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New Business Information Wall at NYPL’s Science, Industry and Business Library Unveiled During Financial Resources Day, June 28
Wall Features Real Time Local, National, and International News, Headlines, and Financial Market Data at Nation's Largest Public Information Center for Science and Business
New York, NY, June 28, 2005 -- The New York Public Library’s Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL) hosted a Financial Resources Day and community celebration to mark the unveiling of the new Business Information Wall on Tuesday, June 28 at 11:00 a.m. The range of information presented on the Wall, along with the hundreds of specialized databases, innovative classes, one-on-one small business counseling, and other unique business materials including corporate annual reports, patents, US and foreign government documents available at SIBL, provides an unprecedented resource for small investors and business people. These specialized services, all available for free, provide the public with a valuable combination of information that is generally only available at large corporations, brokerage houses, or at a prohibitive cost.
The Business Information Wall, made possible by global financial services firm, UBS, and designed by the noted firm ESI Design, integrates constantly updated business and financial information in one location that reflects SIBL’s mission to serve as a resource for local, national, and worldwide business information. The new wall, located in Healy Hall, the dramatic two-story atrium that provides entry to SIBL’s collections and services, utilizes flat screen LCD panels, sophisticated lighting design, and state-of-the-art audio technology to present news and information in a unique and visually engaging way.
Following the Wall unveiling, participants had the opportunity to tour SIBL and attend two training classes, Stocks and Mutual Funds: Investment Resources at SIBL, and Searching Financial Databases which cover the wealth of investment advisory resources, both print and electronic, that may be searched for free at SIBL. The Science, Industry and Business Library is located at 188 Madison Avenue at 34th Street in Manhattan.
Participating in the celebration will be Catherine C. Marron, Chairman of The New York Public Library’s Board of Trustees; Dr. Paul LeClerc, President of The New York Public Library; Mark Arena, Managing Director, Head of Corporate Communications - Americas, UBS; Edwin Schlossberg, founder of ESI Design; and Paul Rocker, SIBL patron.
“The new Business Information Wall enhances The Science, Industry and Business Library’s position as a leader in providing broad access to and fast and efficient delivery of information in finance, small business services, science, and technology,” said Catherine C. Marron. “Breaking news has the ability to move markets and SIBL patrons will certainly rely on this new source. The New York Public Library is grateful to UBS for this important, informative, and attractive gift to all New Yorkers.”
“The Science, Industry and Business Library is one of NYPL’s four specialized research libraries, and it houses a vast array of dedicated tools and resources for financial planners, entrepreneurs, inventors, scientists, and researchers. The Business Information Wall addresses the Library's responsibility to provide access to information that is of-the-moment and constantly changing,” said Dr. LeClerc. “The sleek new look and the sophisticated technologies used in the wall reflect the overall design of the library, which can also adapt to accommodate its users and their ever-evolving needs.”
The new Business Information Wall features:
• A series of seventeen flat liquid crystal display (LCD) screens (five 40” panels and twelve 20” panels) that present a range of local, national, and international news and information as well as web-based financial market data.
• Two of the 40” panels feature constantly updated financial information, US and world market news, currency charts, trading activity, as well as information on activities at SIBL, including schedules of classes and training seminars.
• The remaining fifteen monitors present news sources in a rotating display, including: Bloomberg Television; CNBC; CNBC World; NY1; CNN Headline News; CNN International; Fox News; and MSNBC.
• Three “audio spotlights” correspond to three of the large screen news displays. This state-of-the-art audio technology utilizes ultra sound waves to beam streams of sound to a specific area. It enables patrons to listen to real time audio feeds while standing directly in front of three of the 40” monitors. The sound is only audible while standing directly under the speaker. Once the patron steps outside of a 2’ radius, the audio fades into the ambient sound of the library.
• One LED "ticker-tape" displays provides continuous streams of the latest stock prices and financial headlines customized for the unique needs of SIBL patrons.
• An illuminated LED background panel brightens and animates the entire display with rotating colors, including blue, green, purple, and magenta.
“UBS is proud to sponsor the new Business Information Wall at SIBL,” said Mark Arena, Managing Director, Head of Corporate Communications - Americas. “We are committed to education and believe strongly in giving back to the communities in which we live and work. This newly designed Wall, which contains the most up to date financial news from across the globe, is a wonderful way in which UBS can contribute to public education here in New York.”
About the Science, Industry and Business Library
The New York Public Library’s Science Industry and Business Library is the nation's largest public information center devoted solely to science and business. This 160,000-square-foot high-tech library in midtown Manhattan serves nearly half a million patrons annually and houses multi-format research and circulating collections of 1.2 million volumes, 73 computer workstations, laptop docking, hundreds of databases, the New York Small Business Resource Center, exhibitions, and classes on a variety of topics, all geared to the needs of science and business patrons. The collections at SIBL focus on the following subject categories: Advertising, Astronomy, Banks and Banking, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Sciences, Economics, Engineering, Environmental Science, Finance, Food Sciences and Technology, History of Science, Industrial Relations, Insurance, International Trade, Management, Marketing, Mathematics, Patents and Trademarks, Personnel Management, Public Relations, Real Estate, Robotics, Small Business, Statistics, Textile Industry, Trade and Technologies, Transportation, Unions, Urban Affairs, and Zoology.
Highlights of the business collection include:
• New York Small Business Resource Center (smallbiz.nypl.org): This aspect of SIBL focuses specifically on the need of small businesses, from how to write a successful business plan, and how to secure financing, to information on marketing, demographics, and manufacturing. SIBL also offers a directory of New York organizations that offer assistance to small business owners and entrepreneurs, as well as a calendar of metro-area small business seminars, training sessions and meetings. SIBL is also home to SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), a volunteer branch of the Small Business Administration, which offers one-on-one counseling for small business owners. The New York City Department of Small Business Services recently opened a NYC Business Solutions Center at SIBL providing reliable information on critical business issues such as securing government contracts, navigating government regulations, and coping with emergencies.
• Electronic Resources: SIBL offers patrons free access to over 100 databases, many of which offer full text articles from thousands of periodicals and journals. The electronic resources are available in the Elizabeth and Felix Rohatyn Electronic Training Center, a specially designed area for public use of electronic information tools via 53 networked workstations. Some of the financial databases that are available include: Bloomberg; Value Line Research Center; Standard & Poor’s Net Advantage; FIS Online; Investext; EDGAR Online; and the Wall Street Journal.
• Financial Services Collections: SIBL offers a comprehensive collection of financial
information services (loose-leafs, stock reporting services and newsletters); electronic databases; basic texts and reference works; as well as U.S. and foreign government documents, patents, local laws; New York City information, and demographics; extensive international trade and business resources; standards, codes and technical reports; U.S. and foreign industrial directories and buyers' guides; and Corporate annual reports, both domestic and foreign, in print, microform and electronic formats.
Business Information Wall Partners
UBS, one of the world's leading financial firms, is the largest wealth manager, a top tier investment banking and securities firm, a key asset manager and the leader in Swiss retail and commercial banking. Headquartered in Zurich and Basel, UBS employs over 68,000 people and has offices in 50 countries. It is a Swiss public company listed on the SWX Swiss Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). In the U.S., UBS is one of the biggest private client businesses with a client base of nearly 2 million private clients and approximately 7500 financial advisers in over 350 offices.
ESI Design created the new Business Information Wall. Founded by Edwin Schlossberg, ESI Design is one of the world’s foremost experiential design firms working to create physical and virtual spaces for museums, retailers, corporations, parks, and foundations.
About The New York Public Library
The Science, Industry and Business Library is part of The New York Public Library, which consists of four major research libraries and 85 branch libraries located in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island. The New York Public Library is the only facility of its kind, with both world-class research and circulating collections that are free and open to the general public. Now in its second century of service, The New York Public Library continues to grow and adapt to meet the needs of its millions of users worldwide.
Current and Upcoming Exhibitions at SIBL The Subway at 100: General William Barclay Parsons and the Birth of the NYC Subway is currently on view at SIBL through June 30, 2005 in Healy Hall. Celebrating the centennial of the opening of the New York City subway system in 1904, this exhibition both salutes William Barclay Parsons, the first chief engineer of the subway, and recognizes the importance of the subway system to the life and growth of the city.
Opt-In: Advertising’s New Age Exhibit will be on view in Healy Hall at SIBL beginning September 27, 2005. The exhibit will create an educational and entertaining environment that showcases the history of advertising from print and radio, to television and the Internet. It will demonstrate how online advertising is an offspring of generations of print, radio, and television advertising and a future step in advertising’s evolution.
Also on Exhibit:
In addition to SIBL, The New York Public Library’s three other Research Centers (The Humanities and Social Sciences Library, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture) offer a broad range of exhibitions including the following:
Before Victoria: Extraordinary Women of the British Romantic Era On view through July 30, 2005 in the D. Samuel and Jeane H. Gottesman Exhibition Hall (First Floor) at the Humanities and Social Sciences Library, 5th Avenue and 42nd Street. Before Victoria, drawn from the Pforzheimer, Berg, and Print Collections of the Humanities and Social Sciences Library, will bring together literary and cultural history, and explore the transformation of British society through the lives of a number of remarkable women, some well-known today and some almost totally forgotten.
A Community of Artists: 50 Years of the Public Theater On view through October 15, 2005 in the Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza. Presented in conjunction with the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the New York Shakespeare Festival and Public Theater. Joseph Papp founded the The Public Theater, originally known as The New York Shakespeare Festival, in 1954, as an actors' workshop presenting free Shakespeare in an East Village church basement. In addition to producing groundbreaking performances of Shakespeare, The Public Theater has been integral in developing five generations of American playwrights, composers, directors, designers, and performers.
Malcolm X: A Search for Truth
On view through December 31, 2005 in the Exhibition Hall and Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Reading Room, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Boulevard. Malcolm X: A Search for Truth will provide the first opportunity for the general public to examine materials from the Malcolm X collection. The Malcolm X collection is unique in that it contains a wide range of speeches, sermons, radio broadcasts, diaries, correspondence, and other documents handwritten by Malcolm X or typed and edited at his direction. Most significantly, Malcolm X: A Search for Truth will offer the public fresh new insights into the nature of his thoughts and development, as well as his multifaceted, at times seemingly contradictory, persona and personality.
