Concordia University

Concordia University Country statistics

Looking for information on occupations and industries in Montréal

Here is a list of resources to locate information about occupations and industry:

Montréal International, the business development corporation under the City, offers many sectorial analysis reports, for free on its website.

The Chambre de commerce du Montréal métropolitain (CCMM) offers Publications about key industries as well as under RelançonsMtl.

Emploi Quebec offers a snapshot about Trades and Occupations. For a given trade/occupation, you can get the sectors of activity by industry: it provides the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code. You will need this code for other steps!

Emploi Québec offers a monthly bulletin about employment prospects in Montréal.

The Government of Canada’s JobBank is a great place to explore occupations. Start with Trend analysis » Occupations. In addition to the wonderful information on this page, notice how each occupation is given a “code” from the National Occupational Classification or NOC. Let’s build on this with the next step. Let’s look for Computer Software Engineer (NOC 2173) near Montreal.

  • What is the average hourly wage of a software engineer in Montréal?
  • What are the prospects?

Now, you can read up on an industry through a licensed library database, called IBISWorld. This system provides a 20+ page report by industry (NAICS) for Canada, the USA and China.

You can also generate a list of companies in an Industry by using Mergent Intellect, a business directory.

Finally, you can setup an email alert to get trade news from ProQuest Business, a comprehensive business article database licensed by the library.

Concordia University Information literacy

Library services for graduate students (Fall 2020)

Fall 2020 will bring a new cohort of exceptional students to Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business. I have been asked to present, very succinctly, the library services and collections afforded to them upon joining us. Please find below the outline of my presentation, with corresponding links.

  1. The library website is your portal to our services and collections
    1. https://library.concordia.ca/
    2. Sofia, our NextGen search engine, covering the print and digital collection (with partial coverage of our market & industry resources). Search for academic articles and books here.
    3. Blue “ribon” – below Sofia – provides for quick access to popular resources: Databases by subject; eJournals; Citation guides
    4. Information for graduate students (we will cover these points in further detail below)
    5. A note about Google Scholar: use the settings to display “deep links” to articles in our databases, see: https://library.concordia.ca/help/using/google-scholar.php
  2. Spectrum, copyright and open access
    1. https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/
    2. Theses defended at Concordia University. Yours will be made available here at the end of your studies.
    3. Advance search: by department or by advisor (find out about past projects)
    4. For theses from around the world, use the database named ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Full Text, PQDT: https://concordiauniversity.libguides.com/az.php?q=pqdt
    5. Pro tip: find a few theses of interest and get a sense of the scope, tone, and use their bibliography as a starting point for your literature review!
  3. Zotero
    1. https://library.concordia.ca/help/citing/index.php
    2. In Sofia and most article databases, you can upload bibliographic data directly to your own account on Zotero.
    3. Organize your readings in folders for your seminars as well as chapters to your thesis. Create your own abstracts and reading notes in special fields.
    4. You can create bibliographies automatically in hundreds of citations styles with the click of a button in your favorite. Check out our GradProSkills workshops on Zotero (or search YouTube!)
  4. RSS for “Really Simple Syndication”
    1. https://library.concordia.ca/help/using/rss/index.php
    2. Be at the forefront of your discipline by harvesting RSS feeds on a special app or website. Subscribe to the table of contents of journals (http://www.journaltocs.ac.uk/), setup an alert in article databases like ProQuest or enjoy webcomics for academics (like https://xkcd.com/)
  5. TOC: Learn how to create a Table of Contents automatically in any word processing software… you need to encode your document properly
    1. How to do this in MS Word: https://www.outfind.ca/using-word-with-style-ms-word-tm-2007-edition/
  6. Remember to ask us questions!
    1. For general information: https://library.concordia.ca/help/questions/
    2. Request an appointment with your subject librarian: https://library.concordia.ca/about/staff/business.php
  7. Take care and enjoy our collection – we allocate about 7 million dollars a year to enrich it!

Concordia University Digital media & ecommerce Food

MARK 305 Consumer Behavior (Fall 2019 edition)

Here are some starting points for succeeding the final project at JMSB’s (Concordia University) MARK 305 Consumer Behavior course. Remember to think about who produces what kind of information and in which format:

1. Consumer behavior trend analysis: Where do we find information about emerging trends in CB?

2. Industry/company analysis: size, key players, strategies

  • For this part, your librarian (me!) recommends the following databases listed on the Library’s Business Research Portal
    • Passport from Euromomnitor: this time, use the “industry reports” section to learn more about your industries
    • IBISWORLD reports: this system is in the “industry analysis” section of the Business Research Portal
    • ProQuest Business Databases: find articles by searching for the name of the trade associations, major players, industry name or consumer trend concept. Focus on articles from trade journals and academic/peer-reviewed/scholarly journals
  • Do you really think Google can help you with this one?

3. Consumer analysis: demographics, size of the target market and their consumption process (pre-during-post)

REMEMBER: Cite your sources! Use the citing business databases in APA format

Concordia University Industries and Markets

Sources for Consumer Behaviour (MARK 305)

Here are some starting points for succeeding the final project at JMSB’s (Concordia University) MARK 305 Consumer Behavior course.

List of industries for the Fall 2018 semester:

  • Alcoholic Drinks
  • Apparel and Footwear
  • Beauty and Personal Care
  • Consumer Health
  • Fresh Food
  • Hot Drinks
  • Luxury Goods
  • Packaged Food
  • Pet Care
  • Soft Drinks
  • Consumer Foodservice
  • Travel

1. Consumer behavior trend analysis: Where do we find information about emerging trends in CB?

2. Industry/company analysis: size, key players, strategies

  • For this part, your librarian (me!) recommends the following databases listed on the Library’s Business Research Portal
    • Passport from Euromomnitor: this time, use the “industry reports” section to learn more about your industries
    • IBISWORLD reports: this system is in the “industry analysis” section of the Business Research Portal
    • ProQuest Business Databases: find articles by searching for the name of the trade associations, major players, industry name or consumer trend concept. Focus on articles from trade journals and academic/peer-reviewed/scholarly journals
  • Do you really think Google can help you with this one?

3. Consumer analysis: demographics, size of the target market and their consumption process (pre-during-post)

REMEMBER: Cite your sources! Use the citing business databases in APA format

Concordia University Lectures and conferences

Researching business plans and projects – District 3 & eMBA version

When researching or launching a new business, information about industries, markets or competitors can be invaluable. In this session, we will cover resources from the Internet as well as licensed market and industry intelligence databases available from Concordia University Library. This is a workshop adapted from the “Entrepreneurship”  course at the John Molson School of Business.

Learning objectiveS

  • Locate industry and market reports from the Internet and the Library
  • Understand how to use datasets from Statistics Canada (Census & Cansim) and other national agencies
  • Develop a healthy information diet

Course Outline

1. Know your industry: reports from IBIS Wrold; SME Benchmarking; Mergent Intellect
2. Using Google for business research: trade associations & governments
3. Statistics Canada for entrepreneurs: Census & CANSIM
4. Reading up on your idea & staying up to date with articles

Course content

0. Where does information come from?

1. Know your industry – look up industry codes (NAICS)
2. Using Google for business research (governments & trade associations)
  • Find trade associations with Google
    • They post a lot of industry/market information on their websites
    • Trade shows, reports, analysis, press releases, lawsuits, white papers, directories, interviews, newsletters… is there a bias?
    • Watch the video for this step
  • Find government information with Google’s advanced search
    • Most government websites follow a standardized format for their addresses
    • Governments study and regulate many topics relevant for new business
    • Example: 2017 Communications Monitoring Report from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
Government Level Example of “Site/domain” Tip
Municipal .ville.montreal.qc.ca Look for “Montréal en statistiques” page for information for boroughs
Provincial .gouv.qc.ca The province deals with mainly: health, education, welfare, culture, agriculture/food…
“Federal” .gc.ca

.gov

europa.eu

Always check for reports from Industry Canada at site:.ic.gc.ca
International un.org

or other agency

Agencies affiliated with the United Nations have their own website
3. Statistics Canada for entrepreneurs
4. Reading up on your idea & staying up to date with articles

Concordia University Library’s Business Research Portal:
http://www.concordia.ca/library/guides/business.html
Concordia University Copyright

Some readings on Copyright

I am giving a lecture on copyright this afternoon and here is the list of preparatory material I submitted to the class:

The context of the lecture is the “Knowledge Management” graduate course in Education. Although this is in the EdTech program, a sizable proportion of students are in traditional teaching roles but may want exposure to other contexts. I also understood that the students will be called upon to either manage copyrighted content for others or be the creators of copyrighted content (as freelancers).

The lecture will be divided in three sections:

  1. Introduction to copyright (Canadian copyright, reserved rights, moral rights, exceptions…)
  2. Managing copyrighted content (CMS, importance of policies & contracts, permission vs. exceptions, open licensing…)
  3. Copyright & the freelancer (rights & responsibilities, work-for-hire & contracts, going to court…)

As always, I will be using my “what’s up with copyright?” slides.

Concordia University Copyright Lectures and conferences

What’s up with Canadian Copyright? (new edition)

I just gave a lecture about copyright called: What’s up with Canadian Copyright? Click here to download the PowerPoint presentation.

It uses the excellent NFB documentary by Brett Gaylor called: RIP! A remix manifesto. See also the movie’s page here.

This is a similar lecture to the one I delivered in February 2013 in prof. Tagny Duff’s Intermedia class at Concordia University’s Scholl of Communication Studies.

It is part of a playlist of videos on YouTube, including one on Creative Commons and the user generated content exception. Here are the 6 videos in a single playlist:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPPnbsfC0rE?list=PLaqfn26UOsX-jloDaE72pOxPxwySoiT_-&w=560&h=315]
Additional reading materials:

– Read the legislative summary for bill C-11 by the Library of Parliament. (in general, it is a great idea to find these legislative summaries, the Library of the Parliament of Canada usually issues these for most laws).

– The “CCH” supreme court case (on fair dealings): CCH Canadian Ltd. v. Law Society of Upper Canada, 2004 SCC 13, [2004] 1 SCR 339
Read the first dozen pages for a great introduction to Canadian Copyright. On fair dealings, start with paragraph 48, which reads :

48 Before reviewing the scope of the fair dealing exception under the Copyright Act, it is important to clarify some general considerations about exceptions to copyright infringement. Procedurally, a defendant is required to prove that his or her dealing with a work has been fair; however, the fair dealing exception is perhaps more properly understood as an integral part of the Copyright Act than simply a defence. Any act falling within the fair dealing exception will not be an infringement of copyright. The fair dealing exception, like other exceptions in the Copyright Act, is a user’s right. In order to maintain the proper balance between the rights of a copyright owner and users’ interests, it must not be interpreted restrictively. As Professor Vaver, supra, has explained, at p. 171: “User rights are not just loopholes. Both owner rights and user rights should therefore be given the fair and balanced reading that befits remedial legislation.”

On the 5 Supreme Court copyright cases delivered during the Summer of 2012, please access the Canadian Legal Information Institute’s website for the free full-text version of these rulings:

2012-07-12 Re:Sound v. Motion Picture Theatre Associations of Canada, 2012 SCC 38, [2012] 2 SCR 376
2012-07-12 Alberta (Education) v. Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright), 2012 SCC 37, [2012] 2 SCR 345
2012-07-12 Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada v. Bell Canada, 2012 SCC 36, [2012] 2 SCR 326
2012-07-12 Rogers Communications Inc. v. Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, 2012 SCC 35, [2012] 2 SCR 283
2012-07-12 Entertainment Software Association v. Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, 2012 SCC 34, [2012] 2 SCR 231

How to analyse a copyright issue (in French) :

Comment utiliser une oeuvre protégée par le droit d'auteur ?

Comment utiliser une oeuvre protégée par le droit d’auteur ?

Concordia University Librarianship

Some thoughts for redesigning a library reference desk

We are undergoing a library redesign project and here are some brainstormed ideas of how I would create an information experience at a modern university library:

1. Would it be desirable to have a prominent desk greeting users as soon as they enter the library, or a more open space (with a smaller desk) that would allow users to get acquainted with their environment?
Desks create a barrier between the patron and us. Why not an open space, with a few bar-height round tables with stools, carpeting (or different flooring) to indicate that this space is special. This space could be directly in front of the entrance, the first thing students see when they come in.
Other spaces could be designed close at had, like a more private “cabinet’ type with table, chairs and connectivity tools (chargers, plugs, etc.) In all cases, the consultation space should be open – ne distance between users and staff.

2. What kind of furniture would you like to see in the new space?
Round tables. Same chairs for patrons and staff. High tables and stools for quick discussion. Closed cabinet for longer issues.

3. What type of equipment / tools / technology should be available?
Internet. Multiple surface technologies – Wired PC with many screens facing in various directions. Tablets. Paper and pencils also – they are mysteriously portable, stable and useful when available. Other paper technology: Stapler, stapler-remover, hole punch, high-capacity printer. Electricity plugs. CD Burner. USB connectors easily available. 3D printers…. maybe even a few reference books still. Expresso machine (the kind that makes coffee).

4. Should there be many levels of service spaces available (i.e. information, reference, technical assistance, etc.), and if so, how would you envision the furniture / technology available for each?
Remember, users do not care what “category” their question falls under. They will keep asking if they feel their interlocutor is competent. So, this question is biased towards our conception of their need (which, I will argue without further discussion, is wrong).
Time is the only factor useful to distinguish between the “types” of questions. So, there are long interactions and short interactions. Short ones require an open, standing-up level, space, with high round tables and longer interactions require more comfortable, intimate, space. Round tables and same chairs for patrons and staff speak to an open, collaborative, collegial service.

5. Any other comments on how you would envision the space (or anything else you’d like to comment on)?
Yes. The name we give to the service is everything. I hate long complex concept driven names. I like short, evocative names. So, I would call the RefTechInfo desk the “ASK” area and the circulation desk the “GET” area. This draws from the FTP (file transfer protocol) whereby you define system functions with simple 3-letter words. Would help with branding and directing students to the proper area.
Stop using the word “desk” – a desk is where you sit and work. We interact with patrons, so we need a new way to explain the space… I suggest “area” as a better term, there could be others.

Concordia University Open access

3D printing in Libraries & welcome Mike Groenendyk!

Mike Groenendyk at DAL I just learned that Mike Groenendyk is joining Concordia University Libraries as a fellow business librarian. Michael comes to us from Dalhousie University Libraries, where he’s had quite a bit of impact !

In my lazy-yet-mysteriously-efficient-googling, I’ve stumbled on this really interesting project to bring 3D printing to the DAL Libraries, funded by CARL. Watch a YouTube video of a joint presentation at the Access 2012 conference:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWqdQZ1FowY&w=560&h=315]

Also if interest is this video from PBSoffbook on 3D printing:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5AZzOw7FwA&w=560&h=315]

My favorite use of 3D printing so far? Making the characters of the stop-motion animation film ParaNorman. That and a harmonica. Harmonicas are cool.

Also of interest is this thread from the blog at MakerBot on 3D printing in Libraries.

Makers By Cory Doctorow If you want to read up on the potential of 3D printing, I highly recommend a novel by Cory Doctorow called Makers, available in print or free download. I devoured it during my summer vacation and it really speaks to the potential of this technology. The protagonists are two hacker/artists and they meander through a seemingly probably web of open communities, fans, fellow hackers and corporations spanning the evil/good axis. I personally thought that there was just a tad too much romantic melodrama, but in the end it was pale in comparison with Cory’s vision about 3D printing.