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C&RL News February 2011  120

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

Science researchers
Science researchers at the University of California-Santa Cruz were surveyed 
about their article database use and preferences in order to inform collection 
budget choices. Web of Science was the single most used database, selected by 
41.6 percent. Statistically there was no difference between PubMed (21.5 percent) 
and Google Scholar (18.7 percent) as the second most popular database. 83 
percent of those surveyed had used Google Scholar and an additional 13 percent 
had not used it but would like to try it. Very few databases account for the most 
use, and subject-specific databases are used less than big multidisciplinary data-
bases (PubMed is the exception). While Google Scholar is favored for its ease of 
use and speed, those who prefer Web of Science feel more confident about the 
quality of their results than do those who prefer Google Scholar. When asked 
to choose between paying for article database access and paying for journal 
subscriptions, 66 percent of researchers chose to keep journal subscriptions, 
while 34 percent chose to keep article databases.
Christy Hightower and Christy Caldwell, “Shifting Sands: Science Researchers on Google Scholar, Web of Science, and 
PubMed, with Implications for Library Collections Budgets,” Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, fall 2010, 
www.istl.org/10-fall/refereed3.html (retrieved December 3, 2010).

Foreign-language enrollment
Undergraduate enrollments in foreign-language courses at American colleges 
and universities rose 6.6 percent between 2006 and 2009. Graduate level for-
eign-language enrollments, however, declined 6.7 percent for the same period. 
Spanish, French, German, and American Sign Language (ASL) are the four most 
popular languages. Arabic has risen two positions in the ranking since 2006 to 
eighth most popular.
Nelly Furman, David Goldberg, and Natalia Lusin “Enrollments in Languages Other than English in United States Institu-
tions of Higher Education, fall 2009,” Modern Language Association, www.mla.org/pdf/2009_enrollment_survey.pdf 
(retrieved January 5, 2011).

Mobile data bandwidth
Mobile data bandwidth usage increased by 68 percent during the first half of 
2010. Video streaming applications dominate global mobile bandwidth usage 
and continue to grow in popularity. YouTube alone accounts for 13 percent of 
mobile data bandwidth usage. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) grew by 84 
percent, with Skype accounting for the large majority of that usage.
“Allot MobileTrends Report H1, 2010,” Allot Communications, September 27, 2010, www.allot.com/MobileTrends 
_Report_H1_2010.html (retrieved December 15, 2010).

BioEve
BioEve: Discovery Engine is a search and discovery service that makes it easier 
for researchers to search and navigate knowledge hidden in the text of published 
life sciences literature. The word cloud search interface makes it easy to limit 
results by co-occurring genes, drugs, or diseases.
BioEve: A Discovery Engine for Life Sciences Literature, www.bioeve.org/index.html (retrieved January 11, 2011).