ACRL College & Researc Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

Fast Facts

Ann Viles

Campus technology increases

A Dun & Bradstreet survey of 1,319 two- and four-year institutions finds a 13 percent increase in spending on information technology this year. Internet access is offered in 100 percent of the college libraries (up from 93 percent in 1999), 40 percent of the dorms and residence halls, 41 percent of the student centers, 64 percent of the classrooms, and 94 percent of the computer labs.

Florence Olsen, "Survey Finds Another Increase in Campus Spending on Information Technology," The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 4, 2001. http://chronicle.com/free/2001/04/2001040401t.htm.

Artifact preservation study

According to the draft report of the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) Task Force on the Artifact in Library Collections, “the most notorious example of neglect is the fact that 80 percent of all silent films made in the United States are gone without a trace; 50 percent of films made before the Second World War have also perished.”

Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) Task Force on the Artifact in Library Collections, draft report, April 5, 2001. http://www.clir.org/activities/details/artifact-docs.html.

Faculty work load

Full-time instructional faculty and staff in all types of colleges and universities worked an average of 53-3 hours per week in fall 1998 and spent 11 hours per week teaching classes.

U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. Background Characteristics, Work Activities, and Compensation of Faculty and Instructional Staff in Postsecondary Institutions: Fall 1998, NCES 2001-152, by Linda J. Zimbler. Washington, D.C.: 2001.

Paper usage increases

The Canadian Pulp and Paper Association reports that Canadian exports of paper products are continuing to increase, and “world demand is projected to rise by 50% over the next 20 years.” Some of the indicators mentioned in the association’s annual review are the 200 million personal printers sold over the past three years anti the new daily newspapers being provided free to subway riders in major cities.

Canadian Pulp and Paper Association. 2000 Annual Review.

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria’s new public library expected to open this summer, will include a planetarium,: museum, conference center and library school, but only 200,000 of the 8 million books it is designed to hold.

Daniel del Castillo, "Alexandria's Library Rises Again, Short on Books and Scholars," Chronicle of Higher Education, April 27, 2001.

United Nations depository libraries

The United Nations Depository system established in 1946 now includes 391 libraries: “55 are located in Africa, 93 in Asia and the Pacific, 18 in Western Asia, 35 in Eastern Europe, 85 in Western Europe, 49 in Latin America and the Caribbean and 56 in North America.”

"Libraries in Bahrain, China, Georgia, Mexico and United States Designated United Nations Depository," United Nations NewsCentre, Press Release, April 24, 2001.

Ann Viles is coordinator of reference and instruction at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, e-mail:vilesea@conrad.appstate.edu