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25th Anniversary 1978-2003

Vol. 25, No.3/Spring 2003

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Vormelker-Thomas Student Award Winner Named

By Jessica Baumgart, Harvard University; Chair, Vormelker-Thomas Student Award Committee

The Vormelker-Thomas Student Award Committee selected Jennifer Klimas, a student at the University of Maryland College of Information Studies, as the recipient of this year's stipend. Jennifer interns at National Public Radio and works for the Electronic Text and Imaging Center at the University of Maryland. She also serves as the marketing director for the UM student chapter of the Special Libraries Association. Her submitted essay, "Coaching our colleagues: The evolving role of news librarians," discusses the news librarian's role as a trainer.

Jennifer Klimas Jennifer's background includes a variety of experiences in news media, including being an online editor, a correspondent, and editor-in-chief, as well as establishing the online version of the Gonzaga University student newspaper. She also serves on the Board of Directors for University of Maryland publications and has volunteered for the Internet Public Library. Jennifer, who is excited about attending the SLA Annual Conference this summer, plans to graduate in May.

The Vormelker-Thomas Student Award, which honors Rose Vormelker and Lou Thomas, is cosponsored by the SLA News Division and ProQuest and offers a $1,500 stipend enabling a graduate student interested in news librarianship to attend the SLA annual conference.

The Vormelker-Thomas Student Award committee is comprised of Jessica Baumgart, the Office of News and Public Affairs, Harvard University; Abigail Brigham, CNN, New York; Dru Frykberg, the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, Iowa State University; Marlinda Karo, Ms. Magazine; and Tom Pellegrene, Journal Gazette, Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

Her essay, "Coaching our colleagues: The evolving role of news librarians," is printed below.


Coaching our colleagues: The evolving role of news librarians

An Essay, by Jennifer Klimas

News librarians wear many hats, and our role as trainers or instructors is emerging as one of the most important. It is also one of the most easily dismissed. Our other functions usually have tangible measures of success - reference question volume, intranet hits - so it is a challenge to convince our colleagues and managers that significant time and resources should be devoted to education. Nevertheless, a forceful case should be made, as this is one of the most important contributions we can make to the success of a news organization.

The training that we can provide to our colleagues falls into two general categories. First, we need to make them aware of our capabilities to support them in thoroughly and accurately researching their topics of interest. We can do far more than serve as a simple reference desk; providing the news staff with a clear summary and examples of our potential contributions is an essential first step in building a relationship with the newsroom and becoming an integral part of the news gathering and presentation process. Second, we can teach our colleagues to greatly expand their own research skills with periodic direct instruction sessions demonstrating new technologies and information resources, and the techniques we use to access them.

Some worry that in this role we may work ourselves right out of a job, but this is a fallacy. New technologies and techniques will continue to evolve, and an important part of our job is to evaluate these, adopt the ones that address our needs, and become proficient in their use. We then can introduce these tools to staff members at our news organizations. While we are training our patrons how to conduct searches themselves, we will also teach them to recognize their limitations and know when to turn to an information professional. Remember, librarians will always be quicker and more innovative when faced with potential roadblocks. Rather than making our skills obsolete, training sessions will allow employees to become more familiar and comfortable with their librarians, overcoming barriers to asking for our help and encouraging future use of library materials. Also, by teaching patrons of the library to conduct some of their research and reference work by themselves, we free up time for librarians to work on more technical information management projects such as intranet design, knowledge management databases, and in-depth research projects.

Training can take many forms including group-training sessions, brown bag seminars, one-on-one instruction in the library or newsroom, and online tutorials and fact sheets. Offering a variety of opportunities is the best way to cater to differing schedules and learning styles. No matter which methods you choose, be sure to market them widely throughout the organization to recruit first-time participants. Also, soliciting feedback is key! If a session was poorly attended, find out why. If reporters are not returning for intermediate or advanced instruction beyond the introduction, find out why. This is the most effective way to adjust the topics, time slot, or presentation style to attract and retain an audience.

Short, anonymous questionnaires should be distributed to those who attend training events, asking about the effectiveness of the training and which topics should be expanded or deleted. Encouraging email feedback is another easy means of gathering input. It is important to compile these informal responses and to gauge the strengths and deficiencies of the training promptly, and then to modify the program appropriately. Immediate follow-up allows your program to be flexible and responsive to the needs of the customer, but remarkably, is often the step that is neglected. Failure to make needed adjustments can result in the failure of the program.

Even as we strive to effectively educate our colleagues, we must remember that the training role necessitates that we librarians continually update our own skills - a drive that most of us already possess. Librarians are early-adopters of new technologies and techniques, which makes us well-suited to train others in the organization. But we must be diligent in maintaining our own abilities, therefore it is essential that we make a strong case within our organization for our own continuing education and take the initiative to seek out conference and seminar opportunities.

Effective training and career development programs are increasingly necessary in all workplace settings, but news organizations can particularly benefit from a vigorous training initiative. In our efforts to effectively disseminate information to journalists we must arm ourselves with the best tools and techniques to do so. Technologies will continue to evolve, so it is necessary to establish a training program to support and reinforce continual learning. By empowering the staff with knowledge of new tools, they will be able to embrace rather than shun the new technology. And by familiarizing them with the full capabilities of the news library staff, we can put far more resources at their disposal. The organization will be in a position to act immediately in response to changes in the market or environment, led by capable and knowledgeable staffers working together as a team.


Last Updated: 05/04/03
Ron Larson
rlarson@madison.com