METHODOLOGY

Selection of Cities for Inclusion
Cities were selected based on their 2005 U.S. Census population figures.  The study was limited to those cities with a population of 250,000 or larger.

Newspaper Data
For the newspaper database, the daily and Sunday circulation figures for the March 2006 reporting period from the Publisher’s Statements were obtained from the Audit Bureau of Circulation website (www.accessabc.com). Those numbers were divided by the 2005 U.S. Census population figures for the cities resulting in a ratio, which was then rank ordered.  Four cities (Anaheim, CA, Arlington, TX, Plano, TX, and Aurora, CO) had no newspaper published in their city that participates in the ABC publisher's statements. Additionally, one of the major newspapers in Chicago, IL (The Sun-Times) was being censured by ABC, so the figures from that newspaper are from the 26 weeks ending March 27, 2005.  Similarly, the major newspaper in Dallas, TX (The Dallas Morning News) was being censured by ABC, and its figures are from the six months ended March 31, 2006.  In the case of New Orleans, LA, the circulation figures used for the Times-Picayune were from the last available report (March 31, 2005).  Finally, the circulation figures for Tulsa, OK were those reported for the six-month period ended March 31, 2006 from the newspaper itself, as they are not participants in the ABC publisher's statements.

Internet Data
Figures for the Internet accessibility database were obtained from Intel Corporation’s 3rd Annual "Most Unwired Cities" survey, which ranks the top 100 U.S. cities and regions for the greatest wireless Internet accessibility. Figures for the “number of internet terminals at public libraries” were obtained from the Fiscal Year 2004 Public Libraries Survey from the National Center for Education Statistics website.  Figures for “read a newspaper online” and “purchased a book online” were obtained from Scarborough Research’s August 2004-September 2005 USA+2005 Release.  Cities were ranked according to the index figures provided by Scarborough.  Please note that Scarborough did not have data for the following cities:  Long Beach, CA; Mesa, AZ; Plano, TX; Corpus Christi, TX; Bakersfield, CA; Aurora, CO; Arlington, TX; Colorado Springs, CO; New Britain, CT; Anaheim, CA; New Orleans, LA; Omaha, NE; Riverside, CA; Anchorage, AK; Santa Ana, CA; and Newark, NJ.  Hence, all of those cities were ranked last.

Magazines and Journals Data
Figures for this database were gathered from the web edition of the National Directory of Magazines (2004-2005) for magazines and the Standard Periodical Directory (2005) for journals through the www.MediaFinder.com website of Oxbridge Communications. Only those journals with a total circulation of 500 or more were included, and only those magazines with a total circulation of 2,500 or more were included.

Booksellers and Stores Data
For this database, information was gathered from the U.S. Census Bureau website (http://www.census.gov  (2005 population)), as well as Yellow Pages, Inc. (http://www.yellowpagesinc.com  (2006)) for information on retail, rare, and used booksellers.  Also, the American Booksellers Association site (http://www.bookweb.org  (2006)) was used for independent bookseller information.  Please note that for figures reported for “retail”, these did not include any “specialty”, “adult”, or “religious” bookstores, and the stores were those listed at these database sites on September 10, 2006.

Educational Attainment Data
For this database, information was gathered from the U.S. Census Bureau’s “American Factfinder” website (http://factfinder.census.gov), specifically from the results of the American Community Survey, 2005.  The Educational Attainment data were gathered from the geographic subset listed as, “Principal City of a Metropolitan Statistical Area.”  The data were released from the U.S. Census on August 15, 2006.or this database, information was gathered from the U.S. Census Bureau website (http://www.census.gov [2000 population]), specifically using the Educational Attainments statistics and population.

Library Data
Information regarding library staff per capita, volumes per capita, circulation per capita, and branches per capita were gleaned from National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) database, specifically the “Library Statistics Program” and its “Public Libraries Survey FY2004.”

Please note that the number of volumes per capita for Tucson, AZ stem from the latest available source (i.e., Public Library Survey, FY2003).  Also, please note that the number of media specialists for Buffalo, NY and New York, NY were obtained from the latest available source (NCES CCD 2002-2003 data).

Information on the number of students and media specialists comes from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) database, specifically the Public School District data for the 2004-2005 school year.  For the Media Specialists total, the number of “Librarians/ Media Specialists” were combined with the number of “Library/Media Support” staff.

School districts labeled as “Regular School Districts” in  “Large Central Cities” or “Medium Central Cities” in a “MSA- Central City” metropolitan status were included.

Additionally, several cities’ information was based on county school district information reported.  They included: