RUL Economics Newsletter

Fall 2011, Rutgers University Libraries Economics Newsletter

Ryan Womack, Data and Economics Librarian, rwomack@rutgers.edu

Introduction

This year, due to budget relief and a reorganization of library spending patterns, we were able to add a number of databases at the end of the academic year. These are listed below. The other major news is the ongoing development of the RUresearch data portal and associated services provided by the Libraries for data management and archiving.

Collections

The following new databases will be of particular interest to Economics. For a complete list of new additions, see the forthcoming databases page.

Annual Reviews in Economics, now added to our subscriptions.
Latinobarometro - detailed public opinion surveys on Latin American countries. Note that we will also soon have another set of Latin American surveys available from LAPOP, but access for this is still being negotiated.
Mergent Horizon - provides a 360 degree view of a company's competitors, suppliers, partners, and corporate customers, using a detailed hierarchical classification system for actual products and services. Mergent Horizon covers over 6,000 actively traded public companies in the United States, and includes reports on insider and institutional owners.
Policy Map - interactively map demographic and economic variables for the US. Particularly strong on housing market data.
ProQuest Congressional Publications provides access to historical and current Congressional information and publications on all aspects of legislation dealing with life and public policy. Also allows tracking of legislative histories.
Social Explorer - another interactive mapping tool, this time focused on Census data, which is complete from 1790 to the latest results. It is very easy to create informative visualizations and data extracts of social trends with this site.
The Wall Street Journal (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) covers the content of the paper from its inception in 1889 to 1993 (more recent content is still available through Factiva)

Services

The RUresearch data portal is now fully operational. The Libraries also offer consulting on data management plans, as required by the NSF and other granting agencies. We can take care of the data you generate, and make it available to the scholarly community, so that you can concentrate on your research. This page describes these services in more detail. I serve as Research Data Manager, and the Libraries are building a large team to work on these issues. You can find further information at data.rutgers.edu and my Data Management Guide. Additional workshops on data management will be held later in the Fall semester.
The Secure Data Facility in Alexander Library is now operational. Major research datasets that involve personally identifiable information, such as the Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health and detailed survey results from the National Center for Education Statistics, require special handling to prevent disclosure. The Secure Data Facility meets computer security requirements for these and similar datasets. While researchers must still complete their own applications and licensing to obtain data, the storage and loading of data is handled by the Secure Data Facility. As Data Librarian, I can assist researchers on the data security plan portion of applications for restricted-use data. The Secure Data Facility can also be used to host data that may not be confidential, but whose access must be limited to specific users. Policies and procedures associated with the Secure Data Facility are described here.
R Workshops are again being offered in Alexander Library on a walk-in basis during September. R is freely available, open source statistical software that has been widely adopted in the research community. Due to its open nature, thousands of add-ons ("packages" in R parlance) are available that handle many specialized functions and implement the latest statistical techniques. Workshops are open and do not require registration. See the link for the workshop schedule.
The Scarlet Latte cafe will also be opening on the lower level of Alexander Library on September 6.

Other news

If you would like would like to investigate data for your research or instruction, develop a LibGuide with resources for your course, to schedule instructional sessions for your classes relating to library databases and resources, or would like individual consultation about any information resources related to economics, please contact me. Also, feel free to list me as a resource for your students on your syllabi, web pages, and courseware.

Please e-mail me if you have any other suggestions and comments about the Libraries’ information resources or services.

About…

This newsletter describes news relevant to economics from the Rutgers University Libraries, and is distributed to the Department of Economics and Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics in New Brunswick. It is typically issued once a semester, with occasional ‘special editions’ for important breaking news. For more regular updates on data developments, consult or subscribe to the RutgersData blog at rutgersdata.wordpress.com. A detailed overview of Economics resources is provided on the Economics LibGuide.

For Assistance…

Due to my new responsibilites as Research Data Manager, I have less and less time on my office computer. As a result, I have decided to discontinue my live chat boxes on the RutgersData blog and the Economics LibGuide. It's best to e-mail me first, and we can still set up times to meet in-person, or online using Adobe Connect Now, which allows sharing of audio, video, and the computer desktop in one session. Of course you can continue to contact me for assistance by e-mail, phone (732-932-7129 x131), or in person (at Alexander Library or I can drop by your office).