The economic downturn has led to unprecedented demand for free computer and internet access at public libraries across the nation, as proven by groundbreaking new research from the Gates Foundation. The full report is available here: http://impact.ischool.washington.edu/documents/OPP4ALL_FinalReport.pdf

Heading off soon to listen to a special presentation by Daniel Goleman, author of Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships, aniel in which he argues that our IQ view of intelligence is far too narrow and makes the case for social intelligence being a critical competency for a successful life. 

Because of a cut to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners FY2011 Regional Library Systems budget, the six Regional Library Systems are being merged into a single entity called the Massachusetts Library System(MLS) on July 1, 2010.

Info on the MBLC press release on the formation of the Massachusetts Library System: http://tinyurl.com/y4leffp

The current economic environment is impacting public library budgets while library usage is increasing. This two-page report from OCLC looks at the role libraries play in providing assistance to job-seekers and support for small businesses. The report can be downloaded at: http://www.oclc.org/reports/pdfs/214109usf_how_libraries_stack_up.pdf

Just finished listenting to a Paul Gillin (http://gillin.com/) @pgillin presentation. Very interesting, insightful and entertaining. Good speaker with a valuable message. Paul is a veteran technology journalist and new media consultant, He discussed how information dissemination is changing and how that has affected businesses and their customers.

STAMFORD, Conn., January 5, 2010 —    Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT), the leading provider of research and analysis on the global information technology industry, today announced that, on December 30, 2009, it acquired Burton Group, Inc. for approximately $56 million in cash. -- Gartner press release at: http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1272013

"More and more corporate intranets are following the big trends on the open Web of offering special mobile features and making social networking a top priority, according to usability expert Jakob Nielsen whose user-experience research firm Nielsen Norman Group today announced the winners of its tenth annual intranet design contest." -- Business Wire (January 4, 2010): http://finance.yahoo.com/news/The-Worlds-Top-Intranets-Go-bw-830935768.html?x=0&.v=1

Mark Buchanan writes: "The 'Peter principle' undoubtedly appeals to the cynic in all of us. It is also quite possibly true, if subsequent academic studies are to be believed. The longer a person stays at a particular level in an organisation, the more most measures of their performance fall - including subjective evaluations and the frequency and size of pay rises and bonuses. It is a finding entirely consistent with the idea that people eventually become bogged down by their own incompetence." -- New Scientist. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427392.600-why-your-boss-is-incompetent.html

Scientists may not be able to tell a good book by its cover, but they now can tell the condition of an old book by its smell. In a report in ACS' Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal, they describe development of a new test that can measure the degradation of old books and precious historical documents based on their smell. -- EurekAlert!

The MITRE Corporation's President and CEO, Alfred Grasso, has announced the appointment of Joel Jacobs to CIO and vice president. Jacobs will assume the role vacated by Robert Mikelskas, Ph.D., vice president and current CIO, who will retire in January 2010. Jacobs had been deputy CIO since 2003. -- http://www.mitre.org/news/releases/09/jacobs_12_01_2009.html