nov10ff.indd


C&RL News November 2010  572

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

PowerStats
PowerStats is an easy-to-use Data Analysis Tool for Postsecondary Education 
Data from the National Center for Education Statistics. The online tool provides 
access to nine postsecondary datasets. Users create tables and regressions with 
a visually intuitive drag and drop interface. Results can be displayed in a num-
ber of formats, including Excel and PDF. Users can produce simple or complex 
tables and run linear or logistic regressions with the data.
Institute of Education Sciences DataLab Web site, June 9, 2010, nces.ed.gov/datalab/ (retrieved August 6, 2010).

Rapid scanning
Researchers at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Information Sci-
ence and Technology are developing technology to scan a book as fast as a 
person can flip through it. The system works with a camera that can take up 
to 500 photographs per second, enabling it to record about 170 book pages in 
60 seconds as a person thumbs through them. While the technology has been 
developed, a prototype scanning machine has yet to be built.
“Japan’s Rapid Scanning System Can Digitise Book in One Minute,” Channel NewsAsia, www.channelnewsasia.com 
/stories/technologynews/view/1080394/1/.html (retrieved September 11, 2010).

Online video calling
Almost a fifth of American adults (19 percent) have tried video calling either 
online or via their cell phones. These figures translate into 23 percent of Internet 
users and seven percent of cell phone owners who have participated in video 
calls, chats, or teleconferences. On a typical day, four percent of Internet users 
participate in video calls, chats, or teleconferences.
Lee Rainie and Kathryn Zickuhr, “Video Calling and Video Chat,” Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, 
pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2010/PIP_Video%20calling%20data%20memo.pdf (retrieved October 13, 2010).

Ingram/Springer integration model
Ingram Content Group Inc. and Springer announced a new integrated distribution 
services model that combines traditional physical book fulfillment with single-copy 
print-on-demand services for Springer’s Americas publishing program. Starting in the 
first quarter of 2011, Ingram Content Group will manage warehousing, fulfillment, and 
print-on-demand for Springer using the new model. Ingram will hold Springer’s entire 
U.S. inventory and as it sells down, Ingram will transition titles to print-on-demand 
when it makes the most economic sense. All fulfillments will come through Ingram.
Ingram Content Group, “Ingram Content Group Signs Agreement with Springer on a New US Distribution Services Model,” 
Ingram Content Group, www.springer.com/about+springer/media/pressreleases?SGWID=0-11002-6-1012421-0 (retrieved 
October 12, 2010).

Twitter’s New Search Architecture
Are you tired of hearing about Twitter? I am. Nevertheless, here is one more 
fascinating factoid. The Twitter system processes more than 1 billion queries 
per day. That figure includes more than 1,000 tweets per second combined 
with more than 12,000 queries per second. Their revamped indexing system 
has the potential to index roughly 50 times more tweets per second than they 
currently do.
Twitter, “The Twitter Engineering Blog: Twitter’s New Search Architecture,” engineering.twitter.com/2010/10/twitters 
-new-search-architecture.html (retrieved October 11, 2010).