NOTABLE NEWS:
Three cheers for The Press Gazette who published a piece in their Training column entitled
'Journalists could borrow skills from librarians' (26 November) calling on more rigorous fact checking than a slipshod reliance on Wiki-p; the AUKML published reply (30 November) pointed towards better use of the excellent research departments to be found in any good news organisation... unfortunately these articles aren't available on their website.
The blog of the Guardian's Research Department is worth a look for tips and observations on the world we all operate in, and has links to some other excellent blogs.
Essential to a profession eager to tread the fine lines of social mores accurately... libetiquette.blogspot.com
Facebook now has a media Librarians group ~ make it your New Year's resolution to join up!
Well done to the library staff at the Northern Echo who kept an old
style cuttings file on David Abrahams. As news broke of dodgy donations
to the Labour Party, many in Fleet Street were left scratching
their heads, asking themselves: David Abrahams - who he? Over at
the Northern Echo, however, they had a thick file of yellowing clippings
to thumb through with lots of juicy details about the elusive Abrahams.
A member of the public put police and journalists to shame in their attempts
to unravel the mysterious reappearance of 'canoeist' John Darwin by
using a simple Google search. The now notorious picture of Darwin and his wife
very much alive in Panama was found by the anonymous woman after she
tapped in the words John, Anne and Panama into Google. She then forwarded
the picture to both Cleveland police and the Mirror. Apparently when she sent
the picture to detectives, she was told: "You're joking."
The Media Handbook edited by our own Katharine Schopflin, and containing
contributions from several AUKML members, is due to be published in March,
by Facet publishing; hopefully we may be able to have some involvement
in its launch, so keep a lookout.
Same Katharine Schopflin notes: 'Has anyone noticed that the short form
Britannica articles are now coming up (sometimes second to Wiki) in
google searches? Nice that they've woken up to it'.
We may not be able to tune in to recently aired Australian soap comedy
'The Librarians' but can see details of its episodes as well as
articles about it on the website, complete with some obligatory
stereotyped photos!
The BBC runs a training unit for all media workers. Some of the courses
are available as free internet downloads. The 'face to face' sessions
have to be paid for, but you don't need to work for the Beeb to
sign up: BBC Training
(see review of one of these by Jason Rodrigues, later on)
** STOP PRESS **
As we go to press, there is a rumour that the library of the Herald in
Glasgow is to be halved, from four staff to two. This is reportedly in
connection with the imminent installation of a new production system
and consequent outsourcing of some of the library's usual tasks, and is
the more tragic as it follows closely from great recent triumphs for
the team, who successfully overrode previous threats and won the AUKML's
inaugural award in the summer. More at allmediascotland.com
The opinions expressed in Deadline are not necessarily those of the AUKML.
A NOTE: Judith Dunn
Judith Dunn, one of AUKML's founding members, a former Chair and strong
supporter of the association was given honorary membership at this year's
AGM. Gertrud Erbach spoke about why Judith was such a worthy recipient;
this the text of her speech:
I first met Judith in 1986 whilst working as a researcher at the then
Polytechnic of North London on a British Library project on end users
of online information. In this capacity, I travelled to Darlington to
meet with Peter Chapman, Librarian at the Northern Echo and Judith,
who at the time was Librarian at the Evening Press in York.
Judith and Peter were founder members of the National Association of
Newspaper Librarians (NANL). This, like the AUKML, had been established
as a forum to discuss the emergence of new technology in the newspaper
industry and the impact of full text databases on the work of librarians.
NANL and AUKML merged in March 1988.
Since the late 1980s, Judith has worked for News International; first
for Times Supplements and then for the Reference Library serving the
five main NI titles. Over the years, her remit at News International
has widened considerably. By the time I joined in 1994 Judith had moved
into the newly created position of Editorial Services Manager with
responsibility for the Reference Library, Picture Libraries, the Database
Department, Copytaking and Syndication.
Today Judith is Head of Group Publishing Services with the remit to
drive improvements across NI's publishing operations, to deliver
efficient and innovative Editorial Services and to co-ordinate the
Editorial transition to NI's new presses. Through the years, AUKML has
greatly benefitted from Judith's experience and active involvement. During
her tenure as Chair in 1994/95 she organised a forum with the British Library
on the future of newspaper archiving. Under her editorship, Deadline continued
to go from strength to strength and to be a lifeline for many librarians in the
regions as well as London. In 2005, at the Annual Conference in York Judith
gave the Justin Arundale Memorial Lecture, speaking on the theme of
If media librarians didn't exist would we need to invent them?
I have worked with Judith since 1994. In fact, it was she who recruited
me to join the team at NI. Over the years, I have greatly benefited from Judith's
experience and support, and her knowledge of the organisation has helped me
to find my feet quickly. She is a good boss who gives clear directions and is not
afraid to provide constructive criticism.
Gertrud Erbach is Senior Ediotorial Services Manager, News International
and AUKML National Newspaper representative.
REVIEWS:
Does Meta Matter?
This was the theme of an evening hosted for AUKML on 17th October 2007
at Reuters’ impressive new offices in Canary Wharf. Over plentiful drinks
Roger Bacon, Product Manager Media at Reuters introduced us to the Reuters Picture Archive.
It is the world's largest multimedia agency,
reaching a billion people every day, and includes News, Pictures, Graphics,
TV & Video and Audio. There are 2400 staff in 199 bureaux in 121 countries
(staff journalists, photographers and camera operators), and recent increase
in picture output is due in part to greater demand.
The picture team constitutes 600 photographers & editors working globally;
1700 pictures are taken each day covering news, features, entertainment,
business and sport. Reuters photographers have won many prestigious
prizes including the World Press Photo of the Year in 2005 & 2006 &
World Press Photo 2007 Sport News.
Roger gave us an insight into the process of picture production from
taking pictures by staff, stringers & Reuters Picture Stream Editor.
As much metadata as possible is added early and never discarded;
mandatory fields include headline, caption, category code, urgency,
supplemental category code, byline, credit, object name, data created, city,
state, country, original transmission reference ... this gave us an idea of how
much meta does matter! The organisation pushes the importance of rights
management and metadata. Decision on adding keywords is partially commercial,
ie if the picture is sellable; the keyworder identifies pictures suitable for future
sales; non-keyworded images still archived however.
Pricing is based on circulation of image, and different prices apply to
commercial use. All transactions are B-2-B, one can't make credit card
purchases. Distribution is via satellite, Internet, terrestrial feeds and distributors.
There are 2 million images in the archive; the browser displays approx 1000
images, as download speed is important.
It is a relatively short archive, driven by news events but with iconic pictures;
it was only started in the 1980s.
Packages selected by editors in Singapore are sometimes compiled as
teasers for magazines; e.g. 'celebrities wearing sunglasses'.
Accompanying this fascinating and enthusiastically presented talk we had
a demo of the archive, a tour of the newsroom at work, and Roger kindly
gave us all a free password for a month trial, making it altogether a well-attended
and much appreciated event.
The Information Professionals' Christmas Party
The Information Professionals' Christmas Party
One Whitehall Place, London
December 3
In accordance with traditional Online exhibition synchronisation, the
'information party of the year' was held early in December which could have
caused confusion about which Christmas was being celebrated. It was definitely
my first event of the season anyway and probably the grandest. It was held in the
Gladstone Library and adjoining Reading and Writing Room in the splendid One
Whitehall Place, which was actually technically not in Whitehall Place at all but all
the more lovely to find after some enquiries had been made.
The two-flight curling staircase climb was rewarded by proffered champagne
in the vast 'library', the height of three or four normal rooms, before
one wandered through into the adjoining hall where beautiful ornate wall
decorations competed for the eye's attention with really impressive views
out onto the looming London Eye. Tables of corporate goodies included some
pairs of binoculars for the fast-acting, which could have been well used
in this setting. And the giant jelly beans (also later featuring at Online,
I noticed) could easily have precluded conversation for the whole evening.
Apparently special insurance clauses had to be taken out for their presence!
The appearance of food had all the info pros fighting to get their grubby
hands on the little tarts and prawns. Perhaps there was a rumour that the
food was about to run out but there was a mad rush to eat. However, once
the queues had subsided, it just kept on coming, and coming. Happily
stuffed - well as stuffed as one can be on canapes - the party-goers got
down to the serious business of networking. Now, networking can mean
different things to different people. For some it involves feeling that
frisson of excitement as one exchanges business cards; for others, taking
a leaf out of the 3AM Girls book of journalism, it involves writing down
the drunken rants of some poor librarian; while for others it's simply trying
to out shout each other. There was dancing, drinking, a raffle and hikes
around the building. What more could a party-goer wish for?
Investigative Research on the Net
by Jason Rodrigues, Research & Information, Guardian Observer
Psst!...wanna know how to bug an email, or find someone in the States
using just a telephone number, or perhaps help a journalist expose an
extremist group who have airbrushed hate material from their website? -
then this course is probably for you.
With enthusiastic instruction from the BBC's Paul Myers, an investigative
internet specialist who has enjoyed genuine success with Panaroma and
Watchdog teams, this programme is based at the BBC's Training Unit and is
offered at two levels: complete beginners and intermediate. Anyone with
a decent grasp of web searching, and a good news sense will probably cope
with the intermediate class, and you don't need to work for the Beeb to
register for this one day session.
I attended the intermediate class and Myers began by showing us his own
website which contained dozens of links to web based investigative tools.
We used his site to trace individuals and companies, view hidden web pages,
find incriminating photos, and finally carry out a scary hunt for the
server hosting the Mi6 website. Thankfully, Myers also showed us how to
avoid leaving electronic footprints when searching, and touched on ethical
issues raised when professional researchers go snooping about on the web.
All in, this is a very worthwhile course that will have you 'gobsmacked'
with the wealth of untapped information out there on the web - the
trick is to know where to look for it.
The Research Clinic
AUKML/ICLG Open Day Monday 12th November
By Amy Denyer, Natalia Madjarevic, Fiona McKellar and Benjamin Veasey;
Trainee Librarians at The Guardian
In a cold basement room of Friends House, Euston, a group of enthusiastic
‘New Information Professionals’ gather for the AUKML and CLSIG (Commercial,
Legal & Scientific Group) Open Day. In a move that, in retrospect, could
be considered risky, we take our seats on the front row and prepare
off-the-cuff answers to potential quick fire questions. Listening to a
group of Trainee Librarians in the row behind us discuss submitting
completed Library course postgraduate applications – we are given the
motivation needed to fill out our forms when we get home. An excellent,
if accidental, start to the day. Professor Charles Oppenheim, Department
of Information Science, Loughborough University takes control of the
discussion, armed with a host of witty anecdotes, and a real exuberance
for the subject he teaches. What elements do we study on a library and
information course? Where should we study? Full time, part time or
distance learning? What can we expect as information professionals?
The answers to these important questions, including where we
would meet our future spouse and how long it really takes to get to
Aberystwyth, were provided in an interesting fashion. Clearly Professor
Oppenheim has followed his own advice, that practice in public speaking
is important as an information professional because it has to be done!
After a quick breather Laura Perrott and Jeremy Clarke of Sue Hill
Recruitment take to the stage. Their presentation is entitled 'Thinking
ahead to your career in information', and it does make us think.
We are intrigued at the possibility of becoming a 'Data Warrior'
and some in the room begin to practically salivate at the prospect of
becoming a 'Football Researcher'.
Next we are split into two groups in order to visit the British or
Wellcome Libraries. We opt for the British Library. The very enthusiastic
Kevin presents us with a comprehensive history of the British Library
and we try to imagine how many books are held within the walls
of the library - a difficult task, even with our eyes closed and the use
of a little imagination (something about a journey from Scotland to
Cornwall with books lining the roads).
After lunch at the Friends House are two talks from Law Library Information
Professionals: Pam Woofson from Nabarro and Anneli Sarkanen from Eversheds.
Pam emphasised that, as a profession within a profession, it is essential
to be assertive and to have the ability to interact with people at all
levels of the business. She spoke about how necessary it is to be innovative
and flexible and not to expect to find all information electronically. We
were fairly perplexed by what can only be described as information jargon.
Anneli provided further insight into the work of a Law Librarian. The role
appeared to be fast paced, dealing with 900-1000 enquiries per month. She
claimed employers recruit for attitude and train for ability, and discussed
the need and for Information Officers and lawyers to stay in regular contact.
Next, Liz Maclachlan, an Information Consultant working in the Government
sector discussed the range of Information roles within Departments of
State. The discussion highlighted the recent decline in ‘Real Libraries’ and
the increase in number of ‘Virtual Libraries’ – a fact that encouraged
us to wonder how such virtual information will be saved, updated and accessed
in the future. And what will become of ‘Real Librarians’?!
And so to the main event. Three short talks from media librarian experts.
Richard Nelsson, chair of AUKML, discussed the skills and responsibilities
of librarians working in the media: an interest in news (listening to
Today on Radio 4, watching Newsnight and, of course, reading the papers)
and the ability to think laterally. Again the discussion of the value of
a library within an institution was central. Then as if by magic, an
essential cog in the wheel that is Research and Information at the Guardian,
Isabelle Chevallot, arrived to explain that ‘living in the present’ is a vital
way in which to flourish as a Media Librarian. A refreshing change from
much of the jargon orientated talks from earlier that afternoon, Isabelle
reassured us that the big wide world of librarianship isn't as scary as
we may have first thought. Finishing the day's proceedings, Chloe Wise of
News International fights off technical difficulties from a temperamental
Powerpoint presentation to illustrate life as a librarian for one of the
most influential news organistations in the country. Dealing with 50,000
enquiries per year (eg such as how to spell Tony Blair, whether the research and
enquiry department have any photographs of dinosaurs, or if they could find
articles on heroic acts... that didn't receive any publicity), what is made clear is
that journalists can be a strange bunch.
Perhaps most interesting of all however, is that News International still
maintain their daily cuttings library. Chloe argued that keeping this up
to date is still important in an age where everything but the kitchen sink
is digitised, because cuttings are not affected by technical problems.
Today the arguments for and against keeping and maintaining a cuttings
library within the digital age are left to be pondered by a new generation
of librarians.
Visit to Fairfax: embed with the librarians
by Linda Macdonald
A recent trip down under presented a perfect opportunity to visit Fairfax
Media, the largest media organisation in the Australia pacific region
and home to the Sydney Morning Herald and many other distinguished titles.
The Fairfax Library has recently undergone a revolution in the way it
delivers information services to journalists, moving away from the traditional
centralised library to 'embedding' librarians into newsrooms. Dean Leith,
Information Services Manager, and Deborah Brown, Research Library and Archives
Manager, took me on a tour of Fairfax HQ overlooking Darling Harbour. They
expained how this radical plan came about and the implications it has had on
staff and users. For several decades the Research Library was based
around a centralised Information Desk and book collection with librarians
receiving information requests in person or by email and phone. Over
time markedly fewer journalists were visiting the library, relying
on phone or email and intranet access to the internal electronic news archive.
This trend, a change in the reporting line and a relocation project led
to a move towards greater collaboration with editorial staff and a move
away from a purely reactive reference service. This resulted in the
proposal that 7 librarians be relocated to the newsrooms of the major
mastheads in order to integrate with editorial teams and their processes.
Teams of 2 or 3 are attached to each masthead on a 6 month rotation.
Initially this was met with oppostion from editorial staff who feared a
reduction in information services and from librarians who were concerned
by a loss of team cohesion, negative reactions from journalists and
general trepidation about their future. In fact some librarians found
the change in processes incredibly hard to deal with and two members of staff
resigned shortly afterwards.
Despite the initial concerns, reactions to the decentralised library were
very positive, from editorial staff and librarians. The library's
restructure also provided the perfect opportunity to rebrand the service
and market it to new and existing users. Both these processes led to an
increase in the number of enquiries to the Library, especially more
complex research. Timelines and summaries created by librarians are
now published more frequently, unchanged and often with print acknowledgements.
Greater visibility has not only widened the client base but elevated the
status of librarians and fostered more trusting relationships with editorial
staff. The new structure has brought challengesas well as opportunities.
It is now much harder for the Library Manager to manage the teams as they
are geographically dispersed around the organisation. To maintain the
team cohesion weekly staff meetings were introduced and creative rostering
ensured staff could foster better relationships with each other.
Maintaining the team has been important so colleagues can call upon staff
with specfic areas of expertise or for back-up when workloads at different
titles are unevenly distributed. The team heavily rely on an online
reference management system to co-ordinate the service and manage workloads.
With hindsight it was agreed that more time should have been spent consulting
stakeholders before the process began to fully prepare staff for the changes
in their working practice. The new regime however has been hugely successful
with feedback from editorial staff unanimously supporting the maintanence
of the new 'embedded' structure when Fairfax relocated shortly after my
visit. The librarians I spoke felt that they were more respected and
equal to journalists and more closely involved in editorial decisions
and processes since embedding was introduced. From my own experience at
the Guardian and Observer, where we 'embed' a researcher on rotation
in the newsrooms, I agree with Dean and Deborah who feel that fostering
closer working realtionships with journalists in this way can increase a
library's status and provide librarians with opportunities to develop more
specialised research skills.
Dean Leith and Deborah Brown have written an article entited 'Integration
of the research library service into the editorial process: "embedding"
the librarian into the media.' This appears in Aslib Proceedings Vol 59, No. 6.
Linda MacDonald is a researcher in the Research & Information Department
of The Guardian & Observer.
THE QUESTIONNAIRE: ROB EVANS
ROB EVANS, Guardian investigative reporter, joint
winner of 2007 Paul Foot Award for Campaigning Journalism. Together
with David Leigh he reported extensively on bribery in the UK arms
trade, and was jointly awarded the prize with Deborah Wain from the
Doncaster Free Press for coverage of corrupt local officials.
HOW MANY HOURS A DAY WOULD YOU SAY YOU'RE ONLINE, AVERAGE?
About one, no maybe 2 in all - max!
ARE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITES? ~ WHICH?
No, never got round to it, I probably wouldn't now.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE SET AS YOUR INTERNET HOME PAGE, AND WHAT WOULD BE
YOUR CURRENT TOP 3 WEBSITES, FOR WORK OR PLAY?
I don't have a home page set (Guardian browser setup doesn't facilitate
it), although Google is usually the first port of call. Of course,
if I did have one it would Definitely be the Guardian Unlimited!
DO YOU HAVE A BLOG? ABOUT ...?
No, I don't have one
DO YOU READ BLOGS? EXAMPLES? WORK / LEISURE?
I read a friend's general blog, and Ian Dale's political blog
most days. Actually the Telegraph has
a good one. Also a couple of Freedom of Information ones are useful in
my work: the Campaign for Freedom of Information
& the BBC's FOI blog
DO YOU HAVE A SECOND LIFE ~ OR IS ONE ENOUGH?!
I just about understand what that is but don't participate!
ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT PRIVACY CONCERNS AROUND SOCIAL SITES / BLOGGING
CURRENTLY GAINING EXPOSURE IN THE MEDIA?
Not really as I'm not involved in these kinds of sites.
DO YOU USE AN INTRANET IN YOUR COMPANY AND WHAT ARE YOUR EXPERIENCES OF IT?
I don't use the general company one Spike, it's not relevant, but I DO
use the Research department's site ResearchNet, for the list of links
to particular subject sources. [well said, Rob! ~Ed]
WHICH SEARCH ENGINES DO YOU USE / DISLIKE?
The Google is The One...
WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF NEWSPAPERS, IN THE LIGHT OF INSTANT, ONLINE, 24-HOUR
NEWS CONTENT?
I think the future is uncertain but largely positive. For example, online
publishing is good for journalists as more people read their output.
The advertising that comes along with free online content is a nuisance
but necessary. The Citizen Journalist concept doesn't remove the need
for the job of a journalist with the time and skills to properly sift and
analyse information, and it would be a sad day quite far off if ever that
they would be supplanted, although there is a question of how many
journalists would be needed. Most of what is written about comes from
the papers, ie what journalists produce ~ directly or not.
Roundup: some personal best information sources of 2007
Katharine Schopflin, ITN:
Editorial Getty has saved my bacon identifying z-listers
on the red carpet
(or even Palestinian authority cabinet members).
Modesty prevents me from saying that I thought the best information
event I went to this year was the AUKML TV archiving one...plus a talk
given by my old cataloguing lecturer about how the web has changed
primary research. It was at the UCL SLAIS Graduate Research Club and
was given by John Bowman if you want to include it! Because of my
terrible employers I haven't been to many other events.
Best information social event was the CiG quiz though - it helped that
we won!
The best information book I read this year was an academic one '
Sorting things out - classification and its consequences' by Bowker
and Star..
Best blog is the Gaol house one of course!
+++++++++++++
Richard Nelsson, Guardian:
Blogs
I seem to get more and more information from blogs. I usually consult
Roy Greenslade's blog at least
once a day as he has all the latest media news plus informed comment.
It also includes a good press events diary.Of course there's always
The Resource Shelf and then
Philip Bradley and
Karen Blakeman.
The Goalhouse blog is always worth looking at although
they're sometimes a bit slow at updating...
Website
Well, MediaGuardian is usually open
but I'm always impressed with UKClimbing.com.
Book
By far the best book this year has got to be the Guardian Book of Mountains;
a collection of over 100 years of journalism about climbing and the great
outdoors. It's beautifully produced and includes some fascinating essays.
Well recommended. You can read about how it came to be written here: http://www.ibiblio.org/slanews/nln/nln07/nln301.pdf
or then order a copy: http://tinyurl.com/yv6lh9
or .http://tinyurl.com/239e6b. Good Christmas
present idea.
+++++++++++
Catharine Watson, Herald:
Best website
I have so many favourites that it’s almost impossible to choose. Unfortunately,
I don’t seem to be using many ‘new’ websites so I’m sorry if these are
safe and boring (and not ‘hot’).
If frequency of use is anything to go by then the IMDB, the Media
Guardian and the Measuring Worth site win this category for me. The
IMDB, because it’s so thorough and up-to-date and a great starting point
for film and actor profiles. I couldn’t do our media briefings without
the Media Guardian’s Media Briefing service (or it would take me twice
as long). Measuring Worth is fascinating and surprisingly useful for
those quirky monetary requests!
Book
This is the toughest one to choose. Our new books tend to be the latest
editions of directories. I’d be hard pushed to describe the 2008 Medical
Directory as ‘hot’.However, we do try and stock books that have Scottish
relevance and Rosemary Goring’s 2000-year history book: Scotland: The
Autobiography will prove to be a valuable addition to the library. Mainly
because it’s meticulously indexed which is a
joy for any librarian.
Blog
I love Andrew Keen’s ‘Cult of the Amateur’ blog. Mainly because I’m suspicious
of most blogs and bloggers and so is Keen which brings several layers of irony
to this answer.
‘Cult of the Amateur’is really a polemic. Keen is railing against the ‘boundless’
narcissism, unsubstantiated opinion and the meaningless jargon that has evolved
from Web 2.0 technology. All subjects dear to my heart at the moment and
probably most of those who still care about quality journalism.
More importantly, Keen’s blog is always an entertaining and informative read.
And it’s actually very useful for keeping up-to-date with developments in web
technology.
Event
I can’t comment on the best event given that I haven’t attended any this year!
Instead, I’m going to give a special mention to The 19th Century British
Library Newspaper website which we were lucky enough to trial for a few
weeks. It was launched in October, with over one million pages of content,
including 80 years of The Glasgow Herald. It’s incredibly easy to search
and the quality of the digitised newspaper pages is superb. It’s just a
pity we can’t afford the subscription!
+++++++++++++
Caroline White, Guardian:
Book
Military balance ~ an old timer, but sadly always topical in these
days of wars
Website
del.icio.us ~ transports of delight at transporting your bookmarks
wherever you are browsing!
Blog
Guardian(groan)'s media blog OrganGrinder
Finally, AUKML member Peter Chapman points out a very pertinent book we should
know about: "Consider the Source: A Critical Guide to the 100 Most Prominent
News and Information Sites on the Web" by James F. Broderick & Darren W. Miller
Newspapers have been slow to adopt the Internet, but now they've broken away
from an outdated mindset. This guide, reviewed by Graham Stewart, lists and
reviews the top 100 online news sites.
+++++++++++++++++++++
~ WISHING A VERY HAPPY, INTERESTING AND SUCCESSFUL 2008 TO ALL! ~
Please send news, reviews and letters to: deadline.
Deadline is produced by Caroline White and members of the Guardian's Research & Information department.
