UBVU4FEWEB

LexisNexis changes on 6 September

2011-08-30T09:41:00.000-07:00

The e-Resource LexisNexis contains articles from all the major national and international newspapers, newswires and several journals. In addition the e-Resource has many company reports. The new LexisNexis academic website will become available on 6 September.

The most important changes are:
- Doing a search in individual news sources will be easier
- Doing a search in your own selection of sources will be less complicated
- It is easier to use specific individual search options of news sources
- The download limit for articles / reports will be increased from 25 to 200
- A new save option is now included for citation software. A similar option will be included later for users of Endnote and Reference Manager.

The current website of LexisNexis will remain available until 31 December 2011.
After this date only the new website will be available.

The Data Center Team

Data Center closed during summer

2011-06-29T02:02:00.000-07:00

Between 16 July and 7 August the helpdesk of the Data Center will be closed. After 7 August we will reply to any emails that were sent during this period as soon as possible. If there are any problems accessing the databases you can contact the library helpdesk through the website.

The Data Center Team.

Reuters interviews dr. S.A. Borovkova !

2011-05-12T01:16:00.000-07:00

Recently Reuters interviewed dr. S.A. Borovkova on her research into Commodity futures & derivatives. Below you find a link to the interview.

Watch the Interview

The main source of information on commodities and futures & options available at the VU University is the database Datastream. This database can be used by researchers if the software is installed on their computer (contact the IT department if you want to arrange this). Datastream is available for students on computers in the library on the 3rd and 4th floor and in computer rooms in the VU Campus main building (1st, 5th and 7th floor, B-wing).

Instruction videos and help information on Datastream is available in the Blackboard course of the Data Center in the section Company Info.

The Data Center Team

Datastream problems?

2011-05-04T07:24:00.000-07:00

Some students may currently have trouble finding or using the Datastream database on computers in the computer rooms on the 5th and 7th floor of the B-wing of the main university campus building.

According to the IT department of the university the solution may be that the student accounts need to be changed for people who have problems using Datastream.

Students who think that their student account needs to be checked can go to the UC-IT Servicedesk (room 0A-11) on the ground floor of the main Campus building.

The Data Center Team

New developments

2011-04-27T03:46:00.000-07:00

1) Datastream
The Datastream Navigator has been updated and now has a new Freetext search option. For a short overview of the changes you can view the following Blog entry.

2) GMID updated
The Global Market Information Database (GMID) is an international marketing database containing information about: Markets, Companies, Countries and regions. The information includes statistics as well as market and country reports. Euromonitor has changed GMID's interface as well as it's name. The new name is Passport GMID. You can find the link to the database through the e-Resources at the UB VU library website.

3) IMF International Financial Statistics
A new interface has been developed for this IMF database which has become life during April. The IMF eLibrary data website is more intuitive and allows you to more easily create datasets and graphs. According to recent communications the new interface is estimated to replace the old interface next month, in May. You can find the IMF database link to the new website through the e-Resources at the UB VU library website.

4) Opening hours Data Center
The Data Center will be closed on the holidays: May 5 (Thursday) and 6 (Friday).

The Data Center Team

Data Center opening hours change!

2011-03-23T05:59:00.000-07:00

The Data Center of the university library provides help and support to students as well as teachers and researchers in finding economic and financial data. When you want to ask questions or if you need advice you can visit the Data Center during opening hours. At those times the Data Center personnel is available for consultation without previous appointment.

Based on customer feedback the decision has been made to change the current opening hours to include friday afternoons. Starting April 1 the Data Center will be open at the following hours:

- Wednesday & Thursday: 13:00 - 16:00

- Friday: 13:00 - 15:00.

Location: Main building VU, room 3B-04 (3rd floor).

The new Zephyr (Neo) website

2011-03-10T05:41:00.000-08:00

Zephyr is a database containing information on: Mergers & Acquisitions, Initial Public Offerings Venture Capital transactions. The database covers transactions & deals worldwide. Every year about 100.000 new deals are added. During 2010 and the beginning of 2011 the new website has been developed for searching the database. It will replace the older website/interface sometime during 2011.

Zephyr offers two ways to search in the database: A quick deal search, and the expert search. Both are still available but the look very different from before. The expert search now looks exactly like the NEO website which was introduced in 2009/2010 for the database Amadeus.

Data Center news

2010-12-10T06:12:00.000-08:00

1) Data Center closed
* Next week the helpdesk is closed on Wednesday and open only on Thursday 16 December between 12:00 and 16:00.

* We will also be closed for the holidays from 17 December 2010 until 5 January 2011. The helpdesk is available again on Thursday 6 January (12:00-16:00). We wish you a good Christmas and a happy New Year!

2) New Courses in 2011
New courses for financial databases have been scheduled for the period January - June 2011. This includes practical courses in the use of Datastream and SDC Platinum. If you are interested and want to sign up you can find the courses in the agenda on the library website. (http://www.ubvu.vu.nl >news, agenda > agenda )

3) ArcGIS
On the computers in the Data Center the software ArcGIS is available. If you want to practice using it in combination with time series data from the website of the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics you can do so in opening hours of Data Center. Information on ArcGIS is available in the Data Center Blackboard course via the statistics database StatLine (CBS) section.

Data Center developments !

2010-09-15T02:00:00.000-07:00

1) New Courses
Starting from September new courses have been planned for financial databases this year. This includes practical courses in the use of Datastream and SDC Platinum. If you are interested and want to sign up you can find the courses in the agenda on the library website.

2) Blackboard
At the end of September the Data Center course in Blackboard will be moving to a new location. People who are enrolled in the course at that time will stay enrolled and do not have to do anything. The relocation of the course means, however, that links to this course in Blackboard will have to be updated. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause.

3) ArcGIS
On the computers in the Data Center the software ArcGIS is now available. If you want to practice using it in combination with time series data from the website of the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics you can do so. Information on ArcGIS is available in the Blackboard course of the Data Center via the statistics database StatLine (CBS).

The Data Center Team

Time Inc. withdraws its publications from LexisNexis services

2010-06-07T02:20:00.000-07:00

Time Inc. has decided to withdraw its publications from all LexisNexis services, effective immediately. The source directory in the LexisNexis Academic product has been automatically updated. The affected titles are:

People
Fortune
Time
Entertainment Weekly
Sports Illustrated
In Style
Money
Business 2.0
Field & Stream
Time Inc. - Last 2 Years
Time Publications

Wharton changes in the coming months

2010-05-19T03:54:00.000-07:00

At the end of last year Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS) launched their new platform for accessing databases. The old platform has been kept up and running simultaneously but is now actively being phased out. The databases are currently no longer being updated through the old platform.

Below you find a schedule for the databases that shows when they will be removed from the old platform in the coming months:

5/19/10 Free datasets
5/26/10 CISDM, CENTRIS, CUSIP, GOVPX, IRI
6/9/10 The Corporate Library, Mergent FISD/NAIC, MFLINKS, S&P Credit Ratings, SMAR
6/23/10 AuditAnalytics, comScore, Nastraq, Riskmetrics, Bureau van Dijk
6/30/10 TAQ
7/21/10 Compustat, CRSP

At the moment we still offer links to both the new and the old Wharton platform for accessing databases. Be aware that if you are doing research through the old platform you may need to start doing your searches using the new platform in the coming months!

The Data Team

Free Webinar on Global Retailing Trends in 2010

2010-03-24T05:10:00.000-07:00

Euromonitor is organising a FREE Webinar about Global Retailing Trends in 2010 which will take place tomorrow, Thursday 25 March 2010, at 4 pm Amsterdam time. The webinar is available to all staff and students at the Vrije Universiteit.

Euromonitor’s global retailing research team will examine the events, trends and consumption patterns shaping the industry as a result of the global recession. The live webinar includes the option to ask questions from the Euromonitor global research team. Join Euromonitor to:

Understand the recession's impact on consumer expenditure and its affect on the retail industry

Examine the sectors and channels that have maintained growth or improved their performance

Discover changing shopping patterns and how they are changing the face of retailing

Establish the role of emerging markets in future growth

Register for the webinar at the Euromonitor website.

Copyrights advice for publishing researchers

2010-01-07T02:45:00.000-08:00

Are you about to finish your research and thinking how to publish it?
Visit the Copyright Toolbox website developed by JISC and the SURF Foundation. This site provides good advice and information about your rights as an author.

New Wharton Interface

2009-12-23T23:58:00.000-08:00

The past year Wharton has developed a new platform/interface for searching subscribed databases. The new interface has now replaced the previous version. In practice this means that searching databases like CRSP, Compustat etc. has become easier. Help information is now also more readily available when doing a search.

Contrary to earlier annoucements the new Wharton interface is available without users having to mail and using an Access pass. Below you see a screenshot of the new Interface:

Search Business Source Elite using your mobile!

2009-11-18T09:18:00.000-08:00

A new service is now available: the literature databases of the provider EBSCO can now be accessed using your mobile! Business Source Elite is one of these databases. Business Source Elite provides access to references from for over 1,000 business publications. This includes full-text access to some journal articles. The database provides information dating back to 1985. More than 10,100 company profiles from Datamonitor are also included.

Other EBSCO databases that can be searched on your mobile are: ATLA Religion database, Cinahl, Historical Abstracts, New Testament Abstracts online, Old Testament Abstracts online, Psycarticles, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, SocIndex and SportDiscus!

If you can connect to the internet on your mobile using the Wi-Fi campus network you now have access to millions of references in these databases. Information on setting up Campus internet access can be found on the website of the Digidesk: http://www.digidesk.vu.nl

The addresses for accessing the special Mobile platform for the EBSCO databases are:
http://m.ebscohost.com
http://search.ebscohost.mobi/

This service has been made possible by the Electronic Resources department of the library.

New free database: UN Comtrade

2009-11-12T03:03:00.000-08:00

A new database has been added to the e-Resources: the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade). It contains detailed imports and exports statistics reported by statistical authorities of close to 200 countries or areas. It concerns annual trade data from 1962-present. More than 5000 different products are covered. You need to register to get access to the database. Access to the data is available only for the parts that are free of charge!

If you have any questions about UN Comtrade you can send an email to the Data Center or you can call us at 020-598 5166.

Wharton maintenance problems probably gone

2009-10-01T00:39:00.000-07:00

Today the problems that were caused by the maintenance on the Wharton servers appear to be largely gone. I have submitted some queries and the search results were displayed after more or less the regular amount of time.

Let's hope that the maintenance was successful and the Wharton portal remains operational at it's usual speed. If problems return or new search problems appear please do not hesitate to contact the Data Center Team.

You can send an email to the Data Center or you can call us at 020-598 5166.

Maintenance Wharton interface

2009-09-30T04:53:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week Wharton announced that they were going to do some maintenance on 29 September on their servers to increase capacity and allow for expansion. This meant that the databases available through Wharton (CRSP, Compustat, NYSE TAQ, Amadeus etc.) could temporarily not be queried through the Wharton website.

At the moment queries can be run again through the Wharton website but the maintenance is still causing problems for students and researchers. Queries will take much longer than usual: the search result can easily take 30 minutes before it is ready for download.

The problems have been reported to the Wharton support desk.

Training: Global Market Information Database

2009-09-24T07:54:00.000-07:00

The Data Center is organizing a training on the Global Market Information Database on the 30th of September. The training is given by the database provider (Euromonitor). Students, researchers and professors are all welcome. This training will be given in English.
Registration required, max. 15 participants: register here
Start date: 30-09-2009
Time: 14.00-15.30
Location: VU MediaXperience, Main building, room 1A-01j
Description: How to use this database to find information on consumers, industries, service sectors, etc.

New courses published !

2009-09-16T05:59:00.000-07:00

The Data Center has organized some courses on the most heavily used databases. Those databases are:

Datastream (Stocks, Bonds, Macroeconomic data, etc.)
SDC platinum (Mergers & Acquisitions, IPO's, Venture Capital)
Wharton databases (Amadeus, Compustat Global, CRSP etc.)

The courses will help you get started using the database and give you some tips on more advanced options. You can find the courses on the library website in the Agenda.Through the Agenda you can also sign up for the course(s) of your choosing.

Global Market Information Database

2009-08-26T05:11:00.000-07:00

Training on the usage of the Global Market Information Database (GMID) will take place on Wednesday 30-09-2009 from 14:00 to 16:00 h in the MediaXperience (VU main building 1A-01).
Registration: email to Data Center

Training outline:

Short introduction to Euromonitor International
Summary of GMID's content
Sample searches demonstration
* the different ways of searching for data
* how to manipulate data (for example convert currencies, do forecasts and per capita analyses, look at growth rates and create graphs)
* how to find help if needed
* 'MyPages' and how to personalize your GMID pages
Questions and answers

Business Source Elite

2009-08-26T04:36:00.000-07:00

Since the 1st of September you can access the online bibliographic database 'Business Source Elite' through the eResources section of the VU Library website.

Business Source Elite provides access to more than 350 scholarly journals, about 100 magazines and 200 trade publications in the field of business, management and economics. It also includes 10,100 company profiles from Datamonitor.

CBS Microdata

2009-07-15T00:26:00.000-07:00

The CBS Microdata databases contain microdata from the Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS) in the Netherlands. This microdata is gathered by the CBS and used to report on trends in Dutch society on items like consumer expenditure, GDP, etc. to the government. Aggregated statistical data based on the microdata is available through the free access database CBS StatLine.

Researchers at FEWEB have the option to "remotely access" CBS Microdata on a computer in the VU library. This computer is located in the Data Center to offer easier access. Some important conditions are attached to using the CBS Microdata:

You must contact the Central Bureau for Statistics to arrange access to the data through the remote connection. More information is available at the website of the CBS.
Once your request to access the microdata has been approved by the CBS, you can make an appointment to use the computer at the Data Center. You can do so by sending an email to: datacentrum@ubvu.vu.nl

Opening of the Data Center

2009-06-23T05:33:00.000-07:00

As of 8 June 2009, the Library has a new service: the Data Center. The Data Center offers support in finding Economic data for educational and research purposes.

The Data Center provides training to VU University students, faculty and staff in the use of Economic databases such as Datastream, SDC Platinum, and Wharton.

You can either visit the Data Center, or you can get started on your own via the online helpdesk in Blackboard.
Opening hours: Wednesday and Thursday 12 noon - 4 pm.
Upon request, individual or group trainings can be organized.

For more information please visit the web page of the Data Center at the Library website.