Ethan Nictern, podcaster and blogger, recently asserted that “Blogging is the most democratic form of communication yet realized. The medium is wide-open, with almost no barriers to entry.”  read more »

We are all creatures of habit, but in the workplace, priorities and structures tend to shift. If you struggle with change, it probably shows. Leila explains how managers can use the SARA model—Shock, Anger, Recognition, and Acceptance—to transition their teams through change.  read more »

How many times are you interrupted during a typical workday? Who or what interrupts you the most? Gloria Mark, a professor at the Department of Informatics at the University of California at Irvine, has conducted extensive research on the effects of workplace interruptions. She finds that many times, we are our worst enemy — we interrupt ourselves. In this podcast, she also explains when distractions are actually beneficial and offers tips on preventing negative interruptions. Click the icon to the left to hear Bnet's podcast.

Another search feature is set to move out of Google Lab and go mainstream.  read more »

The Margaret Herrick Library in Beverly Hills, California, collects a wide range of materials documenting film as both an art form and an industry. The library is supported through the Academy Foundation, the educational and cultural arm of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.  read more »

In his seminal 1993 essay, “The Coming Technological Singularity,” Dr. Verner Vinge predicted that computers would be so powerful by 2030 that a new form of superintelligence would emerge. Dr. Vinge compared that point in history to the singularity at the edge of a black hole: a boundary beyond which the old rules no longer applied, because post-human intelligence and technology would be as unknowable to us as our civilization is to a goldfish. The New York Times reports.

Some libraries are no longer using the honor system to deal with overdue books -- They're going straight to their patrons' credit scores. Librarians are turning delinquent customers over to collection agencies to recover overdue fees and lost materials. They said the businesslike approach is needed because they're letting thousands of dollars walk right out the door every year. Internet Broadcasting reports.

For the last few weeks, Facebook users outside the U.S. and Canada could do the superior dance between rounds of Scrabulous. Access to Scrabulous, the Scrabble knockoff developed by Indian brothers Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, from those countries halted last month when the developers agreed to pull the program following a complaint by toy company Hasbro.  read more »

LinkedIn may have found a constituency that might need its help. Says the New York Times, the economy is no picnic, but the situation in Hollywood has been made worse by a screenwriters’ strike, a threatened actors’ strike and the shuttering of several independent film companies. Enter LinkedIn.

Today's Los Angeles Times discusses a most odd zoological study that has been made possible by technical advances in GoogleEarth: cows have a sixth sense. German scientists using satellite images posted online by the juggernaut search-engine's software program have observed that cattle grazing or at rest tend to orient their bodies in a north-south direction just like a compass needle.  read more »

The International Olympic Committee has announced that as of Friday previously restricted websites have been unblocked including Wikipedia, the BBC and Radio Free Asia.  read more »

For public libraries, young patrons are particularly important. A young library user is likely to be a lifelong library user, so the library must be a place where children and teenagers can feel like their needs are going to be met. In Massachusetts libraries are taking some exciting new steps to ensure that teens have direct input. Libraries across Massachusetts will be served by advisory boards with teenagers that will help design and develop new facilities.

The compromise of the 1980s and beyond has been to change "library science" to "library and information science" (LIS) in the names of the schools and, accordingly, in the names of the degrees they bestowed - master of library science or master of library and information science. So, what is the difference between "L" vs. "I"?

by Amelia Abreu

In 1998, two Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs set up an online petition to "Censure President Clinton and Move On to Pressing Issues Facing the Nation." Within months, it had morphed into Move On PAC, a political action committee and MoveOn.org, a hub of online progressive activity. The network was a tool unprecedented in its capacity to reach out to voters, communities, and digital citizens to promote social change.  read more »