The National Institute of Standards and Technology announced last week a new online Baldridge resource library, containing over 1,000 articles and videos covering over 18 topics. The new library is available free at http://www.baldrigepe.org/brl/main.aspx. (If you’re wondering what a Baldridge is, this Wikipedia article might help.)

The first time I visited this site I was asked for a name and e-mail address to “check in.” It wasn’t registering. I e-mailed and complained about that because I couldn’t find a privacy policy associated with the Web site. When I went to visit it just now, it didn’t ask for registration, but it is cookie-ing me, so maybe it’s remembering my data from before. This is just a heads-up in case you get asked for a name and e-mail.

ANYWAY. When you get to the site you’ll find a search form to search by keyword in subject area or industry, or you can just browse by industry or subject area (from “Application Process” to “Strategic Planning”.) I browsed the retail industry section and found 61 reports, from “Note to the C-Suite: Communicating quality is more important than ever” to “Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin: Integrating Quality and Social Responsibility”.) Each listing shows the number of views, the last time it was updated, and the format in which it is available (most of the ones I looked at were PDFs.) There are also summaries but they vary by report. Click on an item’s title and you’ll be prompted to download.

If you find all these resources interesting the site also has links to state and local programs as well as events and listings. And if you want to add to the library, you can register to contribute content.