most people find reassuringly familiar or dangerous to challenge."

Mike Griffiths, Right-Brain Project Management, Leading Answers
"This conscious search for sense before making plans accepts the vagueness in early projects and embraces the futility of detailed plans made too soon. Rather than moving to planning too early, a focus on motivation and meaning is a great use for early project time."

Lisa Haneberg, When We're Wrong - Recovering from Bad Decisions, Management Craft
"Great managers make more bad decisions than do mediocre managers. Why? Because great managers approach and get active in more situations. Mediocre managers are more likely to sit back and let others make decisions or let situations linger."

Johanna Rothman, "But It’s Just a Small Change", Managing Product Development
"Murphy is one of your team members. Finish this project. Hold a retrospective. Work differently on the next one. But don’t make that one small change."

Gavin Heaton, The Future Isn't What You Think, Servant of Chaos
"This is why we use the term "disruptive" technology for those innovations that change the status quo. It is also why it is essential for us, as marketers, to continue to investigate and play with the technologies that become available"

Seth Godin, Radiohead and the mediocre middle, Seth's Blog
"Most industries innovate from both ends:
* The outsiders go first because they have nothing to lose.
* The winners go next because they can afford to and they want to stay winners.
* It's the mediocre middle that sits and waits and watches."

The Frank Lowy Library welcomes EY Cohort D1

It was a pleasure meeting you all on Wednesday night. I trust you are enjoying your stay on Campus.

Anna Gunnthorsdottir recommended a number of books on strategy and game theory that night and as promised I have put together a couple of booklists get you thinking about your next assignment. All of these are available in the Library and if you are out of town we can post them to you.

Don't forget the Library is here to support your research and study so please contact us if you need assistance.

Strategy

Blue ocean strategy : how to create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant
Kim, W. Chan.
658.802/85
The competitive advantage of nations
Porter, Michael E 
382.1042/7
Harvard business essentials : strategy : create and implement the best strategy for your business
658.4012/353

Harvard business review : corporate strategy 
658.4012/48 

Harvard business review on advances in strategy
658.4012/262

On competition
Porter, Michael E
382.1042/11

Sun Tzu and the art of business : six strategic principles for managers
McNeilly, Mark. 
658.4012/186

Game Theory and decision making

Decision making using game theory : an introduction for managers
Kelly, Anthony
658.40353/17 

Decision traps : ten barriers to brilliant decision-making and how to overcome them
Russo, J. Edward.
  658.403/50 

Extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds
Fridson, Martin S.
332.645/20 

Game theory and business applications
Chatterjee, Kalyan.
658.40353/13 

Game theory at work : how to use game theory to outthink and outmaneuver your competition
Miller, James D. 
658.40353/15

Games for business and economics 
Gardner, Roy 

658.40353/14 

Keeping up-to-date on trends in project management

The Frank Lowy Library also supports the work of Australian School of Business Executive Programs. This week I've been doing a little work compiling useful URLs for the Managing Project Managers course.

Here are just five of the project management blogs which I found.

• Codswallop
• Frank Patrick’s Focused Performance Business Blog
• A Girl’s Guide to Managing Projects
• Herding Cats
• Raven's Brain

The complete list, including podcasts and other interesting stuff, is available here.

Have I missed anything? Please let me know.

Weekly blog round up

Ok, it's been a little more than a week, but these ones were worth waiting for :)

Practically irrelevant?, Economist.com, 28 August 2007
Whether academic research actually produces anything that is useful to the practice of business, or even whether it is its job to do so, are questions that can provoke vigorous arguments on campus.

Lynda M. Applegate, Jumpstarting Innovation: Using Disruption to Your Advantage, HBS Working Knowledge, 4 September 2007
Disruptions in the business environment cause economic shifts that destabilize industries, companies, and even countries. They allow new entrants or forward-thinking established players to introduce innovations—in products, markets, or processes—that transform the way companies do business and consumers behave.

Seth Godin, The Scarcity Shortage, Seth's Blog
Scarcity, after all, is the cornerstone of our economy. The best way to make a profit is by trading in something that's scarce. ... So how do you deal with the shortage of scarcity?

Andrea Coombes, It's Time to Stand Up to Your Email, Wall Street Journal, 26 August 2007
Another strategy to take control of your in-box: Turn off "you have mail" alerts that interrupt you as you work. Instead, decide on a regular schedule to check your in-box, whether it's once every 30 minutes or three times a day.

Leading online tool for company & industry information

The OneSource Global Business Browser is on trial again until at least the end of August. This online database is a leading company and industry research tool for universities and libraries. OneSource integrates business information on companies around the world, covering 17 million global companies. The content is packaged into a web-based research tool and links together company and industry profiles allowing users to quickly conduct their research.

If you find this database useful, and think the University should subscribe to it, please let the Library know.

Here is a snapshot of what this database can do for you:

OneSource's business information includes:
* In-depth company profiles covering 17 million companies worldwide
* 21,000 Australian/NZ private and public companies with more added weekly.
* Get in-depth profiles of companies, including: financials, annual reports, corporate affiliations.
* Query for companies by industry, size, location and more
* Industry overviews, trends and market research
* Find information about executives and board members
* Up to date News wires, trade and business press
* Much of the data is exportable to Excel

Over 100 search variables are available for screening against global companies. These include:
* Business Description
* Corporate financials
* Financial Values and Ratios
* Parents and subsidiaries
* Industry codes including US and ANZ SIC
* Geographic variables ranging from international regions to postal codes
* Analyst company & Industry reports (up to eight long brokerage house reports provided)
* Rank Screening (e.g. Top 50 by Sales)
* Users can perform full text searches against the analyst report archive, allowing them to search for specific subjects such as new technologies.

OneStop Report
The OneStop report provides a unified, customisable report, which may be saved to PDF, allowing users to store detailed company profiles for later review. Users may include significant developments, executives and biographies, five years of financials, Company Insights and SWOT reports.

Industry Research – OneSource provides an industry module with market research and other industry content:
* Datamonitor (2,500 global market research reports by SIC) including 554 Asia Pac reports:
* Industry Sector Analyses (1,500 industry profiles) from the US Intl. Trade Administration
* US Private Company Industry Norms from RMA by NAICS and company size
* Current Industry reports from the US Census Bureau Government and association links from OneSource.
* Top Competitors by geography, industry, and size variable (e.g. Assets, Sales, etc.)
* Industry news by topic from Gale Business & Industry.

Weekly blog round up (with a nod to Career's Week)

With next week being Career’s Week, I decided that a few of these links would be on this general topic.

Dustin Wax, Advice for Students: 10 Steps Toward Better Research, lifehack.org
There’s some great advice here from someone who isn't a librarian. From when it’s appropriate to use Wikipedia, to allowing time for the research process, and the importance of taking a moment to familiarize yourself with the resources you have, particularly the library resources. He says some nice things about librarians too :)

Jim Heskett, How Will Millennials Manage?, HBS Working Knowledge
"There seems to a fixation these days on millennials as employees. But what kind of managers will they make?" Make sure you read the comments.

Ryan Paugh, Marketing Yourself Outside the Box, Employee Evolution
"Linked-In, Facebook and MySpace are all great ways to network online, but if you want to take things a step further, create your own Website [or blog]"

Penelope Trunk, To find your best next job, focus on the company not the job, Brazen Careerist
"... the best companies don’t use money as a recruiting tool. It’s not that they think you don’t care about money. But they know they cannot differentiate themselves with money."

Clarke Ching, When Trust Goes AWOL, StickyMinds.com
"The best way to build—or rebuild—trust is to act in a trustworthy way. I only needed to see my mobile’s alarm clock work properly once before I trusted it and thereafter I slept soundly, but it takes longer to build trust in people."

Seamus McCauley, Paying for the luxury of ignorance, Virtual Economics
The author disagrees with Google's Chief Economist's statement that it is easy to switch search engines. Although it is not difficult to go to a different search engine, people tend to stick with information sources that they trust. Putting on my librarian hat, I make a distinction between just "looking something up" and in-depth research. When doing the former, it's ok to do what's easiest and most comfortable, but the latter is work, and requires exploring all appropriate sources even-handedly.

AGSM students can now use the UNSW Main Library

After some technical difficulties AGSM students are now again able to use the UNSW Main Library. The two Libraries are on different systems so there are small differences in procedures.

These are the main points to keep in mind when using the Main Library:
•    You will need to present your student card to borrow books
•    Normal loan period is 4 weeks unless recalled – that is when another person has requested the book, you will be emailed and have 7 days to return the book
•    Standard overdue items are fined at $1/day per item (max $30/item) you will be emailed a couple of days before the items are due.
•    You can borrow 50 items at a time
•    The UNSW Library catalogue is available from the Frank Lowy Library page under ‘Research & Articles Databases’, choose ‘UNSW LRD (Catalogue)’ from the ‘Databases A-Z list’.

Need more information?

Connecting to the Frank Lowy Library Catalogue with EndNote

Bibliographic management software, such as EndNote, is useful for tracking citations that you find as part of your research. It is also possible to use these programs to connect to the Frank Lowy Library Catalogue and download citations directly.

This blog provides basic instruction for using the EndNote software with the FLL's catalogue.

Download the FLL Catalogue Connection File

You can import records from the FLL Catalogue into your EndNote libraries by using a connection file. Connection files allow you to search a library catalogue using EndNote's custom search interface and then import selected records directly into your library.

Click the link below to download the connection file. Save the file in the "Connections" folder in your EndNote program file (usually C:\Program Files\Endnote\Connections).

[Download Connection File - Frank Lowy Library.enz]

Searching the FLL Catalogue in EndNote

Once you have installed the connection file in the specified location, you are ready to begin searching the FLL Catalogue.

Open EndNote. Go to "Tools" and "Connect" and then again "Connect...".
Select the Frank Lowy Library connection file.
Highlight the connection file and then click "Search"
A search box should appear that states "Remote Search of Library Catalogue at the Frank Lowy Library". Enter your search terms and click "Search"
Retrieve your references and highlight those that you wish to move to your EndNote library. Click "Copy # References To" and select your EndNote library. Your references should import automatically.

Need Further Assistance

If you cannot connect to the Frank Lowy Library Catalogue via the EndNote connection file posted above, please contact the Library at <library@agsm.edu.au>.

Weekly blog round up

• Leigh Householder, The Worst Focus Group is You, Advergirl
  "You may simply be too close to the brand. After years of being a marketer / customer / advertiser, you hold certain core beliefs about the brand(s) you represent. If there is a change in the marketplace – or, even in your core customer – you may be too close to see it without an outside perspective."
• Tiffany Monhollon, Multitasking vs. Time Management, Employee Evolution
  "It turns out, multitasking may help us do more things at once, but it doesn’t help us do them well – or even quickly for that matter. In fact, it slows us down."
• Sean Silverthorne, HBS Cases: How Wikipedia Works (or Doesn’t), Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
  "From the outside, Wikipedia may look like chaos barely contained. 'When people look at these sorts of phenomenon at Wikipedia, they misread the anarchy,' Lakhani says. 'All these people, thousands of people, there must be no rules! But there is a very ornate and well-defined structure of participation.'"
• Todd Rogers and Katy Milkman, Understanding the ‘Want’ vs. ‘Should’ Decision, Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
  "We predicted that online grocery shoppers would order healthier groceries when ordering for delivery in the distant future (i.e., 5 days from now) than when ordering for delivery in the more immediate future (i.e., tomorrow). This is exactly what we found. ... people are more likely to rent DVDs in one order and return them in the reverse order when should DVDs (e.g., documentaries) are rented before want DVDs (e.g., action films)."
• Nora Barnes and Eric Mattson, The Game Has Changed: College Admissions Outpace Corporations in Embracing Social Media, Robin Good's Latest News
  "This research reached out to the 'marketing teams' (i.e., the admission departments) of over 2,000 accredited four-year colleges and universities nationwide [USA] to learn how they were using these exciting new technologies. ... Interestingly, admissions departments feel that social media is 'very important' to their future strategy in almost a 2:1 ratio to Inc. 500 businesses that feel the same way (51% compared to 26%)."
  

How to prepare a business plan

The assigned reading on business plans for the Entrepreneurship & Strategy course has been so popular that we've decided to list some of the other books on business plans which we have in our collection. Why not make the most of these excellent resources and visit the Library today!

1) Harvard business essentials: entrepreneur's toolkit : tools and techniques to launch and grow your new business. Boston, Mass. : Harvard Business School Press, c2005.
Call number 658.1/21

2) Business plans made easy / David H. Bangs Jr.
3rd ed. Irvine, Calif. : Entrepreneur Press, c2005.
Call number 658.4012/363

3) Guide to business planning / Graham Friend and Stefan Zehle.
London : The Economist in association with Profile Books, 2004.
Call number 658.4012/329

4) How to prepare a business plan / Edward Blackwell. Rev. 4th ed.
London : Kogan Page, 2004.
Call number 658.4012/315

5) The definitive business plan : the fast-track to intelligent business planning for executives and entrepreneurs / Richard Stutely.
2nd ed. London : Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2002.
Call number 658.4012/386

6) The Australian business planning guide : creating a plan for success in your own business / David Bangs and Michael Schaper.
2nd ed. Crows Nest., N.S.W. : Allen & Unwin, 2003.
Call number 658.4012/312

7) Perfect phrases for business proposals and business plans : hundreds of ready-to-use phrases for winning new clients, launching new products, and getting the funding you need / Don Debelak.
New York, N.Y. : McGraw-Hill, c2006.
Call number 658.15224/33

Tell us which of these books you found the most useful for the course by leaving a comment at the end of this Blog. We'd like to hear from you!

Researching your assignment, where do you start?

Before you jump onto Google or one of the databases take a few moments to work out exactly what you are looking for. These tips will help keep you stay on track. 

Step 1: Take a moment
Try and summarise in a sentence what you are really looking for.
What type of information are you after? Do you need market or industry research? Some statistics? Company information?

Step 2: What words to use
Once you have clarified what you require and have written it down, identify the key words or search terms or concepts that match what you are looking for. 

Step 3: Jump online
Use the Advanced Search options in Google or the databases. This will help you to combine these search terms.

Step 4: Refine, refine, refine
Got a few things that are close? If you are using a database check what subject terms or keywords they use. Then use those search terms to refine your search. There may be a better term to use, most databases have a thesaurus, have a look at what terms they use. Some databases suggest topics at the top of the page or have a ‘Find More Like This’ link.

Step 5: Ask for help
If you haven’t found what you are looking for, or feel like you are on the right track in 10mins Ask A Librarian. Seriously, we can assist with advice on which are the best resources to use and how to use them.

Where would you go to find information on how online tourism companies make money from hotel bookings?

Weekly blog round up

• Gary Becker, The International Market for Talent-Becker, The Becker-Posner blog
  “Although outsourcing has certainly accelerated as well as reflected the international hunt for talent, outsourcing is not the only factor that has invigorated the talent market. Migration of skilled workers also is part of the competition across nations for talent.”
• Penelope Trunk, How to start a quality conversation with someone you don’t know, Brazen Careerist
  “You don’t need to be extroverted to be a great conversationalist; you need to care about other people. You need to trust that you will find other people interesting because you are a curious, engaged person.”
• Joshua Gans, Growth at a distance, CoreEcon
  Does the tyranny of distance still exist? If so, could Australia be doing anything differently to ameliorate its effect?
• Economist Intelligence Unit ViewsWire, Ten years on: How Asia shrugged off its economic crisis, Economist.com
  “The financial crisis can be described as having been a “perfect storm”: a confluence of various conditions that not only created financial and economic turbulence but also greatly magnified its impact.”
• Pamela Slim, Presentation tips for budding entrepreneurs, Escape from Cubicle Nation
  This is a good all-round post on giving presentations, from fundamentals such as planning and having the right attitude, to practical matters such as not having too many PowerPoint slides.
• Thomas Eisenmann, Geoffrey Parker, and Marshall Van Alstyne, Platform Envelopment, HBS Working Knowledge
  Looks at this issue in depth using the Apple iPhone, Windows Media Player and Blockbuster video as some of the examples.
• Gina Trapani, The art of the doable to-do list, lifehacker
  "Break it down. The best way to make yourself avoid a task like the plague is to make it a vague monstrosity."

“Attitudes to work in the 21st century, boomers, slackers and Y?”

Reading a small selection from the plethora of books describing the differences between generations, it’s easy to get caught up believing the clichés and stereotypes given to the post-war generation of Baby boomers, (those born between 1946 and 1964), Generation X, (those born between 1965 to 1977), and Generation Y, (born 1978 – 1998). Nevertheless, it’s an interesting exercise to take a snapshot of your own workplace and see if you can recognise any ‘generational differences’ manifesting in attitudes to work and interactions between your colleagues and bosses, and examine whether some of the clichés apply. What I’ve discovered is how contradictory these stereotypes can be.

Baby boomers are often portrayed as ‘toeing the company line’, doggedly working their way to the top, not questioning their ‘superiors’, and resisting change. However, baby boomers were once young rebels and have turned out to be the innovators of society. A recent issue of BRW focuses on some of Australia’s top innovators, most of whom are baby boomers.

Generation Xers on the other hand, want to satisfy their need for relationships and socialisation through teamwork, and are supposed to bring a more ‘relaxed’ attitude to work. However, Gen Xers are not necessarily the slackers described in Douglas Coupland’s cult classic Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture. They’re extremely hardworking, but not without questioning the status quo. Research suggests this generation is less concerned with status and money than their baby boomer predecessors. Penelope Trunk, a columnist at the Boston Globe reports there has been a shift in work ethic taking place since Generation X became adults.

Generation Y, the youngest generation at work, want to be treated with respect and recognised for their contributions to an organisation's success. Along with Gen Xers, they got a rough deal, as, unlike baby boomers, they have never been able to expect a "job for life" at any single organisation. As a result, they are more motivated by personal growth and the opportunity for developing skills they can take with them throughout their career.

Lesson here is, don’t pigeon-hole people in your workplace according to which generation they fit into. The economic and social environment in which you were born does have a bearing on your attitudes to work, but there are no hard and fast rules. It’s more important to develop an understanding as to why not everyone’s attitude to work is the same.

What do you think? Leave a comment.

Why are some books on 2hr or 3 day loan, and where can I find them?

The books on 2hr loan are textbooks, course notes, worked exam papers or other high demand readings that your lecturer has asked to go on 'Closed Reserve'. In fact some are only able to be used in the Library.

3 day loan books are usually earlier editions of your textbooks or books recommended by your lecturer. Both types of books will appear as 'Reserve Desk' in the Library catalogue.

The shorter loan period ensures that as many of you as possible have access to these books over the term.

Where do I find reserve books & course notes?

The ‘Closed Reserve’ shelf is behind the Library’s Reference desk. The three day Reserve titles are shelved directly behind the ‘New Books’ Glass cabinet. Just ask your friendly Library staff at the desk for assistance.

Mergers and integration

There’s a difference between when a merger is announced and when it has been completed. The merger of the AGSM with the UNSW Faculty of Commerce and Economics to form the Australian School of Business at UNSW has been announced, but the integration process is still continuing.

The Frank Lowy Library is a good example of this. The Library’s user database is populated from the AGSM’s student and staff databases, but at the moment, it is not synchronized with the equivalent UNSW databases.

The Frank Lowy Library welcomes all faculty and staff and postgraduate students from the Australian School of Business who are interested in using the Library. Because the AGSM and UNSW databases are not integrated yet, the Library needs you to fill out a registration form so that you can be added into the Library’s database. This allows us to keep track of what books or DVDs you’ve borrowed, and any materials you have reserved.

The other difference is with using the Library’s electronic collection. Accessing databases and electronic journals is crucial to using a library these days. As things are today and for the immediate future, AGSM students can reach these things only through the Frank Lowy Library. Every other UNSW student, staff or faculty member needs to use the UNSW Library’s gateways for this – Sirius and the LRD (Library Resource Database).

The good news is that it doesn’t really matter whether you use the Frank Lowy Library or the UNSW Library interface to access the electronic collection, with only a few exceptions, the two collections have the same content.

As the integration process continues, it is expected that the registration forms and the different ways of accessing databases will eventually go away, but this process will take time.

If you have any questions about the merger and integration process or would like to give some feedback about it, feel free to send us a comment.

Weekly blog round up

• Dani Rodrik, Clive Crook’s very astute observation, Dani Rodrik's weblog
• David Jacobson, About Australia: 2006 census data released, David Jacobson's External Insights
• Steve Rubel, The Future of PR is Participation, Not Pitching, Micro Persuasion
• Becky McCray, The Dip, The Purple Cow, The Blue Ocean Strategy, and The Long Tail, Small Biz Survival

Library newsletter

Before franklly was a blog, it was the name of the Library's newsletter. There's a new issue of the newsletter available right now (pdf file). This issue is mainly about doing industry research. Using the Australian wine industry as an example, the newsletter has useful information about using Australian Bureau of Statistics data and subscription library databases (Business Source Premier, Factiva and Global Market Information Database) and other web resources to find industry information. Previous issues of the newsletter are available on the Library's website.

Thursday blog round up

• Richard Posner, Intelligence and Leadership—Posner, The Becker-Posner blog
• Gary Becker, Intelligence and Leadership-BECKER, The Becker-Posner blog
• Marc Andreessen, The truth about venture capitalists, Part 1, blog.pmarca.com
• David Jacobson, What if you googled a job applicant and found out something?, David Jacobson's External Insights
• Lessons from Apple, Economist.com
• Pamela Slim, Book to read for generations from any letter of the alphabet: Brazen Careerist, Escape from Cubicle Nation
• Martha Lagace, Becoming an Ethical Negotiator: Q&A with Michael Wheeler, Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
  

Printed serials @ The Frank Lowy Library

The Frank Lowy Library subscribes to a multitude of databases and online material, providing users with access to literally hundreds of full text serial titles from the comfort of their desktops.

What may be news to some e-Library users is that the Library also subscribes to around 250 titles in print, housed in the AGSM building at UNSW.

AGSM Alumni, those taking a break from study who no longer have access to our electronic resources, or new Library patrons from other areas of the University will get the most value from our printed collection.

For those particularly concerned about the unfortunate new Fairfax Business Media electronic access limitations, we hold the Australian Financial Review (AFR) newspaper in print going back 5 full calendar months (and back to the 1970's in other non-electronic formats) -- as well as other “via AFR.com only” publications, such as CFO, AFR BOSS magazine, BRW (Business Review Weekly), AFR Smart Investor, and MIS (Managing Information Strategies).

Why not just search our catalogue for your favourite journal titles? Feel free to take a seat and get up to date with the latest research and news next time you're in the Library.

What's happening to the Library when the Australian School of Business moves to the Heffron building?

Starting on June 28 and continuing until late August, Australian School of Business faculty will be moving from the AGSM building to the Heffron building in the lower campus. A number of people have been asking us if the Library will also be moving and if it will continue to be able to serve faculty and students after the move to Heffron.

Here's what's going on:
1. The Library is not moving to the Heffron building
We are staying right where we are in the AGSM building. The Library is not alone in staying in the AGSM building: Awards Programs, Residential Programs, IT and Research Centres will also be staying in the AGSM building. There are no plans to move classes from the AGSM building - this means that the Library will still be conveniently located for students attending classes and for faculty who are teaching classes. For complete details about the moving process, read the Faculty of Business Moving Newsletter [pdf file].

2. The Frank Lowy Library will continue to support teaching and learning and research for AGSM programmes
The Frank Lowy Library is focused on just one thing - providing premium library services to postgraduate business students and faculty. The UNSW Library serves a broader body of students and a wider range of subject areas. Now that the Frank Lowy Library is a part of the UNSW Library system, there is an integration process underway. Changes are happening as part of the integration process, but the process is complicated - and so it's not possible to say right now what will happen and when it will take place.
In the mean time, the Frank Lowy Library is not moving. The Library will continue to serve the AGSM community by keeping its print collection up to date and relevant and by providing library staff who are uniquely experienced with the needs of business researchers. At the same time, the Library is developing new ways of serving users in the Australian School of Business.

Natalie McDonald Manager, Client Services Frank Lowy Library

Subscribe to the Library's calendar

This information has been around for some time on our website, but because there are lots of exceptions - such as the various university holidays and reduced hours for break and IP weeks - the table is quite complicated. The purpose of this Google calendar version of the Library opening hours is to make it easier for people to know if the Library is open on any particular day.

It's possible to just view the calendar, without subscribing to it.

If you already use for the Google calendar, you can subscribe to it by selecting this button -


Other links for the calendar: XML format and iCal format

Thursday blog roundup

I'm thinking of a different name to call this Thursday link dump. I don't have anything else shortlisted so suggestions are welcome.

• Marc Andreessen, Bubbles on the brain, blog.pmarca.com
• Heather M. Caruso, Todd Rogers, and Max Bazerman, Leading and Creating Collaboration in Decentralized Organizations, Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
• Joshua Gans, Free books with ads?, CoreEcon
• Joshua Gans, Innovation Index in The Age, CoreEcon, linking to this article published by the Age newspaper
• Jim Heskett, How Should Pay Be Linked to Performance?, Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
• Hugh MacLeod, the cult of the brand r.i.p., gapingvoid
• Robert May, Everything I Know About Management, I Learned From Pirates, Businesspundit

Finding electronic journals in full-text via the library

Ever tried to find an electronic journal but not known where to start? The library's A to Z e-journals service is a great place to start. It can be found under the e-journals link on the library home page:


The A to Z e-journals service is a list of all the electronic journals the Library has access to. You can find journals by title, keyword or subject as shown below:

We've also brought together a list of our most popular titles from among the hundreds of titles available via the Frank Lowy Library. The complete list of most popular e-journal titles can also be found on the e-journals page.

IBISWorld industry market research reports at the Frank Lowy Library

One of the special resources which the Frank Lowy Library provides to MBA, Executive MBA and PhD students at the Australian School of Business (this is the new name of the AGSM since its merger with the UNSW Faculty and Commerce and Economics) is access to IBISWorld Industry Reports.

IBISWorld Industry reports are popular because they're viewed as authoritative, comprehensive and time-saving. IBISWorld Industry reports are a premium resource (if you were wanting buy one of these reports for yourself or your company, the whole thing would set you back upwards of $A 700), and so the Library has needed to limit access. This is the reason why a librarian needs to approve requests to open IBISWorld reports. It is always difficult for Library staff to say no to students, but we believe our practices to be as fair as possible, ensuring that the greatest number of students have the opportunity to benefit from IBISWorld Industry reports when needed.

1. Only IBISWorld Australian industry market research reports are opened. Yes, IBISWorld offers many products, including US industry market research reports, and company research reports, but the Library has access to other resources which serve these areas at least as well as the IBISWorld reports.
2. There will be instances when alternative resources answer the question better than the IBISWorld industry report. When this happens, the IBISWorld industry report will not be opened, but Library will help you locate these other resources.
3. Generally no more than one IBISWorld industry report can be opened per student in a financial year.

One thing worth noting is that once an IBISWorld report has been opened for one student, it can be viewed an unlimited number of times during that financial year. Because we're approaching the end of the 2006-2007 financial year, there is a large number of reports which are already opened and can be viewed easily by Frank Lowy Library users. But come July 1, all of these opened reports will be closed again - except for the ten most popular reports.

Watch this blog for more hints and tips about using IBISWorld reports effectively.

Targeting “Academic Champions”: A Short-Term Solution for Integrated Information Literacy?

Targeting “Academic Champions”: A Short-Term Solution for Integrated Information Literacy?
Claire McGuinness

In this paper, the author critically reviews the strategies that have been adopted by librarians to secure academic support for curriculum-integrated information literacy (IL) instruction, and questions whether the popular approach of targeting individual academics offers a suitable foundation for the establishment of long-term IL programs. the paper suggests that librarians should instead align their IL objectives with the overall academic mission of their institutions and seek out the means to effect a more wide-ranging change in the academic culture, where IL is recognized as a core educational value. Several strategies are suggested by which this aim may be achieved.

Thursday linkdump

I'm not sure if this if going to be a regular feature in this blog, but I thought I'd share some interesting posts gathered from my readings of business-related blogs.

• Attracting the twentysomething worker
• Money and Ethics: How you stack up (quiz)
• The Ignorance of Crowds
• Obsession with the competition is a luxury of the over-funded
• Lessons from Seth Godin's talk about "The Dip" in Phoenix today
• Ambidexterity as a Dynamic Capability: Resolving the Innovator's Dilemma
• Repugnance as a Constraint on Markets
• Who should you hire?

New websites
Australian Flexible Learning Framework

New blogs
Deborah Schultz

Welcome to the Frank Lowy Library's blog

Yes, the blog has been around for some time, but the Library has decided that today is the blog's launch date. There is a link to the blog's feed on our newly remodelled home page (feedback on this is always welcome, please send us an email or leave a comment here).

Here's what you can expect from this blog if you subscribe to it:

• Library announcements, such that we'll be closed on Monday June 11 for the Queen's Birthday holiday in NSW
• Business research tips
  
• Every week, I'll post about a book recently added to the Library's collection as well as an interesting link from the web
• Other library news, such as updated research guides
  

Library closed on Saturday May 5

Because of UNSW IT Outage Servicing, the Library will be closed on Saturday May 5. Please also note that between 10 pm on Friday May 4 and 10 pm on Saturday May 5, the Library's catalogue and website and databases will not be available. The Information Commons will remain open during this time period, but the wireless network and networked printers will not be available [all electronic services, other than this blog, will be unavailable]. We apologize for the short notice and inconvenience.

no access to AFR and BRW after March 31 2007
The library regrets that abstracts will replace full text coverage of the Australian Financial Review and access to the full text of Business Review Weekly will no longer be available from factiva after March 31 2007. The publisher, Fairfax Business Media, has informed us that these two publications will be withdrawn from the factiva database from which they are currently accessed. Currently there is no other suitable online alternative. Fairfax has also introduced terms and conditions for their new online access channel that are unworkable for academic institutions. In collaboration with colleagues at other institutions and with Fairfax, we hope to find a satisfactory outcome soon. Abstracts will replace full text coverage of the Australian Financial Review on factiva. The Library has current print and microfilm holdings of the AFR, while BRW is available in print only.

Watch this space for developments as they come to hand.

how to write a business plan

An emba student wanted to know where to find business plan templates or samples. The Virtual International Business & Economic Sources (vibes) website was a starting point. It was also an opportunity to test out their "Ask a Librarian" function which is excellent. I got an immediate response and a great list of very useful sources, including the Australian government website which has information on starting a business. The United States Business Administration also offer their guidelines. The Better Business Bureau's site includes the SBA site and the bplans site. Another suggestion is Proquest5000 database, typing in the search terms 'Guidelines AND Business plans' (being careful to specify these as 'Subject' ). Of course the Frank Lowy Library holds an excellent selection of books on business plans, including The Ernst & Young business plan guide/ Siegel, Eric S. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN: 0471578258. Call No. 658.4012/389

Experiments in custom search engines

It's possible to create custom search engines which only search web sites which you specify. The important thing in web search is removing the false hits, which will otherwise distract you from the pearls of good information out there. I have just developing a custom search engine in Google Co-Op that searches business library web sites and the business-related blogs. The intention is to make a collection of reputable and reliable web sources, that will offer fewer false hits than a general search engine. Please note, it's very much a work in progress. If you know of a site that should be included, please send a comment to let me know. Alternatively, if you think a site should be excluded, I'm interested in hearing that as well.

presentations for MBA (Executive) EY residentials

During the month of February, staff from the Frank Lowy Library have been spending some time with EY students at their Ingleside residential to show how the library's resources can save their time and help in the research process.

As promised, here is a pdf version of the PowerPoint slides from one of the presentations.

For those who would like more information, this presentation has some extra details about using library databases.

How to login to the Frank Lowy Library's research site

1. From any page in the AGSM's website, select Login in the top right corner.

2. Enter your User ID and password in the Staff / Faculty / Students / Alumni Login section.
3. On the right hand side of the next screen, there is a section called My Menu. Choose Frank Lowy Library.
4. The front page of the Frank Lowy Library's research site looks like this for students, faculty and staff -

A few things about Factiva

Factiva provides access to unmatched global content that’s not available on the free Web, to research and monitor companies, industries, or any news.

Use this database for the most up-to-date information on company activities, issues and financials. It is also useful for the latest management topics being debated in the media.

Tips: Use the Source menu to select a particular publication or group of publications. Restrict the terms to appear in the Headline and Lead Paragraph.