October 2010

Communications on the move isn't an easy problem to solve for a billion-dollar Army program of record such as Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T), let alone a commercial company internally developing such a capability at the urgent request of combatant commanders. A number of companies are rising to the challenge and demonstrating their terminals and antenna systems to anyone wearing a battle dress uniform.

A library used to be one of the first things to be established by any town that wished to call itself advanced. Of late, spending on the library is one of the first things a town cuts back.

Many a mayor faces fiscal dilemmas such as those that once prompted Springfield's to muse about closing Lincoln Library to save money. Library Systems & Services, the Maryland-based for-profit firm, became the fifth-largest library system in the country by managing public libraries in several states for cities and library districts eager to cut costs, mainly by shedding employees and their pension obligations. The for-profit library may seem like a new trend, but in fact it merely returns public libraries to their roots. Springfield's first libraries were private subscription libraries based on the same model used by Sam's Club. The most successful of these was the Springfield Library Association, which was incorporated in 1865 and opened in 1869. It sold shares to members of the public, in return for which the buyer got the right to use the facility and to vote for its directors; the non-shareholder could get in for a $5 annual fee.

The Montana State Library received $1.8 million dollars in federal stimulus money from the Department of Commerce, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced that it is contributing more than $850,000 to help the library expand broadband Internet services and training in 42 public libraries across the state.

The Montana State Library formally launched the broadband project in Helena. Jamie Hoard of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation noted, "I think this is really an unprecedented opportunity with the federal funds flowing from the stimulus funding to leave a legacy of opening up access to broadband. Especially in places like Montana where the geography and special needs of the communities make it a real challenge."

Earlier this year, Lunenburg Public Library added three Kindles - a hand-held electronic device that can hold entire books - to its lending collection. Each Kindle holds 28 different titles. "They have been absolutely amazing. They are very popular," said Amy Sadkin, director of the Lunenburg Public Library. "We have more than 15 holds on the three Kindles, and have just ordered two more through the Friends of the Library which will be available in five or six months." In recent years, e-readers have become one of the popular must-have technologies. The Kindle, an e-reader offered by Amazon.com, is the most popular of the electronic devices. It is about the thickness of a pencil and can hold more than 3,500 downloaded books. The Kindle offers classic books for free, with other titles at $9.99. Local libraries are adding these devices in their collections, in limited quantities, as an alternative to the traditional bound book. Other libraries are considering purchasing them for their staff to become familiar with the devices, to assist readers who use them.