LIS 657���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Jonathan Eaker The Charlotte Observer Site Visit Assessment ����������� Until this class I didn�t realize the newspaper had a library, I thought they just kept an archive of all their old papers and the reporters did their own research. When I found out they had a library I expected it to be a room off to the side with lots of reference books. I expected they also used many online databases. I expected they may also have books on topics that the paper reports on. I thought the paper�s old issues were kept in a separate archive with its own archivist. ����������� The head librarian at the Charlotte Observer is Marion Painter. She took us into the very large newsroom, saying it was one of the biggest continuous newsrooms in the country. We ended up on one side of it where the library was a partitioned off area. It�s not a very big area, especially when you consider there are three librarians and three assistants working there. They have a small collection of books that are standard reference books and books about the local areas. The library is responsible for archiving all the articles and photos used in the paper. She used the phrase, �Save what made news�, to describe what they do. Their indexing system is loose and informal. They give names and meta-tags to photos based on what the photo shows and how it could be searched for. The computerized archiving system was slow but she did mention they are getting a new database soon. On the computer they can�t edit the photos, just the meta data. The photos are saved in JPEG or TIFF format. The paper started the photo database system in 1993 and started the text archiving system in 1986. Before that they saved text articles by cutting them up and putting them in marked envelopes organized by people and subject. The envelopes are stored in moveable shelves to the side of the library. Ms. Painter said that they have around two million photos and five million clippings in the archives. They have some of the papers from 1892 forward on microfilm. ����������� At 10am every morning there is a meeting of people from various departments about what will be in the next day�s paper. There is always a librarian at these meeting who will ask if they need something or take requests for information. During the rest of the day the library gets calls and visits from reporters asking for the things they need. Much of their research is background information for reporters starting stories. Lately, they have been doing more research for public records. To access this data they subscribe to a database, AutoTrack, that gathers data from many places on everyone. They also subscribe to PACER, which gives them access to federal court rulings. The reporters do a lot of their own research. They have Lexis-Nexis available on their desktop computers and they have their own books and sources with information specific to their area. Since the reporters vary greatly on their database searching abilities, librarians do have training in how to use Lexis-Nexis so they can focus on the more difficult searches. ����������� The library�s budget declined a few years back, but has stayed steady since then. The decline mirrors the overall budget of the newspaper. Ms. Painter submits a yearly budget each July. It is up to her what the library�s budget is spent on. She reports to the head of technology who is very supportive of the library. Her position makes her equal to the senior editors. They are planning to update the archive database and have selected the same vendor all the other Knight-Ridder papers are using so they can easily share information. It will be able to store all types of media including sound and video, in addition to the photos and text. They are also about to sign a contract to digitize some of the microfilm archive. The ones before 1923 are going out of copyright so they are in a hurry to get that done. ����������� All of the librarians at the various Knight-Ridder papers have been talking in order to get more done. By purchasing Lexis-Nexis for the entire company they were able to save money. More of the decisions are being made at the corporate level so by talking together they are able to make decisions as a whole and approach the company as a group giving them more power. Ms. Painter has been at the Observer for 12 years. She started at a research library and later worked in a corporate library. She said her biggest challenge was getting heard, but people in all the departments feel isolated from other departments so it�s something you have to understand and live with. In order to do her job she said she works on communication, time management, prioritizing responsibilities, and keeping up with technology. She goes to SLA to keep up with what is current in the profession. ����������� I was surprised at how small the library was and how small the collection was. I thought a big company like that, which does so much research would have a large library. I also thought it would be more than a glorified cubicle. The work environment looked very unorganized for a library. She admitted they didn�t have a real system for storing photos. I know from doing work with lots of images and other media, if you don�t keep your files in either a very strict order, or with very descriptive titles, things can get lost very easy. I was also really surprised that they run the newspaper archive also. I would have thought that it would be run separately by and archivist so that anyone who needs access to an old issue can get it. I also was surprised that they still keep all those old articles in little envelopes. It seems that it would be so easy to lose an article.