Articles about News Librarianship   

Below are some books and articles written about and by news researchers and librarians. Many articles about news librarians and news librarianship are in News Library News, the bulletin of the Special Libraries Association News Division.

If you would like to suggest an article, book, or other material for this page, please e-mail Amy Disch at newsdivisionweb@yahoo.com.  

Newspaper Libraries 1952, The Library Association Joseph Lewis This book thoroughly examines newspaper libraries from basic functions, key materials, typical users, and the role of the librarian. Based on Lewis' research of libraries in Britain and the United States, it is more like a "how-to" manual than profiles of news libraries.
The Modern News Library: Documentation of Current Affairs in Newspaper and Broadcasting Libraries 1978, Gaylord Professional Publications This book discusses the state of news libraries in the 1970s, including the role of technology.
Newspaper Librarians: The Unsung Heroes 1980s Special Libraries Association News Division While this video seems dated in some respects, much of news librarianship remains the same.
Role of the Newspaper Library in the Production of News 1987 Journalism Quarterly, vol. 64, no. 4 Kathleen A. Hansen, Douglas M. McLeod, and Jean Ward Hansen, McLeod, and Ward report the findings of their study about the use of a newspaper library by journalists.
Effects of the Electronic Library On News Reporting Protocols 1988 Journalism Quarterly, vol. 65, no. 4 Kathleen A. Hansen, Douglas M. McLeod, and Jean Ward This article captures the changes made in the news reporting process when a newspaper's library incorporates an in-house database system. It is a companion article to a 1987 article by the same authors that examined the use of the library by journalists in the same newspaper.
Newspapers in the Library: New Approaches to Management and Reference Work 1988, The Haworth Press Edited by Lois N. Upham Although this book is geared towards newspaper collections outside of a news library, it does contain some information news librarians might find useful, like electronically storing and retrieving news articles.
The Newspaper Library in the Information Age: a Personal View from Within November 1989 Online Ellen D. Briscoe and Kathy Foley Briscoe and Foley give an excellent analysis of the influence of technology on news libraries. An added bonus of this article is a very detailed chronology of automation. This article contains a very detailed chronology of automation.
Information Technology Changes in Large Newspaper Libraries Fall 1991 Special Libraries Kathleen A. Hansen and Jean Ward Hansen and Ward examine the survey results from 105 large metropolitan daily newspapers.
Small Newspaper Libraries: The Libraries That Time (and Automation) Passed By Fall 1991 Special Libraries Judith L. Hegg Hegg's article discusses technology in small newspaper libraries. Hegg focuses on the lack of technology instead of its incorporation.
Covering the Persian Gulf War: The First 72 Hours at ABC News Library May 1991 American Libraries Carolyn Schade Schade gives excellent details about the role of the ABC News Library in covering the Persian Gulf War.
Cutting Your Online Search Bills November 1992 Online Jeanette Brown and Barbara Ellenbogen Brown and Ellenbogen's article illustrates a change in the role of the news librarian by showing specifically how she must become more adept at technology, keep up with new technological developments, teach others about the technology, and be more assertive about gaining trust from journalists, as well as giving tips for keeping bills for online searching low.
To cut or not to cut...and who does the cutting? 1993 Library Association Record, vol. 95, no. 2 Anonymous This anonymous article is a response to Nicholas and Connolly's article about the impact of technology on British newspaper libraries. It challenges statements they made and provides further discussion of some changes, like the role of librarians.
Library lecturer found on moon 1993 Library Association Record, vol. 95, no. 2 Richard Whitey Whitey responds to the article by Nicholas and Connolly to give examples of news staffs using electronic resources to access information. He argues that Nicholas and Connolly make it sound like librarians are forced into using technology and are not a part of its development in the newsroom at all.
News Media Libraries: A Management Handbook 1993, Greenwood Press Edited by Barbara P. Semonche No list of citations about news libraries could be complete without Semonche's book, which has become very well-known among news librarians and news library scholars. The thirty chapters cover a range of topics directly relevent to news librarians and libraries, including a history.
Big browsers are watching you... January 1993 Library Association Record David Nicholas and Kevin Connolly Nicholas and Connolly discuss the role of technology in British newspaper libraries and compare the technology in news libraries in the 1980s to technology in the 1990s.
Morgues No More July/August 1994 American Journalism Review Jacques Leslie As indicated by the title, this brief article outlines changes in the role of the news library.
The Virtual Library: Yesterday's paper will provide tomorrow's revenue through digital access September 1995, Presstime David Cole This articles discusses text archiving of newspapers and the revenue value of that. 
The Joys of Being a News Librarian American Journalism Review Joanne Meil This article discusses the traits and changing duties of news librarians.
Whose Job Is It, Anyway? September 1995, Online Kitty Bennett This article argues that newsrooms benefit more when reporters and researchers work together as a team, rather than trying to train reporters to do all of their own research. 
The Electronic News Library: An Online Revolution Takes Shape 1996 American Libraries, vol. 27, no. 9 Ron Chepesiuk Chepesiuk gives a general idea of the duties of a news librarian, then discusses how technology impacts that job.
Does the Web Threaten the Sanctity of Electronic Archives? April 11, 1996, E&P Online Steve Outing This article discusses errant posts to mailing lists and corrections to electronic newspaper archives. A subscription to the Web site is required to access the article.
New Media Sends Some Librarians to the Late Shift March 25, 1996, E&P Online Steve Outing This article discusses the effect of new media and online ventures on the work schedules of some news librarians.A subscription to the Web site is required to access the article.
Media libraries and new media July 1997, NetMedia conference seminar Nora Paul This speech discusses the three stages in the production process where the librarian's role is essential.
Information Strategy in Newsrooms: New Emphasis on Traditional Roles for News Librarians July 1997, NetMedia conference paper Nora Paul This paper discusses information planning in newsrooms and the role of the information professional in this planning. 
Forging a Professional Relationship with the Newsroom October 1997, Speech given to the AUKML conference Nora Paul This introductory speech and the text of a talk about librarians developing relationships with the newsroom.
Intranet Management, Content Development, and Digital Gift Shop: the Cutting-Edge Library at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Nov/Dec 1998 Online, vol. 22, no. 6 Thomas Pack and Jeff Pemberton This article analyzes the News Research Services (NRS) at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The article documents the NRS' use of technology and how it has impacted the library and information professionals.
News Libraries in Crisis University of Minnesota's Institute for New Media Studies and the Minnesota Journalism Center Kathleen Hansen and Nora Paul Kathleen Hansen and Nora Paul surveyed news librarians to explore the role news libraries and their staff will play in the future. They presented their findings at the 2002 Special Libraries Association Annual Conference.
Survey of Large Newspapers Studies Information Practices Fall 2003 Newspaper Research Journal (vol. 24, no. 4) Kathleen Hansen, Nora Paul, and Betsey Neibergall This survey of daily newspapers with more than 100,000 circulation provides general markers for information access, quality control, archiving, alerts, training, and revenue. It addresses an approach toward developing a "best practices" guide for the news research profession.
A News Librarian [News Researcher] Contributed to This Report Fall 2003/Winter 2004 Information and Library Science @ Carolina Deborah Barreau With a grant from SLA, Barreau studied news libraries at four major East Coast daily newspapers for a year. She found that newspapers may value information professionals more if they are integrated intno working teams where they have more exposure instead of playing a role in the background.
Four Reasons Local TV Newsrooms Should Have a Researcher Newslab Theresa Collington Moore Moore, a news researcher at WTSP-TV in St. Petersburg, Florida, gives four excellent reasons why a television station benefits when it hires a researcher.
Examples of Top News Research Efforts   Barbara Semonche This list gives examples of the work news researchers have done that has brought them notice, including Pulitzer Prizes.

Much of the content on this page comes from an annotated bibliography Jessica Baumgart prepared for a special libraries course at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's School of Library and Information Studies in 2000. These sources reflect the topic of technology in news libraries.


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Last Update: 03/09/04
Carolyn Edds
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