UJ Economics & Finance Librarian APK

Friday, April 25, 2008

On Leave

I will be on leave from the 25th of April to the 5th of May.

Enjoy the long weekend(s)!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Open Science Directory: New Open Access Initiative for Developing Countries

EBSCO has recently joined forces with Hasselt University Library, Belgium, and the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange programme of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO to develop a global Open Science Directory which is available via the Internet at no charge.

The Open Science Directory provides developing regions with a comprehensive search tool for all open access and special programme journal titles.

The Open Science Directory offers immediate access to approximately 13,000 scientific journal titles, with an objective of 20,000 titles midway through development.
Access to scientific literature is very important for the scientific work in developing countries. As a result of different projects a large collection of e-journals is now available for researchers in developing countries. The number of Open Access Journals is growing steadily as we can see in the Directory of Open Access Journals.

The Open Science Directory is creating a unique access point to all the journals contained in the different programs.
Searching Options:
From the home page, click on Open Science Directory . The Portal is an A-to-Z journals list (like UJ's A-to-Z list)

You can either search directly for specific journals

* Select - Journal Collections
to view all Providers of the Journals, with links to the title lists
* Select - Subjects
to view the journals per specific subject area (Economics & Finance journals can be found in under Social Sciences)
* Select - Search
to view the Advanced search screen
* Select - Custom Google Search
to search either Scholar Google (academic articles) or Google Custom Search (Search in: DOAJ - OpenDOAR - HINARI - OARE - AGORA - INASP - eJDS - Ingenta Connect)
* Select - Links
to have access to journals portals, useful websites to different organisations
* Select - About the Site
to view more information about this site

Once you access the journal of interest, there is an option to search within this journal for articles.

Monday, April 14, 2008

New & Free Databases from EbscoHost

Everybody likes to get something for free and here at the Library we're no exception! That's why we're excited about Ebsco's free databases that are available.

GreenFILE offers well-researched but accessible information covering all aspects of human impact on the environment. Its collection of scholarly, government and general-interest titles include content on the environmental effects of individuals, corporations and local/national governments, and what can be done on each level to minimize negative impact.

Topics include global warming, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling, and more. GreenFILE is multidisciplinary by nature and draws on the connections between the environment and a variety of disciplines such as agriculture, education, law, health and technology.

I've done a quick search for: environmental economics and found 700 + articles.

Library, Information Science & Technology Abstract (LISTA)
Topics includes online information retrieval, information management and more. Coverage in the database extends back as far as the mid-1960s.

Teacher Reference Center
This index of over 260 titles from the most popular teacher and administrator trade journals, periodicals, and books.

Topics include key education issues such as Assessment, Continuing Education, Current Pedagogical Research, Curriculum Development, Instructional Media, Language Arts, Literacy Standards, Science & Mathematics, and more for K-12 Teachers & Librarians.

This free database features:

Index browse functionality
Indexing and abstracts for more than 260 periodicals
Indexing for 1,300 book chapters
96% of the journals indexed in TRC are peer-reviewed

I've done a quick search for: ACCOUNTING -- Study & teaching and retrieved over 90 results.

Friday, April 11, 2008

New copyright blog @ UJ

Our copyright officer - Thapelo Mashishi - has just launched his new UJ Copyright Blog .
The blog will provide UJ academic staff with copyright & IP information as it relates to the University and educational environment in general.

You can already find links here to:

Regional Monetary Policy Forum meetings in Gauteng

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) will be hosting the first round of regional Monetary Policy Forum (MPF) meetings in May 2008.

Monetary policy has an impact on everybody. The main objective of the MPF meetings is to enhance the transparency of the Bank’s monetary policy decision-making process and accountability to the public. The meetings provide a platform for public discussions on monetary policy and general economic developments.

The Bank targets civic and community organisations, academic institutions, professional fraternities, the labour movement, the business community, Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises, national and provincial governments and legislatures, and general members of the public who have an interest in economic developments.

For bookings please contact the following people:
Gauteng
13 May 2008
Yolanda Padayachee
Te;: (012) 313 3195

Email: yolanda.padayachee@resbank.co.za

Statement of the Monetary Policy Committee - 10 April

Issued by Mr T T Mboweni, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank

Introduction
The South African economy continues to respond to the less accommodative monetary policy stance. Domestic expenditure is responding to our current policy settings. Various high frequency and survey data point to the economy growing at a rate below potential, but nevertheless underpinned to some extent by strong investment expenditure by the private sector and public corporations.

The inflation outlook is being influenced by a series of supply-side shocks emanating from the international oil and food prices which are posing challenges for inflation-targeting countries in general. Domestically, there is evidence of generalised price pressures and the prospect of further substantial electricity price increases will also delay the return to within the inflation target range. In the light of these developments, inflation expectations have deteriorated.

Recent developments in inflation
CPIX inflation has maintained its upward trend, reaching 9,4 per cent in February 2008. Petrol and food prices were again the main drivers of inflation and increased at year-on-year rates of 29,5 per cent and 14,3 per cent respectively. If food and energy prices were excluded, CPIX inflation would have measured 5,6 per cent. Further impetus to inflation came from the change in methodology for calculating clothing and footwear prices. Whereas clothing and footwear prices were previously shown to have declined persistently since October 2003, these prices increased at year-on-year rates of 7,9 per cent and 8,4 per cent in January and February 2008 respectively. Year-on-year producer price inflation measured 11,3 per cent in February compared to 10,4 per cent in January. Agricultural food prices increased at a year-on-year rate of 23,5 per cent in February, while manufactured food prices increased by 20,9 per cent.

For the full version please click here.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

New feature of blog

Introducing Snap Shots from Snap.com
I just installed a nice little tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site, interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles, MySpace profiles, IMDb profiles and Amazon products, display inline videos, RSS, MP3s, photos, stock charts and more.Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.

Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and choose opt-out.

New interface for JSTOR

JSTOR has recently revamped their interface, added new features and updated existing ones:

New features:

MyJSTOR
"MyJSTOR" is the first step in providing greater personal customization for users throughout the site. With this first release, users can:

manage citations over time by saving them to a MyJSTOR account, where they can be stored indefinitely.
Users will need to create an account in order to save or send citations, as well as to save them to bibliographic software. Remember this if you use RefWorks
accept JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use once, rather than being prompted to respond with each article print or download

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Friday, April 4, 2008

Thank you

Thank you to everybody attending the Emerald Author Workshop - I trust that it will serve as inspiration and stimulus for you own publishing career!

Welcome back!

Welcome back to you all - I trust that you have a restful recess and that the new semester will hold great promise!

Emerald Author Guidelines

Emerald offers a series of Author Guidelines

(similar to the ones I've distributed at the Author Workshop on Monday 7th April) available online offering practical tips and guidance on how to get your work published and maximize dissemination from Emerald, the world's leading publisher of management research..
It is available to Emerald subscribers. To subscribe please register on the Emerald website once you've entered it via the Library's databases.
Here is what to expect as well as the links to the guidelines:

How to... write a case study

A case study involves focusing on a set of issues in some contemporary setting, usually but not exclusively an organization, or perhaps a department or sector of an organization. It may use just one case or a number of cases linked together by a theme. Because of its real-world setting, it is a powerful tool of analysis, and one that obviously chimes in with Emerald's concern to disseminate implications for practice. It is particularly good at addressing "how" and "why" questions.

How to... write for a practitioner audience

If you are an academic, then you have good job-related reasons to want to publish: your job and your promotion depends upon your keeping up your publishing profile in quality scholarly journals. If you are a practising manager, however, writing for publication is not part of your job and can seem much less important than keeping up with your targets and the inevitable fire-fighting. This guide aims to explain the benefits of publishing to practising managers and to give advice on how to publish successfully.

How to... write a literature review

A literature review is a description of the literature relevant to a particular field or topic. It gives an overview of what has been said, who the key writers are, what are the prevailing theories and hypotheses, what questions are being asked, and what methods and methodologies are appropriate and useful. As such, it is not in itself primary research, but rather it reports on other findings.

How to... find the right journal

Finding the right journal is as important to the publishing process as is having something original to say and saying it well. Many journal editors claim that a good proportion of their rejections happen not because manuscripts are of insufficient quality, but because they are inappropriate for the journal's objectives. As ever, it is easier (and usually leads to a more successful outcome) if you address these issues as early as possible.

How to... write an abstract

An abstract is a succinct summary of a longer piece of work, usually academic in nature, which is published in isolation from the main text and should therefore stand on its own and be understandable without reference to the longer piece. It should report the latter's essential facts, and should not exaggerate or contain material that is not there. Its purpose is to act as a reference tool (for example in a library abstracting service) and, more importantly, to enable the reader to decide whether or not to read the full text. It is your opportunity to gain readership and citation.

How to... use the Harvard reference system

The Harvard reference system, also known as the author-date system, is Emerald's approved system of citing other works. Articles submitted to Emerald are required to use this system. This guide explains how and where to use references within the text of your article and how to compile the reference list at the end. We also look at some of the software tools that are available to simplify these tasks.

How to... structure your article

According to one survey on why articles fail to get published in economics journals, there are two main reasons. Either the paper does not make, or does not demonstrate that it makes, a contribution to knowledge or the paper is badly organized, with the parts not fitting together to form a coherent whole. These two factors, which rated more highly in this survey than targeting the wrong journal, both relate to the paper's structure. Papers that are well structured will have a logical organization with a beginning, a middle and an end, and above all a sense of purpose which communicates itself to the reader, will motivate him or her to continue reading in the belief that the author is making a contribution to knowledge.

How to... write more simply

Reviewers of academic papers often point out that the language is unnecessarily obscure and obtuse. The reviewer or editor feels there is a good point in there somewhere, but it is not easy for the reader to find. In contrast, good English is economical and spares redundant words. In Lost for Words: The Use and Abuse of the English Language, John Humphrys describes the qualities of good English: "... clear, simple, plain and unambiguous ... free of jargon, although there will be exceptions. It should be easy to read and listen to rather than a chore. At the very least it should not make our tongues fur up". This guide provides suggestions on how you can make sure your style is as clear as possible.

How to... prepare papers if English is not your first language

Preparing and writing an academic article for publication in an English language journal is a daunting experience for anyone, but particularly so if your first language is not English. This guide gives you some support with preparing articles in a non-native tongue. It is not possible to give specific advice about English, because teaching English as a foreign language is a highly specialized area requiring a great deal of skill. However, we will provide general advice on writing articles and list some useful resources including editing services.

How to... proofread your work

As far as writing an article for publication is concerned, we are talking about authors proofreading before it goes to production. In many ways, it is more like copy-editing, which is about close attention to the detail of the script, reading at sentence level to make sure there is nothing that can detract from accuracy and clarity, be it errors of grammar, inconsistency, spelling, or punctuation. "If a paper is not carefully checked, then it looks not just sloppy, but as though the author does not care. So why should anyone else?" (John Peters, Emerald CEO and editor of Management Decision).

How to... survive peer review and revise your paper

What gives being published in a journal especial credibility is that other experts have read the work and deemed it acceptable. The peer review process is therefore what gives the journal in which you have chosen to place your article, and your paper if you have done the necessary revisions, a quality control stamp. This guide offers advice on minimizing the chances of having to revise your work by getting it right in the first place, to a practical example of carrying out your own peer review.

How to... collaborate on writing an article

Many Emerald articles result from collaboration. Reasons for this include the: increasing importance of publication for tenure, promotion and satisfying the UK Research Assessment Exercise; tendency towards large, multidisciplinary projects; nature of research funding; pressure for PhD students to get out publications even before their PhD is approved; and greater ease afforded by electronic means of communication. This guide focuses on authorship and dissemination issues arising from collaborative research (issues concerning setting up a large research project team are covered in our Research Zone). This guide is based on the experiences of several authors from three continents.

How to... promote your work

A good promotions strategy will increase the impact of your work by getting more people to read your article, improving your citation ratings, and ensuring that your work becomes more widely known both within your academic and practitioner community and outside it. It will also help disseminate the practical and policy-related implications of your work to those who can implement it. This guide concentrates on strategies that will help you and your colleagues make your articles, as well as the wider research on which they are based, better known. If you are working as part of a research centre or larger research programme with major funding, then you will need to talk to your partners and your funding body about developing a proper communications strategy.

How to... write a book review

Book reviews are a special form of academic writing. They have well-known structures with familiar components. Here, James Hartley of the School of Psychology, Keele University, UK, consults with academics on writing the perfect book review and presents a potential checklist for book reviewers.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Trial Database: World Competitiveness Centre Online

I am are very pleased to announce that we have a one-month trial access to World Competitiveness Online.

Please use the User name and Password I sent in my email to you.

Both the user name and password are case sensitive. The access will be available until March 24 and is restricted to the users of our Library.

World Competitiveness Online is unique to:
- Analyze a country’s competitiveness performance over time
- Select a group of countries to benchmark, display just the data you need
- Download the results in Excel or PDF for your own research
- ”My Rankings”: choose some criteria of special interest to you, for example on health, or intellectual property and construct your own index
- For an optimal use of the software, World Competitive Online recommends that you use Internet Explorer, allowing Java script and pop up windows

Please give me feedback on whether or not you think this could be a valuable asset to yourself and your students.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Remember to create your PIN today!

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Now you need a PIN

From tomorrow there will be a third step into logging onto the databases. The first two being surname and staff number.

You may have noticed that between 06.00 and 18.00 tomorrow (07.02.08) the databases will not be available.

Students (and staff) wanting to access the databases will be prompted to create a PIN.

Students and staff who have forgotten their PIN number can contact the Circulation Desk who will then detail the PIN field and assist clients to create a new PIN.

Those who want to change their PIN can do so via MyUJLINK. The process is similar to that of changing passwords where one will be prompted first for the old PIN and then the creation of a new PIN.

The PIN is 6 characters long and is alpha-numerical.

Another New Database: Blackwell Synergy

Blackwell Synergy
We've recently subscribed to Blackwell Synergy's publisher database (i.e. they publish all the journals listed in their database).

I'm very excited about this recent purchase as we now have access to more than 850 online journals, including access to a wide range of Accounting, Finance & Economic journals through the Library.

Accounting and Finance journals available include:

Abacus
Accounting and Finance
European Financial Management
Financial Accountability and Management
Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments
The Financial Review
Fiscal Studies
International Finance
International Journal of Auditing
International Review of Finance
Journal of Accounting Research
Journal of Business Finance & Accounting
The Journal of Finance
The Journal of Financial Research
Journal of International Financial Management & Accounting
Journal of Money, Credit and Banking
Journal of Risk & Insurance
Public Budgeting & Finance
Risk Management & Insurance Review
World Banking Abstracts

Economics journals available include:

Africa Research Bulletin
Economic, Financial and Technical Series
American Journal of Agricultural Economics
The American Journal of Economics and Sociology
Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics
Asian Economic Journal
Asian Economic Policy Review
Asian-Pacific Economic Literature
Australian Economic History Review
Australian Economic Papers
The Australian Economic Review
The Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics
Bulletin of Economic Research
Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics
Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique
China and World Economy
Contemporary Economic Policy
The Developing Economies
Econometrica
The Econometrics Journal
Economic Affairs
The Economic History Review
Economic Inquiry
The Economic Journal
Economic Notes
Economic Outlook
Economic Policy
The Economic Record
Economica
Economics & Politics
The Economics of Transition
Eurochoices
The German Economic Review
International Economic Review
International Journal of Economic Theory
The Japanese Economic Review
Journal of Agricultural Economics
Journal of Economic Surveys
The Journal of Industrial Economics
Journal of Public Economic Theory
Kyklos
LABOUR: Review of Labour Economics and Industrial Relations
The Manchester School
Metroeconomica
OPEC Review
Oxford Bulletin of Economics & Statistics
Pacific Economic Review
Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik
Real Estate Economics
Review of Agricultural Economics
Review of Development Economics
The Review of Economic Studies
Review of Income and Wealth
Review of International Economics
The Scandinavian Journal of Economics
Scottish Journal of Political Economy
South African Journal of Economics
The World Economy

Many articles in these journals are available in both PDF and HTML formats and are fully searchable. They also include reference links to cited articles in ISI, and in other journals through CrossRef. In many cases, there are also ‘forward links' to citing articles and the service is compatible with a range of different Reference Management software, including RefWorks.

You can find Blackwell Synergy listed under B on the list of databases.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

What SA Sector covers:

Here are some of the industries SA Sectors cover:

(this is not all of the 203 industries, but should give you an idea of what is available)

AGRICULTURE, HUNTING, FORESTRY & FISHING
Cattle Farming

MINING & QUARRYING
Includes: Mining of Gold & Uranium Ore; Coal & Lignite; Platinum Group Metals and Diamonds etc

MANUFACTURING
Includes: Various Food Industries such as Abattoirs Canned, Preserved, Processed & Dehydrated Fruit & Vegetables, Fresh Milk; Soft Drinks, Production Of Mineral Preparation & Spinning Of Textile Fibres, Weaving Of Textiles; Various Paper And Pulp Industries; Various Publishing Industries; Perfumes, Cosmetics & Other Toilet; various Tyres & Tubes ; Accumulators, Primary Cells & Primary Batteries; Motor Vehicles - Local Manufacture; Jewellery & Related Articles; Sports Goods Etc

BUILDING OF COMPLETE CONSTRUCTIONS OR PARTS THEREOF; CIVIL ENGINEERING

WHOLESALE & RETAIL TRADE; REPAIR OF MOTOR VEHICLES; MOTOR CYCLES & PERSONAL & HOUSEHOLD GOODS; HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Includes: Carbonated Soft Drinks; Textiles & Woven Fabric; Retail Trade in non-specialised Stores; Retail Trade in Textiles, Clothing and Footwear; Retail of Household Furniture and Appliances; Hotels & Inns; Fast Food Franchises -Restaurants, Bars & Canteens; Restaurant and Take-Away Franchises etc

TRANSPORT, STORAGE & COMMUNICATION
Includes: Railway Transport; Mini Bus Taxi; Bus Services Industry; Freight Transport; Ocean Shipping; Low Cost Airlines; Cargo Handling; Ports and Related Activities; Travel Industry; Telecommunications; Cellular and Fixed Line Telephony; Infrastructure, Including Hardware, Networking and Convergence Technology etc

FINANCIAL INTERMEDIATION, INSURANCE, REAL ESTATE & BUSINESS SERVICES
Includes: Discount Houses & Commercial & Other Banking Services & Building Society Activities; Other Credit Granting; Loyalty and Reward Programmes; Property Fund Managers; Other Financial Intermediation n.e.c: Private Equity; various Life Insurance industries; The Retirement Fund Industry; Medical Aid Funding; various Insurance; Security Dealing Activities; Property Owning & Letting; Developing Real Estate, Subdividing Real Estate into lots & Residential Development on Own; Leisure & Tourism - Sun International & Southern Sun; Leisure & Tourism – Other; Software Consultancy; Information Technology Outsourcing; E-Commerce Enablers; Internet Service providers; Market Research and Public Opinion Polling etc

COMMUNITY, SOCIAL & PERSONAL SERVICES
Includes: General Hospitals; Preferred Provider Networks; Pathology Practices in South Africa; Waste Management; Motion picture and video production and distribution etc

ADHOC REPORTS
Includes: Tertiary Book Publishers; Sasol & Engen Retail Distribution; The South African Automotive Component Industry Aftermarket; Energy In South Africa

Brand New Database: SA Sectors

I'm very pleased to announce that we have subscribed to a brand new database SA Sectors from the company Who Owns Whom .

Content:

This database offers a sectoral view of South African business conducted at the five digit SICC level. Research is not dependant on public domain information as it is conducted through interviews with the companies researched.

Coverage:

It covers approximately 2,000 top companies in 203 sectors of which 80% are unlisted.

The content covers:

a detailed profile of all the significant players in the sector

an organogram giving a snapshot structure of the sector

an overview of the industry and issues facing it.

The reports provide:

an overview of the industry

the use of the product that is the main focus of the industry (in the case of mining)

the infrastructure

legislative environment

production environment

corporate social responsibility

state of the industry in South Africa

smaller upcoming companies in the industry

summary of major role players

references

organogram of the industry with percentage holding of market

companies profiles included contact details (updated annually)

shareholders

history of the business

description of the products

general comments.

Access:

We are busy loading the URLs onto the Library's list of databases, however, you can gain access to SA Sectors via the Who Owns Whom website. You will find SA Sectors listed on the left side of your screen, as well as in the middle section. The sectors listed on the home page are the newest ones added.

Passwords:
When you click on an item (industry, search function or list) you will be prompted for a user name and password: please use the password provided in my email. Once SA Sectors is listed a password will no longer be needed.

Who Owns Whom also offers two FREE services:

Take Over Talk
This list Mergers & Acquisitions by: * Date *Target *Acquisitor *BEE Deals *Key Positions (appointments/resignations) *Foreign Deals
TakeOver Talk is updated weekly.

Corporate Action
This section lists: * New listings on the JSE (providing JSE code and abbreviation) *Delistings (provides the reason for the delisting) *Company Name Changes (provides the old and new name and the JSE codes)

Monday, January 21, 2008

I'm pleased to announce that we have trial access to The Economist Historical Archive (1843-2003) from today until 8th February.

The contents includes editorial, advertising and tabular matter all fully searchable.

To access The Economist Historical Archive 1843-2003 please click here. You will be asked to enter your name, institution and email address to gain access to the trial.

Features and benefits of The Economist Historical Archive includes:

Authoritative ˜leaders" (editorials), news coverage, commentaries and letters on British, American and world politics and business

Special surveys and supplements on Countries and Industries

Renowned sections including 'Science and Technology'

Classified and display advertising profiling major companies, job opportunities, etc

Detailed topic search, facsimile pages, hit-term highlighting

Searchable 'covers gallery'

Searchable financial data. Key economic indicators post-1983 available in exportable format

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Faulty URL linkages from your Alerts

We are currently experiencing some problems with faulty links to articles from the database alerts that are emailed to you (if you've registered for them)

While we are waiting for the databases to fix the faulty links to articles, there is a way of manually fixing the URL to retrieve the article.

This can be useful for if you want to include links on web pages or Library Live or Edulink

You need to insert the UJ code into the article URL.

The code is in 2 parts: one part (0-) comes directly after the http:// and the other (ujlink.uj.ac.za) comes directly before the first stroke /

So you need to change this:
https://apkmail.uj.ac.za/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://web.ebscohost.com./ehost/detail?vid=2%26hid=12%26sid=38613024-f154-4a9c-8d09-4abfd1bdfd1c%2540sessionmgr7

To this:
http://0-web.ebscohost.com.ujlink.uj.ac.za/ehost/detail?vid=2&hid=12&sid=38613024-f154-4a9c-8d09-4abfd1bdfd1c%40sessionmgr7

Do not change anything else in the URL, only insert the coding.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Monday, April 14, 2008

Friday, April 11, 2008

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Friday, April 4, 2008

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Friday, February 8, 2008

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Monday, January 21, 2008

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