A new streamed video has just been added to our Films on Demand database called “Job Search in the 21st Century.”   The video is 25 minutes and details how to utilize the Web and social networks to enhance job prospects.   To access this video go to the library homepage, select databases from the menu and scroll down to “Films on Demand.”  Once you are in the database do a title search for “Job Search in the 21st Century.”

Enter your best original recipe using apples in the Publix “At Season’s Peak” contest (http://www.meredith.com/publix/recipe/) for a chance to win 52 $100 Publix gift cards. Three runner-up winners will each receive a $100 Public gift card. All entrants must be 21 years old and legal residents of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, or South Carolina at the time of entry. (You do not have to be a culinary or baking and pastry student, or a professional, to enter.) The deadline for entering your recipe is 11:59 p.m., December 2, 2009.

Go to http://www.meredith.com/publix/recipe/rules.html for the complete list of contest rules.

If you would simply like to try some recipes using apples, the following are just a few of the items are available for checkout from the Library:

The Apple Cookbook: More Than Sixty Easy, Imaginative Recipes
An Apple Harvest: Recipes and Orchard Lore
Apple Pie: an American Story

Did you know that you have access to investment reports through some of our business databases?  If you are researching a company or an industry, you may find these reports useful.

Business & Company Resource Center offers an easy way to find investment reports.  Follow these steps to access them…we’ll use Office Depot as an example of company we’re researching:

Start by clicking on the link to our databases:
http://library.jwu.edu/research/databases/az.htm#b

Choose Business & Company Resource Center

Enter the name of the company as a company search:

Click on the company (use the ticker symbol and/or the headquarter location to choose the correct one):

Click on the Investment Reports tab:

Click on the titles of the investment reports that are the most current.  If you are researching an industry, repeat the process using the names of the top companies of that industry.  If you need help finding the top companies, use the Rankings tab when you are looking at the details for a particular company.

Happy researching!

An excellent way to prepare for the Fall Career Expo that will be held Thursday, November 5th, in the University Center, is to research the industries and companies you are especially interested in. Your research will give you knowledgeable “talking points” as well as help you formulate important questions to ask the on-campus representatives

Business Resource Center, Business & Company Resource Center, and Business Source Complete are just three databases containing important sources of information. Going the extra step of doing your research may put you ahead of the competition.

Do you have a presentation due for a business class project (or any other project, for that matter)?  Are you having a tough time designing a PowerPoint presentation that looks professional?  Are you struggling to find a way to add pizzazz to your topic?

There’s help available in Academic Search Premier, a database that has hundreds of articles on presentations.  There are articles with advice on choosing the best colors and font sizes, finding professional-quality stock images, using the 90-second rule, appropriate use of video, etc.

One quick way to find these articles is to do a subject search for business presentations.  Use the link for Academic Search Premier (below) and enter business presentations as a subject (see the screenshot below…you can limit to full text articles by putting a check in that box):

 Academic Search Premier (All Campuses)
on campus  |  off campus

By the way, if you’d like to see articles about speaking in public, use public speaking as a subject search.

Good luck!

William Ury is the author of several books on the topic of negotiation and is recognized worldwide for his negotiation and mediation skills. He is currently the director of Harvard’s Global Negotiation Project. His most recent book, The Power of a Positive No: How to Say No and Still Get to Yes, provides a three step process (Yes! No. Yes?) that allows the user to more effectively get what is desired through negotiation.

Step one of a Positive No creates the understanding that saying “No” is actually saying “Yes!” to yourself. The second step of a Positive No conveys the reality that saying “No” states what it is that you do not agree to. The third step of a Positive No bridges to a point of agreement and respect. Ury also explains the process as: the first step expresses your interests, the second step asserts your power, and the third step furthers your relationship.

The effectiveness of a Positive No allows one to stand on ones own two feet, create what is wanted, protect what is valued, and change what does not work. The key to using this technique is respect. Although this may sound like common sense, Ury contends that it is uncommon, as so often the Nos used in negotiation and life do not follow this pattern, and the results are far from productive.

The Power of a Positive No is a fairly quick read and may provide you with an effective life long communication and negation tool. Can you recommend other self-help type books that you have found to be helpful? Posting your thoughts to these blog entries is always appreciated. We invite you to share your thoughts with other blog readers.

First Research from Dun & Bradstreet offers In-depth industry research for over 300 industries.  The research reports are updated quarterly, and are given in a relatively simple, consistent format.  Each industry profile is broken down consistently into the following chapters/sections:

Industry Overview
Recent Developments
Business Challenges
Trends & Opportunities
Executive Insight
Call Prep Questions
Financial Information
Industry Forecast & Rating
Web Links & Acronyms

You can search for industry reports by NAICS and SIC, or you can browse from the main page under the following broad sectors:

Construction & Real Estate
Finance & Insurance
Food & Agriculture
Healthcare
Manufacturing
Public Services, Education & Recreation
Retail
Services
Technology & Communications
Transportation, Energy & Storage
Wholesale

As far as reports related to JWU programs, the reports for the retail industry are broken down into over 40 subcategories.  There is a Hotel and Motel Lodging report listed under the main sector of Services; there’s also a Bed and Breakfast Inns report in this same sector.  Also under Services you’ll see Advertising & Marketing, Direct Marketing, Trade Show & Event Planning, Security System Services, and Travel Agencies & Services.  Under Food and Agriculture, you’ll find reports for Bakeries, Breweries, Catering Services, Restaurants, and Wineries.

The Financial Information section includes benchmarking figures and financial ratios (and includes their definitions) for each industry.

The section for Web Links & Acronyms in each report offers links to associations and Web sites related to each industry, as well as a brief glossary for acronyms used in the report.

One useful feature from First Research is the Call Prep Sheets section of each report.  In this section, you’ll find “conversation starters” that are relevant to the industry.  The conversation starters are designed to be used for sales calls, but they could be useful when preparing for a job interview.

Another nice feature is the States & Provinces section.  It features a clickable map that lets you find monthly updates of industry, economic, employment, and real estate data & trends for each of the 50 states in the U.S.

To access First Research, go to the Databases section of our site, and scroll down to “F” in the alphabetical listings:

http://library.jwu.edu/research/databases/az.htm

Gourmet magazine announced earlier this month that the November issue will be its last.  Publisher Conde Nast has decided to pull the plug on the iconic magazine after months of falling ad revenues.

The magazine has been in publication since December of 1940 and has approached the subject of food as culture ever since.  The magazine has featured such writers as Junot Diaz, winner of the 2008 Pulitzer  Prize for The Brief Wondrous  of Oscar Wao, David Foster Wallace and Anthony Bourdain.

The Johnson & Wales North Miami Library retains Gourmet magazine from 1964 to the last issue.

The library has purchased access to a fabulous new database: Global Road Warrior. Focused on countries and their cultures, this database is an excellent tool for looking up points of interest, travel essentials, business culture for women, and demographics. There are also maps and images!

Global Road Warrior (Charlotte, No. Miami, Providence Campuses)

on campus |  off campus

“Student by student, school by school, teacher by teacher, neighborhood by neighborhood, the American Re-Generation is growing and changing the culture around green, making it not only “hip” but also more central to our lives.” So states New York Times writer Thomas L. Friedman in his latest book: Hot, Flat and Crowded.

The warming of the planet, the “flattening” effect of technology on the global marketplace, and the spiraling world population growth, especially in nations that can least sustain overpopulation, are the trends Friedman identifies as the driving forces of the new Energy-Climate Era. It is in coping with and developing solutions for the problems generated by this hot, flat, crowded world, that Friedman sees America coming again to its role as the world leader. Furthermore, it is in the process of American leadership taking on the challenges of energy efficiency and environmental preservation, that America will renew its identity and self-confidence.

Each chapter reminds the reader of the importance of the topic and the necessity for change and leadership. In conclusion, Friedman uses the analogy of all of us sailing as pilgrims on the Mayflower, and arriving at a place where we have not been before. The nature of the decisions we make about sustainable development will define who we are as Americans, and, in a very real way, define a moment in history as a true turning point where the nations that develop the big solutions to the big problems will lead the new era.

What are your ideas for sustainable living and development?