Changes in opening hours Data Center helpdesk

The Data Center helpdesk is closed on Wednesday 19 December. Instead the helpdesk will be open on Tuesday 18 December from 13:00 - 16:00 pm. The Opening hours on Thursday and Friday remain the same. To summarize:

• Tuesday 18 December: Helpdesk open from 1:00 pm to 16:00 pm
• Wednesday 19 December: Helpdesk closed
• Thursday 20 December: Helpdesk open from 1:00 pm to 16:00 pm
• Friday 21 December: Helpdesk open from 1:00 pm to 15:00 pm.

Changes in the first week of January 2013:

The Data Center helpdesk is closed on Wednesday 2 January and Friday 4 January. On Thursday the opening hours of the helpdesk will be as usual. To summarize:

• Wednesday 2 January: Helpdesk closed
• Thursday 3 January: Helpdesk open from 1:00 pm to 16:00 pm
• Friday 4 January: Helpdesk closed.

We wish you happy holidays and a great New Year!

The data Center team.

News from the library

Indices of Social Development
This new e-Resource has been added and is made available through the website of the VU Library. The ISD database brings together 200 indicators, synthesising them into a usable set of measures to track how different societies perform along six dimensions of social development. 

Zacks trial
WRDS has added the Zacks data to its portal. The trial gives access for one month to a subset of the Zacks database. The Trial Access Period is: December 6, 2012 through January 6, 2013. The trial subset covers: a limited date range for 100 of the largest global companies. Zacks data can be used to empirically analyze analysts’ forecasts and their revisions, price targets and recommendations (e.g., construct popular measures such as consensus forecast, earnings surprises, analyst track records, etc). The geographical coverage is: U.S. and Canada.

Worldscope
There has ben an update of the company data that is available through this database. The Worldscope annual report data can be found using Datastream or LexisNexis (reports). Here you find some specifics on changes by country.

Combining data from SDC & Datastream
A new blog item is available on using both databases for research. A step by step approach is offered.

Information literacy skills & Reference software

In the coming months many students will start working on their paper or Thesis. The library has a few courses that will help you get to a good start:

1) Information search & retrieval courses:

• Check the agenda of the library website for courses presented by library professionals
• Go to the online literacy skills courses which are available 24/7 !

2) Reference software
If you are planning to use much literature it may be a good idea to use special tools to manage your references. The software not only allows you to manage your literature, it also offers automatic export and efficient formatting options to use the references you collected in your paper. Check out the agenda on the library website for courses on: Reference Manager & EndNote.The software should be available on the computers at the university.
You can also try some of the free Reference tools that are available. One of the most popular free reference tools is a plugin called Zotero.

New sources added

A few new sources have been added to the databases that are available through the VU Library website. Most of the information in these sources is Open Access. The new sources are:

• Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS))
  DANS is an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). The DANS collection includes datasets from the Humanities, e.g. History and Archaeology, Social and Behavioural sciences, and Geospatial sciences. Data and documentation files are available for downloading free of charge for registered users (registration is free of charge). In some cases, permission from the depositor is required before you can download the datafiles.
• CBS websites
  The main website of the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) is linked as a specific e-resource. Two links have now been added to specific separate CBS websites. The first of the new links goes to a website on Dutch Census Statistics (Volkstellingen). The second link goes to a website where newly digitized historical datapublications of the CBS become available.

Data Center courses 2012 - 2013

This year the Data Center will provide the following courses:

• Meet the Data Center: Live introduction on the Data Center service. Short introduction of staff, databases, media, tutorials, statistics and services of the Data Center.
• Datastream: Presentation of and exercises in the basic functions and options for Datastream. This includes basic searches, working with lists and Requests Tables. Datastream is a database with financial data from stock exchanges, annual reports as well as economics country data.
• SDC Platinum: Live presentation of the basic functions and options for using SDC. This includes some basic searches and download examples (in English). SDC Platinum is an interface that offers access to databases on Mergers & Acquisitions, Global New Issues, and Venture Capital.

Specific information on the courses (location, dates, times, etc.) is made available through the Black board course of the Data Center. Signing up is mandatory and will be possible as soon as these courses have become available through the agenda of the libary website.

News from the library

Collection Specialist
This October Mark Bruyneel (LinkedIn) has started as the new collection specialist for the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. In this capacity he succeeds Mrs. Montserrat Prats Lopez. Mark also works at the Data Center where the support of databases (like Datastream, Compustat,etc.) has been arranged. At the Data Center he works together with Rick Vermunt (LinkedIn).
I you have any questions about economics literature, (e)books or literature databases you can contact Mark Bruyneel. If you have questions about databases like Datastream, you can contact the Data Center.

Compustat and units
The past year there have been many questions from students about the data you get from databases like Compustat. Information on the presentation of the data in a download can be found on the following blog: On Financial Databases.

Database changes
There have been some changes in the websites/interfaces for two database: Passport GMID and Datastream. You can find some information on these changes at the following blog: Researchfinancial.

Nobel Economics Prize 2012

The Nobel prize for the field of Economics has been awarded to Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley "for the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design". The two American economists won the Nobel Prize in economics Monday for their research into how to match different actors in given markets, such as job seekers with employers and patients with donated kidneys (WSJ). Below you find two links to publications of both that are available online or in print at the Vrije Universiteit for both scientists:

• Alvin Roth - Publications (Wikipedia)

• Lloyd Shapley - Publications (Wikipedia).

Data Center opening hours 10-12 October

The opening hours of the Data Center helpdesk will deviate from the usual opening hours on Thursday 11 October and Friday 12 October. Overview for the week:

• Wednesday 10 October: between 13:00 pm and 1600 pm
• Thursday 11 October: from 13:00 pm to 15:00 pm
• Friday 12 October: between 13:00 and 16:00 pm.

The data Center team.

Data Center news

1) FactSet Trial (WRDS)
Through the WRDS platform we have temporary trial access to a limited data range for 100 of the largest global companies in FactSet. The trial only includes Fundamentals and Ownership data. The trial period is: September 18 - October 18, 2012. Background information is available on the FacSet website:

• Fundamentals
• Ownership
• Full FactSet database range.

The WRDS portal is available through the library website.

2) Helpdesk
The Data Center helpdesk is closed on Wednesday 26 September. On Friday 28 September the Helpdesk will be open longer than usual: from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. The Opening hours on Thursday remain the same. To summarize:

• Wednesday 26 September: Helpdesk closed
• Thursday 27 September & Friday 28 September: Helpdesk open from 1:00 pm to 16:00 pm.

The Data Center team.

Summer opening hours Data Center

Due to the holidays the opening hours of the Data Center helpdesk from Monday July 16th to August 31st will be:

* Wednesdays 13.00 - 15.00 hr

* Thursdays 13.00 - 15.00 hr

The library opening hours are: 13.00 - 17.00 hr. More information is also available on the library website.

You can always contact us by sending an email to: datacentrum.ub @ vu.nl

The Data Center Team

Macro-economic data & OECD iLibrary

The library of the Vrije Universiteit offers access to much Macro-economic data through the OECD iLibrary. This database contains publications and datasets released by OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), International Energy Agency (IEA), Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), OECD Development Centre, PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), and International Transport Forum (ITF). The OECD iLibrary is a global knowledge base for OECD's data and analysis. It contains all books and papers published since 1998 - as well as a vast collection of statistics, with data going back to the early 1960s and more than 80 countries are covered. Users can search and click directly to chapters, articles, books, tables, databases, etc.

Some background information is available on Youtube:



Access to the OECD iLibrary is available at the Vrije Universiteit.

The Data Center Team

New Database Audit Analytics

By high demand Data Center is happy to announce as from today database Audit Analytics has become available for students and employees VU.

The database provides detailed audit information on over 1,200 accounting firms on 15,000 publicly registered companies. These companies are all registered at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The database contains auditing details and fees paid for specific services provided by the auditors.

Audit Analytics can be used through the Wharton Portal. (click here)

Help and support is available in the Data Center course in Blackboard. For questions about access and help using the database, please contact the Data Center.

Reminder library closed 17 & 18 May

The University library as well as the helpdesk of the Data Center are closed on Thursday 17 May and on Friday, 18 May.

Next week, on Wednesday 16 May the Data Center helpdesk will be open between 13:00 and 16:00 pm.

We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause.

The Data Center team.

Bankscope presentations

This week two presentations about the new database Bankscope will be given by the producer Bureau van Dijk. Bankscope contains information on banks across the globe. You can use it to research individual banks and find banks with specific profiles. This edition of Bankscope covers the last 8 years and only the OECD countries. The information on banks includes: Detailed annual financials (statements are in multiple formats including a new universal format to compare banks globally), Interim data & Ownership information.
The presentations include a general introduction on the content, some basic searches, and working with lists and reports. There is also the opportunity to ask questions about the content or on how to search for and download data.

- First presentation on Thursday, 11:00 - 12:00 at the MediaXperience (1A-01K)
- Second presentation on Friday, 11:00 - 12:00 at the MediaXperience (1A-01J).

Signing up for a presentation is required because there is a limit to the number of people who can participate! You can sign up through the library website: the (course) agenda can be used to sign up for a presentation.

The Data Center Team.

New database available: Bankscope

The Bankscope (OECD version) database is now available online. Bankscope contains detailed annual financials, interim data and ownership information for banks of OECD countries. Historical credit rating information is also available. The data covers the last 8 years. Help and support is available in the Data Center course in Blackboard. For questions about access and help using the database, please contact the Data Center.

The Data Center Team

Data Center helpdesk closed on 29 March

The helpdesk of the Data Center will be closed at Thursday, March 29th.

On Wednesday 28 March the helpdesk will be open from 13:00 to 16:00 pm.

On Friday 30 March the helpdesk will be open from 13:00 to 15:00 pm.

We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause.

The Data Center team.

Data Center helpdesk closed on Friday 2 March

The past year many faculties and departments at the university have had their networks and computers migrated to a new network. From then on the central IT department of the university manages and supports them. The library computers are next and this includes the computers at the Data Center (3B-04). This means that the help desk will not be available on Friday 2 March!

There may also be a delay in our replies to any emails that are sent to the Data Center. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause.

The Data Center Team.