Ford Library

Here are Ford Library’s hours of operation during Winter Break.

• Thursday & Friday, December 18th & 19th, 8am to 10pm
• Saturday & Sunday, December 20th & 21st, 12 noon – 4pm
• Monday & Tuesday, December 22nd & 23rd, 8am – 5pm
• Wednesday, December 24th – Sunday, December 28th, Closed
• Monday & Tuesday, December 29th & 30th, 8am – 5pm
• Wednesday – Sunday, December 31st – January 4th, Closed
• Monday – Wednesday, January 5th – 7th, 8am – 8pm
• Thursday & Friday, January 8th & 9th, 8am to 10pm
• Saturday & Sunday, January 10th & 11th, 12 noon – 4pm
• Monday & Tuesday, January 12th & 13th, 8am – 8pm
• Wednesday, January 14th regular semester/term hours resume

Outliers : the story of success by Malcolm Gladwell. Little, Brown and Co., 2008.

Best selling author of The Tipping Point and Blink, Malcolm Gladwell studied the lives of people whose achievements go far beyond normal expectations to discover what makes people successful. He concludes that success arises out of an accumulation of advantages, such as when and where you are born, or what your parents did for a living. People like Bill Gates or John Lennon were enormously successful, not due to extraordinary talent but because of their extraordinary opportunities. But while they were incredibly lucky, but they also had the strength and intelligence to make the most of their opportunities.

In the second part of the book, Gladwell discusses cultural traditions and attitudes that are inherited from forebears. He studied cultural traits such as persistence and expression of respect to determine how much they matter to an individual’s professional success. Not surprisingly, they matter a lot.

Gladwell concludes that “success is grounded in a web of advantages and inheritances, some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky, but all critical to making them who they are.” Like Gladwell’s other books, Outliers is an interesting and easy read, sure to be a blockbuster best seller.

© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business. All rights reserved.

The 4-hour workweek : escape 9-5, live anywhere, and join the new rich by Timothy Ferriss. Crown Publishers, 2008.

This book promotes an alternative way to look at life and work. Ferris begins by describing the New Rich as people who live the millionaire lifestyle of complete freedom but have not yet earned the million dollars. The New Rich use their time effectively and work relatively few hours in positions that correspond to their strengths. Having read The World is Flat, the New Rich telecommute from home or remote locations, hiring third world employees by the hour to do boring time consuming tasks. In the end, the New Rich are able to live their entire lives doing what they want to do as opposed to what they are obligated to do.

This book offers some good ideas, such as managing one’s time. Ferris also questions whether people find meaning in buying things or preparing to buy things. He suggests that people take mini-retirements throughout their lives instead of working at meaningless jobs for 30 years, saving retirement to the end. The emphasis is still on making “a ton of money,” but to Ferris, this ton of money is for specific reasons.

Ferris regularly goes overboard with boasting and exaggerating, such that “snake oil salesman” comes to mind. Yet if you don’t take it too seriously, this inspirational book is a fun read.

© Reviewer: Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business. All rights reserved.

A recent episode of PBS’ show NOW examined the role the credit ratings agencies had in the current economic crisis. You can watch this episode on the PBS web site. The site also has links to documents from their investigation as well as comments on the future of the free market from James K. Galbraith, David Rothkopf, and Robert A.G. Monks.

Wondering how you can locate a job in a challenging economy? Then, you might want to consider taking the Independent Job Search Class at the Ford Library which will allow you to:

Beginning 12/3 at 10am and 2pm, the classes will be held in the Ford Library Database Resources Room.

Some of the databases covered will include ABI-Inform, Factiva, MarketLine and Onesource, plus a look at Vault, Wetfeet, and others. This class is designed for students who have not taken the basic library database class.

To register, click here. Note, space is limited.