Accounting is on fire!

According to the Los Angeles Time Accounting Is The New Hot Major

"It''s become one of the hot courses on campus. Enrollment is up, one of the accounting lecturers has twice been named professor of the year, and several dozen students spent their summer mornings in a class poring over a 3-inch-thick tome titled "Federal Taxation." Part of the answer to accounting''s new popularity may be the inherent romance of business. Then there''s this fact: Even in a downish economy, accounting students are finding jobs -- jobs that just might be the first step toward running their own companies. Enrollment in accounting classes is up 19% since 2004, according to a survey by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants."

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lies, lies and Impact Factors?

The Open Access journal Ethics in Science and Environmental Politics (ESEP) have devoted entire first issues of 2008 to the question of Impact Factors with their theme:
The use and misuse of bibliometric indices in evaluating scholarly performance

Here is the editors' foreword:

Bibliometric indices (based mainly upon citation counts), such as the h-index and the journal impact factor, are heavily relied upon in such assessments. There is a growing consensus, and a deep concern, that these indices — more-and-more often used as a replacement for the informed judgement of peers — are misunderstood and are, therefore, often misinterpreted and misused. The articles in this ESEP Theme Section present a range of perspectives on these issues. Alternative approaches, tools and metrics that will hopefully lead to a more balanced role for these instruments are presented.

Here is the TOC:

INTRODUCTION:
Factors and indices are one thing, deciding who is scholarly, why they are scholarly, and the relative value of their scholarship is something else entirely/ Browman HI, Stergiou KI

Escape from the impact factor/ Campbell P
Makes the argument that the most effective and fair analysis of a person’s contribution derives from a direct assessment of individual papers, regardless of where they were published.

Lost in publication: how measurement harms science/ Lawrence PA
Changes to the way scientists are assessed are urgently needed, and suggestions are made in this article.

Hidden dangers of a ‘citation culture’/ Todd PA, Ladle RJ
A look at one of the areas where citation numbers can be inaccurate in terms of the manner in which papers are cited, indexed and searched for.

The siege of science/ Taylor M, Perakakis P, Trachana V
The academic as author, editor and/or reviewer, under intense competitive pressure, is forced to play the publishing game where such numbers rule, leading to frequent abuses of power. Here, Perakakis and Trachana review the current status of this siege, how it arose and how it is likely to evolve.

The economics of post-doc publishing/ Cheung WWL
This article explores how bibliometrics affect the publication strategy from a point of view of a post-doctoral fellow, with analogy and explanation from simple economic theories.

Chasing after the high impact./ Tsikliras AC
Although young scientists may not always be aware of the advantages and pitfalls of the impact factor system when it comes to the choice of which journal to submit to, journal ranking is among the selection criteria, following the journal’s general scope and rapid manuscript handling but preceding choice of a journal which allows authors to suggest potential referees, and open access journals.

Challenges for scientometric indicators: data demining, knowledge flows measurements and diversity issues/ Zitt M, Bassecoulard E
This article describes some of the challenges for bibliometric indicators (data ‘demining’,knowledge-flow measurements and diversity issues) underlying, among other applications, reliable evaluation procedures.

Google Scholar as a new source for citation analysis/ Harzing AWK, van der Wal R
Traditionally, the most commonly used source of bibliometric data is Thomson ISI Web of Knowledge, in particular the Web of Science and the Journal Citation Reports (JCR), which provide the yearly Journal Impact Factors (JIF). This paper presents an alternative source of data as well as 3 alternatives to the JIF to assess journal impact.

Re-interpretation of ‘influence weight’ as a citation-based Index of New Knowledge (INK)/Pauly D, Stergiou KI
The INK method for assessing the ‘influence weight’ of journals is re-interpreted as a potential citation-based indicator of the impact of scientific and other publications.

Benefitting from bibliometry/ Giske J
Within a department, the evaluation of performance may be one of several incentives for improving scientific quality and productivity. However, used alone, performance evaluation can lead to destructive competition and marginalization of potentially valuable staff members.

Using a balanced approach to bibliometrics: quantitative performance measures in the Australian Research Quality Framework/ Butler L Erratum
Within a department, the evaluation of performance may be one of several incentives for improving scientific quality and productivity. However, used alone, performance evaluation can lead to destructive competition and marginalization of potentially valuable staff members.

Citation counts for research evaluation: standards of good practice for analyzing bibliometric data and presenting and interpreting results/ Bornmann L, Mutz R, Neuhaus C, Daniel HD
Here Bornmann et al present standards of good practice for analyzing bibliometric data and presenting and interpreting the results.

Validating research performance metrics against peer rankings / Harnad S
In and of themselves, metrics are circular: They need to be jointly tested and validated against what it is that they purport to measure and predict, with each metric weighted according to its contribution to their joint predictive power.

Top universities' ranking on the web - UJ not in Top 10

Webometrics has just released their 2008 World Universities's ranking on the web , and UJ is listed as the 14th Top African University , and 3,704th in the world.

Objectives of the Webometrics Ranking of World's Universities
"The original aim of the Ranking was to promote Web publication, not to rank institutions. Supporting Open Access initiatives, electronic access to scientific publications and to other academic material are our primary targets. However web indicators are very useful for ranking purposes too as they are not based on number of visits or page design but global performance and visibility of the universities.As other rankings focused only on a few relevant aspects, specially research results, web indicators based ranking reflects better the whole picture, as many other activities of professors and researchers are showed by their web presence.
The Web covers not only only formal (e-journals, repositories) but also informal scholarly communication. Web publication is cheaper, maintaining the high standards of quality of peer review processes. It could also reach much larger potential audiences, offering access to scientific knowledge to researchers and institutions located in developing countries and also to third parties (economic, industrial, political or cultural stakeholders) in their own community."

more

The top ten consisted of:
(the number is brackets is the university's world ranking)
1 University of Cape Town (385)
2 Stellenbosch University (654)
3 Rhodes University (722)
4 University of Pretoria (734)
5 University of the Witwatersrand (831)
6 University of the Western Cape (1,218)
7 University of Kwazulu Natal (1,313)
8 University of South Africa (1,499)
9 American University in Cairo (1,654)
10 Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (2,145)

University news from the West

SIDESTEPPING THE CRANKS Professors are often magnets for crackpots bearing pet theories and searching for validation.

PLEASE DON'T GO Administrators at public universities are devising new strategies to keep key faculty members in an era of increased poaching.

THOSE WHO DO, TEACH Harold and Kumar's Kal Penn at Penn prompts Mark Oppenheimer to ask: Do celebrity profs energize or cheapen a university?

AUTHOR, AUTHOR? Two Case Western Reserve University professors say Routledge recycled their work without credit or royalty.

'SCORES DESCRIBE BUT DON'T EXPLAIN' When used without regard for their complexities, Daniel Koretz says, the results of standardized tests can be misleading.


CHINA: Olympics - low-key involvement by universities Michael Delaney University sports are a big deal in China, followed with great fervour by students and alumni, and many universities boast excellent sporting facilities and stadiums. Yet historically there has been a great distance, even antipathy, between the state administration and university sports departments. As a result, the nation's centralised sports system means universities have largely been left out in the cold when it comes to preparing athletes for the Olympic Games.

GLOBAL: Liberalisation shelved as talks collapse Keith Nuthall Proposals to sweep away some restrictions preventing private universities and higher education service providers from teaching, researching and examining in foreign countries have been put on ice at the World Trade Organization.

GERMANY: Plans to create more leeway for research Michael Gardner Germany's federal government has adopted a five-point plan to create more autonomy for public-funded research institutions. In future, they will enjoy considerably more scope in terms of budgets, staff, networking, construction measures and procurement. The new measures will ultimately lead to a special law on academic freedom agreed to by the government last year.

SPECIAL REPORT: E-Learning
E-learning is one of the buzzwords of 21st century higher education, with academics around the world increasingly relying on technology to communicate with their students – and transmit their lectures. But as University World News writers report in this special on E-learning, as some designate it, although a great boon to many lacking easy access to education, technology must be used intelligently as a tool for learning and not be regarded simply as a panacea.

SOUTH AFRICA: Universities not far behind the curve Karen MacGregor The use of information and communication technologies to support learning in South African universities is booming and they are "not very far behind the curve" of developed countries in e-learning, says Stephen Marquard, learning technology coordinator for the University of Cape Town.
AUSTRALIA: Online studying for the remote and on-the-move Geoff Maslen

UK: Virtual lectures? No thanks, say students Diane Spencer The British government is keen to promote e-learning, as are UK universities. Yet research shows that students still prefer face-to-face learning.

FRANCE: Universities lag 'digitally native' students Jane Marshall French universities must urgently catch up with information and communication technologies if they are to satisfy the higher education demands of the advancing generation of 'digitally native' students.

BRITISH COMMONWEALTH: Big changes in small states Nick HoldsworthThe Commonwealth of Learning - the world's only intergovernmental agency solely dedicated to promoting and delivering distance education and open learning - is working with 30 of the British Commonwealth's smaller states to create a 'virtual university'.


Call Your PR Director, Fast When a production company tells your president or dean it wants to profile your college or school in a national television documentary, the offer may not be what it seems

Game Over The University of Florida is the latest to call for an end to beer pong and other popular college drinking games.

Game Over The University of Florida is the latest to call for an end to beer pong and other popular college drinking games.

Accredited journals - the missing piece of your research puzzle?

Quite a few lecturers have been asking me how they can limit their results in a database to accredited journals only.

It is important to remember that you can limit your searching in a database to include only scholarly, peer-reviewed or academic journals - accredited journals is not a searching option.

Some of the reasons for this are that accreditation changes year on year and while there are international lists, countries also have their own local list of accredited journals. This makes it difficult for databases to keep such lists as search options.

How do you go about getting articles from accredited journals then?

To only search in accredited journals, you would have to have the names of those journals and then limit your searches in the databases to those specific journals only. (You simply add the name of the accredited journal in the search box and choose Journal title/Publication title/Source from the field box.)

The list of SA accredited journals is not too long and it fairly easy to read through and then identify the journals that would suit your topic.

The internationally accredited journals (ISI or IBBS), however, present a problem as the lists has over 15 000 journals covering all research disciplines and is searchable only with the ISSN, title or part of the title of the journal.

In other words it is extremely difficult to identify all the journals within a specific topic. It is much easier if you already have a reference to a journal to then look up the title in the accreditation list.

So in a nutshell:

• get the name of accredited journals from the lists and search by that journal only, or
• get articles you like and then check if they journals they are published in are accredited

Unfortunately, as with research, there is no easy or quick way.

The Big Four - big changes?

TomorrowToday.biz has an interesting article on the Big Four Accounting firms and what they are doing (and should be doing) to attract talented (younger) staff.

In The Accounting Profession: Power, Pressure, Perfection and People Jude asks the question:

"If talented people are the key to differentiation for each of the (Big Four) firms, why and how should they change and structure themselves in order to capitalize on this critical resource? How can they each use their people to differentiate from each other?
In spite of the new networked, knowledge economy, increased regulations and changes to the profession, the organisational design and way audits are staffed and performed has generally remained the same.
Is it time for the Big Four to change?"

Technologies in teaching

(click on the image to enlarge)

Have you found EduCause Connect yet? It is part of the bigger EduCause which is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology.

In EduCause Connect you can find articles and tools to help you use information technology in your everyday teaching.

Most relevant to you might be the topic Teaching and Learning with the categories being:

Assessment and Evaluation(254)
E-Learning(866)
Faculty(217)
Instructional Design(218)
Instructional Technologies(505)
Interaction and Engagement(146)
IT Integration(155)
K-12 Programs(28)
Knowledge Management(64)
Learners(186)
Learning(347)
Learning Space Design(199)
Library Projects(66)
Organizational Issues, Teaching and Learning(19)
Standards and Specifications: Teaching and Learning(16)
Teaching(276)
Virtual Community(146)

In each category you will find links to featured content, primary publications on the topic, wiki's, blogs, communities, events in keeping with the topic, authors on this topic, conference resources and other internet sources and more.

Some of the other popular topics include:
Cybersecurity(300)
Information Systems and Services(98)
Information Technology Management and Leadership(265)
Libraries and Technology(230)
Networking and Emerging Technologies(101)
Policy and Law(151)

See venture capital in a new light ...

Would you like to see every venture capitalist firm in the USA on one map? And would you like that map to be interactive so that you could zoom in and out, link to thewebsite of the firm , see how many professionals they employ and read their bios?

Matt Winn thought it would be a brilliant idea and created VCDB (Venture Capital DataBase) which does just that.

So what is VCDB and what does it offer?

Well here is how Matt describes it:
" Simply put, it’s a search tool focused on the venture capital industry.
Enter a city in the “City” field, and VCDB will return all firms with a matching location.
Plug in a college in the “Bio Keyword” field and VCDB will return all professionals with that college name in their bio, sorted by firm.

Matching firms show on a map, and an accompanying listing directory enables access to firms’ websites, email addresses, locations, and investment parameters (assets under management, minimum investment, and maximum investment) as well as professionals’ bios and blogs. Only publicly available info (i.e., from the firms’ websites) is included."

The underlying database contains information on 492 venture capital firms with 863 locations (an average of 1.75 locations per firm), and 6,773 professionals.

Emerald suspends Alerting services temporarily

Emerald recently found a bug in their system that affected the following services:

- Saved search alerts (for new articles on your topic)
- ToC (Table of Contents) alerts (for new issues of journals)
- Weekly digest.

They have identified the following issues:
- The alerting service duplicated the number of alerts that recipients received in their inbox
- Some content was out-of-date/incorrect.

To ensure that these problems do not continue they will be suspending these services until further notice.

Keep up to date with the Olympics

Well, the wait is finally over! The Beijing 2008 Olympic has started - and it's going to be a great event.

Here is a selection of places you can use to keep up to date with the latest events, results and happenings in Beijing:

The official Olympic Website - read the latests Olympic news, see the fixtures, view results, meet the athletes and teams, view interviews of Olympic greats (past and perhaps even the present), read the newsletter, download Olympic wall papers and screensavers and even play online games.

Olympics on television - SuperSport is devoting 3 channels to the Olympics: SuperSport Xtra 1 and 2 and Olympic HD (only available with the DStv HD PVR decoder) If you've missed the action you can see the results on their SuperSport Olympics page as well.

News on the web - News24 has an Olympic channel, as does CNN.

Meditari in our library

The UJ Library has recently been approached by Prof Louis Sadler, UNISA, from Meditari with the offer to supply the library with free physical copies of the journal.

I gladly accepted his offer as currently we do not have any copies either in our library or in the electronic databases.

I will keep you up to date as soon as we receive the first copies.

For those unfamiliar with the publications, here is a brief description taken from the journal web page:
"Meditari Accountancy Research serves to enhance research in accountancy, accountancy education and related disciplines.
We provide a vehicle for the publishing of the research findings of researchers active in these disciplines, regardless of the affiliations of such researchers. We are servants of science, academia and the truth.".

Use Impact Factors wisely

I've received a few enquiries regarding the Impact Factor (IF) of certain journals.

Lets first start with what IF is:


IF was devised in 1955 to help select journals for the Science Citation Index and
"it is a measure of the frequency with which the "average article" in a journal has been cited in a particular year or period.

The annual JCR impact factor is a ratio between citations and recent citable items published. Thus, the impact factor of a journal is calculated by dividing the number of current year citations to the source items published in that journal during the previous two years.

The impact factor is useful in clarifying the significance of absolute (or total) citation frequencies. It eliminates some of the bias of such counts which favor large journals over small ones, or frequently issued journals over less frequently issued ones, and of older journals over newer ones. Particularly in the latter case such journals have a larger citable body of literature than smaller or younger journals.

All things being equal, the larger the number of previously published articles, the more often a journal will be cited." ISI Impact Factor

But the IF is NOT a way to assess the usefulness of a journal and should not be misused:

“the impact factor should not be used without careful attention to the many phenomena that influence citation rates, as for example the average number of references cited in the average article. The impact factor should be used with informed peer review. In the case of academic evaluation for tenure it is sometimes inappropriate to use the impact of the source journal to estimate the expected frequency of a recently published article. Again, the impact factor should be used with informed peer review. Citation frequencies for individual articles are quite varied." ISI Impact Factor



For step-by-step instructions on how to search for a journals IF, click and download the presentation Journal Citation/Impact factors.

University news from Africa

SOUTH AFRICA: Students demand an end to racism / Karen MacGregorThe South African Students Congress - the country's biggest student union - has called for students "to take up arms and fight racism" on campuses, for the sacking of the Minister of Education, a five-year plan to deliver free education and the renaming of Rhodes University because of its "imperialist" associations.


ANGOLA: Plans to regulate university expansion Government plans to open public universities in different regions of Angola should resolve a number of issues in these areas, said Joao Saveia, Vice-rector of the Université Technique d'Angola (Utanga), according to the Angola Press
Agency of Luanda.


UK-MALAWI: Project to reduce medical brain drain / Clemence ManyukweScotland's University of Dundee has launched a pilot project aimed at reducing Africa's medical brain drain, through a partnership with the University of Malawi's college of medicine that will see selected final year students undergoing four-month placements in the southern African country


EGYPT: Medical school enrolments to be slashed / Ashraf KhaledAlthough he came top of his class in this year's secondary school certificate examinations Hassan Abdel Fatah, 19, is unlikely to achieve his dream of attending medical school. An Egyptian court recently upheld a request from the Doctors' Association, an independent union, that the number of new medical students be slashed because of pressure on standards and an over-supply of doctors. In line with the ruling, the number of new enrolments at medical schools will be cut by 14%, from 7,800 to 6,700.



TUNISIA: Higher education must 'professionalise' Tunisian Higher Education Minister Lazhar Bououni has stressed the need to instil an entrepreneurial culture in students and to implement higher education reforms passed in February, reported La Presse of Tunis. The reforms include raising the quality of education, decentralisation and improving management efficiency, as well as strengthening the systems of evaluation and allocating posts.

University news from the West

NO MYSTERY HERE The cultural bias against serious study of science and technology is rarely recognized as a reason for American students' poor performance, Peter Wood points out.

WHEN A SYLLABUS IS NOT YOUR OWN Is it plagiarism when a colleague borrows your syllabus and then uses it in its entirety for his own course?

IT'LL END IN TEARS Conflict between the inventor of a medicine for dry eyes and the university where she worked highlights the pitfalls in commercialization of academic discoveries.

'JUST LIKE REAL LIFE' The University of Phoenix imports real-world scenarios, flaws and all, into many of its courses.



Report sets out new vetting system for research staff A new integrity office detecting misconduct could be on the horizon

Artistic licence The rise of digital and conceptual art, and a declining interest in traditional craft skills, is forcing art departments to reinvent themselves. Hannah Fearn investigates

Lecturers' feedback efforts 'misguided' Students need to play a more active role in assessment, an expert claims. Olga Wojtas reports


NEW ZEALAND: Women-only scholarships challenged /John Gerritsen*In a case that could have repercussions around the world, a Victoria University of Wellington academic has queried the legality of tertiary education scholarships for women. Institute of Policy Studies senior research fellow and acting deputy director, Dr Paul Callister, created a storm of debate in New Zealand when it emerged he had written to the country's Human Rights Commission about the issue.

EUROPE: Researchers told: be less nationalistic / Alan OsbornResearch in European Union countries is too national in focus to be fully effective, says the European Commission. The commission says this poses a major obstacle to the ambitious Lisbon strategy for giving the EU a global lead in technology by 2010.

EU: Legal status for major research projects /Keith NuthallThe European Commission has proposed the creation of a new legally distinct organisation for incorporating major research projects so they could operate without paying sales tax. Under proposals from EU research commissioner Janes Poto_nik, the special bodies - called European Research Infrastructures - would have the authority to conclude agreements with universities and other higher education organisations outside the EU.

BRUSSELS: Report on reforming Europe's universities Since the introduction of the Shanghai ranking of world universities it has been clear that European institutions are under-performing. A new report by the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel - titled Higher Aspirations: An agenda for reforming European universities and written by senior scholars from Belgium, the US and Spain - recommends gradual raising of spending on higher education by 1% of European Union GDP over the next 10 years to approach American funding levels, increasing university autonomy, fostering greater student and faculty mobility, improving success rates and developing competitive graduate schools.


Court Strikes Down ‘Overbroad’ Harassment Policy Ruling by U.S. appeals panel, in case involving Temple U., could make it much easier to challenge public colleges’ nondiscrimination policies.

Keys to Hiring Women in ScienceCampuses are full of both success stories and horror stories about the recruitment of women to positions in science and engineering departments. There are search committee chairs convinced that they know what worked — and would-be professors who never bothered applying for positions because they didn’t feel welcome.

Satisfied Academics Study that anticipated professors' satisfaction levels might sink to those of industry scientists gets surprising result: Academe is seen as a good place to work

New information released by SARB

The press release by the Registrar of Banks regarding the 2007 Annual Report of the Bank Supervision was released yesterday.

Highlights of the report involve five key messages:

1. Financial-sector regulators and market commentators are again, as in previous years, questioning the appropriateness of banking institutions’ incentive schemes.
2. The turmoil caused by the sub-prime mortgage market was a major development in financial markets during 2007. The Department requested a selection of South African banks to provide detailed reports on their exposure to the prevailing risks. The findings were that South African banks were not impacted directly, but indirect effects were observable.
3. The Department, in close co-operation with the Financial Intelligence Centre, continued to monitor banking institutions’ compliance with anti-money laundering and the combating of the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) legislation. Furthermore, the Department prepared for the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering’s (FATF) planned mutual evaluation of South Africa in 2008.
4. The process followed in implementing Basel II was a major exercise undertaken over several years. Prior to taking the decision to implement Basel II, the Department considered a range of preconditions that would facilitate the process. This process was characterised by its broad consultative approach; several quantitative impact studies and field tests; amendments to the regulatory and supervisory frameworks; and regular interaction with all South African banking institutions, since Basel II was to be implemented by all banks on 1 January 2008.
5. In 2007 regulatory approval was granted for the acquisition of a material shareholding in one of South Africa’s largest banking groups namely, Standard Bank Group Limited (the SBG), a bank controlling company, by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).
   

Other releases include:

1. Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity
2. International economic data
3. Money and banking
4. Banks and mutual banks
5. Capital market
6. Economic indicators (seasonally adjusted)

Book Exhibition at APB/SWC

You are cordially invited to the 2008 Faculty of Management and Faculty of Economic & Financial Sciences Book Exhibition organised by the Library and Information Centre to be held on the Bunting Road and Soweto Campuses. The exhibition, which will offer a wide range of new publications in your specific academic field from various book suppliers, will provide you with an exciting opportunity to select and browse through new books to fill gaps and to develop your subject collection.

Date: 20 August APB
Venue: APB Library
Enquires: Goitsemang Ncongwane (Exhibition arrangements and order cards)
goitsemangn@uj.ac.za .
Tel.: X1381
Mpho Maroo
(Ordering and invoicing details)
mmaroo@uj.ac.za. Tel.: X2180

Date: 21 August SWC
Venue: Conference Hall foyer
Enquires: Fikiswa Mgengo (Exhibition arrangements and order cards)
fikiswam@uj.ac.za.
Tel.: X5668
Mpho Maroo (Ordering and invoicing details)
mmaroo@uj.ac.za.
Tel.: X2180

If your departmental funds have been depleted a written motivation to request additional funding should be sent to the respective Dean. (Most of the APK departments have spent large (80%+) parts of their budgets)

Spotlight on China

With the 2008 Olympics looming, the global eye has turned on China economically, sociologically and politically. Wiley-Blackwell would like to present a selection of key articles (please remember to check on the A-Z list if we have the journal the article was published in) from their premier list of Business and Management journals, with a spotlight on China and Chinese Authors.

Here are a few:

• Collective Consultation and Industrial Relations in China Simon Clarke, Chang-Hee Lee, Qi Li(British Journal of Industrial Relations, Volume 42, Issue 2)
• Acquisitions of Chinese State-Owned Enterprises by Multinational Corporations: Driving Forces, Barriers and Implications for HRM Fang Lee Cooke(British Journal of Management, Volume 17, Supplement 1)
• Corporate Governance in China?Is Economic Growth Potential Hindered by Guanxi? Udo C. Braendle, Tanja Gasser, Juergen Noll (Business and Society Review, Volume 110, Issue 4)
• Going Public with Good Governance: evidence from China Larry Li, Tony Naughton(Corporate Governance, Volume 15, Issue 6)
• Managing Risk in a Transitional Environment: An Exploratory Study of Control and Incentive Mechanisms of Venture Capital Firms in China Justin Tan, Wei Zhang, Jun Xia(Journal of Small Business Management, Volume 46, Issue 2)

New Releases from Wiley

Wiley has just released their July the Corporate Finance, Accounting and Auditing catalogue which includes their new titles in:

• financial reporting
• corporate finance
• valuation
• M&A
• management accounting
• risk and corporate governance
• corporate governance, financial regulation and compliance
• auditing

Here is a screen shot of the Table of Contents (click on it to make it bigger):

Research Skills needed in 2008

ELearn had an interesting interview with Jane John, past president of the Association of Independent Information Professionals and founder of On Point Research, tells on how online instructors and students can be more successful at finding information online.

What are the skills one uses to do research?
The top skills needed to conduct good research are an ability to think broadly in order to frame the research goals, and an awareness of the many information sources, both free and paid, that might match those goals. The skills used by independent information professionals—people making a business by doing research for hire—are marketing and business skills, not only the basic research and information skills.

What research skills do you believe students need to be successful?
Probably the most critical research skill for students to develop is the ability to evaluate the information they find online. There is so much information available that a student can retrieve doing a basic keyword search on a Web browser or in a library catalog. But while some of it is highly accurate and high quality, other information can be incorrect, partial, or old.


If it is statistical data, does it come from a reputable publisher or organization? Is it from the original source, or has it just been repeated and "passed off" as new? Are the views and opinions expressed in a report balanced—or does the writing present just one side of an issue? How recent is the information? As students go deeper into researching a topic, they also need to cultivate the skill of also seeing the big picture-synthesizing disparate trends or data, bringing in observations from other fields.

What research skills to you believe teachers need to be successful?
I tell my business clients to spend as much time on framing their question as they do on seeking the answer. (this is so true, the clearer you are in your mind on what you need, the easier it is for me to help you. svdw) Before jumping on the Web and punching keywords into Google or Yahoo, think carefully about why you want to find certain information, who else has a reason to want the same answers, and what you will do with the information you find.
Do you need historical information, the current state of affairs, or forecasts for the future? Do you need a scientific approach or a persuasive political view? How accurate does the information need to be? Is a major business decision or the ability to patent a new process dependent on the answer, or will a general idea be adequate?

How PC are you?

According to a study The Social and Political Views of American Professors,” released in 2007 51.2% of Economics professors at US universities are politically incorrect, Accounting is slightly better with 40% of their professors not toeing the PC line, but Finance is the worst with a whopping 34.3% of professors surveyed being un-PC.
2,958 professors were surveyed regarding a wide range of social and political attitudes and views of the university, as well as a full complement of sociodemographic questions.

Here is what Inside Higher Ed had to say:

"The new study was produced by Solon Simmons, co-author of last year’s report and an assistant professor of conflict analysis and resolution at George Mason.

The first thing that Simmons does in the study with the database — which covers a range of disciplines and institution types — is to identify a politically correct cohort, reflecting largely common views on a set of issues that are seen as defining political correctness. He finds a set of issues that produce this cohort.

The views are the belief that gender gaps in math and science fields are largely due to discrimination; support for affirmative action; and belief that discrimination is a key cause of racial inequities in American society. Generally, members of this cohort see race and gender as fundamental — and share that belief much more than beliefs about the curriculum or scholarship, such that the study says that “multiculturalism trumps postmodernism.”In an interview, Simmons acknowledged that many people use “politically correct” to imply more than just shared political beliefs, but also an intolerance of other views.

He said that his definition did not attempt to group people together beyond their shared political beliefs.Then Simmons analyzes disciplines, and finds sharp differences — largely consistent with previous studies about disciplines and political leanings. Humanities and social science fields tend to have higher politically correct rankings, while professional and science disciplines do not."