Vol. 24, No.4/Summer 2002

Table of Contents
Regular Features Aside Bar Notes from the Chair People New This Month Library Profile: USA Today A First Time Conference Experience News Division Annual Business Meeting Minutes Credits News Library News SLA News Division Home
| NEWS DIVISION, SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, JUNE 10, 2002 LOS ANGELES CONVENTION CENTER Board members present: Jody Habayeb, chair; Catherine Kitchell, treasurer; Michael Jesse, chair-elect; Alice Pepper, secretary. Also present, 28 members and guests. Meeting called to order at 3:00 p.m. by Jody Habayeb. 2001 meeting minutes: Jody asked for a motion to approve the 2001 business meeting minutes, as published in News Library News. Donna Scheeder moved, Richard Geiger seconded. EXECUTIVE BOARD REPORTS CHAIR-ELECT - Michael Jesse Michael gave a conference update and said things were going OK. 123 people pre-registered for the conference. TREASURER - Catherine Kitchell Catherine began by thanking Bill Van Niekerken for his help with organizing previous financial records.

    6/1/01 - 6/1/02

    Balance (as of 6/5/02)		$33,198.51

    Income

    Bulletin Subscription Income	     $30.00

    Contributions			    $250.00

    Dues Allotment 			  $7,300.00

    Interest Income			     $15.96

    Meeting Income --

    Florida News Group 		  $1,650.00

    Misc. Income 			  $2,719.86

    Sponsorships 			 $55,329.07

    Total Income		    $67,294.89

    Expenses

    Bank Charges			     $15.00

    Bulletin ñ Advertising		   $-384.00

    Bulletin ñ Non-advertising		 $10,160.93

    Contribution Expenses		  $2,100.00

    Meeting Expenses 			 $37,018.58

    Florida News Group		     $31.56

    Total Expenses 		    $48,942.07

    Overall Total			 $18,352.82
Respectfully submitted, Catherine Kitchell, Treasurer PAST-CHAIR/DIRECTOR-AWARDS - Debra Bade (John Jansson gave the report for Debra.) First, a special thank you to members of my Awards Committee for their work this year: Tom Lutgen and Ron Larson, who are unable to be at conference with us; and Kathy Foley and Patti Graziano, who I believe are here. Two action items which the Awards Committee is passing along to the 2003 Awards Committee include the C.B. Hayden Fellowship, and an as yet unnamed award to honor exceptional research content on a web site, Many of you knew our colleague C.B., who died last spring. I pulled together a task force last fall with members Barbara Semonche, Madeline Cohen, Candy Stuart, and Melinda Carlson to suggest ideas on how best to remember C.B. in a formal way. The C.B. Hayden Fellowship will be a $500 award to a member of the News Division to assist that member in attending the annual conference. The Awards Committee also proposes to create a new award which would recognize top quality research materials being published on a web site. This would be a non-monetary award but would bring cache to the web site as well as bring recognition of the expertise of the News Division and its members. The highlight of this year's Awards work will take place this evening at our annual News Division Awards Banquet. Weíll be gathering at the Hotel Casa del Mar in Santa Monica to honor our award recipients: M.J. Crowley, winner of our Kwapil Award, the highest honor of the News Division; Jim Hunter and Sharon Clairemont, winners of the Henebry Award. Jody Habayeb will receive the Shoemaker Award for her service as Chair, and Hannah Sommers of the University of Texas in Austin will receive the Vormelker Student Award this year. I hope you will all be able to join us tonight for the celebration. A final note on tonight's event: Ticketed event 585 includes the reception/banquet and bus transportation. Ticketed event 590 includes the reception and bus transportation but not the banquet. Buses will leave from the Figueroa Street side of the Westin Bonaventure tonight at 5:00 p.m. to take attendees out to Santa Monica. Peter Johnson and John Jackson from the Los Angeles Times will be helping out with the buses. And buses will return you to the Westin Bonaventure tonight, leaving Santa Monica at approximately 10:00 p.m. after the banquet concludes. Submitted by Debra Bade. DIRECTOR-PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & EDUCATION - Jennifer Small Evert Jennifer worked with Carolyn Edds on setting up Sundayís Continuing Education workshop, "News Libraries Taking Action for Change." 28 people registered, 26 attended. Barbara Spiegelman, who graciously cut her honorarium, led the workshop. Last year the CE attendance was 35. 42 attended in 2000. Jennifer proposed two half-day sessions for next year - perhaps one on research and a second on management. The News Division might consider working with other divisions on program. An alternate CE could be done using the facilities at Poynter or the South Atlantic Regional Conference. There was some discussion. Jody said she approached Paul Pohlman of Poynter. They will provide the facility but the News Division must make arrangements and provide funding. Jennifer suggested creating an education committee to study how to implement these proposals. DIRECTOR-PUBLICATIONS - Mona Hatfield (Linda Henderson gave the report for Mona.) News Division members enjoy two robust, interesting, professional publications: News Library News and the News Division web site. News Library News is published quarterly at significant cost to the Division. The cost is measured in money and in people. Leigh Poitinger has been our editor these past two years and has marshaled a diverse and dedicated corps of volunteers to support NLN's standing features and columns and provide interesting ad hoc articles as well. (Okay if folks want to give a round of applause for Leigh & co. here!) Chandra Pierce has been webmeistress and coordinated volunteer efforts to keep our Web site updated. Janet Sammons has worked on the "Newspaper Archives on the Web" page, Lynn Palombo is currently working on the "Archiving Vendor List" and we have five volunteers updating "State by State" pages. Everyone who visits our Web site, or takes pride in referring it to a colleague, owes this group a round of applause. The News Division web site's "SLA News" page averages over 100,000 hits every month. News Library News on the web averages over 3,500 page hits per month. Internet, conferences, intranet and jobs page hits range between somewhere between those two. Interest in the Web site is high. It is high within the news library community and within the journalism community at large. Carolyn Edds has been the reason our Web site exists and continues to grow. She has spent hours updating it and recruiting help and contributions for it. She has agreed to coordinate posting conference materials to the site again this year. Please join me in thanking Carolyn for her tremendous efforts on our behalf. And now that we have recognized what is good about our two publications we must recognize what is not good. It is not good that less than a dozen members have volunteered to maintain our only communication and education vehicles available to all members. It is not good that we have relied on one person to design, refresh and redesign our Web site. It is not good that conversation surrounding the opportunities available to us in our publications happens once a year among less than one-tenth of our membership. And, finally, I admit it is not good that your current publications director didn't force this conversation more broadly more often to lay a foundation for future development of the publications that would not fall on the shoulders of only a few. We face a challenge greater than just money in keeping our communication tools relevant and vibrant. We face the challenge of dedicated resources to update and maintain fresh, diverse perspectives on the pages of our Web site and News Library News. We have taken a small first step in addressing that challenge through a SWOT analysis of our two communications vehicles. Common themes evolved in the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats described by this initial group's analysis. Incoming Publications Director Liz Donovan will look to each of you for your ideas on these themes and more importantly, for your time to make those ideas reality. Submitted by Mona Hatfield. COMMITTEE REPORTS ARCHIVES - Teresa Leonard Peter Johnson reported for Teresa that the archives are status quo. AUTOMATION-TECHNOLOGY - Peter Johnson. No report. BROADCAST - Melinda Carlson. No report. BYLAWS - Ron Larson. No report. DIVERSITY - Kee Malesky. No report. ELECTIONS - Marilyn Bromley (Heidi Yacker reported for Marilyn.) Ballots for three Executive Board positions (chair-elect, director of publications and secretary) were mailed out in early March 2002 to all current News Division members. Ballots were to be postmarked no later than April 5, 2002 in order to be counted. All 219 ballots returned by that date were valid ñ 30% of News Division members. This percentage was 28% in 2001, 30% in 2000 and 34% in 1999. The winners are: Linda Henderson, Chair-Elect; Elisabeth Donovan, Director of Publications; Leigh Poitinger, Secretary. Expenses for the election were donated by BNA and the BNA Library staff. Respectfully submitted, Marilyn Bromley, Teller/Elections Chair EMPLOYMENT - Rosemary Nelms The number of job postings on the NewsLib listserv and/or on the NewsLib Web site declined considerably this year. 40 jobs were posted between June 5, 2001 and June 5, 2002 as compared to 63 postings the year before (June 2000 ñ June 2001) and 76 postings the year before that (June 1999 ñ June 2000). However, a count of the jobs posted each month showed resurgence in 2002 compared to 2001. There were 15 jobs posted in the last 6 months of 2001 compared to 25 postings in the first 6 months of 2002, a promising increase. Of the jobs posted in the current period, there were 22 in the newspaper industry, 12 in broadcasting, two from magazines, and 4 in the "other" category. Of the job totals, the majority were postings for reference librarians or researchers, full time (18) and part-time (4). Other categories included library director (5), photo librarian (3), database manager (2), editor/indexer (2), fact writer, events database manager, and library assistant. Openings for 3 internship positions were also posted. 13 of the positions required an MLS; in 5 postings, an MLS was preferred. Of the listed skills needed or knowledge required, as in last yearís postings, experience in searching commercial databases like LexisNexis, Dialog and Dow Jones was mentioned most often. Other desired qualifications included expertise in searching the Internet and public records databases, as well as ability to design Web pages and intranets and build in-house databases. New to the list of qualifications were experience in negotiating agreements with information vendors and awareness of rights and permissions issues. Our perfect News Library job candidate will also have a knowledge of popular culture and current events, be able to adapt to technological change, have good communication and writing skills, be an effective newsroom coach and trainer, be able to work as a team member but also have management abilities. We want someone entrepreneurial, creative, and flexible with a good sense of humor who can meet deadlines in a fast-paced high pressure environment. As my Managing Editor said after reading one of my job postings, "And be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound." Submitted by Rosemary Nelms. GOVERNMENT RELATIONS ñ Heidi Yacker. No report. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Wil Roestenburg About a year ago Jody Habayeb asked me to set up an International Relations Committee for the News Division and to choose one or two projects to focus on for the near future. I had real doubts about this job, but felt very honored too, so in August I decided to accept this challenge, knowing that 1.) a year seems really long when you look forward, and a lot can be done in just one year, but... 2.) Time flies. Looking back there's also often the feeling that nothing really changed or happened. Could we have done much more? Well, not for this year. International relations changed dramatically and our daily work was highly affected by Sept. 11, mostly by the uncertainty. I was glad Barbara Semonche, Laura Soto-Barra, John Cronin and Izak Minnaar agreed to be members of this team. Later, Dalia Salazar requested to be a member too and of course, we welcome her. During the past 10 months we had irregular contacts by e-mail, exchanging thoughts and ideas about how to continue and where to focus on. The most important issues we discussed are as follows. Barbara made a list available of all international subscribers on NewsLib (Sept. 2001). (www.ibiblio.org/journalism/newlibinternational.htm) Laura went to South-America on behalf of Freedom Forum and did training, courses and presentations on internet, intranet, news research etc. to journalism students, professors and reporters in Bolivia. That had a big impact for those involved and gave her a real good insight in what's needed in the region. I was glad to attend the summit on "News Libraries in Crisis" in Minneapolis (Nov. 2001). For me, this summit made clear that in Europe and the USA and Latin America, we all are dealing with the same kind of issues and problems, newspapers and media all over the world are dealing with the same kind of developments in society and the same kind of repercussions. Our job has a very international profile in itself; in fact, borders aren't relevant anymore. (www.inms.umn.edu/convenings/newslibraryincrisis/reports.htm) The short thread on NewsLib on (international) travel by news librarians made one thing clear: knowing more about each other and being able to plug into someone with a special background or knowledge is a most remarkable, simple, straightforward and effective tool. Just being able to identify specialists and know-how in our own circuit and being able to contact a colleague that knows more/all about a certain subject is helpful. The discussion about setting up and cooperate in special fact-files like "Political murders," started by Guus Bosch (Volkskrant, May 6, the night a Dutch politician was killed) was warmly received by many colleagues, proving that there is a gap to be breached. In preparing for the Annual Meeting on June 10, we discussed which projects and actions to develop for the forthcoming period. Our advice is to continue this Committee with focus on: NewsLib is the most prominent place to establish international relations among news librarians. Barbara will do some effort to find out if it can be tuned for more specific areas, e.g. with sub-lists for South-America, Europe etc. This could make NewsLib more useful for colleagues from outside the SA and/or solve language-problems. Is it possible to set up an "International Who's Who in News Libraries," thus being able to contact specialists in our own professional network? How to realize the creation of international reference files like on "Political murders?" Is it possible to set up international cooperation on this and how and where to host these files? The issue of sponsorships and grants for attendees from poor countries is partly covered by SLA, and DNWS already participates in this. Having our own grant would be great, but it could be too much effort and will benefit just a few, while financial limitations will be a yearly issue. The IRC welcomes each idea of creating future sponsorships, because participation can be a great advantage for those involved. Dalia Salazar (Freedom Forum/Miami) and Laura are going to do an online course in Spanish through IAPA on "Information in the Newsroom and its role in Reporting" for Latin American journalists. Results can be reported in the next conference. Dalia is also preparing a follow-up on the article in Hora de Cierre on news libraries and research (in Spanish and in English). News Library News will be a good medium for constant attention. We're glad Leigh Poitinger enthusiastically welcomes the idea of having a column devoted to international affairs on each issue, starting in fall 2002. I hope she'll be a most helpful editor, because it will be a tough job to edit my contributions into readable English. Last but not least we think it would be wise to get more in touch with other SLA activities on international relations. So far, this couldn't get enough attention. It's our intention to set up some real projects in the near future and I hope the Division supports that ambition. I hope chair Michael Jesse and chair-elect Linda Henderson want to continue on this road. For now, I want to thank all members (Barbara Semonche, Dalia Salazar, Laura Soto-Barra, John Cronin and Izak Minnaar) for being good companions on this track during the past 10 months and I hope they will be fellows in the next step too. MEMBERSHIP - Alice Pepper As of May 24, 2002, the News Division has 686 members. We gained 35 members since February of this year, but total membership is down from 774 members in 2001. According to the 2001 membership annual report, we had over 900 members in 1999 and slightly more than 800 in 2000. I was asked by the News Division board to gather demographic information on our members. Unfortunately, SLA does not track our ages, sex, or race, just how long we've been paying dues. Membership Directory: A huge THANK YOU to Linda Paschal, Becky Meland and NewsBank for assembling and publishing our membership directory. Despite the advances in electronic communications, there is still something wonderful about having a hard copy directory in your hand. And another "YOU'RE TERRIFIC" to Linda Henderson and Barbara Semonche for updating the introduction, NewsLib subscriber commands and other the other useful information in the directory's Forward section. Also, it is time to remind members, again, to update your addresses on the SLA web site. That helps keep our membership director accurate, as well as making sure you receive your News Library News. Membership Committee Responsibilities: The Membership committee sends out new member packets with an introductory letter, a copy of the Division directory, and recent editions of News Library News. When possible, leftover directories are sent to students and journalism organizations. Other activities that have been used to promote membership (and these can be continued or reevaluated): Ask new members to provide a short biography for News Library News. Update membership information on the News Division web site. Create membership brochure/PDF for students. Contact student organizations (not just library groups) with ND information. Establish outreach programs to journalism organizations about the value of employing a News Librarian/Researcher/Data Analyst. Respectfully submitted, Alice Pepper, Membership Chair NOMINATIONS - Jacqueline Cenacviera (Heidi Yacker gave the report for Jacci.) The Nominations Committee was comprised of Judy Cantor, Linda Deitch, Barbara Hijek and Sharon Reeves. A request for office nominees was posted on Newslib in October 2001. The committee voted on the submitted list of nominees in December 2001 and the official slate of candidates chosen for the offices were as follows: Linda Henderson, Chair Elect; Leigh Poitinger and Laura Soto-Bara, Secretary; Jessica Baumgart and Elisabeth Donovan, Director-Publications. Several potential candidates declined the offer of nomination citing the uncertainty of their attendance at future conferences and a lack of financial support by their employers. Due to this occurrence, developing a complete slate was more difficult than anticipated. Respectfully submitted, Jacquelyn Cenacveira, Nominations Committee Chair PUBLICITY-PUBLIC RELATIONS - Dana Gordon. No report. SMALL LIBRARIES - Marcia MacVane. No report. STRATEGIC PLANNING - Jim Hunter. No report. OLD BUSINESS Jody gave a brief report on the Florida News Librarians Association seminar. One of the groupís concerns is legislation trying to close access to Florida public records. Jody said she "tasked" the committee chairs after last yearís meeting in San Antonio to each pick one project to contribute to the division. That was postponed after Sept. 11 but the "seeds have been planted." To encourage more support from our management, Jody suggested that a letter from a managing editor to managing editor of new members to describe how membership in the SLA News Division does for a news organization. NEW BUSINESS Certificates of appreciation were presented to outgoing board members, Secretary - Alice Pepper, and Director of Publications - Mona Hatfield, in absentia. Carolyn Edds announced next yearís IRE conference will be in Washington DC the week after SLA is in New York and invited members to take advantage of the opportunity to join IRE and attend both events. IRE is going to offer news librarians attending both IRE and SLA $25 off the IRE conference rate (in groups of 10). Installation of new officers: Chair - Michael Jesse; Chair-elect - Linda Henderson; Director of Publications: Elisabeth Donovan; Secretary - Leigh Poitinger. Adjournment of meeting: Michael Jesse asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. It was moved and second. Adjourned at 4 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Alice Pepper, News Division Secretary 2000-2002 Last Updated: 08/27/02 Leigh Poitinger newsdivisionweb@yahoo.com