November 2015 – Business & Law Librarians @Lincoln

What makes a good scholarly introduction?

Daren Mansfield / November 24, 2015November 25, 2015 / Study Skills

Over the past two or three weeks I’ve been musing about what makes a good introduction for an academic essay as it’s a frequent question raised in the Library. Although there does appear to be variations according to the subject an academic is writing about, be it marketing, events or entrepreneurship, there might be a standard formula for this regular conundrum. From my observations, an introduction seems to generally consist of: an overview sentence which outlines the breadth of the article (1^{st sentence}); further explanation (2^nd); an example or case study (3^rd); further explanation (4^th) and scholarly debate (5^th +) which indexes various topics / theories to academic publications, but not going into any depth. On the 6^th + sentence the author then announces what they are going to investigate, and may raise questions at this stage before dissecting themes in the main body…An introduction generally covers the breadth of the article in the shortest possible word limit, meaning that some articles are packed full of references where the academic (s) have simply linked / referenced ideas which they will go into greater detail later.

The University of Warwick‘s Centre for Applied Linguistics goes further by explaining the ingredients of a good introduction, and that it’s vital to make a good impression. Trzeciak and Mackay’s (1994) Study Skills for Academic Writing (English for Academic Study) identified a number of ‘ingredients’ of an introduction, but it’s not always necessary to to include all of them, but a combination of some will be useful to introduce an academic argument.

a statement of the importance of the subject
mention of previous work on the subject
a justification for dealing with the subject
a statement of your objectives
a statement of the limitations of the work
a mention of some of the differing viewpoints on the subject
a definition of the topic being discussed

For those wishing to learn more, Trzeciak & MacKay’s Study skills for academic writing Student’s book is available at Call no: 428.343 stu in the Library on the 1st floor.

New Scoring Model & Credit Limits on Fame

Daren Mansfield / November 17, 2015 / Databases

The scoring model and credit limit system on our database, FAME, is more predictive system which incorporates recent economic data (2010- 2013) and credit scoring analytics. The credit score measures “the likelihood of company insolvency in the next 12 months” which is then transformed into a credit limit based on the financial strength of the target company. The credit limit recommends “the total amount of credit outstanding at any one time on the target company” that is based on a portfolio of 3,833,672 companies covering:

Group, Full accounts and Medium sized companies
Small companies
Total exemption full
Total exemption small
Balance sheet

Each development sample was statistically analysed to determine the most predictive parameters to be used in each scorecard. The final credit limit is obtained after adjusting the initial credit limit according to the financial health and default risk of a Company. Scores and limits are market leading based on more recent economic data statistics and analytics so is judged more predictive and accurate than the previous model. New parameters in the scorecard include:

Directors history and associate interest performance
Auditors qualification
Improved CCJ analysis
New treatment of negative
Shareholders funds
Improved financial ratio analysis

There’s also a webinar from Ray Ruffels (who might sound like an airline pilot making an announcement) who is the Director of Information at Jordans.

Database feature: Oxford University Press Journals

Daren Mansfield / November 16, 2015November 17, 2015 / Databases

Do you know that we have recently subscribed to Oxford University Press Journals (OUP) which is available through the Library homepage (library.lincoln.ac.uk > resources > databases > O > Oxford University Press Journals)? This presents a wonderful opportunity to browse the tabs Journals A-Z, and the Arts & Humanities, Law, Medicine & Health, Science & Mathematics, and most importantly for business, Social Sciences. The OUP is an integral part of Oxford University, which this marketing video smartly conveys:

Also, I could not resist from exploring World Literature and Roger Luckhurst from Birkbeck College discussing the readability of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which he surmises is one of the most entertaining novels ever written. What will you find in OUP?

There’s also a fascinating OUP blog piece entitled ‘A timeline of academic publishing at Oxford University Press‘ that illustrates the history of printing the written word in England from 1450. For the 42 journals we have access to as part of our subscription please select this link: http://atoz.ebsco.com/Titles/Provider/1710?lang=en&lang.menu=en&lang.subject=en&providerId=494&providerName=Oxford%20University%20Press&resourceType=all&resourceTypeName=allTitles

Common fears of public speaking

Daren Mansfield / November 12, 2015 / Study Skills

Common Fears of Presenting Handout

More Books update

Daren Mansfield / November 12, 2015 / Library Information

Now that we are well into the new academic year it’s a good time to send out the first review of More Books for the period of August to October.

More Books for Undergraduates was re-opened on 28^th September 2015 and has already experienced its most popular period so far. In the period September-October 2015, we have received 142 requests from 86 Undergraduates. Of these, we ordered 123 in print and 19 in eBook format. Already this academic year, we have spent in the region of £4,800. This is a huge increase on last year’s spend at this time for 65 requests from 40 individual Undergraduates of just under £2,000. There are a lot more requests from a wider range of students rather than more requests by the same few students is a positive indication that the Service is becoming more effectively far-reaching.

More Books for Research

More Books for Research has continued steadily throughout the summer and into the new academic year. Since August 2015, we have received 112 requests from 48 Researchers, both students and staff. 100 of these were ordered in print and 12 in ebook format. We have spent in the region of £4,600 on our Researchers’ requests so far. This is compared to just under £2,000 which we spent on 58 requests for 21 Researchers for the same time period last year. October 2015 has been our busiest month yet with a spend of just over £7,000. This illustrates a much higher response to the service than ever before, which is obvious in the charts below:

August – October 2014 August – October 2015

Statistics from last year showed that the most popular months were November and February so we look forward to seeing whether this trend repeats this year.