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That Cool Map Tool We’ve Been Telling You About

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Sophie Bury, Business Librarian & Head Bronfman Business Library
Published Wednesday April 24, 2013

You may have discovered the value of Simply Map already for market research in Canada. It allows you to generate both maps and tables displaying demographic or spending patterns data for one or more specific geographic locations in Canada, e.g. cities, towns, municipalities, neighbourhoods and so on. It also allows you to plot on a map the location of businesses operating in a specific industry in a geographic location of your choosing within Canada. Tables and lists generated can be exported to Excel and maps can be inserted in to power point presentations and other file formats.

Have we piqued your interest? If so, we recommend you take a look at our recently created, handy guide to using Simply Map prepared by business and map information experts at York University Libraries, which features three scenarios illustrating common marketing and business planning tasks.

Simply Map

And the value of using Simply Map just got even stronger with our recent addition of a new module called the PRIZM C2 Marketer’s Handbook from Environics Analytics. This module, integrated within the existing Simply Map product as shown here, is a consumer segmentation system for Canada which classifies Canadians in to one of 66 lifestyle types with names like Electric Avenues, Pets & PCs and Les Chics. Detailed profiles of these consumer segments are available including psychographics providing insights in to the behaviour and mindsets of consumers.

Enjoy! And if you’ve got questions about using Simply Map, ask us for help.

Easy Peasy

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Our Little FriendsSo… We know that times, right now, they are stressful. It’s exam season. It’s to be expected.You’re finishing up papers, studying your metaphorical brains out for exams, and that’s probably all amongst working, commuting, family life, and generally just still trying to have a little bit of fun!

But, have you seen our little squeezy friends at the Reference Desk in Bronfman?

These were brought to us one evening secretly by some kind of magical elves, obviously, because one moment we were working away helping some students with research questions and borrowing books and they were suddenly there!

I’m kidding, but it’s true that we weren’t sure at first where they came from. It turns out they were brought to us by the folks over at Mental Health at York University. They have noted on their website that a recent study found that “64% of current York U students find academic work traumatic or stressful.”1

We’ve found (anecdotally, of course) that these two little friends at the desk have been helpful friends to some of you! Some students have come and borrowed one for a squeeze during some study time, and then promptly returned it back to us when they were finished up! And, we… well, we just think this is excellent!

So, if it’s not just easy peasy, try these little ones at the desk. Or you can always try googling ‘basset hounds running’ – that’s always good for a light-hearted chuckle. After a few minutes there, you should be well prepped to get back to the books.

Take care! And remember, we’re here to help.

EXTENDED HOURS!

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David Clink, Circulation Coordinator, Bronfman Business Library

Clock imageWednesday Mar. 27, 2013

For the first time in 5 years, The Bronfman Business Library has extended its hours!

Back in 2007 we extended our hours for two weekends, once during the fall, and once during the spring, by extending our Friday, Saturday and Sunday hours. This year we have broken new ground, by extending hours for four solid weeks, and extending hours on six out of the seven days each week!

Mondays          9 am – 11 pm [we normally close at 10 pm]
Tuesdays         9 am – 11 pm [we normally close at 10 pm]
Wednesdays    9 am – 11 pm [we normally close at 10 pm]
Thursdays        9 am – 11 pm [we normally close at 10 pm]

Fridays             9 am – 6 pm   [no change]

Saturdays        10 am – 7 pm [we normally close at 6 pm]
Sundays          11 am – 8 pm [we normally open at noon]

The extended hours started on Monday, March 25.
The extended hours will end on Sunday, April 21.

Crunch Time!

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Stressed OutSophie Bury, Business Librarian & Head Bronfman Business Library

Published Thursday Mar. 14, 2013

As assignment deadlines approach, remember the BBL (Bronfman Business Library) reference team is available to help you out!

Need help finding more articles on your assignment topic? Could you do with a hand identifying more sources of information on the industry you are researching for an assignment? Need help with gathering financial data on a company you need to investigate for a project you are working on? Need guidance on citing the information you’ve found correctly?

These are the types of queries that our qualified business information experts at the Bronfman Business Library can help you with. We are very happy to point you to a rich range of e-resources or print information available at the Bronfman Business Library (BBL) that can play a crucial role in notching your assignment up to a higher level! So if getting your hands on relevant information for an assignment is a source of stress, stress no more, our BBL reference team are at hand to help you out! We look forward to helping you! Continue reading →

Breaking the Mould

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Image Source: http://www.librarian-image.net

Sophie Bury, Business Librarian & Head Bronfman Business Library

Published Friday Nov. 23, 2012

My name is Sophie Bury and I’ve been at York University since May 2003 and boy has time flown since then! My role at York during the past nine years or so has primarily been one of business librarian. I love being a librarian, even though I was not impressed when my late mother suggested to me, as a final-year undergraduate in 1992, that I might think of becoming one in my future career! I think I suffered from the influence of stereotypical images a bit like this one shown here. Ah, but didn’t she know me so well!  And heck, if one of my favourite vocal artists, Tori Amos, can title a whole album “Tales of a Librarian” and classify the songs in it with Dewey Decimal call numbers, there must be something cool going on with this profession! And so my current image of what it is to be a librarian has changed dramatically and I now like to think we’re really “A Hipper Crowd of Shushers”, as a quite recent New York Times article explains.  Check it out!

The role of business librarian at York is quite varied and my favourite part of the job is undoubtedly the public service element including helping students with their research, as well as teaching sessions about how to find, use, evaluate and cite business information sources as part of workshops and classes. Librarians like to describe this as “information literacy” – often non-librarians don’t know what we are talking about which is, admittedly, an issue – but it’s an important life-long learning skill and if you’ve got it there’s research to show it translates in to academic success, while being a transferable skill that employers often value.

In early July 2012 my role at the Bronfman Business Library changed when I assumed the role of Head of the library for a five-year term. I feel lucky to have learned so much from senior colleagues, especially Elizabeth Watson (founding Head of the Bronfman Business Library) and Toni Olshen (former business librarian and Associate University Librarian). I feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to take on this new role and every day is varied and stimulating and brings new opportunities and challenges. In academic librarianship we experience an information world that is rapidly changing and where technology is constantly evolving and so we are always kept on our toes and never bored! Indeed, in my experience, it’s very rare to find an academic librarian who doesn’t love their job. So, not surprisingly, a big part of the joy of this position is that I work alongside very talented and motivated librarians and staff, some of whom have already introduced themselves to you on this blog. More introductions will follow, so stay tuned…

In terms of other things to share with you, I’ll just mention that I have a number of research and professional interests and if you are interested you can read more about them on my professional web site (http://sophiebury.ca). A bonus of being an academic librarian at many universities in Canada is that you are basically expected to attend and present at professional conferences and to engage in some research.

Let me conclude by expressing my sincere hope that you’ll feel comfortable approaching me if you have any suggestions or concerns about library services or resources at the Bronfman Business Library. We want students and other patrons to feel welcome in our space and comfortable approaching us for help at our reference desk or circulation/reserve desk and through other means including our online reference chat service. If you see a librarian’s office door open and you have a library-related or research question, please feel free to approach us. My office is the second door on the left when you enter the Bronfman Business Library.

We’re aware assignment deadlines are looming, so remember we are here to help and we hope you enjoy our quiet study atmosphere as you prepare for assignment deadlines and get ready for end-of term exams. Remember the holiday season will be upon us before long and then we all get to take a well-earned break!

Confessions of a recovering journalist

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Carey Toane, Business Reference Librarian

Published Friday, Nov. 16, 2012

My name is Carey, and I have database envy. Or rather, I did, before I started working as a reference librarian at Bronfman.

I haven’t always been a librarian, you know. In my past life, I was a journalist. Aside from the occasional freelance newspaper piece and one very fun gig as a web columnist on business etiquette (think “How to shake hands in 10 different languages”), I worked at magazines. Magazines are ideal for chatty people like me: why say in 500 words what you can say in 1,500?

More specifically, I worked in trade magazines, covering the Canadian marketing industry. I like to think of it as “business lite.” The typical story contained a few numbers and a LOT of pictures.

I didn’t choose the field as much as it chose me. My first job out of j-school (that’s journalism school to you) was as a staff writer at Marketing Magazine, where I wrote about homegrown advertising campaigns, interviewed bombastic creative directors, and tried to wrap my head around media buys. This thing called the internet was just taking off then, and there were loft parties featuring DJs and trampolines and rooms carpeted with real live grass thrown by dot-com companies whose names I can’t remember, which is okay because none of them exist anymore, anyway. This was called “research.” But I digress.

After an extended stint as a web copywriter and a pause for a master’s degree, I came back to journalism and got a job as an editor at strategy magazine, the direct competitor to Marketing. At strategy I interviewed dozens of VPs marketing and CEOs of major Canadian brands, from LG to Ford to Lululemon to McDonald’s. To prepare for an interview, I would trawl the company website for annual reports and press releases, and read every profile and article I could find online. I was Facebook friends with more corporations than I care to admit. Depending on the company, there was either a rushing river of information or, in many cases, a trickle.

If only I’d had access then to the kind of databases we have at Bronfman. Sometimes I walk into the library and resist the urge to skip and frolic like Veruca Salt in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Room. Market share? Child’s play! Industry forecasts? Sustainability reports? Supply chain? Check, check, check. The research tools we have are so tantalizing, I’m surprised that more business journalists don’t pose as Schulich students at the reference desk. (Be warned: I will spot you if you try.)

I can honestly say that my motivation to become a librarian had much to do with finding a cure for this database envy. There’s nothing more satisfying than finding the answer to your question. I’m the kind of person who likes to have it all at her fingertips. And now, relatively speaking, I do.

Getting to know you…

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Handshake by Aidan Jones, via Flickr

It’s a very ancient saying,
But a true and honest thought,
That if you become a teacher,
By your pupils you’ll be taught.

Anyone? Anyone? No? Le sigh. Okay, well that was from The King and I. Wait… how about this?

♪ ♫Getting to know you,
Getting to know all about you.
Getting to like you,
Getting to hope you like me.♫ ♪

Any better? You’re supposed to be singing this in your head… Maybe? I thought so.

So, yes, I am a giant geek. But I am also a new librarian here at the Bronfman Library. And yes, I would like to get to know you.

But why would you like to get to know me??? An excellent question; thank you for asking.

I come to you from positions with the federal and provincial governments, where I had been working as a Research Specialist. I like to think myself pretty good with company, industry and economic information and generally, a creative researcher. Before all that, I worked as the Business Librarian at UOIT and worked primarily with students in Accounting and Finance (but we have a Finance Librarian here, Xuemei – she’s pretty awesome and I suggest you try working with her!). Now that I’m at Bronfman, I will be working in the areas of Accounting & Audit, Taxation, Corporate Governance and a few others. I’m also responsible for Bronfman’s social media presence, like this here blog, our tweetertweeter and Facebook.

Hmmm…. Let me think. What else can I tell you… My educational background is not in business, but Women’s Studies and Social & Political Thought here at York. I did my Master’s in Information Studies (what we need to become full-fledged librarians) at the University of Toronto. What else, what else, what else? I’m learning to knit, enjoy cooking, recently got married, and I grew up on a farm. It’s true. We even still have a donkey.

Stop by my office or while I’m at the Reference Desk and we can chat some more if
you like. And I’d be really happy to help you out with any of the research that you’ll be working on or hear any comments or ideas that you might have for our social media endeavours!

April is the cruellest month

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Some of you may recognize the title of this blog as being the first line in T. S. Eliot’s poem The Waste Land.  For the rest of you – does this line resonate with your current condition?

I can always feel the shift in the atmosphere as March ends and we move to April.  Students are tense and over-tired from finishing assignments and preparing for exams, not to mention worrying about employment!

This year has been particularly cruel as we enjoyed a few days of summer temperatures and warming sunlight only to be thrust back to dull skies and chilly temperatures.  The Schulich School of Business courtyard, which just last week was full of energy and socializing is empty now.  Well just as well I guess, as it’s crunch time and as much as it’s great to have some diversions, is it wise to be tempted at this time of year?

Hang in there!   Only a few more weeks and this term will be over.

If the library staff can help in any way with your research needs we are here for you.  You can come to the reference desk, email us bgref@yorku.ca, phone us 416-736-5139 or chat with us via our chat reference service http://www.library.yorku.ca/cms/bbl/peter-f-bronfman-business-library/im/

Good luck on your exams and finishing your assignments.

BAT

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No not the winged creature of the night… but the Bloomberg Assessment Test.

Employers find undergraduates, MBAs and recently graduated students for financial jobs and internships, based on their Bloomberg Assessment Test (BAT) scores. The BAT is a 3-hour exam designed to uncover knowledge and skills relevant for a financial career.  Employers can filter by student performance on subjects such as math skills, valuation, financial statement analysis, and more.

  • All student data is anonymous and not shared with others.
  • When employers wish to make a connection and contact the student, the student will get a notice that: “Company X” wishes to talk to you. Will you allow them to make a connection and share your profile? You will not be anonymous to Company X if you agree.”
  • Students receive their individual scores within a week of taking test. University receives assessment report for how their students scored in the different subject areas, contrasted against students globally.
  • The test is open to current SSB graduate, undergraduate and PhD students.

Last November, for the first time, we offered Schulich School of Business students the opportunity to take the BAT and the response was terrific.  Not everyone who wanted to could take it at that time so we are offering it again.

The test is free and connects students who do well with employers. Due to lab size, we only have 20 seats available for each session so we ask that only students who have a serious interest in gaining employment in careers in finance register. Below are the event details:

Date: February 24, 2012
Time: 9 am and 1 pm
Building: SSB
Room: S236
To confirm your seat: www.takethebat.com <http://www.takethebat.com/>.