ALMANACS, FACT FINDERS, STATISTICS Greetings! So, the FBI has reported today that the World Almanac *might be* a source of vital information to terrorists. Hmmmm. While that report is difficult to prove, it is no surprise that almanacs are useful sources of fairly reliable data for all kinds of folks, including students. Some people actually buy a current print copy of The World Almanac for handy reference. Here is a list of some online sources to explore: THE WORLD ALMANAC Offers a useful AND free monthly newsletter. Fast facts, birthdays, etc. See: http://www.worldalmanac.com/index INFOPLEASE ALMANAC The InfoPlease.Com folks are just out with their year in review section. http://www.infoplease.com/spot/03yearinreview.html Included in the package is a 2003 month-by-month review. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0906960.html SPORTS ALMANAC http://www.infoplease.com/sports.html STATISTICS IN SPORTS (from the American Statistical Association) http://www.amstat.org/sections/sis/ http://www.amstat.org/sections/sis/sports.html THE OLD FARMERS'S ALMANAC http://www.almanac.com/index CIA - THE WORLD FACTBOOK http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html DAVIS LIBRARY'S "QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE" http://www.lib.unc.edu/reference/quick/ REFERENCE DESK - DAILY ALMANAC http://www.refdesk.com/quote.html INTERNET PUBLIC LIBRARY'S "STATELY KNOWLEDGE" http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/stateknow/ INTERNET PUBLIC LIBRARY'S "LIVING ALMANAC OF DISASTERS" http://www.disasterium.com/ *************************************** On the UNC Online Catalog: http://eresources.lib.unc.edu CQ RESEARCHER - Full text from 1991 The CQ Researcher is the perfect answer for people who need a place to begin research on current topics. (Full text articles with graphs and bibliographies.) CQ Weekly - Full text from 1983 CQ Weekly is known as the pre-eminent resource for Congress-watchers who need non-partisan information on Capitol Hill. (more information) American FactFinder - Contains Full Text American FactFinder allows the users to access data from the 1990 Decennial Census, the 1997 Economic Census, the American Community Survey, and Census 2000 data as they become available. STAT-USA/Internet - Contains Full Text STAT-USA/Internet is a major collection of business, economic, and trade information available on the World Wide Web. CenStats - Contains Full Text CenStats provides access to several popular Census Bureau databases, including: Building Permits, Census Tract Street Locator, County Business Patterns, International Trade Data, Detailed Occupation by Race, Hispanic Origin and Sex, USA Counties, and 1990 Public Law 94-171 Data TableBase - Contains Full Text International in scope, although approximately 66% of the records focus on North America, TableBase provides summary statistics about companies, industries, products, markets, and consumer behavior, including rankings, forecasts, market shares, and product sales. LINC (Log Into North Carolina) - Contains Full Text LINC (Log Into North Carolina) is a service of the North Carolina State Data Center. A rich source for NC statistical data. WDI Online WDI Online is a major source for data on the global economy, offering statistics on over 550 development indicators from over 200 countries and 18 country groups, from 1960 to date. ********************************************** If any of you have other useful statistical sites, please share them with us. Best regards, Barbara
JOMC SYLLABI: PAST AND FUTURE Greetings! PAST JOMC SYLLABI: Our Park Library retains on file the current 4 years of JoMC syllabi; that is from 1999 to the 2003. Alas, for whatever reason not all syllabi are accounted for. If you are interested in retrieving one of your past syllabi from our Library's files, please check with me. If you have a print copy that you would like to put in digital format, I can help you with that as well. And, if you have a spare copy of a syllabi that is missing, I'd be pleased to accept it. FUTURE JOMC SYLLABI: Spring 2004 These syllabi (one copy for each course offered, including seminars) should be on file in our Park Library by January 7, 2004. Students want to examine the syllabi before classes start. Barbara
HELP US BALANCE OUR BOOKS: Return them! Greetings! It's the end of the semester and some of our Park Library's books (and videos and journals) are AWOL. Please search your "ABCs" (that's attics, bookshelves, and cabinets) for the missing material. No questions asked. We thank you for your cooperation. Barbara Semonche, warden
NC NEWSPAPERS' ONLINE DATABASE: NEWSBANK Greetings! Ahhh, there is good news tonight! Representatives from NewsBank (a veteran online news database aggregator) and I have talked about creating for our School a one-stop access to eight NC newspapers' electronic archives: Asheville Citizen-Times (1999 - to the present) Charlotte Observer (1985 - to the present) Fayetteville Observer (1988 - to the present) Greensboro News & Record (1990 - to the present) News & Observer (1991 - to the present) The Chapel Hill News (1991 - to the present) Star-News (Wilmington) (2002 - to the present) Winston-Salem Journal (1998 - to the present) We have NewsBanks' proposal for this option, plus for access to all its U.S. online newspaper archives. Two options, two prices. More about that later. Some of you will recognize that a few of these newspaper archives are already available in other databases, or more likely offered only from their own newspapers, not an aggregator. Note that there is a variation in the depth of the archives and in points of access. That is, there is no one-stop shopping for these archives. Hence, we are exploring NewsBank's options. NewsBank is offering our School a free month's (all of December 2003) trial. Here is how to experiment with this service: 1. Open a browser to this URL http://infoweb.newsbank.com/?user=ncd9732 2. The next screen should be NewsBank's home page (Note that the URL alread includes the logon and password; this option is ours exclusively for December 2003.) 3. Click on "America's Newspapers" 4. The next screen has a US map; click on our state "NC" 5. This next screen has a list of all the NC newspapers available on NewsBank; not *all* NC papers because not all of them have their archives available. 5. You may now enter your search terms in the boxes and select appropriate sections and enter the desired dates from the pop-down screens. Note that I'll be happy to offer demonstrations on searching this database. Note also, that this is a just a trial; if we like it and it meets our information needs and the price is right, *perhaps* we'll consider purchasing it. We'll see. One last point: NewsBank is expressing interest in approaching the black press in North Carolina about putting these newspapers in an electronic archive. More about that later, after I talk with Harry Amana and Chuck Stone. As always, feedback from our faculty, staff, and students is eagerly sought. Barbara
U.S. CENSUS: FIRST FLIGHT CENTENNIAL DATA Greetings! You'll find some interesting data on the First Flight Centennial, but read on for a trivia buff's dream of factoids on the air transport industry. You discover numbers on: * number of licensed pilots * number of jobs generated by air transport support services * annual operating revenue for U.S. airline industry * number of aircraft mechanics * number of passengers using nation's busiest airports * number of airports * number of passengers who fly between New York and Fort Lauderdale annually plus much more. Also listed are impressive aeronautical records. Nothing in this data to reveal number of aircraft accidents. **************************************************** First Flight Centennial On a windswept dune along North Carolina's Outer Banks on Dec. 17, 1903, a dream of the ages became reality as the Wright brothers made the world's first powered flight. With Orville at the controls and Wilbur on the ground, the plane made four flights that day, with the longest one covering 852 feet in 59 seconds ? an average speed of 31 miles an hour. To commemorate the centennial of this momentous event in aviation history, the Census Bureau today presents facts and figures on air transportation. Where it All Began 3,171 Estimated population of Kitty Hawk, N.C., in 2002. Kitty Hawk was the site of the Wright brothers' first flight. According to the 1900 census, the latest taken at the time of the first flight, there were 4,757 people living in Dare County, where Kitty Hawk is located (in 2002, Dare County's population was more than 32,000). 18.html>
27.html>
Today's Crowded Skies
612,000
Number of licensed airplane pilots. Among these:
-- 244,000 have private pilot's licenses.
-- 121,000 are licensed to fly commercial aircraft.
-- 145,000 are licensed to fly air transport planes.
-- 34,000 are women.
-- 87,000 are student pilots.
(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States:
2003.)
$107 billion
Annual operating revenue for the U.S. airline industry.
(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States:
2003.)
128,000
Number of jobs generated in 2001 by air transportation support services,
such as air traffic control and other airport operations.
hip/000926.html>
129,000
Number of people employed as airplane pilots and navigators.
(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States:
2003.)
126,000
Number of aircraft engine mechanics ? the people who keep the planes
running.
(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States:
2003.)
19,000
Number of airports across the country. The majority of them (nearly
14,000)
are private.
(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States:
2003.)
218,000
Number of general aviation (private) aircraft. In addition, there are
7,900 airliners.
(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States:
2003.)
4,138
The total number of aircraft available for public use (i.e., federal,
state
or local government-owned or leased aircraft).
html/table_general_aviation_profile.html>
9 million
Number of aircraft departures for the U.S. airline industry every year.
(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States:
2003.)
86
Percentage of flights that departed from the nation's airports on time
during the fourth quarter of 2002.
Eighty-three percent arrived on time.
(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States:
2003.)
612 million
Number of paying passengers U.S. airlines carry annually. These air
travelers fly an average of 1,046 miles per trip.
(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States:
2003.)
35 million
Number of passengers who used Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International
Airport in 2002, making it the nation's busiest.
(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States:
2003.)
3.2 million
Number of passengers who fly between New York and Fort Lauderdale
annually,
making this route the nation's busiest.
(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States:
2003.)
Aerospace and Air Transportation Industries
449,000
The number of people employed in the aerospace product and parts
manufacturing industry in 2001.
These employees worked out of 1,792 establishments.
hip/000926.html>
90,000
Number of people employed as aerospace engineers.
(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States:
2003.)
$135 billion
Total value of shipments in 2001 of manufactured aerospace products and
parts.
609,000
Number of people employed in the air transportation industry in 2001.
These employees worked out of 5,451 establishments.
Aeronautical Records
24,987
Length in miles of the longest nonstop, unrefueled flight in history (by
Richard Rutan and Jeana Yeager in the experimental, home-built aircraft
Voyager in 1986). This marked the first time the world war ever circumnavigated
non-stop by air. (Courtesy of the National Aeronautic Association.)
2,193 mph
The speed record (measured in ground speed), set in 1976 by Capt. Eldon
W. Joersz of the U.S. Air Force. (Courtesy of the National Aeronautic
Association.)
314,750
The highest altitude, in feet, ever reached by an aircraft. The record
was set in 1962 by Maj. Robert White of the U.S. Air Force in a
high-performance research aircraft. (Courtesy of the National Aeronautic
Association.)
Good Business Greetings! When a business responds well to a problem, well, that is cause for celebration. Here's an example of a business doing well by us. Chairs in our Park Library have been breaking almost since we first moved into our new quarters in 1999. We expressed our concern to Carolina Business Interiors, the manufacturer of our chairs. They responded by carefully examining the circumstances and determined that the cause was a design flaw. Thanks to the fine efforts of Lucinda Poole and Miriam Sluder, negotiations went smoothly and Carolina Business Interiors replaced *all* 64 Library chairs with a newer, stronger model. The replacement cost, running into thousands of dollars, was completely absorbed by the company. Please come to our Park Library and admire the new chairs. They are very handsome, and, according to several students, much more comfortable (not to mention safer) than the previous ones. Barbara
U.S. Census Bureau Brief: The Arab Population: 2000 Greetings! Read on for more details about this Census report released today; t is the first report the U.S. Census Bureau has produced on the population of Arab ancestry. The full 12-page report can be found at this URL: http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-23.pdf Thought this data might be of interest to our faculty and students. ************************************* Mike Bergman CB03-187 Public Information Office (301) 763-3030/457-3670 (fax) (301) 457-1037 (TDD) email:
Report on Arab Population Released by Census Bureau
About 1.2 million people in the United States reported an Arab
ancestry in Census 2000, up from 860,000 in 1990 and 610,000 in 1980,
according to a new report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The population of Arab ancestry increased 41 percent in the 1980s
and
38 percent in the 1990s.
The 12-page brief, titled The Arab Population: 2000, is one in a
series that analyzes Census 2000 data. The brief provides national,
regional and state information on the total Arab population, as
well as on the three largest Arab groups: Lebanese, Syrian and Egyptian.
County- and selected place-level data also are provided for the
total Arab population.
Tables in the brief show 2000 and 1990 totals with numeric and
percentage changes for the Arab population and specific Arab groups
at the national level; 2000 and 1990 totals for the Arab population
and 2000 totals for the three largest Arab groups at the national,
regional and state (includes the District of Columbia and Puerto
Rico) levels; and 2000 totals for the Arab population in selected
cities, consisting of:
$ the 10 largest cities;
$ the 10 cities with the largest Arab populations; and
$ the 10 cities of 100,000 population or more with the highest
percentages of Arab ancestry.
Also included is a thematic map of the United States that shows
proportions of people who reported Arab ancestry by county.
For the purpose of this report, most people with ancestries
originating from Arabic-speaking countries or areas of the world were
categorized as Arab. For example, a person was included in the Arab
ancestry category if he or she reported Arab, Egyptian, Iraqi,
Jordanian, Lebanese, Middle Eastern, Moroccan, North African,
Palestinian or Syrian as an ancestry. The Census 2000 questionnaire
allowed respondents to report as many as two ancestries. If either
response was an Arab group, the person was counted as being Arab, in
addition to being counted in the other ancestry reported.
This is the first report the U.S. Census Bureau has produced on the
population of Arab ancestry. In 1997, the Office of Management and
Budget revised the standards for the classification of federal data
on race and ethnicity, noting the lack of consensus about the
definition of an Arab ethnic category and suggesting that further
research be done to improve data for this population group. This
report contributes to ongoing research about people in the United
States who identify as being of Arab ancestry and reflects the Census
Bureau = s consultation and collaboration with experts in the
Arab-American community.
The data contained in the report are based on responses from a
sample of households who received the census long form. Nationally
about 1-in-6 households were included in the sample; because they are
sample data, they are subject to sampling and nonsampling errors.
*************************************************
MORE BOOD NEWS ON ACCESS TO MEDIA RATINGS Greetings! Thanks to Joe Bob Hester, we now have a direct link to Arbitron ratings. The Radio and Records Online URL is: http://www.rronline.com/ When you open that URL, note the left-hand side of the screen. Under "R&R Today," you'll discover a hot link to "ratings." Click on it and the next screen lets viewers examine * Fall 2003 Arbitrends * select markets listed by: * size * alphabet I'll be adding this link to our Park Library's guide to media use statistics at this URL: http://parklibrary.jomc.unc.edu/nielsenguide.html Barbara
ELECTRONIC ARCHIVES -- THE NIGHTMARE CONTINUES Greetings! As much as I depend upon electronic archives and full-text databases, I'm aware that this dependence comes with a certain uneasiness. Read on for an example of what happens to URLs included in scholarly papers. The full text of this Washington Post article (published on Nov. 24, 2003) is available on Lexis/Nexis Academic. Or, you can read it in print format in our Park Library, at least if you hurry before the WP is recycled. Barbara ************************************************ On the Web, Research Work Proves Ephemeral Electronic Archivists Are Playing Catch-Up in Trying to Keep Documents From Landing in History's Dustbin By Rick Weiss, Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, November 24, 2003; Page A08 ....Dellavalle, a dermatologist with the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Denver, had co-written a research report featuring dozens of footnotes - - many of which referred not to books or journal articles but, as is increasingly the case these days, to Web sites that he and his colleagues had used to substantiate their findings. "Problem was, it took about two years for the article to wind its way to publication. And by that time, many of the sites they had cited had moved to other locations on the Internet or disappeared altogether, rendering useless all those Web addresses -- also known as uniform resource locators (URLs) -- they had provided in their footnotes. "Every time we checked, some were gone and others had moved," said Dellavalle, who is on the faculty at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. "We thought, 'This is an interesting phenomenon itself. We should look at this.' .... ....Nature -- at three months, 15 months and 27 months after publication. The prevalence of inactive Internet references grew during those intervals from 3.8 percent to 10 percent to 13 percent.".... ...."Another study, published in January, found that 40 percent to 50 percent of the URLs referenced in articles in two computing journals were inaccessible within four years.".... ************************************************* Barbara BTW, WP's Research editor, Margot Williams, contributed to this report. Margot is a former news librarian.
COMMUNICATION ABSTRACTS ONLINE Greetings! Ahhhh, there's good news today. UNC-CH Electronic Indexes and Databases has just announced that Communication Abstracts is available online. Simply open your browser to http://eresources.lib.unc.edu/eid/. Then click on "Articles and More;" next, click on "C" and then scroll down the screen until you get to "Communication Abstracts." Click on the link to open. The coverage is from 1977 to the present. Communication Abstracts covers about 120 journals in communication studies from around the world, plus reports, papers, and books from a variety of sources. Fields include general communication, mass communication, advertising and marketing, radio and television broadcasting, interpersonal and group communication, journalism, public relations, film studies, and the role of technology in communication. However, please remember that these are *abstracts* and *not* full text; nevertheless, it will help the preparation of literature reviews by our students and faculty. As always, if anyone desires a demonstration of this database, please let me know. Best regards, Barbara
BOSTON COLLEGE AND ITS STUDENT NEWSPAPER Greetings: From the current issue of Chronicle of Higher Education comes this alert: * BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICIALS are seeking to add provisions to a routine office-lease agreement with a student newspaper to gain a more powerful voice in the publication's business and editorial operations. Among the college's terms are a ban on cigarette and alcohol advertising and a requirement that the paper create an advisory board that includes at least one administrator. --> SEE http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/11/2003112603n.htm Note if you have difficulty opening this URL, please let me know and I'll send you the full info. Barbara
[Note: originally posted to the JoMC Faculty list on Nov. 12, 2003.] Greetings! Please alert your students and colleagues that our Park Library has added the following items to its collection: 1. "Helen Thomas: The First Lady of the Press." A&E video, 2001 2. "Helen Thomas: Front Row at the White House." By Helen Thomas, 1999 3. "Thanks for the Memories, Mr. President." By Helen Thomas, 2002 The video and the two books have not yet been cataloged, but they will be soon. As you all know, our materials are reserved for room use only. If you'd like to browse the books or preview the video, I can make special arrangements. Barbara
FORECAST: PUBLIC TO TURN TO PAID MEDIA Greetings! I thought this article featured on Veronis Suhler's web site (originally published in USA Today on Augus 14, 2003) might interest many on our faculty. Best regards, Barbara Forecast: Public to turn to paid media By Michael McCarthy, USA TODAY NEW YORK — Media-hungry consumers are expected to spend more time on electronic media they pay for, such as pay-cable networks, DVDs and video games, and less on "free" TV and radio, as well as newspapers and magazines, in the next five years. A big reason: to escape the blizzard of ads. That's one of the intriguing predictions of the Communications Industry Forecast by merchant bank Veronis Suhler Stevenson. The yearly forecast is viewed as a must-have research and planning tool by media executives. "People are moving toward media that has little or no advertising," says Jim Rutherfurd, managing director of Veronis. "They are voting with their wallets — and spending their time where they spend their money." According to the study, U.S. consumers spent 3,599 hours with various forms of media in 2002, a 1.8% boost from the previous year. The time they spent with advertiser-supported media, such as broadcast TV, accounted for 2,081 hours, or 57.8%, while consumer-supported media, such as DVDs, accounted for the remaining 42.2% or 1,518 hours. The split reflects a pickup of 10 share points by consumer-supported media from 1997-2002. Veronis sees that shift continuing in the next five year, to 55.4% vs. 44.6% by 2007, with time spent on consumer-supported media growing 13.8% against a 3.1% increase for ad-supported media. TV remained by far the most popular medium last year. Driven by an increase in cable and satellite viewing, the average consumer spent 1,701 hours watching television, a 1.7% increase from the year before. Radio finished No. 2 at 994 hours, boosted by longer commutes and the emergence of satellite radio. Not everyone agrees with Veronis' prediction that consumers will continue to open their wallets for more media choices in the future. Trend watcher Marian Salzman, chief strategy officer of ad agency Euro RSCG Worldwide, sees a consumer backlash. "The consumer is king," Salzman says. "Their mantra will be: 'If you want me to try to your (media) products, then you should pay me.' " Veronis' five-year outlook: •More consumer spending. The average consumer spent $721.03 on media in 2002, and individual spending will rise at a compound rate of 5.5% to $941.07 by 2007. Total spending will grow at a 6.6% annual rate to $224 billion. •Growth. The entire industry — spending by consumers, schools and government on media, plus advertising and marketing services — will be the seventh-largest sector of the U.S. economy — and fifth-fastest-growing during the five-year period. It will grow at a compound annual rate of 6.3% to $828 billion by 2007, after rising 3.3% to $609 billion last year. Even the beleaguered ad industry will see spending rise 5.5% in 2003 and 6.5% in 2004, Veronis predicts. •Sour notes. Online piracy and file sharing will continue to crimp the music industry, with spending on music declining 3.9% a year to $10.4 billion by 2007. Find this article at: http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2003-08-14-veronis_x.htm
TV "LIVE" INTERVIEWS WITH VICTIMS OF TRAGEDY Greetings! The Oct./Nov. 2003 issue of Albermarle (VA) published an interesting article by Janet Martin. A former producer for the Public Broadcasting System of Virginina, she is now a free-lance journalist living in Central Virginia. Martin's essay is titled, "I'm on TV therefor, I exist." It's a thought-provoking piece about journalistic choices and media effects. If anyone would like to read it, please contact me. I'll have it on my desk. Best regards,
LIST OF JOURNALISM (WEB)BLOG SITES Greetings! For those interested in such things, here is a resource to explore: http://www.cyberjournalist.net/cyberjournalists.html This web page highlighted The Charlotte Observer: "First news blog: Dispatches from the Coast -- First known use of the Weblog format to cover a breaking story by a news site (Aug. 26 - 28, 1998, The Charlotte Observer, covering Hurricane Bonnie). Read a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Dispatches from the Coast..." Best regards, Barbara
GIFTS TO OUR PARK LIBRARY CONTRIBUTIONS * From Park Fellow, Johanna Cleary, comes a most welcome contribution to our Park Library in memory of her grandmother, Mary M. James. SERIALS * From Frank Fee comes decades of his collections of AJR, and partial runs of CJR and Nieman Reports. These issues will help our Park Library fill i$ missing issues for these trad publications. * From Elliott Parker, Central Michigan University, comes a near-complete run of the typography serial U&lc (Upper & lower case). BOOKS * From Carol Reuss comes more contributions from her personal library of PR materials. She even offers useful critical assessment of the works so that the information is used with caution. Very helpful. * From Rich Beckman and Dean Cole come 2 copies of "Mapping the News: Cas$ Studies in GIS and Journalism." Examples of finding and using data include: * tracking hurricane destruction * analyzing ballot counts * mapping school assignments * monitoring highway accidents * identifying toxic sites * focusing on property assessments * From Denise Bittner comes "Look Homeward and Forward" the 2001 Proceedings of the International Conference in Rome on North Carolina's author Thomas Wolfe. The book is dedicated to John Bittner. Bittner's paper, "The Lure of the Railroads and the National Parks: Thomas Wolfe's Final Journey to the American West," is included. * From Ken Hales comes "Reporting Civil Rights, Part One: American Journalism 1941-1963." * From a JoMC alumnus comes this book (2002) authored by New Jersey newspaper man Len S. Rubin, "An Editor Remembers: 44 years of publishing a small-town weekly newspaper." * From Mike Yopp comes the 20th edition of "The Best of Newspaper Design.$ This gift complets a run of these publications from 1984 to 2002. ASIAN MATERIALS * From Elliott Parker, Central Michigan University, comes a treasure trov$ of specialized materials from China. I will definitely need Prof. Zhao's help in classifying 11 books in what I *think* is Chinese. Also included is a run of Media Asia (an Asian Mass Communication Quarterly) from 1978 to 1985 in English. Barbara Semonche
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