nov08ff.indd


G a r y  P a t t i l l o  

Gary Pattillo is reference librarian at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, e-mail: pattillo@email. 
unc.edu 

Google historical news archive 
Google is expanding its online news archive to include approximately 100 
digitized newspaper backfiles and make them available online. The project is 
using similar technology to Google Books to scan microfilm and paper, allow­
ing users to view copies of the original full­page newspapers. Links to related 
stories from other newspapers, as well as a timeline, will also be presented in 
the new service. The complete title list is not yet available, but will include the 
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The New York Times, Washington Post, and the Quebec 
Chronicle-Telegraph, among others. 
Punit Soni, Bringing history online, one newspaper at a time. Official Google Blog, September 8, 2008, googleblog. 
blogspot.com/2008/09/bringing­history­online­one­newspaper.html. Accessed September 15, 2008 

E-Docs disappearing 
Many United States government officials are violating federal requirements for 
preserving electronic records, knowingly or unknowingly. According to a story 
in the New York Times, “countless federal records are being lost to posterity 
because federal employees, grappling with a staggering growth in electronic 
records, do not regularly preserve the documents they create on government 
computers, send by e­mail and post on the Web.” It is unknown what will 
become of the Web sites, e­mails, and other electronic documents under the 
control of the current presidential administration. 
Robert Pear, In Digital Age, Federal Files Blip Into Oblivion, The New York Times, September 12, 2008, www.nytimes. 
com/2008/09/13/us/13records.html?_r=1&oref=slogin. Accessed September 15, 2008 

E-patients 
About 80 percent of Internet users go online for health information. People with 
broadband Internet access at home are twice as likely to use the Internet for 
health information as those with dial­up access. E­patients who feel they have 
serious health problems are more likely to go online in search of health infor­
mation. For example, 75 percent of e­patients with a chronic condition report 
their last health­related search affected a decision about how to treat an illness 
or condition, compared with 55 percent of other e­patients. 
Susannah Fox, The Engaged E-patient Population, Pew Internet & American Life Project, August 26, 2008, www.pewin­
ternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Health_Aug08.pdf. Accessed October 3, 2008 

Academic Libraries: 2006 
The “Academic Libraries: 2006 First Look” report summarizes services, staff, col­
lections, and expenditures of academic libraries in two­ and four­year, degree­
granting postsecondary institutions in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. 
The nation’s 3,600 academic libraries held 1 billion books; serial backfi les; and 
other paper materials, including government documents at the end of FY 2006. 
There were 144.1 million circulation transactions from their general collections. 
Two hundred and twenty­one academic libraries held 1 million or more books, 
serial backfiles, and documents. During the same time period, academic libraries’ 
expenditures totaled $6.2 billion. 
B. Holton, L. Hardesty, and P. O’Shea (2008), Academic Libraries: 2006 (NCES 2008­337), National Center for Education 
Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C., nces.ed.gov/pubsearch 
/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2008337, released July 8, 2008. Accessed July 30, 2008 

C&RL News November 2008  660