FAST FACTS
C&RL News, October 2003
Vol. 64, No. 9
by Gary Pattillo
Search engine size wars
Search Engine Watch reports that Google and AlltheWeb are both fighting for the title of “world’s largest web search index.” AlltheWeb recently increased its database size to 3,151,743,117 Web pages. Google countered soon thereafter with a claim of indexing 3,307,998,701 Web pages. AlltheWeb’s announcement also included notice of “several significant relevance enhancements that will improve the ranking of URLs.”
Chris Sherman, “Google to Overture: Mine’s Bigger,” http://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3069221. August 27, 2003
College Board test results
More students than ever before took the SAT this year: 1.4 million, according to a recent report by the College Board. Scores for both math and verbal sections were up an average of three points. The proportion of minority students taking the SAT is at an all-time high of 36 percent.
“SAT® Verbal and Math Scores Up Significantly as a Record-breaking Number of Students Take the Test,” http://www.collegeboard.com/press/article/0,3183,26858,00.html. August 26, 2003
Emergency information sources
Television and radio top the list of news sources Americans would use first in the case of a terror attack. A Pew Internet Project poll reveals 57 percent of Americans said they would turn to television first followed by 15 percent for radio. Only 9 percent would consult news organization or government Web sites first. But 34 percent would use Web sites as their first or second combined source of news.
“The Internet and Emergency Preparedness: A Joint Survey with Federal Computer Week Magazine,” Pew Internet Project. http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=100. August 31, 2003
U.S. education levels
The U.S. Census Bureau released a report from Census 2000 on educational attainment that said educational levels of the U.S. population were the highest they have ever been. Of the 182.2 million people aged 25 and over on April 1, 2000, 80 percent had at least a high school diploma, and 24 percent had completed at least a bachelor’s degree.
“Educational Attainment: 2000.” http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-24.pdf. August 2003
Worldwide literacy skills
Finland, Korea, and Hong Kong are among the most literate countries, according to new results from an ongoing OECD study. The survey of 43 countries also showed that there is a positive correlation between student performance and spending per student. In general, males perform better in mathematics while females perform better in reading, with mixed results in science literacy skills.
“Literacy Skills for the World of Tomorrow: Further Results from PISA 2000,” http://www.oecd.org/document/49/0,2340,en_2649_37455_2997873_1_1_1_37455,00.html. July 2003
About the Author
Gary Pattillo is reference librarian at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, e-mail: pattillo@pattillo@refstaff.lib.unc.edu
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