E-LEARNING: Using WRDS Effectively: Research and Teaching

This notice appeared in the WRDS September Newsletter with an elearning opportunity for BC faculty and students:

WRDS is pleased to announce 4 upcoming training sessions.
Please note: All presentations will cover the same content
Topic: Using WRDS Effectively: Research and Teaching
Duration: 1 hour
Location: Online (WebEx)
Description: Provides an overview of the WRDS system and describes the various ways a faculty member, researcher, librarian or student can obtain and analyze data easily and efficiently.
Objectives: Understand the various Web features of the WRDS system.
Learn how to use SAS on your PC to obtain and analyze data.
Learn how to connect to the WRDS system and use SAS on Unix.
Schedule: Every 3rd Friday, via WebEx: September through December 2008.
Date/Time:

October 17, 2008 10:00am EDT hosted by: Mireia Gine and Luis Palacios
November 21, 2008 3:00pm EDT hosted by: Luis Palacios and Mark Keintz
December 19, 2008 10:00am EDT hosted by: Mireia Gine and Yuxing Yan
We tried to take into consideration the need for convenient training times for our international subscribers.

Please let us know if you need additional assistance by emailing Rnuss@wharton.upenn.edu.

To participate in a training session:
Please register at http://wrds.wharton.upenn.edu/elearning/calendar.html

Important Notice: TAQ Downtime: On Thursday, September 25

Important Notice: TAQ Downtime: On Thursday, September 25, TAQ data for months February through May of 2008 will be unavailable. This will affect both web and Unix users. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Demographic Analysis with ArcGIS: Geostatistics

September 25, 2008 10:00 am - 11:30 am, O’Neill 245


GIS is an analysis tool which complements other quantitative methods used to analyze population data. The session will highlight GIS data available for research and include demonstrations of ArcGIS using cases based on Census and related data. The focus of this workshop will be on the use of ArcGIS to analyze demographic data.

Census data and GIS applications are used by community planners, marketers, managers, scientists and researchers in education, economists, sociologists, social workers, health care managers, librarians, and data administrators. International population data will also be highlighted. At Boston College GIS is used by Geology, Economics Social Work, Sociology, Nursing, History and other departments.

Co-instructors: Barbara Mento, Data/GIS Librarian and Constantin Andronache, ITS Research Services.

To register, please send email to researchservices@bc.edu with the name of this tutorial.

Introduction to ArcGIS September 18th, 2008 at 10:00 a.m.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are used today to analyze and represent data with geographical reference on maps. Such applications are widely used in academia, private industry and government agencies and the number of applications is increasing. ArcGIS Desktop software products from the Environmental Research Systems Institute (ESRI).

ArcGIS Desktop is an integrated suite of advanced GIS applications and interfaces, including ArcMap, ArcCatalog, ArcGlobe, ArcScene, ArcToolbox, and ModelBuilder. Using these applications and interfaces, you can perform any GIS task, from simple to advanced, including mapping; geographic analysis; data editing, compilation, and management; visualization; and geoprocessing. ArcGIS Desktop is scalable to meet the needs of many types of users.

This session will introduce users to: 1) GIS software, data and technical support at Boston College; 2) License options; 3) Main ArcGIS features and capabilities (ArcMap, ArcCatalog, ArcTool, ArcGlobe); 4) Present available extensions and capabilities (Spatial Analyst, Geostatistical Analyst, etc); 5) Demos using Census data; Demos using Environmental data. Options to get data and training will be also discussed. No prior knowledge of ArcGIS is required.

September 18, 2008 10:00 am - 11:30 am, O’Neill 245

Instructors: Barbara Mento and Constantin Andronache

To register, please send email to researchservices@bc.edu with the names of the tutorials that you are interested in attending.

New U.N. Industrial statistics database 2008

The new INDSTAT4 CD ROM for 2008 has arrived.

Description from U.N.:

"Employs the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities. Information is presented by country, year and industry, and covers: output, value-added, wages and salaries, gross fixed capital formation, production indexes, number of establishments, employment, and females employed."

Available: O’Neill Media Center Stacks HD2329 .I53

Trial for International Financial Statistics and DOTS interface

The library has set up a trial for the International Monetary Fund interface to the
International Financial Statistics and Direction of Trade Statistics databases. We currently offer these databases via a local interface.

Please let us know what you think. To see the trial go to:

Library Database Trial Page

Send comments to: Barbara Mento

Thank you.

New book: Religious congregations & membership

The library recently purchased:
Religious congregations & membership in the United States 2000 : an enumeration by region, state and county based on data reported for 149 religious bodies. Call No: O'Neill Stacks BL2525 .R4689 2002

It is a rich compilation of statistics and maps at several geographic levels.
Catalog Record

It complements the online resource ARDA from the Association of Religion Data Archives