new york times research internship

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NEWS LIBRARIANS: FIGHTING TO SURVIVE BY HELEN KWONG PRACTICUM, AUG. 4, 2011

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Page 1: New York Times research internship

NEWS LIBRARIANS:

FIGHTING TO SURVIVE

BY HELEN KWONG

PRACTICUM, AUG. 4, 2011

Page 2: New York Times research internship

WHAT IS NEWS LIBRARIANSHIP?

• News librarians manage the paper’s archives, aka the morgue, which generally houses news clippings, microfilm, newspapers, magazines, journals, and some books

• They are go-to people for database assistance and research for investigative and other news stories

• They also may fact-check; find people, expert sources, statistics; and build background information, reference guides

• They offer research and database training, 1-on-1 or classes

Page 3: New York Times research internship

NEWS LIBRARIANSHIP AT NYT

• They are called news researchers • 4 full-time: 3 in New York, 1 in D.C. bureau • 4 part-time: 2 in New York, 1 research

consultant, 1 in D.C. • These numbers do not include Times

Magazine and op-ed departments, who have their own researchers

• New York researchers each have additional duties: • 1 is supervisor, manages day-to-day duties • 1 manages library • 1 manages database log-ins

Page 4: New York Times research internship

NEWS LIBRARIANSHIP AT NYT

• Researchers sit near journalists, not in the

morgue far from newsroom like most places

• Majority of questions are for finding people

• Use online databases, rarely phone or books

• Answer questions as authoritatively and

quickly as possible

• Ready reference library is near researchers;

rest of the library is in the basement; the

morgue is next door in the basement of the

CUNY J-School

Page 5: New York Times research internship

NYT LIBRARY

• 40,000 volumes with emphasis on

•Biography, history, politics, current events and

journalism

• 250 periodical titles in print, microfilm and

online formats

• D.C. bureau houses 2,500 volumes with

emphasis on politics

• Employees have access to books and databases

24/7

Page 6: New York Times research internship

STAYING RELEVANT

• Twitter @NYTResearch • Reporters and editors recognize them with a credit

line on bottom of stories • Each question they answer is kept in a database.

This also helps them recall questions. • Have allies in newsroom • Just doing outstanding research • Blog about new books, databases, interesting facts

from authoritative sites • Utilize historic books with pictures in library to tell

New York City’s history. For example, Zouaves • Research dept. has own Intranet site

Page 7: New York Times research internship

WHAT I’M DOING

I’m cataloging books

and NYT microfilm

Page 8: New York Times research internship

WHAT I’M DOING

After cataloging two

reference books, I

wrote up a blog post

about them

Page 9: New York Times research internship

WHAT I’M DOING

Organizing the library

and catalog, hunting

for missing books, and

doing some shelf

reading

Page 10: New York Times research internship

WHAT I’M DOING

• I’m shadowing news researchers to learn

about databases and how they research

• I performed a handful of researches:

• Created database of heads of private schools

in NYC for reporter

• Verified a quote that an art critic made in late

1880s

• Looked for a transcript that a reporter

thought she saw

• Looked for facts for upcoming 9/11 stories

Page 11: New York Times research internship

DIGITAL OBSERVATIONS

• Increase use of authoritative online databases, websites and news sources. Decrease in buying reference books, magazines and newspapers.

• Only researchers have access to people-finding databases such as LexisNexis Accurint because they charge per search. Researchers and few others have access to Factiva because it’s expensive

• NYT’s defunct employee newsletters were scanned and went through OCR. We are now working on metadata for them

Page 12: New York Times research internship

ANALYSIS & EVALUATION

• News research desk is busy • BUT despite their efficiency, some journalists

think they can do their job. Some J-schools now require students study news research, which are taught by news librarians

• All eyes are on WSJ, other major newspapers across U.S. as they write investigative stories without researchers’ help. Are they doing well?

• Google is generally the last resort for answers; however Google Books is a popular, handy tool

• There needs to be a standard in getting credit for stories NYT researchers help out with

Page 13: New York Times research internship

IF NOT NEWS RESEARCH,

WHAT ELSE?

• Newspapers and other media are cutting back.

Here are some jobs that library students

interested in news research should consider

instead:

• Law librarianship

• Prospect research

• Computer-assisted reporting and investigative

reporting

• Corporate librarianship

• Investigator for police or political campaign