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FAST FACTS
C&RL News, November 2000
Vol. 61 No. 10
by Ann Viles
<<b />Deep Web
A study by search company BrightPlanet indicates “hundreds of billions of highly valuable documents hidden in searchable databases that cannot be retrieved by conventional search engines.”
(BrightPlanet, “The Deep Web: Surfacing Hidden Value.” http://www.completeplanet.com/Tutorials/DeepWeb/index.asp. Oct. 2, 2000)
Book buyers prefer paper
The BookExpo America and Publishers Weekly survey of 1,140 Internet users, who bought at least one book either in a bookstore or online between July 1999 and July 2000, found only four who think e-books will replace printed books.
(Hillel Italie, “Survey: E-books Won’t Replace Paper,” AP Online, Sept. 21, 2000. LEXIS NEXIS Academic Universe. Sept. 28, 2000)
Public library of the Internet
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Metalab was renamed ibiblio.org after receiving a $4-million gift from the Red Hat Center foundation to expand “the public library of the Internet.” The ibiblio server, a major repository of publicly available Linux software and digitized historical collections such as Documenting the American South, “handles an average of 1.5 million transactions daily.”
(Florence Olsen, “U. of North Carolina Gets $4-Million to Expand ‘Public Library of the Internet’,” Chronicle of Higher Education, Sept. 12, 2000. Sept. 28, 2000)
E-book economic forecasts differ
A PricewaterhouseCoopers study “forecasts that spending on e-publishing products in the trade area will jump from an estimated $53 million this year to $2.7 billion in 2004.” On the other hand, the banking firm Veronis Suhler’s Communication Industry Forecast reports “sales of e-products in the consumer segment are not expected to grow dramatically through 2004.”
(Jim Milliot, “Two Studies See Healthy Book Market Ahead,” Publishers Weekly, Sept. 18, 2000: 10)
Hard drives in MP3 portables
A 6-megabyte hard disk gives Creative Technology’s Nomad Jukebox the capacity to store 100 hours of music (approximately 150 CDs) in MP3 format.
(Walter S. Mossberg, “Now That’s Portable: Nomad Jukebox Holds More than 1,500 Songs,” Wall Street Journal, Sept. 14, 2000, Eastern ed.: B1.)
Grants to increase digital resources
The Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded more than $2.7 million dollars for projects to digitize library resources at Cornell University, Georgia Department of Archives and History, Indiana University, Louisiana State University, Nebraska State Historical Society, New York Public Library, Northern Illinois University, Tufts University, University of Arizona, University of Georgia, University of North Carolina, and University of the Virgin Islands.
(Institute of Museum and Library Services, “Twelve Libraries to Digitize Valuable Resources.” http://www.imls.gov/whatsnew/current/091900-pd.htm. Sept. 25, 2000)
About the Author
Ann Viles is coordinator of reference and instruction at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, e-mail: vilesea@conrad.appstate.edu
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