Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

I saw this site in a review magazine, so went to check it out.  It’s truly amazing what they have done.  www.business-humanrights.org/ The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre contains “news and reports about companies’ human rights impacts worldwide – positive and negative.”  They state that they cover over 4,000 companies in 180 countries.  Articles come from sources like the Associated Press; international, national and local newspapers; research institutions; and sometimes includes statements or policies from a company.  It covers a wide range of topics that deal with businesses interacting with people and places.  Here’s just a sample of the issues that are covered:  development & poverty; labour; environment; health; security; globalization, and much more.  I think what surprised me the most is that it does include examples of companies doing good things to make improvements in the lives of others, whereas most of the time, people tend to focus solely on the negative impact of business.  This is a much more balanced view of companies.

Vintage Television Commercials

Duke University has created a new digital collection of vintage television commercials. Adviews is a collection of “thousands of television commercials created or collected by the D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B) advertising agency, dated 1950s – 1980s. Major clients included are Procter & Gamble, Kraft, Schick, Vicks, and Post, among others.”  http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/adviews/

This new collection joins the popular  Ad*Access Collection at Duke University- an image database of over 7,000 U.S. and Canadian advertisements covering five product categories – Beauty and Hygiene, Radio, Television, Transportation, and World War II propaganda – dated between 1911 and 1955.

New Industry Information

The Auburn University Libraries now has a subscription to IBISWorld Industry Reports.  IBISWorld provides access to market research reports on over 700 U.S. industries. The reports cover key industry statistics, market segmentation, current industry conditions and future outlook. It also provides access to China industry reports.

The IBISWorld database is available at some of the top business schools in the U.S.  We are very happy to be able to provide this type of current industry information for our students and faculty at Auburn.

To access the database from the Libraries main website at www.lib.auburn.edu, click on the link for “Articles and Databases”.  Select “Databases by Subject” and then “Business”.  This will provide a complete list of our business databases, including IBISWorld.

APA Style Guide Errors

Just an FYI… if you purchased or are using the new sixth edition of the APA Style Guide that was released in July 2009, you should be aware that it includes some errors.  This article explains more about the errors and provides a link to the APA website that includes corrections for the errors.  Look under the Supplemental Materials section and then look for “Reprint Corrections”. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/10/13/apa

It looks like APA has corrected the errors in the second printing of this edition.  You might want to check your copy to make sure it is up-to-date.

Zoning Maps for Auburn, AL

This is a great resource if you are planning a new business or development in Auburn and need to find out if the area where you want to locate already has the proper zoning.  The City of Auburn has an online version of their city zoning maps available online http://www.auburnalabama.org/maps/Interactive/.  Choose the General Interactive Map.  The map uses GIS technology to add “layers” to the map, such as zoning, apartment complexes, streets, infrastructure, and natural resources.  It does take some practice to understand how to best utilize the map.  You can read all about the different zones at the City of Auburn website http://www.auburnalabama.org/zo/.  If you need more information, the City of Auburn Planning Department is willing to help.  They have more detailed information than what is available online.

Business Properties in AL

Ever wonder how much it would cost to rent or own a piece of business real estate?  The Advantage Alabama website allows you to search for available real estate properties zoned for business & commercial, office & institutional, industrial, and warehousing  usage throughout the State of Alabama.  You can narrow the search to specific counties, building specifications, or transportation criteria.  It also allows you to choose how you want to sort the data (county, property name, size of building, etc.).  However, you can’t sort the data after you run the search.  The search is a little clunky, but it provides some interesting data about each property.  For example, you can find out just how much it would cost per square foot to lease or buy a building, a common question for people starting a business or writing a business plan.  Unfortunately, this database doesn’t seem to have very good coverage for retail spaces, but does include a lot more industrial and warehouse spaces.

This site is sponsored by EDPA, a “private, non-profit organization supported by leading businesses in Alabama dedicated to the state’s long-term economic growth.”

Birmingham Area Projections to 2035

I happened to be on the Regional Planning Commission website today and found this great report for the greater Birmingham area.  It includes demographic and socioeconomic projections for Birmingham and Shelby counties through the year 2035.  The report predicts which areas will be growing and which are projected to contract.  It has visual graphics and data tables.  If you’re planning a business in the Birmingham/Shelby county area, definitely take a look at this report.

New Automotive Data

Did you know that in 2008 Hyundai produced 152,588 Hyundai Sonata’s at their Montgomery production facility?  This is 4.0% of the total U.S. Car production for 2008.

The 2009 edition of Ward’s Automotive Yearbook has just arrived in the RBD Library.  Ward’s is one of the most respected names in automotive statistics. Ward’s Automotive Yearbook includes statistics on the global auto industry, breaking down data to specific regions and countries of the world.

If you’re interested in researching the automotive industry, this is definitely a source to consult.  It includes very specific data on production, sales, registrations,  dealers, marketing data, vehicle specifications & factory installations.

Find Ward’s Automotive Yearbook on the 2nd floor Reference shelves with call number HD9710 .U5 W3.  Ask at the Reference Desk if you need assistance.

Nobel Prize in Economics 2008

The Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded today to Paul Krugman of Princeton University “for his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity”. Based on his research, Krugman developed a new theory related to free trade, globalization and worldwide urbanization.

Watch the announcement, read the press release and a summary of Krugman’s work at http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/.

Interested in reading more of Paul Krugman’s work?  The RBD Library has many of Dr. Krugman’s books.  Search the Library Catalog for     Krugman, Paul     as an author to find his books.  Most will be located on the 3rd floor of the library, if not already checked out.

To find articles written by Dr. Krugman, try a search in our EconLit database for     Krugman, Paul     as an author.  You’ll find over 360 entries.  Remember, if the PDF or HTML is not already linked to the record, use the ArticleLinker button to see if RBD Library has the fulltext of the article.

Finding Business Case Studies

“I need to find a case study about…..”

I actually get this question pretty often. Students want to find a case study that addresses a particular business situation or company. Often times, they are looking for the Harvard Business Cases. Unfortunately, Harvard Publishing will not allow libraries to purchase the Harvard case studies. Instead, students and professors need to purchase the cases directly from Harvard. Typically, they are around $6.00 – $7.00. Go to this link to purchase: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/hbsp/case_studies.jsp.

Looking for other case studies?  Try our Business Source Premier database http://www.lib.auburn.edu/BSP.  Remember that if you’re off-campus, you’ll need to login with your Auburn ID and password.  On the front page, type in a company or business practice.  Then, scroll down the page a little and under document type select “case study”.  These are usually case studies that have been published in other journals or trade publications.  Note that the Harvard cases may appear in the results, but they won’t be full-text.

The ECCH, European Case Clearing House Online.  http://www.ecch.com/   It has studies from a number of different universities, including Harvard, Stanford, Babson, Darden, etc. From their website: Over 24,000 cases on all aspects of national and international business and management, authored worldwide, are available in the ecch case collection. Most cases are in English, with about 250 cases also available in another language. A typical case may average between ten and thirty slides with some supporting graphics or data.  Purchase information is included on their website.