USENIX proceedings freely available

USENIX has decided to make their conference proceedings freely available to everyone. This is an important step towards free dissemination of knowledge. Congratulations to USENIX for taking this step!

Libraries live!

Libraries are not losing relevance, at least not in the U.S. According to a PEW study on information searches for problem solving, more than half of Americans visited a public library in 2007. The biggest users were the from the 18-30 Gen Y group. 68% of visitors used computers at the library, 65% used them to access the internet while they were there, and 62% used them to check library resources. Interestingly, usage of libraries is highly correlated with "high" access to internet (ie. broadband). And libraries are effective: 88% of users found a lot or some of what they were seeking. By contrast, 53% of those who did not use libraries found a lot or some of what they were seeking.