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C&RL News January 2013  56

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

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

How many photos?
The number of analog (silver halide) photos taken per year peaked in the year 
2000 at 85 billion. Digital photography has enabled that number to grow ex-
ponentially. An estimated 2.5 billion people in the world today have a digital 
camera, and we take an estimated 375 billion photos per year. One estimate 
places the total number of photos ever taken at more than 3.5 trillion.
Jonathan Good, “How Many Photos Have Ever Been Taken? | 1000memories,” September 15, 2011, http://
blog.1000memories.com/94-number-of-photos-ever-taken-digital-and-analog-in-shoebox (retrieved November 30, 2012).

Self-publishing
“The number of self-published books produced annually in the U.S. has nearly 
tripled, growing 287 percent since 2006, and now tallies more than 235,000 
print and ‘e’ titles, according to a new analysis of data from Bowker . . . While 
print accounts for 63 percent of self-published books, e-books are gaining fast. 
E-book production in 2011 was 87,201, up 129 percent over 2010. Print grew 
33 percent in the same period.”
“Self-Publishing Sees Triple-Digit Growth in Just Five Years, Says Bowker,” October 24, 2012, www.bowker.com/en-US 
/aboutus/press_room/2012/pr_10242012.shtml (retrieved November 30, 2012).

Library photocopy services
About 93 percent of libraries in a recent study provide patrons with self-service 
photocopying. Service agreements for photocopiers cost the libraries a mean 
of $5,528 annually, or approximately $273 per full-time equivalent library em-
ployee. Thirty-five percent of academic libraries in the study expect the number 
of photocopiers in the library to fall over the next five years. 
“Library Photocopy Services Benchmarks,” PrimaryResearch.com, October 17, 2012, http://primaryresearch.com/news.
php?id=59 (retrieved November 30, 2012).

Social networking apps
Consumers now spend more time in mobile applications than they do on PCs. 
Consumers spend an average of 77 minutes per day using smartphone apps 
(separate from tablet usage). For the first time since 2008, time spent on social 
networking apps now rivals time spent on games. Social networking app usage 
is trending upward, while game app usage is trending downward. 
Peter Farago, “Social Networking Ends Games 40 Month Mobile Reign,” April 27, 2012, http://blog.flurry.com/bid/84512/
Social-Networking-Ends-Games-40-Month-Mobile-Reign (retrieved December 3, 2012).

Education levels and unemployment
“Between the start of the economic downturn in 2008 and 2010, overall unem-
ployment rates jumped from 8.8 percent to 12.5 percent for people without an 
upper secondary education, and from 4.9 percent to 7.6 percent for people with 
an upper secondary education, on average across OECD countries. By contrast, 
unemployment rates for people with higher education remained much lower, 
rising from 3.3 percent to 4.7 percent during this same period. For all OECD 
countries together, the unemployment rate in 2010 was roughly one-third less 
for men with higher education than for men with upper secondary education; 
for women with higher education, it was two-fifths less.”
OECD, Education at a Glance 2012: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, September 11, 2012., www.oecd-ilibrary.org 
/education/education-at-a-glance-2012_eag-2012-en (retrieved December 3, 2012).