UBC Library’s exceptional Alice in Wonderland collection, housed in Rare Books and Special Collections, is featured on CBC TV news.

The reporter, Bob Nixon, includes some thoughts and a video clip of the story here.

The Spring 2010 issue of Canadian Art includes a cover story on Althea Thauberger, the Vancouver artist whose photographic mural – entitled The Art of Seeing Without Being Seen – was installed on the main floor of Koerner Library in 2008.

The article begins with a lengthy description of the mural and its location in the library. You can view the article here.

You can review the latest Business in Vancouver book review below, which features contributions from UBC Library’s Jan Wallace and UBC Bookstore’s Treena Chambers.

This article from Business in Vancouver March 16-22, 2010; issue 1064

Throwing (lots of) money at the world’s problems

by Lewis D. Solomon

Transaction Publishers, 2009

Over the past 10 years, a new breed of entrepreneur-philanthropist has emerged. These wealthy billionaires, often from the high-tech industry, use their capital to make social investments that tackle problems that have not been adequately addressed by government or business. In addition to donating to more traditional non-profit organizations, they invest in commercial social enterprises where they can apply their business and entrepreneurial skills to help create viable businesses, take risks and impose professional performance measurement techniques.

This book describes how tech billionaires are designing new philanthropic patterns that differ from those created a century ago by John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie. The new philanthropists give while they are alive and participate in shaping the projects they donate to. They create new frameworks for investment, from microfinance organizations to non-profit venture capital funds. They invest in social enterprises such as low-cost health-care clinics, filmmaking with a social message and water purification innovations. They test new forms of social enterprise and withdraw their investments from businesses that are not profitable.

Solomon profiles the philanthropic activities of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Pierre Omidyar’s microfinance network, Jeffrey Skoll’s work with motion pictures, Stephen Case’s Revolution LLC and the work of Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page in creating Google.org to invest in companies that tackle systemic societal problems.

Social equity stock markets are already starting to form, with Brazil’s BOVESPA providing an early example of a social stock exchange that matches non-profit organizations with donors. The line between business and social well-being is becoming blurred as new hybrid forms of philanthropy create new partnerships.

Social entrepreneurs, philanthropists and anyone hoping to win philanthropic investments will find Tech Billionaires well worth reading. •

Jan Wallace is head of the David Lam Management Research Library at UBC’s Sauder School of Business.

By Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff

Princeton University Press

Don’t be put off by the size of this book. In This Time is Different, Reinhart and Rogoff walk us through our current economic problems. Then they look back 800 years, and illustrate how each crisis has been described as different from the one before. They urge us to look at our actions in the good times and prepare for the inevitable decline. Debate debt and defaults around the water cooler, with the facts to back you up. Oh yeah – they throw in funny stories as well.

By Martin Lindstrom

Broadway Business

Marketing may not be brain surgery, but in Buyology Lindstrom makes it neuroscience. He challenges many of our assumptions about why people buy. Combining real-life experience and scientific research, Lindstrom weaves together an entertaining and informative tale. He explores our relationship to brands, logos, product placement, rituals and other sensory inputs and examines the roles they play in creating brand loyalty. Before you decide where to invest your ad dollars, invest in this book. Buyology might not change your game plan, but it will give you something to think about.

By Erica Pinsky

Self-published; first edition

“Do unto others.” In Road to Respect, Pinsky illustrates how valuable that lesson can be in today’s workplace. Personal reflections are combined with case studies in an engaging read. The lessons in Road to Respect give you a roadmap to take your policies from paper and apply them to people. In today’s ever-changing and multicultural world, retaining and recruiting employees is crucial to a company’s financial success. If your goal is to be an “Employer of Choice,” Road to Respect can help you get there.

Treena Chambers is the marketing technology co-ordinator at the UBC Bookstore.

An exhibition of First Nations portraits, on display during March 2010 at the Learning Centre Gallery, is featured in the latest edition of UBC Reports. B.C. artist Patricia Richardson Logie recently donated the portrait collection to UBC Library.

You can view the article here.

by Kelley Murray Skoloda

Praeger, 2009

“In the U.S., women now control $3.3 trillion in consumer spending, are responsible for more than 80% of the household buying, control more than 50% of the wealth in the country, make 62% of all car purchases and take more than 50% of all business trips.”

Brand marketing executive, MBA and mom Kelley Skoloda has published a quick read that accomplishes two things. It convinces readers that women, especially those between 25 and 54 years old, are far from a niche market – rather, they are a major purchasing power that has not been well-served by traditional marketing methods. It also provides many well-researched suggestions for marketing to women and details interviews with successful marketers to this group.

Skoloda, herself in her mid-40s, is well-positioned to talk about the concept she coined “multi-minding” – the phenomenon of juggling not only tasks, but thoughts, reflections and plans all at once – during a business meeting, fitness class or while driving the car.

Companies wishing to reach such overloaded consumers must learn when they are open to messaging, and to whom they will listen.

Women pay attention to local media sources – is the brand engaging local as well as national media? Are my key messages short and piquant enough for this swamped group? Can I help provide solutions to my customers’ busy lives together with my product messaging? Am I using a variety of methods to reach my target audience, from social media such as mommy blogs, to targeted e-mails (think dinner recipes and shopping lists arriving at 4:30 p.m.) to search engine optimization? And perhaps most important, how is the marketing effort sustaining relationships built with customers during the product launch?

This is a practical book, not a scholarly effort. It’s filled with real-life examples of marketing strategies, tips and techniques. Even more importantly, it drives home the message that nearly every business today needs to create marketing that reaches out specifically to women. •

Jan Wallace is head of the David Lam Management Research Library at UBC’s Sauder School of Business.

The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs

by Carmine Gallo

McGraw-Hill, 2009

Ever watch a Steve Jobs presentation? Communications skills coach Carmine Gallo lays out 10 steps that can help you bring the same enthusiasm to your work. Whether you are a fledgling speaker or a professional presenter, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs contains a multitude of useful ideas that will help you engage your audience.

The Value of Nothing

by Raj Patel

Picador, 2010

Sustainability is a powerful word. In The Value of Nothing, Raj Patel challenges the prevailing view of economics by revealing the hidden social and ecological costs of our current consumptive markets. He argues passionately for an engaged politic to demand dramatic changes in our financial system – and makes us smile while doing so.

Drive

by Daniel Pink

Riverhead, 2009

Just call it Motivation 3.0. In Drive, Daniel Pink moves us beyond external motivation and into a system of intrinsic motivation. Drawing on behavioural research, he examines the roll of autonomy, mastery and purpose in motivation, and creates a motivational tool kit for managers. Pink wants everyone to consider his or her purpose in life and communicate its essence.

Reviews by Treena Chambers, marketing technology co-ordinator at UBC Bookstore.