C&RL News March 2015  176

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

Smart devices and data privacy
According to research released by TRUSTe (a data privacy management com-
pany), 35 percent of online U.S. consumers now own at least one smart device 
other than a smart phone. “The most popular devices are smart TVs (20 percent), 
in-car navigation systems (12 percent), fitness bands (5 percent), and home 
alarm systems (4 percent).” The research also shows that 79 percent of online 
U.S. consumers are concerned about the idea of their personal information 
collected by smart devices.
TRUSTe, “35% of Americans Now Own at Least One Smart Device other than a Phone,” January 5, 2015, www.truste.
com/about-TRUSTe/press-room/35-of-americans-now-own-at-least-one-smart-device-other-than-a-phone (retrieved 
February 9, 2015).

Low income students
“Low income students are now a majority of the schoolchildren attending the 
nation’s public schools. The latest data collected from the states… show that 51 
percent of the students across the nation’s public schools were low income in 
2013. Mississippi led the nation with the highest rate: 71 percent. The nation’s 
second highest rate was found in New Mexico, where 68 percent of all public 
school students were low income in 2013.”
Southern Education Foundation, “A New Majority Research Bulletin: Low Income Students Now a Majority in the Nation’s 
Public Schools,” January 2015, www.southerneducation.org/Our-Strategies/Research-and-Publications/New-Majority 
-Diverse-Majority-Report-Series/A-New-Majority-2015-Update-Low-Income-Students-Now.aspx (retrieved February 5, 
2015).

Higher levels of education than their parents
“On average across 24 national and sub-national entities participating in the 
OECD Survey of Adult Skills, 39 percent of adults have achieved a higher level 
of education than their parents. A 20–34 year-old with tertiary educated parents 
is 4.5 times more likely to participate in tertiary education than a young adult 
whose parents did not have a tertiary qualification. Between 2000 and 2012, 
the proportion of young adults (25–34 year-olds) with a tertiary qualification 
has grown by more than 3 percent per year on average in OECD countries.”
OECD, “Are Young People Attaining Higher Levels of Education than their Parents?” Education Indicators in Focus, 
No. 28, January 2015, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5js7lx8zx90r-en (retrieved February 9, 2015).

Academic impact of libraries
“University and college libraries often seek ways to demonstrate their impact for 
the academic community.” Results from a two-year study that analyzed library use 
against grade point averages of students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln 
“found that undergraduates with a GPA above the mean university GPA used 
the library more than those with a GPA below the mean. There was a correla-
tion between greater use of the library and increases in GPA between the two 
years—that is, as one grew, so did the other.”
DeeAnn Allison, “Measuring the Academic Impact of Libraries,” portal: Libraries and the Academy, vol. 15, no. 1 (2015): 
29-40, https://muse.jhu.edu/ (retrieved February 11, 2015).