ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 698 / C&RL N ew s ■ O c to b e r 2 0 0 2 A n n V i Ie s →Fast Facts U s a b i lit y t e s t i n g o f e le c tr o n ic t e x t b o o k s Graduate students at Ball State University participating in a study of the usability and “learning” effectiveness o f electronic textbooks during spring sem ester 2002 found “that ‘learning’, evaluated through taking quizzes, w as not affected by using eBooks.” Student reactions indicated, however, that the eBooks tested were not as easy to navi­ gate as regular textbooks. “Completing die following tasks was much more difficult widi an eBook as o p p o sed to a textbook: finding a chapter, reviewing a previously read passage, returning to significant or important pages, and finding the appendix. ” Richard F. Bellaver and Jay G ille tte , The Usability o f eBook Technology: Practical Issues o f an A p p lic a tio n o f Electron ic Textbooks in a Lea rn in g En vironm ent, C enter fo r In fo rm a tio n & C om m unication Studies, Ball State University, Aug. 23, 2002. http://publish.bsu.edu/cics/ebook_final_result.asp. Sept. 1, 2002 A→v e r a g e f a c u lt y s a la rie s in l i b r a r y sc ie n ce According to the College and University Personnel Association for Human Resources, average salaries for library science faculty on nine- or ten-month contracts last year were $44,206 in private institutions an d $56,992 in public institutions. C om pared to last year’s report, this is a decrease o f 2.6 % in private institutions and an increase of 3.9 % in public institutions. Library science faculty salaries were 26.7 % lower than the average for all fields in private institutions last year ($60,289) and 6.4 % lower in public institu­ tions ($60,893). "Average Faculty Salaries in Selected Fields a t 4-Year Institutions, 200 1-2 ," The Chronicle o f H ig h e r Educa­ t io n Alm a nac 2002-3, A u gust 30, 2002: 31. Last year's re p o rt: h ttp ://chronide.com /w e ekly/alm ana c/20 01/ natio n/0102703.htm (password required). Sept. 3, 2001 → 15 m i l l i o n v is ito r s t o B r itis h L ib r a r y 's W e b site Visits to the British Library’s Web site totaled 15,240,617 in 2001-02 com pared to 13,959,800 th e previous year; searches o n its online catalog rose to 6,876,148 from 6,392,259- Free reference inquiries d ro p p e d from 514,934 to 511,769- T w e n ty-n in th A n n u a l R e p o rt a n d Accounts 2001-02, The B ritish Library, 2002. h ttp ://w w w .b l.u k /a b o u t/ ann ual/latest.h tm l. Aug. 30, 2002 I n t e r n e t s e a rc h e n g i n e u s a g e A recent survey by the Pew Internet Project finds that “85% of American Internet users have never used an online search engine to find information on the Web and 29% of Internet users rely on a search engine on a typical day.” Thirty-nine percent of college graduates use a search engine on a typical day. Search Engines: A Pew In te r n e t Project Data M em o, Pew In te rn e t & A m erican Life, July 3, 2002. h ttp :// w w w .pew intern e t.o rg /re p o rts/to c.a sp ? R e p o rt= 6 4 . Sept. 1, 2002 → P u b lic L ib ra rie s in t h e U n it e d S ta te s Recently released data from the National Center for Education Statistics reports “9,094 public libraries (administrative entities)” in die United States in 2000, a slight increase from 9,046 in 1999- The percentage o f public libraries having access to the Internet increased from 92 percent to 95 percent. The total number of reference transactions was 291 million, dow n from 295 million in 1999; total circulation rem ained at 1.7 billion; and library visits remained at 1.1 billion. A. Chute, E. Kroe, P. Garner, M. Polcari, and C. J. Ramsey, Public Libraries in the U n ited States: Fiscal Year2000, NCES 2002-344, U.S. D e partm ent o f Education, N ational Center fo r Education Statistics. W ashington, D.C.: 2002. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/2002308.pdf. Last year's report: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/2002344.pdf. Sept. 1,2002 An n Viles is co ord in ator o f reference a nd instruction a t Appalachian State University in Boone, N orth Carolina, e-mail: vilesea@conrad.appstate.edu → → http://publish.bsu.edu/cics/ebook_final_result.asp http://chronide.com/weekly/almanac/2001/ http://www.bl.uk/about/ http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=64 http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/2002308.pdf http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/2002344.pdf mailto:vilesea@conrad.appstate.edu