ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


578 / C&RL News n September 2003

F →ast Facts
→ Public fe d  up w it h  spam
According to a recent Harris Poll, 79 percent o f adults online favor curbing unsolicited 
mass e-mail by making it illegal. They estimate about 40 percent o f all e-mails received 
are now spam. Ninety-three percent of the nationwide sample said they found unsolic­
ited commercial e-mail “annoying.”
" M a jo r ity  in  Favor o f  M a k in g  M ass-Spam m ing Ille g a l Rises t o  7 9 %  o f  Those O n lin e ," Th e  H arris P oll®  #38, h ttp :// 
w w w .h a rrisin te ra ctive .co m /h a rris_ p o ll/in d e x.a sp ? P ID = 3 8 7 . Ju ly 16,2003

→ G en d er g a p  persists in acad em ia
Women in academic careers in science and engineering are disadvantaged compared to 
men in similar careers. While the gap is smaller than in the past, women continue to earn 
less and are promoted less frequently than their male counterparts.
N a tio n a l Science F o u n d a tio n , D ivisio n  o f  Science Resources S tatistics, "G e n d e r D iffe re n ce s in t h e  Careers o f  A ca ­
d e m ic S cientists a nd  E ngineers: A  L ite r a tu re  R e vie w ," NSF 03-322, P ro je c t D ire cto r, A la n  I. R a p o p o rt ( A rlin g to n , 
V irg in ia , 2003). J u ly 3 1 ,2 0 0 3

→ U.S. b oo k in d u stry
In 2 002,150,000 new titles and editions were published, up 5.86 percent from 2001, 
according to a recent R. R. Bowker news release. It was also reported that 10,305 new 
publishers came on die scene in 2002. While trade publishing declined slightly, university 
presses increased their title output by 10.21 percent.
"U.S. B oo k P ro d u c tio n  Tops 150,000 in  2 0 0 2 ," R. R. Bow ker. M a y 26,2 00 3

→ File-sharing a n d  c o p y rig h t
Four out o f five students downloading music via the Internet are unconcerned about 
copyright mles. College graduates, however, are the group most likely to care about 
copyrights on music files they download, but only about 40 percent o f them are con­
cerned. According to a new Pew Internet & American Life Project report, 35 million 
U.S. adults download music files online.
"M u s ic  D o w n lo a d in g , F ile-sh a rin g  a nd  C o p y rig h t: A  P ew In te rn e t P ro je ct D ata M e m o ." J u ly 31, 2003

→ M e d ia  and privacy / lib e l cases
Media organizations won four out o f five verdicts in trials for libel, privacy, and related 
claims last year. A new report from the Media Law Resource Center found that the total 
number o f such cases is declining and the media defendants win rate is rising. The 
average award at trial from 2000 to 2002 was $2.9 million.
"T ria l Records Set in  2002: H ig h e s t M e d ia  V ic to r y  Rate, L o w e st N u m b e r o f  T ria ls ," M e d ia  L a w  Resource Center. 
A u g u s t 1 ,2003

 → Education in th e  A ra b  S tates
According to a recent UNESCO report, eight million primary school-age children remain 
out-of-school in the Arab States, and five million o f them are girls. One-third o f all men 
and half o f all w om en are illiterate in the Arab States. Iraq has the highest overall 
illiteracy rate (6 l% ) and Jordan the lowest (12%). UNESCO also reports there are an 
estimated 862 million illiterate adults in the world, about two-thirds o f w hom  are 
women.
" E d u c a t io n  in  t h e  A r a b  S ta t e s , "  UNESCO  I n s t i t u t e  F o r S ta t is t ic s ,  h t t p : / / p o r t a l . u n e s c o . o r g / u i s /  
ev.php?URL_ID=5370&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201. M a y 14, 2003

G ary P a ttillo  is re ference lib ra ria n  a t th e  U niversity o f  N o rth  Carolina-C hapel Hill, e-m ail: p a ttillo @  
refsta ff. lib. unc. edu

http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=387
http://portal.unesco.org/uis/