Noted Information Scientist Does About-face with “Breakaway Nightie”®

January 18, 2016 | By Business Wire News

LOS ANGELES

In 2012, Dr. Carlos A. Cuadra, internationally recognized pioneer in the field of library and information science and once described as the “Pope of Information Science,” stepped down from Cuadra Associates, Inc., the knowledge management software company he established and headed for 34 years. With a sharp change of focus, he started a new company—Cuadra Enterprises, Inc. —to create and distribute innovative novelty products, in particular the Breakaway Nightie, a disposable garment designed specifically to be torn off the wearer with the willing consent of the wearer.

Cuadra established the Annual Review of Information Science and Technology and served as Editor for its first 10 years. He was appointed by three U.S. presidents—Nixon, Ford and Carter—to serve on the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. In 1972, he created SDC Search Service, one of the world’s first online information services and a predecessor of the Internet. In 1978, he co-founded Cuadra Associates, Inc. to create and sell knowledge management software, and he served as its president until 2012. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Information Industry Association and the Governing Board of the American Chemical Society.

The Breakaway Nightie, featured at BreakawayNightie.com, is made of lightweight non-woven fabric and is intended as a gag gift suitable for birthdays, holiday-season gatherings, and social events such as engagements, bridal showers, bachelor and bachelorette parties, and weddings.

“It began as a party joke,” says Cuadra. “At social gatherings, I would sometimes refer to the Nightie—which did not yet exist—without any elaboration, just to see what reaction I got. Many people laughed or giggled as soon as they heard the name. Others paused only briefly before laughing, as if they needed to make sure, from the reactions of others, that what they were imagining could possibly be true.”

Those reactions and the claims by friends that, if there were such a product, they would be the first customers, convinced Cuadra that there might really be a market for this kind of gag gift.

For more information, contact Dr. Carlos A. Cuadra at contact@CuadraEnterprises.com.