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October 2002
Editorial All of us in AUKML were shocked and saddened to learn of the death in September of Justin Arundale, one of our most respected and likeable members. A major force in the library world, he played a vital part in raising the profile of AUKML and was a great ambassador for librarians. He was probably best known for his work in setting up the libraries at Today and The Independent at a time when electronic information services were in their infancy. After moving to Brighton University Justin remained an active, helpful and popular member of AUKML. He was one of our great characters and in this issue of Deadline, Charles Oppenheim, Judith Dunn and Gertrud Erbach pay tribute to the life and work of someone whom we shall miss badly. Also in this issue, there are reviews of AUKML events and all of the news. Don't forget the next meeting (for those north of the border), in Glasgow at the end of the month and hopefully Gary Price is going to talk to us again when he comes over for the Online Conference in December. As all those who attended last year's visit will testify, this is one AUKML meeting that it is well worth making the effort for. Deadline is produced by Richard Nelsson and the Guardian Research Department. Please send news, reviews and letters to: richard.nelsson@guardian.co.uk or deadline@aukml.org.uk The opinions expressed in Deadline are not necessarily those of the AUKML. Tributes to Justin Arundale Justin Arundale by Charles Oppenheim The shocking news of the sudden death of Justin deprives the UK LIS profession of one of its brightest stars. Erudite, well-read, committed to the information profession and to his students at Brighton University, he was a thoughtful, modest and gentle man. At the same time, he was a hard-working colleague who was liked and respected by all who came into contact with him. I first met him in the late 1980s when he and I negotiated the distribution of the full text of The Independent newspaper on the then Reuter Textline service. We got to know each other better at the East-West Online Conference in Moscow in October 1989, and at the annual conferences of the Association of UK Media Librarians, which we both attended throughout the late 1980s and 1990s. He was the best man at my wedding in 1996. Justin was one of the most widely read and intellectual people I have ever met. His wide range of interests and amazing capacity to absorb what he read meant he had lateral thinking ability that most of us can only dream of. Always an attractive public speaker, he was a caring, committed teacher who was inspirational for his students. We had a common interest in legal issues, and although he frequently consulted me on problem areas, in fact he was always correct in his interpretations of the law. Many of my interests in this area derive from animated conversations we had regarding both real and imaginary cases that might arise. He was an intellectual who had been a success in newspaper libraries, but his premature death meant that he had not yet reached his full potential as an academic. I will mourn the loss of a very close friend, and our thoughts must go out to his parents, his sister, his partner Barrie, his many friends and his professional colleagues who were so very fond of him.
Charles Oppenheim
Justin Arundale It was Justin Arundale who gave me my first break as a librarian in this country when he appointed me to join him at the library of The Independent. We had previously met briefly in the context of the Association of UK Media Librarians when Justin talked about setting up the library at TODAY. I still remember the interview. I was very nervous and did not feel on top of it. Justin put me at ease by telling me about his philosophy of media libraries and how he thought they ought to change. I didn't think I had got the job, but sometimes life surprises you. I worked with Justin for almost six years. During that time the library of The Independent changed from a traditional cuttings library to an information centre. The team took pride in answering any questions from the most erudite to the most trivial. It was Justin who took charge of the erudite. Justin was keen to get The Independent online and there was obviously great interest from the online vendors. The paper went online in October 1988 with a CD-ROM version to follow in 1990. The Independent was the first UK national newspaper to be available on CD-ROM. To make it happen, Justin had worked closely with the IT department to establish a workflow allowing us to extract, format and edit the data on the Atex system and have them ready for transmission by the afternoon. The work was done by the library team but Justin made sure he knew exactly what was involved before he let us get on with it. Justin was well respected by the Indy's journalists who often came to the library either for a chat or to ask his advice. He was a regular at morning conference where his contributions could amuse, provoke or amaze. It was Justin's ambition to show the journalists that he was as good a writer as the best of them but he conceded that while he might be able to produce a good story he would never be able to do it within their deadlines and on a daily basis. The great triumph for Justin and his team came in 1989 when Radio 4 broadcast The Year in Question, a knock-out quiz in which teams from two rival newspapers answered questions on the events of a given year. The contests were recorded in the upstairs bar of The Old Cock, a tavern in Fleet Street, in front of many noisy and partisan supporters. The Independent's team consisted of Sarah Hogg, Mark Lawson and Peter Kellner and was coached with great enthusiasm and relish by Justin and his team. The Independent won and we all proudly attended the celebration at a Soho restaurant at the invitation of the editor. No doubt, the victory cemented Justin's reputation at the newspaper and he was soon asked to extend his responsibilities by taking charge of the Picture Library and by setting up a Reader Services department. Like most information professionals, Justin was eager to share his knowledge and experience, whether you liked it or not. Placement students were freely given his time. University lecturers who wanted to get their hands dirty and librarians who were considering a move to the media were generously invited to spend some time in the library. Personally, I owe a great deal to Justin. As a manager he trusted you and let you get on with your job and he allowed you to learn from (some of) your mistakes. He happily listened when I discussed problems I encountered in my managerial role only to then tell me to "climb the tree" and "to feel the fear and do it anyway". At the time, I didn't want to hear it but now I know that it was the best advice he gave me. Gertrud Erbach
Justin Arundale In the early 1980s, the newspaper librarian's professional tools consisted of a retentive memory, a sharp pair of scissors and a bottle of glue. Nothing much had changed in 50 years ? there was no new technology, few professionally qualified staff and a daily mountain of newspaper cuttings to be clipped and filed. Justin Arundale was one of the first qualified librarians to work in Fleet Street, firstly on TODAY and then on The Independent, where he set up pioneering information services. The professional status now enjoyed by librarians in the media and the shift in focus of newspaper libraries from "morgue" to "profit centre" owe much to Justin's influence. By the late 1980s there were sufficient enlightened librarians working in newspapers to warrant the foundation of an Association of UK Media Librarians. Justin was there at the beginning and remained one of AUKML's stalwart members. Meetings and conferences were enlivened by his unique blend of intellectual rigour and waspish humour. Justin loved to provoke debate on issues such as "Should we give journalists access to news databases?" He was firmly opposed, somehow turning a business strategy born out of cost control into a statement of personal philosophy. He could be scathing of those whose professional views he didn't respect, but was the first to admit a mistake and acknowledge when he'd been wrong. Debates continued afterwards in the bar, with Justin holding court. Hilarious stories from his childhood in Africa were mixed with gossip about journalism and perhaps too much information about the effects of operations he had endured in a lifetime dogged by ill-health. His joie de vivre defied his illness and made him the most entertaining and surprising companion. A librarian and classical scholar with a passion for choral singing ? Justin had a fine tenor voice ? might not be so unusual, but friends and colleagues were stunned to be invited to the 40th birthday barn dance organised by Justin, where he whooped and hollered like a cowboy, with his guests following suit. Justin's flair for mischief could be demonstrated in a professional capacity too. Speakers at an international conference on digital archiving still recall their horror when, at a pre-conference briefing, he announced that they could throw away their prepared papers, because he proposed to chair IFRA's first unstructured two-day symposium. To the speakers' credit, and thanks to Justin's inspired chairmanship, this anarchic strategy produced the most stimulating conference. Justin continued to nurture his media contacts after he took up his lecturing post at Brighton. His AUKML colleagues were pleased to take his students on placements, to guest lecture on his courses and to talk about sponsorship. Justin remained passionate about the need for professionalism in media libraries and concerned about the fragmentation of the information profession into sectoral groupings. My last conversation with him was about the opportunities opened up for media librarians by the creation of CILIP. It is terribly sad that he is no longer here to help us seize them. Judith Dunn News Global growth in newspaper sales The annual survey of world press trends by the World Association of Newspapers reveals that in 2001, newspapers in 30 per cent of the 69 countries surveyed reported an increase in daily sales over the previous year. Sales in the UK, however, were down by 1.8 per cent in 2001 and over a five year period were down by 8.7 per cent. The Norwegians and the Japanese remain the world's greatest newspaper buyers, with 705 and 667 sales per thousand of the population respectively. The report also notes that many newspaper websites are enjoying dramatic growth in terms of traffic and 129 countries reported increases in internet advertising in 2001. http://www.wan-press.org ITC Library Most web site searches are failures
People Helen Martin Maryvonne Grellier Richard Nelsson Pat Baird Nick Dastoor AUKML committee Letters Dear Editor, I never wanted to become a librarian but I count myself lucky that, on one of my rare attendances at library school, I was forced to take the last placement on the list - a month at the Guardian (sign of the times I guess that all the public libraries had gone first in those days). I knew instantly that I liked newspapers and with time it seemed possible to marry the two. It's always exciting being in at the beginning of things - the development of media librarianship, online, AUKML etc - and I hope that AUKML can continue to thrive and grow on many more similar challenges (not least our declining population) as that will be the best testament there could be to our continuing contribution to the news gathering process. I do hope too that all the young starters out there will get stuck in and offer help to Ian, and Jill as chair - elect. The advantage of AUKML has always been its manageable size and its independence. The committee put in hours of voluntary time but it pays dividends in so many ways and there can never be too much help or enthusiasm. Don't be shy! A persistent dream that Sarah Adair and I had in the early days was of expanding the association across Europe, launched by a Paris conference. We're still up for it...any volunteers?
Dear Ian and AUKML members,
Meeting reviews Future Data Warriors Prepare for Battle There is always a sense of anticipation before such occasions - a heady mix of excitement and expectation, tinged with just a touch of fear. This day was no different. As we strapped on our information armour and prepared to take to the practice field, we knew the day would be testing and taxing. Ahead of us stood the assembled ranks of other young hopefuls, all eager to prove their worth and earn their knowledge spurs. On hand, too, a selection of the finest mentors, available to dispense their wisdom to the awestruck raw recruits. The day began with talk of the importance of comradeship and camaraderie: "make friends and influence people" was the cry that echoed from the lips of Jill Tulip as she stood before the horde of junior information architects. "Make networking your sword, slay the beast of misinformation," she chanted. The message was clear: pledge yourself to the ancient order of AUKML and receive the key to the gates of Castle Knowledge. Visibly stunned by such revelations, the throng of apprentice Global Knowledge Integrators had little time to recover before a Merlin-esque figure appeared before us. With a wave of his hand, he revealed to the now-silent masses the many and varied paths to righteousness. The many-resplendent virtues of the City academy, the Hogwarts of Information, were laid bare before our disbelieving eyes. "Train with us, and you shall be given the shield of qualification with which to deflect the claims of unprofessionalism," Dave Nicholas intoned. He was gone as quickly as he arrived. By now, we understood that the way of the Librarian was both long and arduous. But just as heads were starting to drop, and thoughts were turning away from knowledge, a mighty figure took to the stage, and hope was restored. "The future," he began, "is bright." "The future," he continued, "is the Knowhow Database Administrator." That would have been enough, yet he dazzled us with even more opportunities ? of Learning Resource Officers, of Policy Information Officers, and, for a lucky few, the Company Intelligence Officer. With heads held high, we filed away for a much-needed retreat from the morning's efforts. After a sumptuous feast, we returned to our seats to hear reports from the frontline of the information battlefield. The three survivors, visibly scarred and variously decorated for their efforts (Digital Librarian, Project Officer and Assistant Librarian respectively), regaled us with tales of their heroism in the face of adversity. Poor Eona Bell, terrorised and harassed continually by rabid cost-cutters and penny-pinchers! David Little, lost in a sea of gateways and portals, striving to achieve the goals of accurate information, and keep his head above water. Neil Edward, too, bedevilled by ignorant journalists, constantly doubted and undermined in his efforts by their foolhardiness. They pulled no punches, and by the time the third, tear-jerking report was finished, everyone felt their pain. Indeed, by this stage of proceedings, the Guardian's four trainee librarians were shaken to their very cores. They departed from the gathering, and returned to their knowledge outpost. Many important lessons had been learned. Gertrud Erbach adds: Carole Woods, Information Scientist at GlaxoSmithKline, is responsible for journals, both printed and electronic. The company operates from several sites in the UK and has operations based in the US. The merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham in December 2000 resulted in a restructure of the information departments with a very flat management structure. On a daily basis, Carole manages hardcopy journals and negotiates subscription deals with e-journal suppliers for all sites in the UK and the US. This involves a certain amount of travelling. As her manager is located in the US Carole spends a lot of her afternoon in meetings conducted via the telephone. Caroline Hugh, Head of Portal Services at Virgin.net, described the effect of the end of the dot-com boom on her job. At the peak of the dot-com boom she started at Virgin.net as information architect, surfing the net for interesting sites to be classified and added to Virgin's website. She was responsible for a large team liaising with customers and colleagues from the technical department. The collapse of the dot-com boom meant that all operations had to be scaled down. Now Caroline's main role is to negotiate with potential content providers for the Virgin.net site. Sam Luton is a graduate trainee in the Guardian Research Department The event was sponsored by AUKML and the Industrial & Commercial Libraries Group: http://www.iclg.org.uk Careers for media librarians: a talk by Francis Muzzu With your impressive CV and perfect interview technique, you may think that getting a stimulating, well-paid job shouldn't be too difficult. You may indeed be brilliant and have an outgoing personality, but the brutal truth is that around sixty per cent of jobs are never advertised. Many vacancies are simply filled by word of mouth. This was the sobering message from Francis Muzzu, Senior consultant at Sue Hill Recruitment, at an recent AUKML talk. In a well attended meeting, he demonstrated how to maximise your chances of finding a new job, as well as ways in which the skills of the media librarian can be used in the wider world of information management. As your CV is the selling point, Muzzu suggested putting a short personalised objective at the top. Next, list the relevant skills for the particular job. This usually means the technical or 'hard' skills asked for in the job advert, but he also advised not to play down 'soft' ones such negotiation and interpersonal skills. Be aware too, that many 'new' skills are merely old ones with a different name such as the case of taxonomy and indexing. So don't be afraid to list those core library skills. To try and find one of those jobs that aren't advertised though, Muzzu advised that you work on your professional development. By this he meant marketing yourself outside of your workplace. This could be going to information events - not just AUKML - and trying a spot of networking. Also, know what is happening in the business by reading the information press, (Information World Review, Cilip Update, Free Pint, Managing Information), and go on courses to develop skills. Finally, tell friends and colleagues that you're looking for a new job - although you may want to use a bit of discretion when doing this. No matter how painful it may seem, self- analysis is a good thing. Muzzu suggested making a top 10 list of your best skills and qualities. Ask yourself questions such as What am I good at? and Where do I want to be in the three years time? Books such as What Color is your parachute?* may help. Judging by the questions asked after the presentation, people are concerned about the type of jobs out there in the marketplace. One questioner wanted to know what the chances were of securing a job if - despite having a wealth of experience - you didn't have formal qualifications. The answer was that unfortunately a library qualification is the bench mark for many employers. There was also concern about a perception amongst employers that the media sector don't have the right skills. Muzzu admitted that it is a problem, but the solution is to work on your CV. On a positive note, ageism isn't that much of a problem and there has been a growth of jobs outside of London. Also he pointed out that it is not necessarily a negative career choice to temp. It can pay to be flexible, but he did suggest caution when considering a job, no matter how interesting, without first checking the location. If you like your social life, you may regret moving to a quiet part of the country. The meeting covered a lot of points and was generally well received. Francis Muzzu was honest about how tough the job market is but also offered encouragement and positive advice. However some felt that the talk didn't address the core question of what exactly is the value of media librarian skills out there in the market place. Perhaps a follow up session could be arranged for these people or they could always arrange an interview at Sue Hill Recruitment.
http://www.suehill.com/ *What Colour is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles, Ten Speed Press, 1999. Palgrave Macmillan Seminar on Online Reference The main purpose of this half-day seminar was to publicise Palgrave Macmillan's new online version of the Statesman's Yearbook, SYBworld. As many of you will know, the Statesman's Yearbook is a quick reference guide to countries around the world, including history, statistics and organisations. It often sits on news reference shelves next to Whitakers Almanack and Who's Who. The first two speakers, Barry Turner, editor of both publications, and Alison Jones, publisher of SYBworld, gave us some history of the products. They emphasised the independent research behind the Statesman's Yearbook (in particular compared with the CIA World Factbook which is, of course, free but not exactly unbiased). They talked about new material on SYBworld like biographies and city profiles and features like hypertext links on appropriate pages. I was particuarly interested to hear that they choose not to deep link to the most relevant pages, as home pages are less likely to go out of date. After tea and scones, we reassembled for the remaining three speakers: librarians from the academic and public sectors and Martin Bell, the former independent MP, now UNICEF UK Special Representative for Humanitarian Emergencies. Chris Milne works for the information services department at the University of Abertay Dundee, a university with a specialisation in business and management. He raised the issue of what happens if you stop subscribing to an electronic reference source. In the days of paper subscriptions libraries still had the information available up to the point the subscription stopped, but with an electronic source it is lost forever. He suggested that information professionals could put pressure on vendors to allow a certain amount of access in the event of a cancelled subscription. Martin Bell's talk concentrated on the impoverishment of information available in media and new media alike. Although we might believe we now have all types of information at our fingertips, much of the web's content is biased or inaccurate. He pointed out that it is easier to find out about the lives of celebrities than it is to know where bombs are being dropped in Afghanistan and Iraq. Another interesting point made by Bell was that if you see a correspondent reporting from in front of a palm tree then you know that all his or her footage comes from third parties - probably shot by opposing armies and military groups. He also added that the pressure to win awards among journalists shouldn't be underestimated - he knows of someone who won a Royal Television Society award from a largely manufactured piece. While positive about the web and enthusiastic about the importance of librarians, Bell was essentially pessimistic about most citizens' ability to access the information they need. The questions which followed pointed up aspects of this. One of SYBworld's researchers suggested that today's journalists have little curiosity and don't question their sources much. A librarian at SOAS raised the issue that we now divert large percentages of our scarce budgets into buying electronic products provided by a small number of western corporations. Although her needs - foreign language materials - were specific, it raised the question that the information being provided by libraries and information services is inevitably less diverse. In all it was a worthwhile and rewarding afternoon, touching on many of the issues faced by those of us who primarily (or in my case entirely) deliver services online. Katharine Schopflin is a Senior Information Researcher, Research Central, Information & Archives, BBC Finance, Property & Business Affairs. SYBworld have recently been promoting their product. What do you think of it? Some say it's brilliant while others are not so sure. Why not post a message to the AUKML listserv. To join, send a message to majordomo@bton.ac.uk. Leave the header blank and enter as text in the body: subscribe aukml (your email address).
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