NEWS
LIBRARIES – An Assessment Survey
The 1980s
saw dramatic change in news libraries.
This was the decade of the electronic archive. Most
news organizations were examining ways to convert their
clip and film collections to digital retrieval systems.
The world of access to information expanded with
the growth of commercial databases of news collections.
Their expense and the lack of equipment to tap into
these database made news researchers essential links between
the reporter’s research needs and the information. News librarians were essential for their
understanding of database construction and for their expertise
in navigating the information collections.
The 1990s
saw continued dramatic change.
The wild west of the Internet hit newsrooms and news
researchers attempted to bring some order.
Newsroom technology changed and the “dumb”
terminals of the old front-end systems were switched out
to computers on every reporters’ desk.
End-user searching became the trend and database
marketers created newsroom deals that would put the information
sources in the hands of every reporter.
News organizations saw the future and it was the
World Wide Web and “mono-medium” news organizations
soon were operating two different production lines: one
for the legacy medium, one for their new website.
News librarians were essential for their ability
to evaluate all these new information resources and for
training journalists in effective use of the Internet.
The 2000s
will see further dramatic change.
The expansion of news options for consumers and declining
trust in the media has led to erosion of readership / viewership
numbers. The
bright promise of web publications has not yet been realized
as solid business models have yet to be found.
Market pressures, revenue expectations, rising costs
and lowered profits have created an atmosphere of scarcity
in newsrooms. The Tasini ruling has required an examination
of the archiving of news products. What essential role will the news librarian
play in the coming decade?
On November
15-16, 2001, the University of Minnesota’s Institute
for New Media Studies and the Minnesota Journalism Center
will convene a summit of news librarians, journalism librarians,
and academics interested in the role of news research to
examine the current state of news libraries and develop
a vision for the future.
An essential
first step in this examination and visioning session is
an assessment of the changes in operation and attitude in
and about the news library. Information about the three surveys (one
for news librarians, one for reporters, one for the manager
to which the news library reports) was sent to the NewsLib
subscriber list. In addition, the dues-paying members of
the SLA News Division were sent notification of the surveys’
location. We asked the news librarians to
fill out the survey from their perspective and then to send
notification of the reporters’ survey to five newsroom
reporters and to the person in the newsroom to which the
library director reports.
We will
post the results of the survey, the proceedings of the Summit,
and the follow-up report here by early 2002.
There will be a Continuing Education session at the
2002 Special Libraries Association convention to share the
project and summit results and to share ways to act upon
some of the findings.
(June 9 in Los Angeles.)
If you
have any questions, ideas, or interest regarding this survey
and summit, please contact either:
Kathleen
Hansen
Director,
Minnesota Journalism Center
k-hans@umn.edu
612-625-3480
Nora Paul
Director,
Institute for New Media Studies
npaul@umn.edu
612-922-3666
click here for survey page
