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FAST FACTS
C&RL News, June 2007
Vol. 68, No. 6
by Gary Pattillo
Summer reading programs
The following are the 2007 summer reading choices for selected college programs: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: The Death of Innocents, by Helen Prejean; Texas Tech: Goodbye to a River, by John Graves; Appalachian State University: A Home on the Field: How One Championship Team Inspires Hope for the Revival of Small Town America, by Paul Cuadros; Miami University (Ohio): What is the What, by Dave Eggers; Louisiana State University: Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City, by Jed Horne; San Diego State University: Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World, by Tracy Kidder; Meredith College: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman; SUNY Brockport: Miracle in the Andes, by Nando Parrado; Case Western Reserve University: The Working Poor: Invisible in America, by David K. Shipler; Middle Tennessee State University: An Ordinary Man, by Paul Rusesabagina; Saint Louis University: Heroic Leadership, by Chris Lowney; Kent State University: The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri.
Source: Individual institution Web sites.
Publishing and languages
Of the 1.5 million books published worldwide last year, 30 percent were in English. Of the books published in the United States in 2004, 2.62 percent were translations. Of the books published in Iran in 2002, 23 percent were translations. In 2004, 29 percent of the books published in the Czech Republic were translations.
Jascha Hoffman, “Comparative Literature,” New York Times Book Review, April 15, 2007, P. 27.
Open Access and publishers
Almost 2,600 peer-reviewed journals are listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals. This represents a 25 percent increase over the previous year. More than 200 Open Access titles are tracked for impact by Thomson-ISI. In 2007, the average price for periodicals in the field of chemistry is $3,429 per title; in physics, $2,865; and in engineering, $2,071. Titles published in the Netherlands are the most expensive, averaging $3,362 per title, while those published in India are the least expensive, with an average price of $209. Prices are expected to increase industry-wide between 7 to 9 percent for 2008.
Lee C. Van Orsdel and Kathleen Born, “Serial Wars,” Library Journal, 4/15/2007, www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6431958.html, May 1, 2007
FOIA turns 40
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which gives citizens access to federal government files, turns 40 this year. The federal government spent $7.7 billion in 2005 to classify documents as secret. The same year, citizens filed 2.7 million requests for government records through FOIA, an increase of 65,000 requests over the previous year, according to a report by the bipartisan group, OpenTheGovernment.org.
William Douglas, “Freedom of Information Act turns 40,” The Seattle Times (March 11, 2007), seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003612433_foiact11.html, March 11, 2007.
Gary Pattillo is reference librarian at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, e-mail: pattillo@refstaff.lib.unc.edu
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