Ford Library

Effective end of day Friday 3/13, the Ford Library staff will be CLOSED to walk-in patrons; but we will provide library collections and services on a virtual model.

Our Reference Librarians Team are using email and chat ( both accessible here: https://library.fuqua.duke.edu/about/askus.htm )  to help students and faculty with research. 

Our Data Services Team (library-data-requests@fuqua.duke.edu) will continue to assist faculty with data purchases.

If you have questions about items you have checked out or other Circulation-related matters, get some information here: https://sites.fuqua.duke.edu/fordlibrary/2020/03/16/what-happens-with-my-library-items/

If you need a textbook for your class, find out how to get an e-version here: https://sites.fuqua.duke.edu/fordlibrary/2020/03/19/e-reserves-list-spring-term-ii-2020/

Fuqua Teaching Faculty: If you need ANYTHING for next week, help us help you.  Let us know now by responding to this blog post.

For further information about Ford Library collections and services, visit our website: https://library.fuqua.duke.edu Sign up for our newsletter to get weekly updates: https://library.fuqua.duke.edu/about/newsletter.htm

The Dorothea F. Peterjohn Leadership Collection in the Ford Library is a key resource for faculty members, business practitioners and students who are interested in leadership development. The collection was created in 2005 with a generous donation in honor of Dorothea F. Peterjohn and contains print and online books covering the spectrum of leadership. These five books are the newest titles added to the collection.

Schultz, Howard. From the Ground Up. Random House, 2019.

Starbucks CEO and Democratic presidential candidate Howard Schultz uses his life and work to champion the responsibilities for fairness and community that leaders, businesses and citizens share in American society today.

Newport, Cal. Digital Minimalism. Penguin, 2019.

A faculty member in Computer Science at Georgetown University, Cal Newport demonstrates how to shake free from the endless workstream of email, social networks and smartphone apps and focus on what ultimately matters in life.

Herman, Todd. The Alter Ego Effect. Harperbusiness, 2019.

Performance adviser for athletes and entrepreneurs Todd Herman uses stories from sports, business and history to show how to activate one’s personal (and imaginary) Heroic Self using superhuman traits to overcome challenges in life.

Willink, Jocko. Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win. St. Martin’s Press, 2017.

In this updated edition of a bestselling book, two retired Navy Seal officers and veterans of the Iraq War demonstrate how to apply leadership principles from the military to the business environment, showing how to build, train, and lead high-performance teams.

Also available for checkout on Notable Business Books Kindles.

Maxwell, John C. Leadershift: The 11 Essential Changes Every Leader Must Embrace. HarperCollins Leadership, 2019.

Leadership coach John Maxwell summarizes 11 shifts that he made over his long career that strengthened his leadership abilities and sustained him professionally during his years as a leadership expert.

© Meg Trauner & Ford Library – Fuqua School of Business.

Every year, the Wall Street Journal asks writers, academics, business owners, athletes, politicians and assorted interesting people for their recommendations for the best books of the year. Here’s what the contributors said for 2018:

George P. Shultz, cabinet member for four US presidents and Hoover Institute distinguished fellow, recommends Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Leadership: In Turbulent Times. “Ms. Goodwin provides insights into the lives of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson as she describes their early lives, career paths and presidencies. In the process, we learn how these leaders coped with daunting challenges. The role of adversity in shaping character is a recurring theme.” Common traits in these presidents reveal what it takes to become a leader.

Co-founder of Home Depot and author of I Love Capitalism! Ken Langone recommends the expose Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by WSJ reporter John Carreyrou. Bad Blood is “about the biotech company Theranos and its ambitious but flawed founder, Elizabeth Holmes, who almost pulled off the greatest scam in Silicon Valley history. Most fascinating is Mr. Carreyrou’s description of his own quest to expose the truth to the public, aided by brave whistleblowers who couldn’t abide the company’s deceptions.”

Patricia O’Toole, author of The Moralist: Woodrow Wilson and the World He Made, recommends two books about the radical right’s use of campaign funding to ultimately change public policy and concentrate power in the hands of a few wealthy families. “The acute inflammation of the American body politic prompted close readings of Jane Mayer’s Dark Money and Nancy MacLean’s Democracy in Chains.”

Ohio congressman Tim Ryan regards the recent loss of 14,000 jobs in Ohio and Michigan as “the epitome of a broken economic and political system. Monica Sharma’s Radical Transformational Leadership offers a new perspective on how our country’s leaders can change the dynamic. Leaders, she instructs, need to lead with compassion, fairness, and a sense of dignity for all those involved. She explores how to become a catalyst for change in a world that is constantly fighting against itself.”

Wesley Yang, author of The Souls of Yellow Folk, appreciates Michael Lewis’s work, especially his latest book, The Fifth Risk. “Mr. Lewis sidesteps the cycle of hysteria and outrage that feeds the Trump reality show by focusing on the work of the enormous public entity – the U.S. federal government – that Donald Trump was elected to run. Mr. Lewis conveys how important the work of the government agencies is to the national stability we all take for granted. He shows what is at stake – the likelihood of a range of catastrophic risks coming to pass – and turns the least charismatic of all subjects into a gripping, funny and frightening human drama.”

Quotes from the Wall Street Journal column “Books of the Year,” Dec. 8-9, 2018.

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

Fall term 2 is closing and the last post of the year is wisdom from Strategy professor Victor Bennett. His “reading” recommendations are multimedia: podcasts, television series and, yes, a traditional book title.

Here’s what Prof. Bennett recommends:

• It used to be said that reading The Washington Post every day cover-to-cover would prepare you for the foreign service exam. If you’re interested in the economic environment instead of international politics, the best way to get a handle on it is to listen to Planet Money and its daily spin-off, The Indicator. They’re bite-sized (20 min and 10 min), well-researched, and engaging.
• This is a throwback, but if you are interested in one of the best studies of organizational dysfunction, I recommend The Wire. If you’ve already seen it, thinking about it from an organizational perspective will give you a whole new show. Disclaimer: heavy subject matter, violence, and language.
• If you are interested in consulting, The Firm: The Story of McKinsey and Its Secret Influence on American Business by Duff McDonald (OverDrive audiobook | Amazon) is an interesting read. I don’t want to oversell it because I actually didn’t love the writing, but it gives you some insight into the origin of the consulting profession and it has some interesting facts, such as McKinsey was basically started by an accountant who didn’t like accounting.

Thank you, Professor Bennett. And good luck wishes to all Fuqua students with final exams. Have a happy holiday wherever your travels take you and we will see you again in 2019.

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

Qi Chen (Business Administration)
Recommends: Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker
Library catalog | Amazon

Qi Chen comments that he read a book recommended by 2nd year student Matias Barbero and it is fantastic. Enlightenment Now, written by Harvard psychology professor Steven Pinker, presents the argument that there has never been a better time to be a human being. Analyzing historic trends, Pinker uses charts and data to make his argument that the world is healthier, freer, richer, safer and more peaceful than ever.
Prof Chen also recommends two other books: Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity (fascinating) and Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine Albright (timely).

Ines Black (Strategy)
Recommends: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
Library catalog | Amazon

Israeli history professor Yuval Noah Harari covers 100,000 years of human history, “from the very first humans to walk the earth to the radical – and sometimes devastating – breakthroughs of the Cognitive, Agricultural, and Scientific Revolutions. Drawing on insights from biology, anthropology, paleontology, and economics, Harari explores how the currents of history have shaped our human societies, the animals and plants around us, and even our personalities.” Quote from Library catalog.
Professor Black is also reading The Triumph of the City by Edward Glaeser and Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber.

David Robinson (Finance)
Recommends: My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard
Library catalog | Amazon

This six-volume autobiographical novel is a literary sensation, often called a masterpiece, and its Scandinavian author is compared to Proust. Beginning with his childhood in Book 1 (2013), Knausgaard writes candidly about the intimate details of his own life, including the tedious and squalid bits. Readers describe his uninhibited text as simultaneously riveting and frustrating, audacious and boring, a new way of writing for the “selfie” generation. Winner of numerous literary awards and a New York Times bestseller.

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

Barak Richman (Strategy)
Recommends: Evicted by Matthew Desmond
Library catalog | Amazon

Barak Richman writes, “Last year I read Matthew Desmond’s Evicted and decided to incorporate it into my Property course. In fact, the book could inform each of my classes – contracts, antitrust, health law and policy – because it vividly describes the daily challenges that confront a vulnerable population. If we want to design government policies, or construct markets, that enable the nation’s poor to benefit from the nation’s wealth, we need this kind of deep dive into understanding structural challenges of poverty.”

Paula Ecklund (Decision Sciences)
Recommends: The Lies that Bind by Kwame Anthony Appiah
Library catalog | Amazon

NYU philosophy professor and the Sunday Times “Ethicist” columnist explores the nature of the identities that define and divide us – Gender. Religion. Race. Nationality. Class. Culture. These identities shape our sense of who we are and they bring meaning to our lives by connecting us to larger causes. But collectively, these same identities also form our understanding of our world. And our generalized notions about race, culture, religion, et al. are full of contradictions and falsehoods.

Jeremy Petranka (Assistant Dean of MMS and MQM Programs)
Recommends: The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer
Library catalog | Amazon

Singer-songwriter Amanda Palmer finds it difficult to ask for things as a musician and as a partner. Many people are reluctant to ask for help and it depletes their lives and relationships. In The Art of Asking, Palmer examines the barriers to asking and reveals the emotional and practical aspects of asking for help. Fuqua’s Jeremy Petranka comments, “a mentee I greatly respect told me it changed her view of the world. I’m kind of seeing her point, which is a good sign.”

 

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

Thames, Elizabeth Willard. Meet the Frugalwoods : achieving financial independence through simple living. HarperBusiness, 2018.

There are any number of personal finance blogs, and several devoted to living a life of frugality. One of the best known is Frugalwoods.com written by Elizabeth Willard Thames, mother of two who is living her dream life on 66 acres of woodlands in Vermont. This year, she recycled her blog postings into a popular new book, Meet the Frugalwoods. In her blog and in her book, Thames explains how she restructured the way she lived — how she spent her money and her time to craft a meaningful and contented life.

The book begins in 2006 as Thames graduates from college and takes a fundraising job for a nonprofit in New York City that pays an AmeriCorps stipend of $10,000. She considers every dollar before spending it and ends the year with $2000 in the bank. In the ensuing years, she moves to Boston; to Washington DC; then back to Boston, continuing her career as a fundraiser. Finding her work increasingly meaningless, she spends money on small luxuries to compensate. When she and her husband begin hiking in the woods every weekend, exposure to nature changes her life. They embark on a program of extreme frugality to save enough money to make them financially independent by age 32 in order to move to rural Vermont and live a life that they are passionate about.

Thames is at her best when she is evaluating the work/spend cycles of American consumer culture. People work hard at frustrating jobs and then mitigate their discontent by buying expensive homes, furniture, cars, clothes, electronics. Thames explains that people accept roles that society, family and they themselves expect, instead of living life on their own terms. To craft the independent life that she wants, Thames examines her spending to determine when it made an improvement in her life and when it was superfluous. She eliminates makeup and haircuts, buys cheaper food, does her own home repairs. She estimates her family’s savings rate of 71%.

Offering abundant tips on how to live frugally, Thames is mum about one large expense for a family – healthcare. She also fails to disclose the source of the $400,000 needed to buy the spread in Vermont – after they kept their $460,000 house in Cambridge. Their secret: her husband still has his job as a software engineer. It is easier to be independent, frugal or not, if you have a high income. Nonetheless, Meet the Frugalwoods is recommended for its thoughtful message, detailed advice and approachable style.

Also available on OverDrive as an audiobook and eBook.

 

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

Posting a list of worthwhile new books during the first week of the term in graduate school may seem ironic, especially when one of titles explains the art of perfect timing. But eventually you may want to reach beyond assigned coursework, enhance personal skills or read a business best seller. And when you do, consider one of the Ford Library’s eBook collections on Kindles. Here are 5 new books that were loaded on the Notable Kindle collection in the Ford Library.

Stephens-Davidowitz, Seth. Everybody lies: big data, new data and what the internet can tell us about who we really are. HarperCollins, 2017.
Aggregates information from Big Data sources, such as Google searches and Facebook profiles, then analyzes it to offer insights into human psychology – people’s behavior, their desires, their nature. Winner of multiple book awards, including New York Times, the Economist and PBS.

Also available in print, as an audiobook, and on OverDrive as both an eBook and audiobook.

Pinker, Steven. Enlightenment now: the case for reason, science, humanism and progress. Viking, 2018.

Presents 21st century data that proves that the world is healthier, freer, richer, safer and more peaceful than ever, while restating the truths of 18th century Enlightenment – that knowledge and sympathy can foster a better world for all.

Also available in print and on OverDrive as both an eBook and audiobook.

Pink, Daniel H. When: the scientific secrets of perfect timing. Riverhead Books, 2018.

Shows how to use the science of timing to produce better outcomes — revealing that the best decision are made in the morning; that lunch breaks and afternoon naps are underrated; and that endings color the way an entire experience is remembered.

Also available in print and on OverDrive as an audiobook.

Peterson, Jordan B. 12 rules for life: an antidote to chaos. Random House Canada, 2018.
Presents a dozen practical principles for taking responsibility for your own life. The first 3: Stand up straight with your shoulders back and a feedback loop will bring good things; Treat yourself the same way you would treat someone you loved and valued; Make friends with people who want the best for you.

Also available in print and on OverDrive as an eBook.

Coyle, Daniel. The culture code : the secrets of highly successful groups. Bantam Books, 2018.

Dozens of examples from well-known companies, sports teams and the military identifies the key ingredients in top-performing groups. Highlights the practical skills necessary for building trust and belonging, and for strengthening collaboration.

Also available in print and on OverDrive as an eBook and audiobook.

 

 

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

Whether you are a first-time visitor to our library or returning to a cherished study spot, Ford Library welcomes you.

As a reminder, our library web pages give you access to the Ford Library 24 hours every day.

On our website, you can locate information like:

• Online catalog for Duke
• Business research databases
• Full-text journals
• OverDrive eBooks and audiobooks
• Ford Library Kindles
• FAQ

You can also always contact us with your questions.

Wishing you success at the start of your academic year.

Fresh off the bestseller lists, 10 new business books have been downloaded on Kindles in the Ford Library. Here is a sample of what is available. Take home a Kindle tonight and see what thought leaders are saying.

Carreyrou, John. Bad blood: secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup. Knopf, 2018.

Acclaimed bestseller about corporate fraud in Silicon Valley’s medical device startup Theranos. CEO Elizabeth Holmes (the female Steve Jobs) raised $700 million from venture capitalists and private investors while hiding the fact that the blood test technology did not work.

Check it out on a Notable Kindle.

Eyal, Nir. Hooked: how to build habit forming products. Portfolio/Penguin, 2014.

Using the iPhone, Twitter, Pinterest, and others as examples, this brief practical book for entrepreneurs, product managers and designers shows how to use consumer psychology to create habit-forming products.

Check it out on a Notable Kindle or as an OverDrive eBook.

 
Rubin, Gretchen. The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People’s Lives Better, Too). Harmony Books, 2017.

Self-help book based on a personality test that measures individual responses to internal and external expectations. Rubin’s framework sorts responders into four basic types (Upholder, Questioner, Obliger, Rebel) and offers strategies for meeting deadlines, making better decisions and engaging others.

Check it out on a Notable Kindle or as an OverDrive eBook & audiobook.

Tegmark, Max. Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Knopf, 2017.

Non-technical look at the possibilities and dangers of the coming age of superintelligence with superminds that can replicate themselves, learn about the environment, gather information, and avoid mistakes.

Check it out on a Notable Kindle or as an OverDrive eBook & audiobook.

 
Taleb, Nassim Nicholas. Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life. Random House, 2018.

Unstructured rant about a privileged class of professions such as academics, policy makers, and journalists, who profoundly impact a complex world yet remain insulated from personal repercussions. Having something at stake is necessary for fairness and justice.

Check it out on a Notable Kindle or as an OverDrive eBook & audiobook.

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