Research question for my librarian friends.

[randomness]

(I've asked about a similar item before, but now I've made some progress in my research.)

I'm looking for this item:

(From the WorldCat entry:)

World currency monitor
by Bank of America. World Information Services.; Meckler Corporation.
Type: Computer File
Language: English
Publisher: Westport, CT : Meckler, [1990-
ISSN: 1052-2646
OCLC: 22232022
* Material Type: Document, Periodical
* Document Type: Computer File, Serial Publication
* Notes: Disk characteristics: CD-ROM. Title from disk label.
* Description: CD-ROM ; 4 3/4 in.
* Other Titles: World currency monitor


(I have also found that one of the issues of this item has the following ISBN: 0887365450)

WorldCat claims it's at Baruch College, and only at Baruch College.

When I look on the page WorldCat forwards me to in the Newman Library catalog at Baruch College (CUNY), I get:

"Your search did not find any matching documents."

I can't even buy the thing. The dead trees version is available, but not the CD-ROM. Believe me, the CD-ROM is a much, much more useful format.

If anyone can help me find a working copy of the CD-ROM whose contents I can copy, I'll buy them dinner.

Thanks in advance!

P. S. tyellas, I owe you an answer to your question on this, but I can't find the original post to which you commented.

Comments

[obra.livejournal.com]

Not that it's useful to you, but I was about to give up on the search entirely once I convinced myself that it never really existed.

But I did find this. http://www.worldretailstore.com/item/BE-0887365450.html

If you're willing to buy me a dinner that costs more than that, I'll just buy it ;)

[elisaana.livejournal.com]

Heh. It sounds like less a public or academic library thing, and more like profitable information that will sell for a high price. It's probably a much less usable format, but Yahoo Finance or Google Finance often have pretty good historical stock information (for it being free). Not sure about the currency markets.

If that CD-ROM is useful, at least take comfort in the fact that you're paying $70 less than a Canadian would... now that our currencies are dollar-for-dollar. (Maybe that would just make you think of the depressing amount of purchasing power we Americans have all lost... so don't think about it too hard. Though if you're seeking the data, I suspect you're already thinking about this.)

Hmmm... there's also data on exchange rates from the Fed, but I don't know whether those reflect rates in a particular market, or some sort of fiat. There are daily and monthly series, though.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

more like profitable information that will sell for a high price.

Exactly the problem, I think.

data on exchange rates from the Fed, but I don't know whether those reflect rates in a particular market, or some sort of fiat.

I think that depends. However, it's also useful; there are a couple of datasets there that will help fill in some gaps.

Thanks very much for the pointer!

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Alas, no.

But thanks for actually finding it for sale!

[tyellas.livejournal.com]

Eeek! I don't remember the question, unfortunately. What's more, I was just thinking about you earlier today...how can you read my mind from all the way over there?

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

how can you read my mind from all the way over there?

:)

Eeek! I don't remember the question, unfortunately.

No problem; I'll send you email.

[dancingdeer.livejournal.com]

All I can answer for is Harvard's libraries, but it doesn't look we have it. Sorry. :(

[kirkcudbright.livejournal.com]

Not sure exactly what you want, or what you want it for, but xe.com (and probably scads of others) has online currency conversion tools (including historical rates), and Oanda has a PalmOS converter with a HotSync conduit (downloads new rates when you sync).

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the pointer!

Alas, xe.com (and a number of others) don't go back far enough. (Their earliest available data goes to November 16, 1995.)

I've been downloading data from oanda.com, which generates CSV files, convenient for import into a spreadsheet. But their data also mostly starts in the '90s.

(CAD, DEM, FRF, GBP, JPY are the only currencies for which they have data before 1990.)

I've been digging around and failing to find daily data that goes back as far as the '80s, which is why that CD-ROM would be so useful, since the data on it starts in 1979.