
Vol. 17, No.3/Spring 1995
Nuts and Bolts: Is Space an Issue? Of Course!
Profile of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Web Site for the News Division in the Works
Library Operations: USA Today Librarians on the Road
Introducing Our Vormelker-Thomas Student Award Winner
Awards: News Division Award Winners Announced
1995 Conference (Preview): News Division Programs - Montreal, 1995
1995 Conference (Preview): Mainiac Heads North to the Border: Calls for Reinforcements
1995 Conference (Preview): News Librarians Will Brunch and Then Work It Off with a Long Walk
1995 Conference (Preview): Special Tour to Ottawa
1995 Conference: Division CE Course to Focus on Leadership Strengths and Opportunities for News Librarians and Information Specialists
People
Notes from the Chair: Head Spinning from All the Changes in Our Profession? Let the News Division Help You
Job Opening: Librarian - Assistant Archivist
The News Division Just Keeps Growing!
Aside Bar
Channels: Report from Down Under: Challenges for Information Management in the Radio Division of Australian Broadcasting Corporation
News Division 70th Anniversary Reception and Tour
NEWS DIVISION of the SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
ARCHIVES INDEX
DATE: FRIDAY June 9, 1995
CATEGORY: NEWS LIBRARY NEWS 1995 Vol. XVII No.3
EDITION:*SPRING*
PAGE: 19
SOURCE: By Marcia MacVane
Editor's Note: This is the first in what we hope will be a continuing feature
on the issues that we all face, hence the name, Nuts and Bolts. Our aim
is to speak to the solo librarian at a small paper, as well as to the big
guys. If you have ideas or contributions, please contact Marcia at
207-791-6318 or write her at the Portland Newspapers, PO Box 1460, Portland,
ME 04104.
NUTS AND BOLTS: IS SPACE AN ISSUE? OF COURSE!
Want to know how to fit a square peg in a round hole? Ask news librarians,
who daily face the space-defying task of storing ever-increasing volumes of
information in the area used (and overloaded) for years.
Add to this very murky stew the financial constraints of most newspapers
these days and the possibilities for expansion of the library shrink to almost
nothing.
But never call a news librarian a quitter. Out of necessity, we have
developed more ways to adapt to the ebbs and flows of the journalism industry
than any other group.
Mary Mackzum of the Toledo Blade manages a library which works under the
mandate that NOTHING be thrown away. Clippings are filed in vertical cabinets
filled to capacity with letter-size folders. To maintain room for filing, she
has established weeding criteria. The library staff removes folders containing
fewer than four clippings of insignificance. Because they cannot throw then
away, they file them alphabetically in bankers boxes stored on top of the
cabinets. Notebooks contain records of which folders are in the boxes with a
brief notation containing date and subject of the stories. National and
international clippings are removed and placed in boxes in a storage area
across the street. The library has been working in the same amount of space
for 15 years.
Carol Kasel at the Rocky Mountain News reports that they have five power
files containing old clippings, as well as a storage room holding files that
no longer fit into the power files. They have been online since mid-1989, so
they no longer spend much time weeding. They moved their picture files onto
rolling shelving, but discovered that the top two shelves need to remain empty
because the weight of the unit wore out the rollers.They have been in the same
amount of space for 8 years.
A few libraries have invested in electronic scanning equipment. Old or
relatively inactive clippings are potential scanning fodder. Libraries use a
variety of storage formats - CD-ROM, microfilm, microfiche and databases.
So, what do you do when you have exhausted all possibilities and still
don't have enough room?
When Ginny Hauswald of the Winston-Salem Journal ran out of space on the
bookshelves, she moved books like old city directories, Facts on File and
state manuals down to bookshelves in board rooms and conference rooms. Now
they are accessible, but out of the way. Mary Mackzum stores all of her bound
volumes of newspapers in a basement storage area (ask her about the flood).
Here at the Portland Newspapers, we were able to acquire a room for storage
because of changes in our personnel policies. Smoking in our building was
allowed only in designated areas, one of which was down the hall from the
library. Because this room was poorly ventilated, the doors were always left
open, causing smoke to roll down the hall into the library. Changes in the
state law coupled with complaints from personnel forced the doors to be shut,
which caused the smokers to move to a better location. Eventually, the company
decided to ban smoking in the building altogether and I was the beneficiary of
cleaner air and a large storage space.
What do you do for space? Can you pass along some ideas to other struggling
librarians? I'd love to hear from you.
The next Nuts and Bolts will deal with selling your information on a local
level. Anything you can contribute to help others down this path will be
gratefully accepted.
KEYWORDS: SPACE; NEWS LIBRARIES; TIPS AND ADVICE
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NEWS DIVISION of the SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
ARCHIVES INDEX
DATE: FRIDAY June 9, 1995
CATEGORY: NEWS LIBRARY NEWS 1995 Vol. XVII No.3
EDITION:*SPRING*
PAGE: 18
GRAPHICS: CHANNELS (SIDEBAR)
SOURCE: By John Bartholomaeus
PROFILE OF THE AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation is Australia's major public
broadcaster. It was established in the 1930s by an Act of the Australian
Parliament with a charter to provide broadcast services in a very similar way
to the BBC. To this day the ABC remains free of advertising (but not corporate
sponsorship). The Corporation receives A$500 million per annum from the
Australian Parliament and raises A$100 million for itself through the sale of
programs, videos and books.
The Corporation is divided into five major divisions: Television; Radio;
Radio Australia, a short wave service to the world, but especially to Asia;
Concerts, which maintains the six major Symphony Orchestras in Australia; and
Enterprises.
The TV Division has one national network and a satellite service to Asia.
It produces documentaries and dramas, and has a prestigious News Current
Affairs Section. Libraires maintained by the Television Division include a TV
and Film Archive and a News Current Affairs Library, which supplies a document
delivery and information service from its newspaper clipping files and CD-ROM
and online searches. The TV News Current Affairs Library employs four people
in Sydney.
The ABC Radio Division has five national networks. Radio National is the
major serious talk station in Australia with regular programs on current
affairs, women's issues, the arts, social history and religion. JJJ is the
national youth network with an emphasis on contemporary rock, youth affairs
and a lot of irreverent humour. Classic RM concentrates on classical music,
quality drama and a little talk. Each state capital city and country region
has its own station with many programs being networked through a National
Programming Unit. The newest network is a 24 hour news network which also
broadcasts live sessions of the Australian Parliament when it is in session.
Since September of 1994, I have been the acting Head of ABC Radio Program
and Information Resources. This is the department that provides the library
and information services to the Radio Division. Included in this group is the
ABC Reference Library comprised of two professionals with clerical support.
This library provides an information service from a collection of 40,000
volumes and about 200 current serial subscriptions, a small number of CD-ROM
databases and searches from the Dialog and Nexis/Lexis database services. The
other departments include Radio Archives, the Sound Libraries and Radio Tape
Sales.
Radio Archives has fourteen staff in Sydney and is responsible for the
archiving of the sound of ABC radio. It catalogues its holdings onto a
database called RADA which uses BASIS Plus software and runs on the ABC VAX
cluster. The archive is held in analog tape format with CDR or CD-ROM being
considered as the future storage medium. Program or Archives staff search the
database for suitable items to be included in programs. The Archives staff
retrieve, audition and dub off suitable items.
Sound Libraries exist in all of the six state capitals and employ a total
of sixteeen staff. A single database for recorded music called SOLID is
maintained on BASIS Plus software and runs on the ABC Vax cluster. Satellite
collections not controlled by Program and Information Resources are also
catalogued onto the SOLID database. This latter process takes up considerable
energy of the database co-ordinator.
Radio Tape Sales has four staff supplying a quality dubbing and duplicating
service of mainly Radio National programs to the Australian public.
The challenge to these resouce areas over the past decade has been the
reduction in staff by management looking to contain costs and to maintain
levels and standards in the output areas as Government allocations have
fallen. The use of computers has assisted in bringing the resources to our
clients, although a large part of the collections held before the introduction
of the databases still remain available only through the old manual
catalogues.
John Bartholomaeus can be reached at:
GPO Box 9994
Sydney NSW
Australia 2001
Voice 61 2 333 2653
Fax 61 2 333 2558
Email BARTHOLOMAEUS.JOHN@a2.abc.com.au
KEYWORDS: BROADCAST LIBRARY; PROFILE; RADIO; TELEVISION
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NEWS DIVISION of the SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
ARCHIVES INDEX
DATE: FRIDAY June 9, 1995
CATEGORY: NEWS LIBRARY NEWS 1995 Vol. XVII No.3
EDITION:*SPRING*
PAGE: 17
THE INTERNET
WEB SITE FOR THE NEWS DIVISION IN THE WORKS
Plans are afoot to establish a World Wide Web site for the SLA News
Division. The Poynter Institute has kindly offered to store the web pages on
its web server located at the Raleigh News & Observer. This web site will not
only serve members of the Division, but also students, editors, reporters and
others interested in news libraries and the role information plays in quality
journalism. Such a resource has great potential because it can make accessible
lots of information in a convenient form.
Making the web site the best it can be is obviously an undertaking. There
is a lot of material to gather. But if the work is spread around a bit, we can
get this organized in no time. If you would like to help, please contact me as
soon as possible. Below is a tentative outline of topics. If you have
suggestions on where to get the information, or if you would like to provide
some of the topic categories, let me know. You can mail paper items to the
address below. Or if it's in ASCII text form, ship it via e-mail or floppy
disk.
THE NEWS DIVISION
Benefits of membership
How to become a member
1995-96 officers, (name, address, phone, e-mail, photo)
News Division awards (description and past recipients)
SLA 1995 MONTREAL CONFERENCE
How to register
News Division program
Text of speeches given at previous conferences
NEWS LIBRARY NEWS
Staff. How to subscribe/advertise.
Archives
SLA JOB CLEARINGHOUSE
How to use the clearinghouse
Job postings(?)
NEWS LIBRARY ARCHIVING SYSTEMS
Text library systems
Product reviews (supplied by news librarians who use
the systems)
List of who uses them
Photo archiving systems
Product reviews
List of who uses them
ESSENTIAL BOOKS AND ARTICLES ABOUT NEWS LIBRARIES, NEWS
RESEARCH AND COMPUTER ASSISTED REPORTING
ESSENTIAL REFERENCE TOOLS USED IN NEWS LIBRARIES
Online services
Description, cost, signup info, links of major vendors
Books and periodicals
Bibliography of essential titles and types of materials
CD-ROM products
Description, cost, ordering information
INTERNET RESOURCES FOR NEWS LIBRARIANS
Gopher
World Web Web
News Groups
Mailing Lists
RELATED ASSOCIATIONS (DESCRIPTION AND LINK OR ADDRESS)
Journalism and library institutes and associations
Annual conferences of interest
TOP TEN WEB SITES FOR REPORTERS
National
By State (supplied by news librarians in that region)
CREDITS
People who made this web possible
It would also be desirable to have some introductory
articles or an FAQ on news libraries and research. Topics could
include news library services and collections, the work of news
librarians and qualifications, computer archiving tools, etc. These could be
of great help to students and others who are interested in pursuing a career
in this field of librarianship. It would also be a way to explain how the
field has changed since the adoption of computers in newspapers and TV/radio
stations. Any takers?
Thanks.
Pete Basofin
Editorial Library
Sacramento Bee
McClatchy Newspapers, Inc.
2100 Q St.
Sacramento, CA 95816
Voice (916) 321-1108
Fax (916) 442-8444
sacbee@netcom.com
KEYWORDS: WORLD WIDE WEB; INTERNET
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NEWS DIVISION of the SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
ARCHIVES INDEX
DATE: FRIDAY June 9, 1995
CATEGORY: NEWS LIBRARY NEWS 1995 Vol. XVII No.3
EDITION:*SPRING*
PAGE: 16
SOURCE: By Bruce Rosenstein, USA Today Library
LIBRARY OPERATIONS
USA TODAY LIBRARIANS ON THE ROAD
How do you find out about what's happening in other news libraries? Reading
News Library News is one way. But Barbara Maxwell, USA TODAY's library
director, has gone further during the last year and a half by visiting, so
far, 14 other media libraries on the East Coast.
Maxwell, who makes the tours with USA TODAY photo librarian Susan O'Brian,
said the visits are a great way to observe what others in the same business
are doing, compare notes and share ideas.
Among the libraries visited so far have been The New York Times, Newsweek,
Time, Newsday, The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The
Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Sun, in Baltimore.
In explaining the need for the visits, Maxwell said, ''I think the first
two years of my tenure here were spent trying to get this library up to
industry standards. I think we're moving along with that.'' Maxwell said that
because the USA Today library is ''fairly isolated'', she thought that it
''would be good to start exploring and meeting other people and seeing what
they're doing.'' For financial reasons, she decided to limit the travel to
the East Coast, but not just in the DC area.
''We started visiting major news libraries...this is a project that's
probably going to run four or five years total. We started in New York City
because that's where a majority of the libraries are. And we generally see two
or three in a trip depending on the schedule. One of the reasons that Susan
goes along is that we've been looking at photo collections, looking at systems
they have for archiving...We're looking at more than just the reference
operation, we're looking at imaging as well.''
Contacts were established beforehand in a variety of ways. Some of the
libraries were ones with which Maxwell had established a relationship,
sometimes by assisting them in the past.
This was the case with a New York-based library facing internal changes
which, according to Maxwell, ''wanted us to talk about how change was brought
about in this (USA TODAY) library when the changing of the guard happened.
What do people say when they're contacted for an appointment? Are they wary
or apprehensive?
O'Brian, who has scheduled many of the appointments, replied, ''It varies.
The magazine libraries were for the most part very receptive and understanding
of what we wanted to do. Some of the newspapers were a little apprehensive
about our motives, I think. Why would USA TODAY have an interest in their
paper, their library? When I'd talked to them on the phone, they'd make the
appointment reluctantly, more I think out of curiosity...But once we got there
and started talking and realized we have a lot of common goals, common
interests...They're going to open up and be a lot more relaxed and start
sharing many more ideas...We always left with a really good feeling and
rapport.''
O'Brian said a common reaction afterwards from the librarians is: ''This is
a really good idea, maybe we should network some more.''
As a result, they recommend other libraries to visit. O'Brian said, ''A lot of
times X will say, have you tried Y? They'll give you a name, that you were
referred to them by so and so. Which again, is almost like a letter of
introduction, so it cuts down one more barrier.''
If you are thinking of starting a project like this for your library,
Maxwell suggest that you start with libraries in your own back yard.
O'Brian recommended looking through a directory of special libraries to
find those of interest in your area, and ultimately in other cities.
''Intitially I would choose one library where you were familiar, perhaps,
with the director. (Then) figure your transportation, how long it's going to
take you.'' She said that they average 2-3 hours per library, depending on how
big the organization is and how extensive the collection is.
There are also in-house matters to consider: Says Maxwell, ''I think it's
very important ... to let your manager know what you're doing and the value of
it. It shows initiative on the part of the library. You can't just do it and
not tell anybody.''
Maxwell says that it is also important to share with the rest of the staff
what you see. This lets them know where they are compared to other libraries
and where they need to go.
In recent years, other USA TODAY librarians have gone to other libraries
for visits, cross-training, or to give presentations. Maxwell thinks that it
is important for the library staff to participate in these trips. ''It helps
them understand the business that they're in and it also gives them an
assessment of... where their own library is.''
In 1995, Maxwell and O'Brian will travel as far as Boston. Because they try
to schedule visits so they can return to Washington on the same day, the
Boston trip could be a grueling 18-hour day.
KEYWORDS: NEWS LIBRARY; REPORT
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NEWS DIVISION of the SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
ARCHIVES INDEX
DATE: FRIDAY June 9, 1995
CATEGORY: NEWS LIBRARY NEWS 1995 Vol. XVII No.3
EDITION:*SPRING*
PAGE: 14
GRAPHICS: PHOTO
INTRODUCING OUR VORMELKER-THOMAS STUDENT AWARD WINNER
In what we believe to be a first for the Vormelker-Thomas Award, our winner
this year is from Canada. Her name is Catherine Cino and she's graduating this
spring with an MLIS from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario.
Catherine is a native of Hamilton, Ontario. She obtained her undergraduate
degree from McGill University in Montreal so conference should be like old
home week for her. Her interest in news librarianship was spawned by a
fascination with politics, society and popular culture. She has a wealth of
library experience, but she has also sold computers and worked with troubled
adolescents at a detention facility in Montreal.
She says ''this (award) gives me the opportunity to explore an exciting
career option.'' If you see Catherine at conference, please introduce
yourself.
GRAPHICS: PHOTO (1)
1. Catherine Cino
KEYWORDS: BIOGRAPHY; AWARD
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NEWS DIVISION of the SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
ARCHIVES INDEX
DATE: FRIDAY June 9, 1995
CATEGORY: NEWS LIBRARY NEWS 1995 Vol. XVII No.3
EDITION:*SPRING*
PAGE: 14
GRAPHICS: PHOTO
AWARDS
NEWS DIVISION AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED
The Mount Stephen Club, an historic site and former home of the Founder of
the Canadian National Railway will be the location for the annual News
Division Banquet. University Microfilms has once again agreed to host the pre-
banquet cocktail reception.
The Joseph F. Kwapil Memorial Award will be given this year to Barbara
Semonche, Director of the Library at the University of North Carolina School
of Journalism in recognition of her distinguished career in news librarianship
and her long history of service to the division. Semonche's many contributions
include serving as Chair of the Division, editing ''News Media Libraries: A
Management Handbook'' and working on numerous committees for the division.
There are two Agnes Henebry Roll of Honor Winners. Elizabeth Haworth and
Diane Sponsler Logsdon have been selected for their outstanding service to the
division through participation in its programs.
Haworth, currently the Director of the Midlands Technical College Library
in Columbia, SC, served for two years as editor of News Library News where she
made many innovations. She is in her second year as Chair of the Publicity
Committee . Her activities in that position included the planning of the 70th
Anniversary Celebration in Atlanta.
Logsdon, librarian at the Pantagraph in Bloomington, IL, is a former Chair
of the Division and is currently in her third year as Chair of the Small
Libraries Group. In this capacity she has planned several conference programs
and has contributed numerous articles to News Library News over the years.
For the first time, the Vormelker-Thomas Student Stipend Award has been
given to a Canadian member. Catherine Cino of Hamilton, Ontario was chosen the
selection committee co-chaired by Barbara Maxwell and Alison Head. (see
related article, ed.)
Current division Chair, Mary Kate Leming will receive the
Ralph Shoemaker Award of Merit.
GRAPHICS: PHOTO (3)
1. Semonche
2. Logsdon
3. Haworth
KEYWORDS: AWARD; BIOGRAPHY; BARBARA SEMONCHE; DIANE SPONSLER LOGSDON;
ELIZABETH HAWORTH
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NEWS DIVISION of the SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
ARCHIVES INDEX
DATE: FRIDAY June 9, 1995
CATEGORY: NEWS LIBRARY NEWS 1995 Vol. XVII No.3
EDITION:*SPRING*
PAGE: 13
1995 CONFERENCE (PREVIEW)
NEWS DIVISION PROGRAMS - MONTREAL, 1995
Please note: The NEWS Division Hospitality Suite will be the Presidential
Suite at Le Centre Sheraton. All SLA Conference activities will take place at
the Palais des Congres (convention center), which is eight blocks from Le
Centre Sheraton and six blocks from the Queen Elizabeth. All hotels are in
close proximity to the Convention Centre either by walking or a quick subway
ride. Shuttle bus service will NOT be provided.
SATURDAY, June 10
6 p.m.- NEWS Division Open House in the Division Hospitality Suite.
SUNDAY, June 11
9 a.m-4 p.m. - NEWS Division CE Course - Leaders in an Electronic Era.
4-5 p.m. - NEWS Division 1994/95 Board Meeting (Suite)
6 p.m.- NEWS Division Open House in the Division Hospitality Suite.
MONDAY, June 12
9-10:15 a.m. - SLA General Session I.
Keynote address by Nuala Beck, president and founder of Nuala Beck
& Associates, Inc., a Toronto-based consulting firm specializing in innovative
research for its clients.
10:30-11:45 a.m. - The Wired City.
Paul Hoffert, of Cultech Collaborative Research Centre at York University,
will discuss the wired community that is being built in Southern Ontario as a
test site for access and use of the information highway.
Noon-1:15 p.m. - 7th Annual NEWS Division Luncheon.
Annual luncheon and speaker, Robert W. Merry of Congressional Quarterly,
sponsored by CQ. By invitation only.
1:30-2:45 p.m. - NEWS Division Annual Business Meeting.
3-4:30 p.m. - East/West Library Cooperation - Are the Needs of Eastern
European Libraries Being Recognized?
A roundtable discussion on the status of cooperation between American and
Central European libraries. A reception sponsored by the Freedom Forum will
follow in the same room.
6-9 p.m. - NEWS Division Awards Reception and Banquet at the historic Mount
Stephen Club.
Cocktail reception hosted by UMI.
9 p.m.- Open House/Reception in the Division Hospitality Suite sponsored
by Lexis/Nexis.
TUESDAY, June 13
9-10:15 a.m. - SLA General Session II.
Keynote address by Howard Rheingold, journalist, editor, and author of The
Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier.
10:30-11:45 a.m. - Geographic Information Systems in News Libraries.
A look at GIS developments in news libraries.
1:30-4:15 p.m. - New Libraries From the Ground Up: The Sky's the Limit!
Something for everyone interested in news libraries. Spend the afternoon
browsing through handouts, videos, PC and MAC demonstrations on issues for
today's and tomorrow's news library. Over 20 simultaneous presentations by
NEWS Division members.
6 p.m.- NEWS Division Open House in the Division Hospitality Suite
sponsored by DataTimes.
WEDNESDAY, June 14
7:30-8:45 a.m. - NewsBank Breakfast.
Breakfast for NEWS Division members sponsored by NewsBank.
9-11 a.m. - SLA Annual Business Meeting
11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m. - Getting the Most Out of Your Research Dollar.
Reference materials, in a variety of formats, are analyzed with
consideration of relative cost in a shrinking budgetary environment.
1-2:15 p.m. - Dealing With the ''Not Enoughs.''
Turn negatives of small libraries daily ''not enoughs'' into positives by
organizing, prioritizing, using technology to your advantage, networking,
establishing good public relations, and effectively marketing services.
2:30-4:00 p.m. - Designing and Implementing Effective Newsroom Training.
Proactive strategies for helping end-users navigate the increasingly
complex information resources of today's news library.
4-5 p.m. - NEWS Division 1995/96 Board Meeting (Suite)
6 p.m.- NEWS Division Open House in the Division Hospitality Suite
sponsored by DIALOG and VuTEXT
THURSDAY, June 15
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. - NEWS Division Brunch.
A pre-tour brunch for division members at the Salle Sainte-Famille,
sponsored by Lexis/Nexis. Additional information and sign-up rosters will be
in the Division Hospitality Suite.
1:00 p.m.- NEWS Division Walking Tours of Old Montreal.
Guided tours of Old Montreal narrated by Montreal Gazette feature writer,
Alan Hustack. Tours will be available at 1:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Sign-up rosters will be available in the Division Hospitality Suite.
Tours of the libraries of the Montreal Gazette, Le Devoir and the National
Film Board of Canada will be arranged. Check in the Division Suite for
information on days and times.
KEYWORDS: CONFERENCE PREVIEW 1995
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NEWS DIVISION of the SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
ARCHIVES INDEX
DATE: FRIDAY June 9, 1995
CATEGORY: NEWS LIBRARY NEWS 1995 Vol. XVII No.3
EDITION:*SPRING*
PAGE: 12
SOURCE: Charlie Campo,
News Division Chair-elect
1995 CONFERENCE (PREVIEW)
MAINIAC HEADS NORTH TO THE BORDER: CALLS FOR REINFORCEMENTS
O Canada! The NEWS Division has plans for you! Enlightenment, excitement
and enchantment are three attributes Old Montreal and convening news
librarians have in common.
Each year, the springtime promise of an upcoming Annual Conference helps
many of us shake off another year's accumulation of professional concerns.
This year, members will be enjoying the creative magic of program
coordinators Debra Bade, Carol Ashurst, Leone Earls, Phyllis Lyons, Jim
Hunter, Mona Hatfield, Donna Scheeder, Karen Van Rossem, Ann Kinken Johnson,
Diane Sponsler Logsdon, Barbara Hijek, Elizabeth Haworth and the legions who
are assisting them.
So, pack up your woes and join the throng heading for Montreal. It is time
to recharge ourselves with energy and enthusiasm for the year ahead.
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NEWS DIVISION of the SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
ARCHIVES INDEX
DATE: FRIDAY June 9, 1995
CATEGORY: NEWS LIBRARY NEWS 1995 Vol. XVII No.3
EDITION:*SPRING*
PAGE: 12
1995 CONFERENCE (PREVIEW)
NEWS LIBRARIANS WILL BRUNCH AND THEN WORK IT OFF WITH A LONG WALK
Grab your sneakers and your French phrase book and join us for a walking
tour of Old Montreal! Lexis-Nexis is hosting a News Division brunch in the
historic Salle Saint Famille followed by a walking tour of Old Montreal on
Thursday June 15.
Buses will shuttle our budding Francophiles to the restaurant in time for a
10:30 brunch. Walking tours will leave at 1:00 and 3:00 and will be led by
Alan Hustak, a features writer at the Montreal Gazette and an authority on Old
Montreal. If enough members are interested, we can ask for an Old Montreal
After Dark tour.
You will be receiving more information on reservations for the brunch in
the mail. Be sure to mark your calendars to stay through Thursday!
KEYWORDS: CONFERENCE PREVIEW 1995
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NEWS DIVISION of the SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
ARCHIVES INDEX
DATE: FRIDAY June 9, 1995
CATEGORY: NEWS LIBRARY NEWS 1995 Vol. XVII No.3
EDITION:*SPRING*
PAGE: 12
1995 CONFERENCE (PREVIEW)
SPECIAL TOUR TO OTTAWA
The following is an announcement for a late-breaking tour that didn't make
the preliminary conference program.
A one-day visit to Ottawa, Canada's capital, is sponsored by the Sci/tech
and Biology Divisions of SLA, and by CISTI, the Canada Institute for
Scientific and Technical Information.
This tour will be of interest to librarians who work primarily in the sci/
tech or medical information fields.
Ottawa is a 2-hour drive from Montreal, along a scenic route from Montreal
in the province of Quebec, to Ottawa in the province of Ontario.The bus will
leave from the Queen Elizabeth Hotel (Mansfield Street entrance) at 8:30 am
and return by 5:30 the same day.
THE DAY INCLUDES:
- a visit to CISTI, North America's largest sci/tech and medical
information centre
- lunch at CISTI
- a drive past the Parliament buildings in downtown Ottawa
- a visit to Canada's national science and technology museum.
The tour will take place on June 15th. The cost is $15 (U.S.).
HOW TO OBTAIN A TICKET:
To reserve a place, contact Patty Horne: (E-mail is preferred.)
pattyh@cs.cmu.edu
(412) 268-6107 (phone)
(412) 681-1998 (fax)
Tickets can be picked up at the CISTI booth at the SLA Annual
Conference exhibits in Montreal, June 11-14. If any tickets are still
available, they can be purchased at the booth. Ticket refunds will not be
available. This tour is limited to 45 people.
Further information is available from Elizabeth Katz, CISTI, at
elizabeth.katz@nrc.ca or by calling 1-800-668-1222.
KEYWORDS: CONFERENCE PREVIEW 1995
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NEWS DIVISION of the SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
ARCHIVES INDEX
DATE: FRIDAY June 9, 1995
CATEGORY: NEWS LIBRARY NEWS 1995 Vol. XVII No.3
EDITION:*SPRING*
PAGE: 12
SOURCE: By Debra Bade, News Division Education Chair
1995 CONFERENCE
DIVISION CE COURSE TO FOCUS ON LEADERSHIP STRENGTHS AND
OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEWS LIBRARIANS AND INFORMATION SPECIALISTS
The News Division will once again be sponsoring a full-day Continuing
Education Course during the 1995 Special Libraries Association Conference in
Montreal.
The CE course will be offered on Sunday, June 11, 1995 from 9:00 a.m. to
4:00 p.m. and is entitled ''Leaders in an Electronic Era''. Cost of this event
is $150.00 for SLA members and $180.00 for non-members.
The goals for this course are:
* to look at general definitions of leadership and management.
* to help participants identify some of their own strengths and weaknesses.
* to examine specific ways information professionals in the news industry
can utilize their strengths and be leaders in their corporate structures.
* to present a bigger picture of our new information world.
* to suggest some new leadership roles for librarians in that world.
Not all of the speakers had been locked in at presstime. Paul Pohlman, who
directs management programs for the Poynter Institute, will be there, as will
Howard Rheingold, author of ''The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the
Electronic Frontier'' and our own Mary Kate Leming of the Palm Beach Post.
Howard has been asked to share with us his thoughts on the future for
information and information professionals.
KEYWORDS: CONFERENCE PREVIEW 1995
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NEWS DIVISION of the SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
ARCHIVES INDEX
DATE: FRIDAY June 9, 1995
CATEGORY: NEWS LIBRARY NEWS 1995 Vol. XVII No.3
EDITION:*SPRING*
PAGE: 10
SOURCE: By Barbara Hijek
PEOPLE
MOVING, SHAKING AND BREAKING NEW GROUND...
A belated News Division VST (Very Special Toast) to Mary Kate Leming who
was promoted to Assistant Managing Editor at the Palm Beach Post. Mary Kate
joined the Post as Library Director in 1987 and has directed much of the
newsroom's growing use of computers. Managing Editor Tom O'Hara said ''as
newspapers become more and more dependent on computers and the information
they provide, we need someone with Mary Kate's expertise and vision to guide
us.'' Thank you Mary Kate! You've provided us all with leadership, insight and
proof positive that good things happen to deserving people.
MORE KUDOS
And another toast to Barbara Semonche, who has been awarded the prestigious
''Fellow of the Special Libraries Association'' award at the recent SLA
Winter meeting. The award will be presented to Barbara during the SLA Awards
Banquet and Ceremony. Barbara is also our Kwapil winner this year (see awards
announcements). Congratulations, Barbara, from the entire News Division!
Editorial Research at the Orlando Sentinel was recently honored with an
the award based on their research, training reporters on various computer
applications and maintaining the Sentinel's archives.
Also Cynthia N. James-Catalano, Sentinel librarian, has started writing a
column for Internet World titles ''Cyberlibrarian.'' The first column will
appear in the April issue. Congratulations to Judy Grimsley and staff!
Don't miss Nora Paul's article titled ''The Future Past'' in Presstimes's
March 1995 issue. The articles deals with new roles and challenges for news
researchers and reporters.
FROM THE BAYOU TO THE BAY AREA
Mona Hatfield recently reconnected with her West Coast roots - she moved to
the California. Mona is now the Head of News Research at the Contra Costa
Times in Walnut Creek. She began her new position in March - just in time for
the NewsView/PhotoView conversion.
Jill Arnold, is the new Library Director at the Baton Rouge Advocate,
replacing Mona. Jill was Mona's assistant, but left to take a position with
Innovative Emergency Management. Four months later she was summoned back to
the Advocate where Jill put her newly acquired knowledge in emergency
management to good use. A true journalist - she's thrilled to be back in news.
GOOD NEWS ....
News From CNN: Debra Bade was promoted to Manager of News Research at
CNN's Library this winter while Dina Gunderson was promoted to Manager of News
Archives and Fran Pici became Manager of Administrative Services. New staff
members coming in at the
Librarian I level this spring will include Marina Lee and Gwinn
Bruns.
Greg Paraham has been promoted to Assistant Director at the Commercial
Appeal in Memphis, replacing Rosemary Nelms, who is now Director and
Director. Paraham graduated from the University of Memphis with a BA in
journalism and from LSU with a MLS degree. He has been with the CA for 5
years.
....AND BAD NEWS
In January a merger between the Milwaukee Journal and Sentinel was
announced. As a result, the library has restuctured and Jo Reitman's position
was eliminated. Jo said that in addition to her position, the ''flattening''
process affected her staff of 26 employees: 1 transferred to the new online
service, 5 longtime employees took retirement and others are awaiting
decisions on buyout packages.
Jo is actively seeking a new position. Contact Jo if you have any
leads for her or her staffers. Phone: 414-351-4409
KEYWORDS: BIOGRAPHY
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NEWS DIVISION of the SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
ARCHIVES INDEX
DATE: FRIDAY June 9, 1995
CATEGORY: NEWS LIBRARY NEWS 1995 Vol. XVII No.3
EDITION:*SPRING*
PAGE: 06
SOURCE: By Mary Kate Leming, News Division Chair
NOTES FROM THE CHAIR
HEAD SPINNING FROM ALL THE CHANGES IN OUR PROFESSION?
LET THE NEWS DIVISION HELP YOU
Bonjour!
The theme of th 86th Annual SLA Conference is: The Power of Information:
Transforming the World. Ain't it the truth! In this past year the changes in
our business has been nothing short of spectacular.
Consider:
1) Most of us first saw Mosaic about a year ago. Now it is hard to imagine
the world without a graphical interface to the Web.
2) I don't know about you, but I had just figured out voice mail when e-
mail became my primary means of communication.
3) We have become intimate with things called files servers and CD-ROM
networks.
4) End-user searching is happening every day and good ol' boolean searching
is no longer the only way to guarantee search results.
5) Newspapers, magazines, TV, and radio list e-mail addresses for reader/
viewer/listener feedback.
6) News Librarians all over the world are getting involved with new product
development and online services.
7) The face of online searching (especially pricing) is changing rapidly.
8) We spend as much time training as we do researching.
9) The walls are down between the library and the photo department. If we
are not already doing image archiving, at least we are talking about it.
10) Not only is our annual conference in Canada, but we correspond
frequently with information specialists from other countries. Our profession
has become much more international, and computers have become multi-lingual.
So how do we prepare ourselves for tomorrow?
Here are a few ideas:
1) Join the News Division of SLA. As a part of your membership you receive
this publication (News Library News.) It is the lifeline that we all share.
Use it for inspiration and learning. If you know someone who is not a member,
but who could benefit from our division, please have them contact our
Membership Chair, Ginny Everett at the Atlanta Journal Constitution - (404)
526-5420.
2) Subscribe to Newslib. This is the cyber-drinking fountain for the News
Division. Discussions range from reference assistance to technical support to
silliness. It is a fun place to keep up with others in the profession.
To join: send an e-mail letter addressed to:
listserv@gibbs.oit.unc.edu
leave subject line blank.
type in message field: subscribe newslib Firstname Lastname
Special kudos to Barbara Semonche (Library Director, School of Journalism
& Mass Communications, UNC at Chapel Hill) for making this listserv available.
3) Visit the Poynter Institute internet homepage for information and fun.
The address is:
TS10 http://www.nando.net/prof/poynter/home.html
Special thanks for Nora Paul (Library Director, The Poynter Institute for
Media Studies) for making this site available.
4) Network. Network. Network. Everywhere and with everyone. Join other
organizations and other listservs. Talk to everyone. O.K., that was my last
column, I'll move on. . .
5) Volunteer. Volunteer to serve as an officer in the News Division,
volunteer to coordinate programs for your company, or to host meetings, or
write columns, or make telephone calls. Just do it.
6) Come to Montreal. Learn from the experts and your peers. With the
increase in newsprint costs it may be difficult for many of you in the print
media to attend, but try. Charlie Campo has put together an impressive program
which will address many of the issues and technologies that we all face today
and will be looking at tomorrow.
7) Get to know the people in the News Division who make it such a wonderful
network of experts and friends. Get to know:
Charlie Campo (Bangor Daily News) - Chair-Elect
Sherry Adams (Houston Chronicle) - Secretary
Debra Bade (CNN) - Director/Education
Lu-Ann Farrar (Lexington Herald-Leader) - Treasurer
Mona Hatfield (Contra Costa Times) - Director/Publications
Donna Scheeder (Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress)
- Director/Awards, and SLA Treasurer.
Linda Henderson (Providence Journal) - News Library News Managing Editor.
Carol Ashurst (CTV - Toronto) - Broadcast Committee
Judy Cantor (San Francisco Examiner) - Long-Range Planning
Committee
M.J. Crowley (Philadelphia Newspapers) - Archives and History Committee
Leone Earls (Canadian Broadcast Corp.) - Broadcast Committee
Elyse Eisner (UMI Information Store) - Employment Clearinghouse
Barbara Ellenbogen Maxwell (USA Today) - Student Stipend Award Coordinator
Ginny Everett (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) - Membership Committee
Kathy Foley (Washington Post) - Automation/Technology Committee
Carolyn Hardnett (St. Petersburg Times) - Affirmative Action
Committee
Elizabeth Haworth (Midlands Technical College, Columbia, SC) - Publicity-
Public Relations Committee
Allison Head (Press Democrat - Santa Rosa) - Student Stipend
Coordinator
Julie Kirsh (Toronto Sun) - Automation/Technology Committee
Phyllis Lyons (Freedom Forum) - International Relations
Richard Ploch (Washington Post) - Elections Committee
Dargan Richards (State-Record - Columbia, SC) - Nominations
Committee
Diane Sponsler Logsdon (The Pantagraph - Bloomington, IL) - Small Libraries
Committee
I know that these names are listed in the front of NLN, but I wanted to
stress the importance of these individuals. They care enough to volunteer and
to help guide us into the future. They each know the benefit of networking and
as a result, each of them has accomplished some professional goal in this past
year which better places them for the future. Whether is was additional
salary, additional staff, ability to attend seminars, new job offers, or new
titles, these are the people whose companies have recognized their
contribution to their profession.
I would like to thank each of them for their wonderful teamwork during the
past year. Each of them, as well as the people who have worked with them, and
those who have helped from outside the formal nature of the division, have
made this journey into the future a much easier ride for me. Thank you.
And now looking toward our future, these are the people you should get to
know:
Teresa Leonard (News and Observer - Raleigh, N.C.) - the Chair-Elect-Elect
(and program planner for the Boston Conference)
Jody Habayeb (Journal Gazette - Fort Wayne, Ind.) - Candidate for Treasurer
and News Division Clearinghouse keeper.
Ginny Hauswald (Winston-Salem Journal) - Candidate for Treasurer
Ron Larson (Wisconsin State Journal) - Candidate for Director-Education
Carol Campbell (Daily Oklahoman) - Candidate for Director-Education
A special thanks to each of them for their interest in, and
commitment to, the News Division. I'd also like to thank in advance all of you
who will be serving as committee chairs and volunteers in the coming year. You
really are our future. I'm looking forward to it!
See you in Montreal!
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NEWS DIVISION of the SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
ARCHIVES INDEX
DATE: FRIDAY June 9, 1995
CATEGORY: NEWS LIBRARY NEWS 1995 Vol. XVII No.3
EDITION:*SPRING*
PAGE: 04
JOB OPENING
LIBRARIAN - ASSISTANT ARCHIVIST
The Sporting News Publishing Company is seeking an organized, detail-
oriented individual to become our Assistant Archivist.
Responsibilities include aiding in transforming the archives into an
electronic library; assisting in developing and administering marketing and
licensing arrangements; providing reference and research services to the
Editorial and Sales Departments; as well as to the public; and assisting in
managing the library and archival resources of the Sporting News.
The ideal candidate will have a thorough knowledge of sports statistics and
sports history; a high level of computer literacy including database
management; experience with online services and the Internet; and excellent
oral and written communication skills. A Masters degree in archival
administration a plus.
We offer a competitive salary commensurate with experience and a generous
benefits package. Please send resume with cover letter indicating salary
requirements, to: The Sporting News, att: Kim PUtman, 1212 N. Lindberg Blvd.,
St. Louis, MO 63132. EOE m/f/d/v.
KEYWORDS: ADVERTISEMENT; CAREER
END OF DOCUMENT.
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NEWS DIVISION of the SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
ARCHIVES INDEX
DATE: FRIDAY June 9, 1995
CATEGORY: NEWS LIBRARY NEWS 1995 Vol. XVII No.3
EDITION:*SPRING*
PAGE: 04
MEMBERSHIP
THE NEWS DIVISION JUST KEEPS GROWING!
Forty-four new members joined the News Division from Dec. 1, 1994 through
February 15, 1995. As of the end of January, our membership had climbed to
849. Here are our newest members:
Mr. Walter S. Albano
1822 T. Street NW # 7
Washington DC 20009
Sandra Allen
Library
Poynter Institute
801 Third Street S
St. Petersburg FL 33701
Anna I. Baird
3900 Tunlaw Rd. NW #501
Washington DC 20007
Ms. Shauna E. Barrows
Librarian
The Gainesville Sun
P.O. Box 147147
Gainesville FL 32614-7171
Ms. Jean A. Barsotti
414 Beatty Street
Ellwood City PA 16117
Nancy L. Bentrup
516 Timber La
Falls Church VA 22046
Tammy Binford
Spec. Serv. Nashville Banner
1100 Broadway
Nashville TN 37203
Patricia C. Binns
10 Ridgeway Rd.
Port Washington NY 11050
Victoria A. Boylan
Editorial Info. Ctr.
Chicago Tribune
435 N. Michigan Ave. Rm. 400
Chicago IL 60611
Sandra C. Buchan
208 Shandon St.
Columbia SC 29205
Mr. William E. Buchanan
79 W. Wood Street
Clarrion PA 16214
Mr. Stephen W. Carlson
788 Columbus Ave # 2H
New York NY 10025
Catherine Cino
187 Robinson St. #4
Hamilton ON L8P 1Z7
Canada
Ms. Janet E. Cleary
Teletec Resource Network
Systems Dev. & Technol
2850 Metro Dr. #600
Minneapolis MN 55425-1566
Mr. Gary Dwor-Frecaut
4529 River Rd. NW
Washington DC 20016
Jeanne Fong
809 Talbot Ave.
Albany CA 94706-1726
Shira E. Goldman
1420 Locust St #35B
Philadelphia PA 19102
Ms. Marjorie Gordon
Insurance Information Inst. Libr
110 William St.
New York NY 10038
Zhi M. Hamby-Nye
Real Trends Inc.
9200 Centerway Rd.
Gaithersburg MD 20879
Rhonda C. Hamrick
Gulf Publishing Inc. Library
PO Box 4567
Biloxi MS 39535-4567
Ken G. Hertel
1306 First Ave. W #202
Seattle WA 98119
Alaina P. Hetzlein
177 Temona Dr.
Pittsburgh PA 15236
Jason A. Holmes
1431 S. Eugene
Baton Rouge LA 70808
Alan D. Husdal
25 Albemarle Ave.
Toronto ON
Can M4k 1H6
Susan J. Hyland
4800 Ruby Ave.
Relay MD 21227
Suzanne M. Kincheloe
521 E. College #3
Iowa City IA 52240
Sharon J. Locken
Locken Information
432 N. Few St
Madison WI 53703
Margaret E. Martinek
2617 Hallifax Dr.
Middletown OH 45044
Lorraine C. Martorana
116 Elizabeth St. NE #8
Atlanta GA 30307
Margaret Mehaffey
Delahay Group
PO Box 210
Portsmouth NH 03801
Patricia A. Michelin
PO Box 2432
Seabrook NH 01730
Lynn A. Mikulsky
1032 E. Knapp St. #713A
Milwaukee WI 53202
Anne M. Murphey
205 Telumseh Ave E
London ON
Can N6C 1S5
Sarah K. Radick
Lexis Nexis
800 LaSalle Ave. Ste. 1800
Minneapolis MN 55409
Kathleen A. Shanahan
5690 N. Milwaukee River Pkwy
Glendale WI 53209
Yuko Simamoto
Salomon Bros. Inc. Tokyo Library
7 World Trade Ctr 46 Fl
New York NY 10048
Mary C. Simmons
7236 NE 171st Ln.
Bothell WA 98011
Susan C. Smith
3917 W. Emerson St.
Seattle WA 98199
Michelle R. Snyder
1011 Arlington Blvd #936
Arlington VA 22209
Nancy Sosnik
517 Van Thomas Dr #E
Raleigh NC 27615
Karen A. Stevens
404 E 73rd St. #2
New York NY 10021-3847
Thai N. Strom
Newsroom Library
The Record
530 E. Market St.
Stockton CA 95201
John A. Styczynski
10 Strawberry Ct.
Clifton Park NY 12065
Susan Woodland
2 Grove St. #2A
New York NY 10014
The 1995 News Division membership directories have been mailed. If you have
not received yours, please contact me at the Atlanta Journal & Constitution.
Ginny Everett, Membership Chair
END OF DOCUMENT.
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NEWS DIVISION of the SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
ARCHIVES INDEX
DATE: FRIDAY June 9, 1995
CATEGORY: NEWS LIBRARY NEWS 1995 Vol. XVII No.3
EDITION:*SPRING*
PAGE: 02
SOURCE: Linda Henderson
ASIDE BAR
It's almost conference time and I can't wait. Every year I get a little
more excited about going to conference and seeing everyone and learning a lot
and partying (uh, I mean NETWORKING). It may mean that I have no life or it
may mean, and I sincerely hope this is the case, that I'm just enthusiastic
about our profession and all the exciting changes it's undergoing.
For those of you who have never been, I really hope that you'll get to at
least one conference before you retire. For those of you who'll be attending
for the first time this year, welcome and bienvenue. For those of you who,
like me, get to go on a regular basis, may I suggest that you take a newcomer
under your wing? I think my conference experience was a lot richer last year
because I got to meet Glenn Johnson-Grau, our Student Award winner, and show
him around.
In this issue we have lots of conference news. We also have a report from
our colleague at the Australian Broadcasting Company and road trip advice from
USA Today. We are trying out a new feature this time. I've called it Nuts and
Bolts (is it too cute?) and our goal is to address the issues that we grapple
with every day when we're not dreaming of photo archiving systems and internet
nodes. Marcia MacVane has consented to be in charge of this column and I
enthusiastically welcome her to the masthead.
END OF DOCUMENT.
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NEWS DIVISION of the SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION
ARCHIVES INDEX
DATE: FRIDAY June 9, 1995
CATEGORY: NEWS LIBRARY NEWS 1995 Vol. XVII No.3
EDITION:*SPRING*
PAGE: 01
SOURCE: By John Bartholomaeus
Head Program and Information Resources
Radio Division Australian Broadcasting Corporation
CHANNELS
EDITOR'S NOTE: As NLN was going to press, John sent me an e-mail message
telling of new reports and funding for ABC. The Internet and interactive
multimedia technology have been the catalyst to this new awareness of the
importance of information management. He has offered to update us later.
REPORT FROM DOWN UNDER: CHALLENGES FOR INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
IN THE RADIO DIVISION OF AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION
In May 1994, I travelled from Sydney to the United States, Canada and back
home through London and Singapore. While this trip was originally planned as
holiday, I took the opportunity to visit a number of libraries servicing media
organisations and to attend an Online conference in New York. At that time I
was the Chief Librarian of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and I was
curious to discover how my overseas colleagues in media organisations had been
faring during the lean times and how they were meeting the challenges of new
technologies.
In 1993, I had recommended a change in the way we handled collections at
ABC, but the recommendations were not adopted. Since then, there have been the
most amazing developments in information management by way of the Internet and
standards such as Z39.50 which allow different databases and sources to be
accessed through common interfaces. Articles I have read in Fortune and
Business Week attest to the increase in productivity by making available a
range of information that was previously unavailable to workers' desktop
computers. In the library and information circles we talk of the Library
Without Walls and the Virtual Library.
Therefore, in order to put my proposed brief visits to such a variety of
organisations into a coherent context I asked the librarians to complete a
questionnaire which I thought would indicate how far down the track their
organisations were to achieving the Virtual Library. The survey was adapted
from the ''Quick-SPEC Survey on the Virtual Library'', conducted by the Office
of Management Services, association of Research Libraries (ARL) and reported
in ''The Emerging Vitual Library.SPEC (Systems and Procedures Exchange Center)
Kit'' by N. Schiller (Washington, DC: Association of Research Libraries, July/
Aug 1992). The main aim of the original survey was to ''gauge the progress
of ARL libraries towards realising the virtual library'' as expostulated by
Schiller.
OBSERVATIONS
All my hosts kindly filled out the survey. I discovered from the replies
that the sample I had taken was too small and the organisations too different
for any significant result. Yes, we all seem to be heading in the same
direction at different speeds and with different levels of control and
understanding. It seems to me that well resourced libraries in corporations
which have enlightened IT Departments will get there without any trouble at
all while others of us may need to adopt a higher profile in order to ensure
that we have a role to play. I confess to feeling in that latter class.
I visited libraries at the Los Angeles Times; CBC in Toronto; CBS, ABC,
WNET in New York; NPR in Washington; CNN in Atlanta; BBC and News
International in London and in Singapore; Singapore Broadcasting Corporation;
and Singapore Press Holdings. I would like to thank all of those librarians
who received me for their graciousness and generosity.
My main observation was that, on the whole, newspaper libraries were more
valued because they were better resourced with staff and systems. This might
be accounted for by the fact that most newspaper libraries are involved with
the maintenance of the newspaper database which is not only a source of
revenue but also a major research tool for the organisation. It would seem
reasonable to say that an organisation mainly concerned with textual
information would be supportive of information systems that store and retrieve
text.
In most of the broadcasting organisations that I visited, the major
databases storing the output were managed separately from the library (usually
by an archive department). The libraries only provided the reference and
information services and were often not as well resourced. The exceptions were
the BBC, where all the libraries and archives came under a single umbrella
management, and Singapore Broadcasting, where a similar structure existed on a
smaller scale. The commercial broadcasters appeared better resourced than the
public broadcasters including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. I say
appeared because I suspect that the BBC might again be the exception with its
large resources.
OPPORTUNITIES
It has become obvious to me that a need and opportunity exists for ABC
Program and Information Resources, including the Reference Library, to better
integrate its resources into the broadcasting process. Two initiatives that I
saw in my travels could assist in this regard.
The first is the Prolog system which operates at the CBC (Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation). By the way, the CBC most resembles the ABC by being
a large public broadcaster covering a large and sparsely populated country.
Prolog is a graphical user interface tool which provides program makers with
templates for creating their programs. There are templates which allow the
client to search the archives' and record libraries' databases and to cut and
paste this information into their program log. At the ABC we are increasingly
using digital audio systems and it is only a short step to attaching the audio
to the surrogate record being retrieved. The great advantage of such a system
is that a database of programs is created by the program makers and is
available for searching across the corporation. Such a database of programs
could save much time in Archives and Radio Tape Sales when locating and
selecting new programs. It also has the potential to cut down in the
duplication of documentation activity.
Such a system, providing an interface to a range of information services,
is also a good example of a client-focused initiative with which departments
and processes can be re-engineered to ensure optimum delivery of information
services.
The second initiative relates to the management of resouce areas and the
valuing of the services. It seems that if ABC were to follow the practice of
the BBC libraries and to write service contracts with production departments,
it would assist us to allocate our resources more efficiently and effectively.
It would also enable us to obtain the funding for new services when their need
and value can be clearly demonstrated.
Since I have been in my present position, ABC Program and Information
Resources has written a new Mission Statement emphasising its role in the
stewardship of the intellectual capital of the Corporation and as the supplier
of the audio and textual documents which enable the creation of the best
programs for all Australians. Our vision is the delivery of audio and textual
docments to the desktop computers of the program makers.
This is the beginning of a planning process which will see all our
departments documenting their resources and relating them to outcomes that
will be agreed with management. In implementing this plan, we in Program and
Information Resources will be seeking partnership with our clients in planning
and installing a program rundown database, like Prolog, that will link
directly with our resources databases.
It is my belief that implementing new information technologies and
management processes will give us the opportunity to mark the end of a painful
period of attrition as we become integral to realising our organisations'
aspirations.
KEYWORDS: BROADCAST LIBRARY; PROFILE; REPORT; RADIO; TELEVISION
END OF DOCUMENT.
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