Newly arrived and barely having made a dent in unpacking hundreds of boxes of research materials, Mary Grant, the first Director of the Center for Business Research, remembers answering her first telephone inquiry back in 1978 perched on a box. "It was an exciting time. The companies were chomping at the bit to get information and we just had to hit the floor running. Students from my business reference course volunteered to unpack boxes and make the resources available. Everyone was in a state of anticipation." Thus began the Center for Economic Research, later to become the business library we now know as the Center for Business Research (CBR).
Twenty years ago, when fiscal constraints prevented Nassau County from continuing its research library, good sense prevailed and offers were made to continue the work of the Nassau County Research Library (NCRL) at an academic institution. The Nassau County Board of Supervisors and the New York State Board of Regents voted to transfer the collections of the NCRL, valued at over $1.5 million, to the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. C.W. Post, and the B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library in particular, became the beneficiary of some 250,000 items of business-related research materials. Books, periodicals, microfilm, telephone directories and online searching (then a relatively new service) were made available to the Long Island University academic community and to the public at large. Small and major businesses on Long Island, as well as academic, public and special librarians, were eager for business information. Mary Grant, formerly in charge of the business collections at NCRL, was hired by C.W. Post not only to head the newly organized library, but also to take business information in a new direction. That direction was to provide fee-based research services to the business community in addition to providing business information to Long Island University students and faculty.
Over the years, the CBR has handled every imaginable type of question from its business clients. For example, one sales executive needed to know the names of manufacturing companies within New Jersey which operated facilities having a certain square footage, a CEO requested supporting data to justify a title change and salary increase and a law firm needed information on the origin of teddy bears. Long-range projects have included state profiles and commissioned reports, as well as market overviews for everything from antioxidants to beer. In recent times, the CBR has rescued more than one lost soul from the depths of the Internet.
Twenty years have passed and the CBR has undergone many changes. The phone books are long gone (that information is available on the Internet now). Our clients are as likely to call us from their corporate offices in Connecticut and their boats in Florida as from the towns of Long Island. However, the CBR continues to be an outstanding resource for the business and academic community.
In celebration of its twentieth anniversary, the CBR is holding several Business Information Breakfasts for area companies, managers and entrepreneurs throughout the year. The purpose of these programs is to give participants the tools they need to find targeted information for competitive advantage. Start Your Engines: Using Search Engines Effectively was the title of the first two breakfasts held in May and July. A third breakfast entitled Understanding World Markets and featuring guest speaker Associate Professor Lorene Hiris of the Department of Finance was held October 30, 1998. Plans are under way for a gala celebration to honor the founders of the CBR.
As the CBR celebrates its twentieth anniversary, we look forward to continuing to work with those of you who are already familiar with our resources and services. For those of you who have yet to discover us, please help us to celebrate our twenty years of service at C.W. Post by visiting the CBR. Even if you are not a business student or part of the business faculty, you may be surprised at what the CBR has to offer you.
| Martha Cooney |
The Long Island University Library System is now available through the Internet from any computer connected to the University network.
LIUCAT
LIUCAT is the online public access catalog of Long Island University's six campuses. Just click your mouse on the phrase Search LIUCAT to search for books in the university's libraries. You can search by keyword for author, title or subject heading. Or you can browse by the first word of the author, title, or subject heading. The new library catalog software makes it easy to find what you are looking for. You can also access LIUCAT from remote locations through the Internet.
Online Databases Too
Web-based access to a wide variety of electronic databases is also available on the LIU Library System. These databases cover a wide range of subject areas including the humanities, medicine, the social sciences, business, education, the sciences, library/information science and news. Resources such as Expanded Academic Index ASAP, Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), ABI/INFORM Global, MEDLINE Advanced and Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe are just a few of the databases available from any computer on the University network. These web-accessible databases provide current and retrospective citations to articles. In many cases, the full-text of an article is also provided and can be printed, downloaded to disk or sent to e-mail accounts.
For now, you must be connected to the University network to
access the databases. Once
a system of passwords has been established, remote access to
these databases will also be available.
A number of electronic journals in the field of library and information science, including Information Development and Records Management Journal, can now be accessed by LIU students, faculty and staff from their home or office computers. Required passwords and user names may be obtained from the Library Science Library.
Visit the Reference Department to pick up the latest listings of currently available literary and multidisciplinary CD-ROMs. Featured resources include Columbia Granger's World of Poetry and Film Index International. While you're there, check out the new multi-volume titles that have recently been added to the reference collection. The International Encyclopedia of Dance, Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life and Macmillan Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences are just a few of the many new resources now at your disposal.
Series I and Series II of the microfilm collection,
American
Periodicals Series, containing periodicals published in the
United States between 1741 and 1900, is currently available in
the Periodicals Department.
Titles are accessible through a
printed index, American Periodicals 1741-1900: An Index to the
Microfilm Collections, which is available at the Periodicals
Reference Desk. This valuable resource has applications within
various disciplines including history, theater, political
science, religion and advertising.
The look and content of the
Reference Department homepage
has recently been updated. Three new major sections,
Internet Links,
Reference Resources and
Reference Services,
have been
added. Internet Links puts the Library's new
public
access
catalog and the web-based
Educational
Resources Information
Center (ERIC), along with other websites,
conveniently at your fingertips. The Reference Services
section
now includes FirstSearch.
This interactive online information
system, available by subscription through the World Wide Web,
accesses over 70 databases giving users information on and from
books, journal articles, film, computer software and other
materials covering a wide variety of subject areas.
Tune-in to WCWP, 88.1 FM, each Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. to catch InfoLink. The InfoLink program focuses on Library resources, services and programs, as well as, all things "literary" and "extra-literary." The program is hosted by Instructor Emily Walshe of the Acquisitions Department. Emily's recent guests have included Associate Professor Jackie Elsas, Reference Department Head, Professor Bob Brier of the Philosophy Department and Librarians Dona McDermott and Elizabeth Mezick of the Center for Business Research.
In recognition of the centennial of the consolidation of the five
boroughs of New York City (1898-1998), the Library is presenting
the exhibition "New York: The Rhythms of the Street."
The exhibit investigates the historical past, cultural richness
and diversity of the City. It will be on view until December 15,
1998.
Congratulations to Associate Professors Jackie Elsas, Reference Department Head, and Conrad Schoeffling, Special Collections Head, as they celebrate 30 years of service to the C.W. Post community.
The article "Student Preferences for CD-ROM
Instruction," authored by Associate Professor Laura
Manzari
of the Reference Department,
has been published in the November
1998 issue of the
Journal of Academic Librarianship.
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