ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 362 / C&RL News ■ M ay 2003 F a s t Facts A n n V i I e s → Pu b lic W eb site s d e cre a sin g OCLC’s W eb C haracterization Project (W CP) e stim ates th e n u m b e r o f p u b lic W eb sites h a s d e c re a s e d b y o n e p e rc e n t fro m 3,119,000 in 2001 to 3,080,000 in J u n e 2002. “ OCLC Researchers Track Five-Year G ro w th o f P u b lic W e b ,” OCLC O n lin e C o m p u te r L ib ra ry C enter, Dec. 18, 2002. h ttp ://w w w .o c lc .o rg /re s e a rc h /n e w s /w c p 2 0 0 2 .s h tm . A p r il 4 ,2 0 0 3 → U n iv ersity press b ook prices T h e A ssociation o f A m e ric an U niversity P re sses h a s p u b lis h e d th e first resu lts fro m a stu d y o f university p re ss b o o k p ricing practices o v e r a 12-year p e rio d from 1989-2000. T h e data, b a s e d o n th e av era g e p rices o f b o o k s p u rc h a s e d from Y ankee B o o k P e d d ler Library Services, sh o w th at “overall, university pre sse s p o s te d a 13.6 p e rc e n t increase in a v e ra g e s u g g e ste d retail p rice s b e tw e e n 1989 a n d 2000,” w h ile c o m m e rc ial sc holarly pre sse s p o s te d a 23.15 p e rc e n t increase, a n d th e C o n su m e r Price In d e x (CPI) in creased b y 38.9 p e rce n t. A lb e r t N. Greco, e t al. The Price o f U n iv e rs ity Press Books 1989-2000, A ssociatio n o f A m e ric a n U n ive rsity Presses, 2003. h ttp ://a a u p n e t.o rg /re s o u rc e s /m e llo n /b o o k p r ic in g .p d f. A p r il 3 ,2 0 0 3 → D ram atic increase in e-book sales T h e m o n th ly sa le s r e p o rt o f th e A sso c ia tio n o f A m e ric a n P u b lish e rs (AAP) s h o w s a 1,447.4 p e r c e n t in c re a s e in e - b o o k n e t sa le s fro m $211,000 in J a n u a ry 2002 to $3.3 m illion in J a n u a ry 2003. ” E -b oo k Sales Lead O f f 2 00 3,” A ssociatio n o f A m e rica n Publishers, M a rch 1 8,2 00 3. h ttp ://w w w .p u b lis h e rs .o rg /p re s s / releases.cfm?PressReleaseArticlelD =138. A p r il 3 ,2 0 0 3 → S tu d en t use o f In tern et Pu b lic Lib rary A c c o rd in g to a r e c e n t n o tic e in L ib ra ry J o u r n a l, th e I n te rn e t P u b lic L ibrary “g e ts 12 m illion hits a m o n th , o n e q u a rte r fro m o u tsid e th e U n ite d States a n d o n e -h a lf o f th e m fro m stu d e n ts w o rk in g o n re p o rts.” ( ” I n t e r n e t P u b lic L ib r a r y F a c in g M o n e y C r u n c h , ” L i b r a r y J o u r n a l, M a r c h 2 4 , 2 0 0 3 . h t t p : / / lib ra ryjo u rn a l.re v ie w s n e w s .c o m in d e x .a s p ? la y o u t= a rtic le & a rtic le id = C A 2 8 6 3 5 5 & d is p la y = b re a k in g N e w s & p u b lic a tio n = lib r a r y jo u rn a l. A p r il 3 ,2 0 0 3 ) → State su p p o rt fo r A rka n sa s p u b lic lib ra rie s d rops A ccording to a re p o rt in th e A r k a n s a s D em ocrat-G azette, state a id to p u b lic libraries in A rkansas d r o p p e d from $4.9 m illion in 2001 to $2 m illion in 2002 a n d $500,000 in 2003, a d e c re a s e o f a lm o st 90 p e rce n t. Ellis W id n e r, ” J u g g lin g th e B ooks,” A rka nsa s D e m o cra t-G a ze tte , M a rc h 2 5 ,2 0 0 3 . h ttp ://w w w .n w a rk tim e s .c o m /a d g / story_ S tyle .p h p ? sto ryid = 2 5 3 5 2 . A p r il 3 ,2 0 0 3 → C o lle g e te xtb o o ks A r e c e n t re p o rt b y th e N a tional A ssociation o f C ollege Stores estim a te s sto re sales fo r c o lle g e te x tb o o k s a n d c o u rs e m a te ria ls d u rin g 2 0 0 0 -2 0 0 1 to ta le d $7.1 b illio n ( n e w texts, $5.2 billion; u s e d texts, $1.8 billion; a n d c o u rse p acks, $0.1 billion). ” H ig h e r E d u c a tio n R e ta il M a rk e t Facts & Fig u res 2 0 0 2 -0 3 ,” N a tio n a l A s s o c ia tio n o f C o lle g e S tores, 2 003. h tt p : // w w w .n a c s .o rg /p u b lic /re s e a rc h /h ig h e r_ e d _ re ta il.a s p . A p r il 4 ,2 0 0 3 → In te rn et p ro v id in g w a r in fo rm a tio n A re ce n t survey o f o n lin e A m ericans finds 77 p e rc e n t “h a v e u s e d th e Internet in c o n n ec ­ tio n w ith th e w a r in Iraq .” S e v e n te en p e rc e n t “say th eir principal so u rc e o f inform ation a b o u t th e w a r is th e I n te rn e t.” Lee R ainie, Susannah Fox, a n d D e b o ra h Fallows, ” Th e I n te rn e t a n d t h e Ira q W a r: H o w O n lin e A m e rica n s Have Used t h e In te r n e t t o L ea rn W a r N ew s, U n d e rs ta n d Events, a n d P ro m o te t h e ir V ie w s ,” PEW In te r n e t & A m e ric a n L ife P ro ject, A p r il 1 ,2 0 03 . h ttp : // w w w . p e w in t e r n e t .o rg /re p o rts /to c .a s p ? R e p o rt= 8 7 A n n Viles is c o o rd in a to r o f reference a n d instructio n a t A p p alachian State U niversity in Boone, N o rth Carolina, e-mail: vilesea@conrad.appstate.edu http://www.oclc.org/research/news/wcp2002.shtm http://aaupnet.org/resources/mellon/bookpricing.pdf http://www.publishers.org/press/ http://www.nwarktimes.com/adg/ http://www.nacs.org/public/research/higher_ed_retail.asp http://www.pewinternetorg/reports/toc.asp?Report=87 mailto:vilesea@conrad.appstate.edu