What Makes an Extreme Researcher? An interview with ...An interview with Washington Post’sJulie Tate NLN FEATURE Q Q Q Q A A A A Q A BY SUSAN FIFER CANBY AND BARBARA SEMONCHE How

Vol. 30, No. 3/Spring 2008

THE ULTIMATETOUR/ 4

Seattle Timesresearchers list places tosee and experience dur-ing the 2008 SLA con-ference.

INSIDE THE WALLSTREET JOURNALLIBRARY/ 3

Amy Disch highlightsthe unique library insidethe Wall Street Journal inPrinceton, NJ.

DIGITAL ARCHIVINGESSAY / 7

This year’s Vormelker-Thomas Student AwardWinner’s essay on digitalarchiving.

CONFERENCE PRO-GRAM ADVANCE /12-13

A preview of thisyear’s events in Seattlefor SLA 2008Conference attendees.

THE INSIDESTORY

What Makes an Extreme Researcher? An interview withWashington Post’s Julie Tate

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How did you come to your positionat the Washington Post?

“I was working as a fact-checker at the NewYorker for about fiveyears-my husband and Idecided to move back tothe area, and I hadheard from colleagues atthe New Yorker aboutthe news researchdepartment at theWashington Post, whichseemed like it could be apotentially good fit. Istarted here in 2002 as a part-time researcher; (Istarted the same week that the DC Sniper storybroke, I didn’t move to full time until about twoyears later). The work is different than fact-check-ing in many ways, most markedly it is morefront-end research here and back-end research asa fact-checker. Newspaper research helps shapethe stories more than fact-checking does, thoughthat being said, a fact-checker has a little moreeditorial involvement in the end process.”

What in your college/universityexperiences prepared you for theresearch work you do now?

“I studied English Literature at Virginia Tech

with a concentration in Women’s Studies andRecent America History. I never intended to be ajournalist when I was in college. My publishingcareer began when I moved to New York City tobe an intern for Harper’s Magazine. I think whatprepared me most was working in a lot of differ-ent environments and having to be really creativeabout getting information.”

How did you make your job yourown?

“My style as a researcher is to try to know asmuch as possible about what the reporters I workwith closely are working on—that way, when Iam scanning Nexis, the internet, or talking topeople, I can recognize information that might beof interest to them or that fills in holes or illumi-nates issues of interest to the reporters. As the ter-rorism researcher, I do a clip search each day onterrorism events, keep up various databases ofsuspects and Guantanamo detainees, and alsoparticipate in ideas meetings, and finally, monitorcourt cases—all in the interest of keeping abreastof trends, etc.”

Who were or are your role models?

“In the past, the people I have looked to are pret-ty diverse. As a student, my contemporary litera-ture professor, Tom Gardner, taught me how tothink outside of the box, and be more creative inmy reading of texts which I think has helped mein trying glean more information out of general

news sources. Deborah Treisman, who I workedwith at Harper’s Magazine, Grand Street, and theNew Yorker was a great influence—she pushedme harder, and helped me understand places toget information, and best ways to get it. MargotWilliams was an incredible mentor and teacher atthe Washington Post, and always took the time toshow me different ways to search things and pre-sent information. Sarah Cohen, the WashingtonPost database editor, has also been really influen-tial and a fabulous teacher. She can break downimmediately what information you are going toneed convey and what information is just notgoing to be helpful. Lucy Shackelford, AliceCrites, Richard Drezen, Madonna Lebling,Robert Thomason and Meg Smith, in particular,always amaze me in the ways they research theirdifferent subject areas. I think it’s important toknow what you can’t do, and how to recognizeother people’s expertise.”

[Contributing to pieces that wonjournalism’s highest honor,aside...] Are there any accom-plishments you are particularlyproud of, if you were to show anexample of your best work?

“Several years ago I worked on a project with DanEggen charting terrorism prosecutions in the US,it involved interpreting court cases and data con-cerning those individuals charged with crimes

Julie TateDarrow Montgomery/Washington City Paper

Continued on page 9

NEWSDIVISION

EXECUTIVEBOARD

News Library News (ISSN 1047-417X) isthe bulletin of the News Division of theSpecial Libraries Association. SLAHeadquarters address is: SLA, 331South Patrick St., Alexandria, VA22314. The phone number is: 703/647-4900. News Library News is publishedfour times a year by the division.Reproduction in whole or part withoutpermission is prohibited.

Special Libraries Association assumesno responsibility for the statements andopinions advanced by the contributorsof the association’s publications.Editorial views do not necessarily rep-resent the official position of SpecialLibraries Association. Acceptance of anadvertisement does not imply endorse-ment of the product by SpecialLibraries Association.

To place advertisements or to obtainadvertising information, you can con-tact Leigh Montgomery, the managingeditor, at her e-mail address: [email protected].

Copy for bylined columns should besubmitted to the column editor. Allother copy may be submitted to LeighMontgomery at her e-mail address.

News Library NewsSpring 2008

Vol. 30, No.3

PAGE 2 NEWS LIBRARY NEWS SPRING 2008

COMMITTEECHAIRS

NLN STAFF

CHAIR, Justin Scroggs, Newsbank, Inc., Naples,FL, 239/263-6004,e-mail: [email protected]

CHAIR-ELECT, Ron Larson, Wisconsin StateJournal/The Capital Times, Madison, WI, 608/252-6113, e-mail: [email protected]

2008 Conference Planner, Amy Disch, TheColumbus Dispatch, Columbus, OH,614/461-5177, e-mail: [email protected]

PAST CHAIR/DIRECTOR-AWARDS,Jim Hunter, The Columbus Dispatch (retired),Columbus, OH, e-mail: [email protected]

SECRETARYAmy Disch, The Columbus Dispatch, Columbus,OH, 614/461-5177, e-mail: [email protected]

TREASURER, Megan Waters, Miami Herald, Miami,FL, 305/376-3289,e-mail: [email protected]

DIRECTOR-EDUCATION/PROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENT CHAIR, Jessica Baumgart,Renesys, Manchester, NH, 603/643-9300 X121,e-mail: [email protected]

DIRECTOR-PUBLICATIONS, Victor Black, TheColumbus Dispatch, Columbus, OH,614/461-6166, e-mail: [email protected]

NEWS DIVISION COMMITTEE CHAIRSARCHIVIST CHAIR, Teresa Leonard, News and

Observer, Raleigh, NC, 919/829-4866e-mail: [email protected]

AUTOMATED-TECHNOLOGY CHAIR,Peter Johnson, Preservati Partners, LosAngeles, CA, 323/478-9417 or 213/590-5983e-mail: [email protected]

BROADCAST CHAIR, Kee Malesky, National PublicRadio, Washington, DC, 202/513-2356e-mail: [email protected]

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS CHAIR, vacant

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS CHAIR, vacant

MEMBERSHIP CHAIR, Alice Pepper, Detroit FreePress, Detroit, MI, 313/222-5135e-mail: [email protected]

NOMINATIONS CHAIR, vacant

PUBLICITY-PUBLIC RELATIONS CHAIR, ClaireWollen, Toronto Star, Toronto, CN, 416/869-4518,e-mail: [email protected]

SMALL LIBRARIES CHAIR, Anne Holcomb,Kalamazoo Gazette, Kalamazoo, MI, 269/388-2705, e-mail: [email protected]

TELLER/ELECTIONS CHAIR, Lynne Palombo, TheOregonian, Portland, OR, 503/294-5084, e-mail:[email protected]

WEBMEISTRESS, Amy Disch, The ColumbusDispatch, Columbus, OH, 614/461-5177,e-mail: [email protected]

NLN MANAGING EDITOR

Leigh MontgomeryThe Christian Science MonitorBoston, MA617/450-2682e-mail: [email protected]

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

PEOPLEJennifer O’NeillThe Florida Times-UnionJacksonville, FL904/359-4184e-mail: [email protected]

LIBRARY PROFILESAmy DischThe Columbus DispatchColumbus, OH614/461-5177e-mail: [email protected]

TECH TIPSDerek WillisThe Washington PostWashington, DCe-mail: [email protected]

Total membership: 657

BBeing an editor is, at various times,an exhilarating, frustrating,demanding and rewarding experi-

ence, and one which I hope everyone triestheir hand at sometime (in fact, the NewsDivision is looking for an editor for thisvery publication, but I digress...). One ofthe editor’s main responsibilities is balanc-ing the tension between what readers wantversus what they need; or, in other words,what story should be told - and how to tellit?

It is my great honor to present theSpring 2008 and Conference Preview issuewith documentation of how far this profes-sion has advanced, with stories of and con-tributions by our news research colleagues,and a few suggestions from the very best inhopes you will find a tip or two as well assome inspiration.

Our cover story is dedicated to JulieTate, a researcher at the Washington Post,

whose contributions were a integral part offour of the six Pulitzer award-winningentries in 2007. For her, we are paying trib-ute to not only a great talent but proof thatresearchers are behind journalism’s highesthonor. All credit due to Julie as well as tothe fine efforts of some of the most accom-plished librarians in our profession: SusanFifer Canby and Barbara Semonche whohave been dedicated to mentoring and doc-umenting news librarianship and helped tellthis story.

This story needed to be told as firm evi-dence for our readers and editors thatresearch-based journalism is essential fortelling the stories of our times; articles thatexplore an issue or problem thoroughly andhopefully inspire action for change. And itis also for our industry, which is facing chal-lenging economic times - even though thedemand for news and information hasnever been higher, nor the need for newspa-pers more important.

In this issue you will also find a profile ofthe Wall Street Journal librarian LeslieNorman and her library by our colleagueAmy Disch and our most news-filled fea-ture: Jennifer O’Neill’s People column.

For those attending the Seattle confer-ence, there is an item of high informationalvalue - what to see and do in Seattle - by ourSeattle Times colleague Katherine Long,and a profile of and the award-winningessay by Heather Cottle, this year’sVormelker-Thomas Student Award winner,on digital archiving.

And so I submit my final issue as youreditor with great pride and not a smalltwinge of sadness that my term has come toan close. I have genuinely loved this respon-sibility and have learned so much fromworking with you. And between Julie Tate,our dedicated columnists, new develop-ments in news technologies, and ways oftelling stories, I can only look forward towhat’s next.

BY LEIGH MONTGOMERY

THE ASIDE BAR

SPRING 2008 NEWS LIBRARY NEWS PAGE 3


BY JUSTIN SCROGGS

NOTESFROMTHECHAIR

IIt doesn’t seem possible that eleven yearshave passed since we last met in Seattle.Looking through my conference files I

see notes from that Seattle conference fromsessions on Computer-Assisted Reporting,moderated by Teresa Leonard, and one onGetting your Archives on the Web, led byGinny Everett. And does anyone elseremember the panoramic view from therestroom (women’s) at Columbia TowerClub? But I digress.

This year’s conference promises to bejust as memorable. Ron Larson has assem-bled a team of talented presenters and mod-erators. The fun will begin on Saturdaywith a reception and tour at the SeattleTimes, and won’t stop until the Future ofNews Libraries (Part II) session onWednesday. I hope to see everyone inSeattle.

Thinking about the last Seattle confer-ence and other past conferences took meback along Nostalgia Blvd to my first news-paper job — jack-of-all trades textenhancer, byline /clip file ‘ripper’, recep-tionist and fledgling researcher. I loved rip-ping papers for the clip files, especially newsbriefs. In honor of that training, and daysspent wielding a razor-sharp pica pole, theremainder of this quarter’s column will con-sist of news briefs.

An hour to spare?The division needs your help! Interested

in working closely with our very ownBarbara Semonche (Librarian Deluxe)?The division is in need of an archivist. Everthought about learning newsletter produc-tion or web publishing? With this issueLeigh will hand off the green editor’s visorand News Library News. And although ithardly seems possible, Amy’s term as keep-er of our website is winding down.

None of those opportunities quite amatch? Take a look at the web-page adop-tion center or scroll down the current offi-cers’ page, past the photos (mine, master-fully retouched - thank you!). You’ll see we

also need chairs for the Nominations,Government Relations and InternationalRelations committees.

Please consider volunteering. And whynot, just for fun, call a former Archivist orNLN editor or Web-ifier and says thanks?And while you’re chatting, ask them aboutthe job!

RecyclingIs that a Montreal-era conference hand-

out in the dust-covered stack of papersbehind your monitor? Do you sometimestake a few minutes on a Friday afternoon topull that down that battered Princeton fileof back issues of NLN and re-read a fewissues?

A few years ago I had the honor/pleasureof creating a booklet chronicling our divi-sion’s first seventy-five years. That projectwas only possible because division membershad taken time over the years to preservethe present by sending materials to thearchives. So next time you just have to cleanout that “SLA” folder or run across thoseincriminating photos from the Anaheimconference, do consider jotting down anote, or adding a caption and sending thoseitems along to the archives.

Click-UniversityWhen SLA announced the launch of

Click U some years ago, I’ll admit I was lessthan enthusiastic. And to be honest, I’d notgiven Click U much thought since. But achance visit a couple of weeks ago to theClick U website - www.clickuniversity.com- left me impressed, and I’ll admit it, excit-ed. Click U now offers a range of programsfrom free seminars to professional certifica-tion programs in Competitive Intelligence,Knowledge Management and CopyrightManagement. Since my business manager(and lovely wife) has reminded me it’s herturn to go back to school, I won’t be sign-ing up for a certificate program, but I havesigned up for the execuBooks service. Docheck out the Click U site and the links to

Continued on page 13

BY KATHERINE LONG

RESEARCH EDITOR, SEATTLE TIMES

YYou’ll never run out of things to doin Seattle, but you may run out oftime.

We know you won’t be in town for longduring the Special Libraries Association’sannual convention, so the Seattle Timesresearchers have assembled a list of quickbut interesting places to visit in betweenconvention sessions. Most of these jauntscan be done on foot from the WashingtonState Convention Center, and can be donein a few hours or less. Any of the landmarkslisted below will be prominently marked onany good tourist map.

For starters, you must take a pilgrimageto the new Seattle Public Library, a $165.5million steel-and-glass building designed byrenowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas.The four-year-old building is a glass-and-architectural showpiece, with a spiral ofbooks and edgy, interesting spaces. You maylove it or hate it, but it’s certainly not bor-ing.

The century-old Pike Place PublicMarket is one of Seattle’s most recognizablelandmarks, and a good place for souvenirs.It’s mostly a market for fish, produce andflowers. One of our favorite diners is theAthenian Inn - although the fare is prettybland, the view from the balcony upstairs isfantastic, and the place has a lot of charac-ter.

The Seattle Art Museum has a terrificcollection of Native American and Asianart, as well as a nice exhibit of modernpaintings. The museum’s little cafe is a verycivilized place to pick up a bite to eat.

Seattle Art Museum’s new outdoorsculpture park is a free public arts park withmonumental sculptures and a glorious viewof Puget Sound. Keep walking north toMyrtle Edwards Park, a pedestrian and biketrail that skirts the edge of Puget Sound andaffords great views of the water, as well as

container and cruise ships heading in andout of port. If the weather is clear, theOlympic Mountains will sparkle to thewest.

Pioneer Square is the oldest part ofdowntown Seattle, an eclectic mix of artgalleries, coffee shops, clubs and book stores

(we recommend a stop at Elliott Bay Booksin particular, where you can browse forhours or get a bite to eat below). A fewblocks south at Safeco Field you can catch aMariners game - the team has a home standJune 13-18.

For a good view of the city from above,we prefer the Smith Tower in PioneerSquare rather than the Space Needle. TheSmith Tower was once the tallest buildingwest of the Mississippi. The manually-oper-ated brass-and-copper-caged elevators datefrom 1914.

Near Pioneer Square is the city’s mainferry terminal, Coleman Dock, and if youhave a few hours to spare you can board aferry and take a half-hour trip across thewater to Bainbridge Island. You’ll get a greatview of the city from the deck of the ferry,and you can grab a bite to eat at one of thelittle cafes on Winslow Way, near the water-front.


CONFERENCE ADVANCE


The Ultimate Tour of Seattle

The Seattle skyline.

❝ …the Seattle Timesresearchers have

assembled a list ofquick but interesting

places to visit inbetween convention

sessions.❞


PEOPLE

BY JENNIFER O’NEILL

Dave Larzelere retired from The FlintJournal on March 31st. He was assistantlibrarian at The Flint Journal from 1975-1979 and chief librarian from 1979 to3/31/2008. The Flint Journal offered him abuyout that he says he couldn’t refuse.

Dave was a member of the SLA NewsDivision from 1976 to 1997.

He plans to spend his future years beinga “soccer dad” to his four year old daughterand possibly working part time at an occu-pation that requires no knowledge of com-puters, current events or the auto industry.

And in case there was any confusionDave states that he was not an extra in themovie “Semi-Pro” that was partially filmedin downtown Flint. Although he has seenthe alley where Will Ferrell, “Jackie Moon”,spent an afternoon filming a scene in adumpster. It is a block from The Journal.Ferrell was asked a question that day aboutwhat he thought of Flint and responded“It’s nice. It’s got a great back alley.”

Amy Disch writes that Jo Budler, StateLibrarian of Ohio, recently visited TheColumbus Dispatch library and wrote aboutit recently in her travel diary http://wins-lo.state.oh.us/visitjournal/visitfeb08.html#dispatch. They were very proud to havebeen the first special library Ms. Budler hadvisited.

Linda Deitch suggests that other newslibrarians consider inviting their statelibrarian for a visit. Linda is so right whenshe says “It’s not something you mightthink of doing, but it’s a great connectionto make!”

A Vancouver Sun editorial feature haswon an award from the Society of GraphicDesigners of Canada.

The Graphex 2008 award of distinctionrecognizes the Big Graphic, a feature thatappears monthly on the second page ofSaturday’s Weekend Review section. It wasconceived in 2006 as a collaborationbetween the Sun’s editorial team andRethink Communications of Vancouver.The Sun’s News/Graphics ResearchLibrarian Kate Bird researches topicsselected by the newspaper’s editors, and adesign is conceived and executed byRethink’s Nancy Wu, Kim Ridgewell, JeffHarrison, and Lisa Nakamura.

This year’s Graphex winners will beexhibited at the Roundhouse in YaletownMay 5 to 11.

Shira Kavon, News Librarian at the NYBureau of CNN, has taken over leadershipof the Broadcast News Librarians groupwithin the News Division, ably led for sev-eral years by NPR’s Kee Malesky. Shewould appreciate hearing from anyDivision members who are working inbroadcast news with their ideas for pro-grams on topics that are of special interestto them either through the Newslib listservor at [email protected].

BY AMY DISCH, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

CHAIR, 2008 VORMELKER-THOMAS STUDENT AWARD

COMMITTEE

HHeather Cottle is the 2008 recipientof the Vormelker-Thomas StudentAward, an annual honor presented

to a graduate student interested in pursuing acareer in news librarianship. Heather holds abachelor’s degree in journalism from theUniversity of Missouri-Columbia and is cur-rently pursuing a Masters in Library Science atthe School of Information Science andLearning Technologies, also at the Universityof Missouri-Columbia. She holds a GraduateResearch Assistantship at the University ofMissouri Journalism Library.

In her statement of professional goalsincluded as part of her application package,Heather states that she is interested in newslibrarianship because it gives her an opportu-nity to combine her background in journalismwith her interest in research. She is lookingforward to meeting other news librarians inSeattle, where she hopes to “begin establishingconnections that I will use when I become aprofessional librarian.”

The Vormelker-Thomas Student Award,named in honor of Rose Vormelker and LouThomas, was established by the News Divisionin 1977. It offers a $1500 stipend, providedthrough the generosity of ProQuest and theNews Division, which enables a graduate stu-dent to attend the SLA annual conference.

The 2008 Vormelker-Thomas StudentAward committee members were JessicaBaumgart, Renesys; Angelica Cortez,Pomcor Inc; Linda Deitch, The ColumbusDispatch, Amy Disch, The Columbus Dispatchand last year’s student stipend winner, SaraWedell, Delta Township District Library.

Heather’s winning essay, which discusses thechallenges of digital archiving, is featured here.


CONFERENCE ADVANCE

BY HEATHER COTTLE

DDigital archiving is a dynamicissue in today’s news libraries.As the world becomes increas-

ingly digitized, more citizens expectinstant online access to news archives ina variety of formats. Furthermore, news-papers and magazines are publishingmore and more articles online, whichpresents challenges for archivists that arenot experienced with traditional for-mats. Digital information is more easilycorrupted. Some multimedia are soclosely connected to a particular type ofsoftware or hardware that they cannotbe used outside of their specific environ-ment. This makes the archiving processincredibly complicated, as librariansmust employ a variety of methods andvendors to digitize different kinds ofmultimedia projects. Sometimes, whena library upgrades or changes its soft-ware programs, it finds that it can nolonger archive certain materials usingthe new system. This becomes expensiveas libraries must purchase and operatemultiple systems or face gaps in the cov-erage of their archives.

On top of the complexity of digitalarchiving, librarians also have to justifythe costs of doing it. Some administra-tors argue that it isn’t worth creatingarchives because the text of news articlescan be accessed through databases thatthe library subscribes to. However,many librarians agree that archives areuseful for providing the news libraryownership to news articles as opposed toaccess. When a library subscribes to adatabase, the agreement is similar toleasing a house-the institution can onlyaccess the information within thedatabase as long as it is paying for it. If,for some reason, the agency discontin-ues the subscription, then all the materi-al from the database is inaccessible to

that agency and its patrons. Creating itsown digital archive ensures that a librarywill have indefinite access to its newsarticles no matter which databases itsubscribes to.

Another decision to be made iswhether or not to continue archivingnews articles in other formats as well asdigital. Microfilm is currently the pri-mary method for archiving materials ina physical format. There has been muchdebate about whether or not it is worththe investment of time and money tocontinue the practice of producingmicrofilm. Some news agencies are nowdigitizing their microfilm resourcesbecause the traditional format is consid-ered outdated. Some feel that it takes uptoo much space. However, burdensomeas it is, microfilm is the most reliableform of archiving available. Unlike digi-tal archives, microfilm is not susceptibleto technological problems that can ren-der archives temporarily inaccessible oreven permanently destroyed. For thisreason, many librarians argue that bothmicrofilm and digital archives are neces-sary. Microfilm is a backup to be usedduring technical difficulty-or byresearchers who prefer the traditionalformat-and provides a resource that willbe available for years. Digital archivesare more convenient, searchable (a bigbenefit!), and may be used by multipleusers at once.

In conclusion, digital archiving is acomplicated issue that presents severalproblems, for which there seem to be noclear-cut solutions. However, as weprogress in the Digital Age, the issue willnot go away. News librarians must staytuned in to new developments in digitalarchiving in order to provide the bestresources for reporters, editors, andother news practitioners.

Vormelker-ThomasStudent AwardWinner

Digital Archiving is a Dynamic Issue


LIBRARY PROFILE

BY AMY DISCH

TThe Wall Street Journal Libraryprovides reference and researchservices to the employees of the

Wall Street Journal and its online counter-part, WSJ.com. A staff of two, AssistantLibrarian Leslie Norman and news assis-tant Ed Ramos, have very full days fulfill-ing research requests, giving presentationsand offering training. The majority of thesetasks are performed by Norman, but shealso trains Ramos as time allows and fre-quently gives him “requests for phonenumbers and court cases so he gets as muchpractice as possible.” Ramos’ additionalresponsibilities include managing bills,“preparing chargeback statements, keepingthe newspapers filed and working with themicrofilm machine.”

The library, which is currently locatedin Princeton, New Jersey, is open from 10a.m. to 6 p.m., but Norman admits sheoften stays late to complete work due to thelibrary’s small staff. She and Ramos receive“requests via e-mail,” both from their indi-vidual accounts, as well as a general libraryaccount, “and phone from reporters look-ing for all kinds of information.” Themajority of questions come from WallStreet Journal employees based in New YorkCity, but Norman says “requests comefrom all over the country and occasionallyfrom overseas” as well.

The “library has a very small collectionof printed materials,” largely a result ofmore resources becoming available online.Norman states that as “the collection grewsmaller,” so did “the physical space of thelibrary.” Many parts of the collection werealso lost after the terrorist attacks onSeptember 11, 2001. The library, whichwas located in a building directly acrossfrom the World Trade Center, was soaffected by dust that ultimately many itemscould not be saved.

Norman says that she and Ramos “relyheavily on online material” and that whatthey are unable to “get online,” they “orderfrom document retrieval services, such asthe New York Public Library Express,CourtExpress and CourtLink.”

Norman typically welcomes newemployees in the Wall Street Journal’s NewsDivision by letter, but says the library’smarketing efforts are challenging “becausewe are short-staffed.”

Norman’s path to her current positionbegan with four years spent “as a researchassistant at Bloomberg LP.” She then beganthe Master of Library and InformationScience program at Rutgers University,eventually leaving her job to pursue herdegree full-time. After graduation,Norman found a part-time position work-ing in Rutgers Labor and ManagementRelations Library and then “the position atthe Wall Street Journal was posted throughdifferent e-mail newsletters.” Normanapplied, was granted an immediate inter-view and began her current position inApril 2005. When asked what she learnedin library school that has helped her in hercurrent position, Norman states “Alwaysask ‘Who cares?’ as in ‘Who cares enoughabout a subject to collect and store infor-mation about it?’” Once you answer thatquestion, seek out “those people and orga-nizations.”

Since the October 2007 retirement oflongtime Head Librarian Lottie Lindberg,Norman has assumed the duties of runningthe library, which entails “making decisionsabout division of labor” and being themain point-person for presentations, train-ing and research.

Several changes are facing the library inthe next year, namely “a move to the NewsCorporation Headquarters in New York

The Wall Street Journal Library



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LUCY SHACKLEFORD ON JULIE TATE

Lucy Shackelford thinks of herself more as anews researcher than a library manager, but thetruth is that she is both and more. At theWashington Post, Lucy is the Director of Researchand she is also Julie Tate’s “boss.” Prior to comingonboard at the Post, Lucy worked for Newsweekas a researcher and reporter.

Lucy wrote: “…researching in the Washingtonbureau at Newsweek is very similar to the Postposition of desk researcher. In Newsweek’s DCbureau, I worked with all the reporters and edi-tors in the office — we’d discuss story ideas forthat week’s magazine, and I’d quickly get a senseof what stories were important and provide back-ground clips, documents, reports, experts, andsources for the reporters and editors. If there wasbreaking news, reporters and editors would be re-tasked, and because I was in constant touch withall of them, I could jump into researching fortheir new assignments. So when I returned to thePost after 9/11, desk researching seemed a goodfit. (In Newsweek’s NY office, the research depart-ment doesn’t sit among reporters and editors. Theyhave their own separate research area instead ofliterally sharing space with Newsweek’s variousdepartments.)”

Lucy considers Julie and the otherWashington Post researchers as part of the Post’spresent and future. They are a valuableresource worthy of continued investment. But,Lucy notes, “Our resource budget is shrinking,as is the budget throughout the newsroom.However, the Post has always been very gener-ous and has made sure we have the most cur-rent and updated resources and databases avail-able. Regarding training, we’re trying to thinkbeyond what has typically been consideredconferences suitable for researchers. DC is theperfect location for this — with so much avail-able at local universities, through governmentagencies and [other] resources... the Library ofCongress alone is one of the best resourcesavailable to us.”


having to do with terrorism. It was a realaccounting of the criminal prosecutions onthe war on terror. I also am really proud ofthe original data I gathered and analyzedfor Steve Fainaru’s private security con-tracting pieces. But sometimes, it is just inthe mundane that makes the difference,finding the vital piece of information for alead, finding a perfect person who has beenhiding, figuring out who the best prospectis to talk about a particular sensitive issue.”

What do you find most chal-lenging and why?

“I think it’s hard to make sense of hugeamounts of data, and make calls on what isimportant, and hard to sell a data-drivenproject to reporters sometimes. It is chal-lenging to get sources from certain agen-cies to give me information sometimes -but easier since I am calling from the Post.”

Do you work in teams? Andhow?

“I don’t do a lot of working in teams, butwhen I do, what I like is being able to playoff of other people’s strengths, and discov-er how they do things differently. That’sthe kind of thing that sticks with me whenI’m back working on my own, and strug-gling to find something. You think, “OH.I remember someone did this AMAZINGthing, let me try that here.”

How is the news library orga-nized and your particularfocus?

“I am assigned to the national desk whichcovers political, national security and day-to-day news stories. Other library staff areassigned to international, metro and finan-cial desks. We share information via ourintranet, The Source, as well as in librarynews meetings.”

What next would you mostlike to learn?

“I’d really like to strengthen my CAR skillsand be self-sufficient in that way. I’d like tobe better at getting FOIAs back.Increasingly, we will probably be doingmore training for journalists to use infor-mation tools and to share our strategies.”

If you were not a researcher,what job/profession wouldyou like?

“I would have liked to have been an attor-ney, the legal research I do now still feedsthat desire.”

Is your research workassigned to you? Do you sug-gest/propose ideas forresearch projects? Can yougive examples?

“Work is assigned through a combinationof reporters asking for help on stories, andalso editors asking the news research centerfor research assistance on projects.Generally the projects that editorsapproach NRC on are assigned throughLucy Shackelford with an eye to whomight have the most time or might havethe most expertise for a project, etc.”

What are your most favoredprint and/or digital researchresources? Any particular orunusual or little knownfavorites?

“I rely heavily on my phone skills to getinformation for stories, including differentnumbers from the Department of Defenseor contracting numbers. I also spend a lotof time on Pacer, looking at developmentsin court cases we are following.”

“I always check out Secrecy News bySteven Aftergood, ResourceShelf, andother research blogs.”

Are you a member of SLA?

“I have been and intend to join again - Iknow how valuable these collegial relation-ships are.”

What Makes anExtreme Researcher?An interview withWashington Post’sJulie TateContinued from page 1


NLN FEATURE

Describing some of the special quali-ties highly valued in Washington Postresearchers, Lucy stated that in hiring,education is important and having aMLS degree is valued although everyoneon the research staff does not have one.Certain other qualities such as curiosityand the ability to think ahead, beingrespectful of different viewpoints, havinginteresting opinions, demonstratingadaptability, as well as assertiveness, arekeys to a successful career as a researcher.A mind set of “I can do this!” seems tohelp.

Lucy offered an example of this “cando attitude” shared between the researchdepartments and the web content devel-opers. It became obvious that some ofthe information research staffers pro-duced for the paper could have an inter-esting place on the website.

“Case in point is Faces of the Fallen.http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/Researchers populated a database ofthose killed in the wars in Afghanistanand Iraq. The website recognized theviewer value to running the same infor-mation on the site.” In addition, Lucyreported, “brainstorming” sessions tookplace between the two groups in the earlystages of the war and still takes place inorder to discuss new information thatcan be added and displayed.”

In summary, Lucy recognizes JulieTate and all the Washington Postresearchers’ data collection and analysisefforts as well as their collaboration with-in the news organization are essential tohigh quality news coverage and deliverynow and in the future.

DEREK WILLIS

ON JULIE TATE

Derek Willis,has some highpraise for his for-mer colleague,Julie Tate. In early2006 they worked

together with Washington Post reporter,Dan Eggen on researching the U.S.Department of Justice’s prosecution ofpeople charged with terrorism.

Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11,2001, federal agencies involved with pro-tecting U.S. citizens have worked tomake America safer. Some success wasachieved in the Department of Justice’sprosecutions, but there were problems. Asizeable number of innocent people wereimplicated as being associated with theIslamic extremist groups that threatenthe safety of the United States. Somehave been held while being investigatedfor terror-related crimes, then convictedand sentenced for lesser offenses. Somewere never charged at all. Others - someof whom are naturalized citizens - havebeen threatened with deportation forinconsistencies on immigration paper-work.

Derek recalled that Julie spent longhours tracking over 300 individuals whowere prosecuted and convicted by theJustice Department for terrorism, distill-ing specific charges from the cases andtracking the legal outcomes. To do this,Derek reported, Julie examined and ana-lyzed these cases in the Federal Courts bysearching such databases as PACER andWestlaw, telephoning attorneys involvedwith the cases, and emailing her manycontacts in legal circles.

Derek, now with The New York Times,

said that his major contribution was histechnical expertise in building a databaseof Julie’s results and then runningdatabase queries for the news story. Julieearned a shared byline with Dan Eggenfor the page 1 story; Derek earned a cred-it line. The Washington Post published atwo-part series in its June 12, 2006 issue,“U.S. Campaign Produces FewConvictions on Terrorism Charges -Statistics Often Count Lesser Crimes”and “In Terror Cases, Few Convictions-U.S. Often Depends on Lesser Charges.”

Summarizing Julie’s exceptionalresearch talents, Derek says, “Julie is notonly smart, capable and ambitious, shehas curiosity and drive in news gathering.Reporters think so well of her becauseshe operates the way they do.” Derekgoes on to say that the Washington Postnews staff is well aware of its newsresearchers’ skills, perhaps because theyare assigned to news beats along withreporters and editors and are well versedin the sources, issues, and trends associat-ed with specific news coverage. Butanother factor might be that newsresearchers, like Julie, are becomingexperts in building repertoires of valuedcontacts, developing a knowledge basethat is utterly reliable, and then deliver-ing the data in the best possible formaton deadline. Either way, clearly Julie andher colleagues are the data miners whobring extra value to the competitiveworld of news.

PULITZER PRIZE WASHINGTON POST

REPORTER MARGOT WILLIAMS ON

JULIE TATE

Margot Williams knows how to con-nect the dots. She knows Julie Tate, herimpressive research achievements withher amazing colleagues at the Post. Julie didn’t begin her career as a librarian or

Interviews on workingwith Julie TateContinued from page 9

Derek Willis

Continued on next page

news researcher;she joined for thePost’s researchdepartment fromher earlier positionas a fact-checker forThe New Yorkermagazine. Julietook to the exten-sive database train-

ing experience Margot offered and laterteamed up with Margot on several Postresearch projects. Margot, now DatabaseResearch Editor with The New YorkTimes and a Pulitzer Award-winningresearcher herself, offers high praise ofJulie’s recent research contributionswhich led to Pulitzer Prizes for theWashington Post.

Margot recalled Julie was part of

research and reporting teams for the Poston several high-profile projects includingthe scandals at Blackwater SecurityCompany, neglect at Walter ReedHospital, and literally hundreds of otherPost special reports. Margot also men-tioned that Julie received byline credit(along with reporters) for several of thesePost articles. In a particularly memorablearticle published in 2003, Julieresearched soldiers’ “last letters home.”Julie’s assignment was to contact the fam-ilies of soldiers who died in Iraq aboutthe letters the family members receivedafter their loved ones died. Julie shiftedfrom her researcher status into that of areporter. She phoned the families,expressed her concern, explained whatshe was doing for the Washington Post,and then asked if she could obtain copiesof the letters. She must have done herassignment well. She got the letters.Later, other news organizations (TheNew York Times, National Public Radio

and HBO) published or aired similarstories.

Margot characterizes Julie as an“extreme researcher.” She operates on adifferent level than most by becoming an“enterprise” researcher, one who doesn’twait for assignments but gets out in frontof potential projects and lobbies effec-tively for them. Finally, Julie is not onlytalented, tireless and farsighted butrespects reporters’ confidences. Clearly,Julie is part of a long and distinguishedlist of stellar Post researchers.

Getting credits, bylines, and presti-gious journalism awards for theirresearch efforts did not come easily. Julieand her colleagues got the Post’s recogni-tion the hard way, by lobbying effective-ly for hard work very well done.

References:http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/city-desk/2008/04/16/the-unsung-hero-of-the-wash-ington-post/http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/articles/julie+tate/


Interviews on workingwith Julie TateContinued from page 10

NLN FEATURE

Margot Williams

The Ultimate Tour of SeattleContinued from page 5

If your family’s coming along for the trip - or if you’re a nature lover yourself — headalong the Seattle waterfront to the Seattle Aquarium. The sea otters are especiallyadorable. Or try the Seattle Center’s Pacific Science Center, with plenty of hands-on sci-ence for all ages.

If you’re planning to stay in Seattle through the weekend, you should get over to thefunky Seattle neighborhood of Fremont for the annual Solstice Parade June 21 at noon;it’s the closest Seattle ever comes to Mardi Gras. The parade organizers ban printed wordsor recognizable logos, animals and motorized vehicles; you won’t see any marching bands,but we guarantee you’ll see naked bicyclists.

And if you’re planning a longer trip to Seattle after the convention, or expect to rent acar and get out of downtown, we recommend some extra reading:

• The Seattle Times’ Seattle Guide at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/seat-tleguide/

• Our guide to Washington state, including its national parks, athttp://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/washingtonguide/

City” and the possibility of an additionalstaff member. One project Norman hopesto undertake is the migration of the con-tacts in her Rolodex into a wiki which willserve as a central “source for informationfor library personnel.” Norman has “alsobeen told the library will have better `realestate’ on the intranet” and mentions the“possibility that the library will becomepart of a dedicated CAR (Computer-Assisted Reporting) group.” The latter,Norman says, offers the possibility “ofcross-training” and the opportunity “toproduce a more robust information cen-ter.”

The Wall Street JournalLibraryContinued from page 8


2008 SLA Conference News Division ProgramsSATURDAY, JUNE 14

❖ 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Seattle Times Reception and Tour,1120 John St.

SUNDAY, JUNE 15

❖ 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. News Division CE course Six Degrees of Separation:Mining Social Networks for NewsResearch Room 303, Washington StateConvention & Trade CenterModerator: Dana Gordon, NewsweekResearch Center

Speakers: Catharine Skipp, Newsweek;Meg Smith, Washington Post

The course will teach new methods forresearching social connections on sitessuch as Facebook and MySpace, and theimportance of understanding how “Web2.0” social networking services mustbecome a crucial part of news research.Attendees are expected to be familiarwith standard public records databasesused in the newsroom.

❖ 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. News Division Board of DirectorsDivision Suite, Sheraton Seattle Hotel& Towers

❖ 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. SLA Opening General SessionVinton G. Cerf, Vice President ofGoogle

❖ 7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. News Division Mentor andMentee Meet and Greet. Location: News Division Suite,Sheraton Seattle Hotel & TowersSponsored by Heritage Microfilm.

❖ 8:00 p.m. - 11:30 p.m. News Division NetworkingReceptionLocation: News Division Suite,Sheraton Seattle Hotel & TowersIn the Division Suite, Sheraton Hotel,Sponsored by Heritage Microfilm.

MONDAY, JUNE 16

❖ 7 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Digital microfilm breakfast gath-ering in the News Division suite. Location: News Division Suite,Sheraton Seattle Hotel & TowersEnjoy a light breakfast while sharingconversation with news colleagues andmicrofilm vendors. Participating ven-dors: Heritage Microfilm, NewsBank,Northern Micrographics, andProquest.

❖ 9 a.m.- 10:30 a.m. Digital microfilm road mapRoom 614, Washington StateConvention & Trade CenterModerator: Mike Meiners, Director ofNewsroom Administration, St. LouisPost-Dispatch

Speakers: Andrea Vanek, AssistantDirector of Newspaper Projects,California Newspaper Project; SharonClairemont, Director of News Research,Orange County Register; VickyMcCargar, Preservati Partners.

Digital microfilm is a technology that isheating up. The options for newspapershave increased while the cost of convert-ing microfilm to digital has dropped.Case studies, guidelines and advice willbe offered, providing news librarians aroad map to their digital future.Sponsored by Heritage Microfilm,NewsBank, Northern Micrographicsand Proquest.

❖ 11 a.m.- 1 p.m. SLA non-conflict time INFO-EXPO Hall

❖ 1:30 p.m. - 3:20 p.m. Technology free-for-allBallroom 6E, Washington StateConvention & Trade CenterModerator: Amy Disch, LibraryDirector, The Columbus Dispatch

Speakers: Derek Willis, NewsroomDeveloper, New York Times; Jessica

Baumgart, Quality Assurance Engineer,Renesys

A fast-paced session starring DerekWillis and Jessica Baumgart, two of thetechno gurus in the News Division.Derek and Jessica will answer questions,prompt discussions and solicit demon-strations in this rapid fire exchange ofideas relating to the latest and greatestin library technology. Sponsored byThomson/Dialog and BaschSubscriptions.

❖ 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. News Division Business MeetingGrandroom B, Washington StateConvention & Trade Center Moderator: Justin Scroggs, NewsDivision chair

❖ 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. News Division Board of DirectorsGrandroom B, Washington StateConvention & Trade Center

❖ 6:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. News Division Reception andSilent Auction. In the Division Suite, Sheraton Hotel,Sponsored by Proquest.

TUESDAY, JUNE 17

❖ 7 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. News libraries 2.0Room 619, Washington StateConvention & Trade Center Moderator: Julie Domel, NewsResearcher, San Antonio Express News

Speakers: Amy Disch, Library Director,The Columbus Dispatch; DavidMilliron, Director of Media Services,Caspio; Lynne Palombo, NewsResearcher, Oregonian; Ann Holcomb,Newsroom Librarian, KalamazooGazette

Constant changes in technologies aremaking it difficult to stay current withthe tools we need to do our jobs.Learning about today’s tools, such as

Continued on next page

CONFERENCE ADVANCE


RSS newsfeeds, mashups, aggregators,blogs, wikis, instant messaging,del.icio.us, social networking applica-tions and more, can be a daunting task.Practical advice will be offered in howto win the technological battle in yournews library. Sponsored by LexisNexis.

❖ 9 a.m. - 10:50 a.m. UnSpun: Finding facts in a worldof disinformationRoom 3AB Washington StateConvention & Trade Center Speaker: Brooks Jackson, co-author of“UnSpun: Finding Facts in the Worldof Disinformation.”

Media audiences are spun by politicalparties and officials as well as variouspublic interest groups and corporations.Jackson will discuss the tactics used bythe “spinners” and why audiences buyinto the spin. He will provide manyrecommendations for sources of reliablefacts and offer proactive strategies peopleshould use to ferret out the facts.Sponsored by Dow Jones.

Shared program with the GovernmentDivision

❖ 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Using blogs, podcasts and news-groups for competitive intelli-gence research.Room 603, Washington StateConvention & Trade Center Speakers: Cynthia Cheng Correia,Knowledge in Form, Inc., TBA

Cyberspace abounds with prolific blog-gers and chatters; some of them may be(or know) your competitors. How canyou identify and monitor reputablesources of information from the blogo-sphere? This session will highlight effec-tive techniques and tools for miningblogs, podcasts, and newsgroups.

Shared program with the CompetitiveIntelligence Division. Sponsored byCopyright Clearance Center

❖ 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. SLA Non-Conflict Time

❖ 3:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. It’s not your father’s archive any-more. Room 308, Washington StateConvention & Trade CenterModerator: Debra Bade, Editor, NewsResearch and Archives, Chicago Tribune

Speakers: David Breslauer, MerlinOne;Katie Daugert, National Public Radio;Tony Dempewolf, NewsBank; RonLarson, Wisconsin State Journal/TheCapital Times; Leigh Poitinger, SanJose Mercury News.

PDF’s, blogs, video, MP3, online mate-rial and more are grabbing our atten-tion as archives expand and adapt tonew demands. Practical advice will beshared in how to approach the changinglandscape of archiving and the toolsneeded to do the job. Sponsored byPreservati Partners.

❖ 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. News Division Awards Banquet atRock Bottom Brewery, 1333 5thAve. Sponsored by NewsBank.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18

❖ 8 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. “There’s gold in them thar files” Room 619, Washington StateConvention & Trade CenterModerator: Sharon Clairemont,Director of News Research, OrangeCounty Register

Speakers: Leigh Montgomery, ChristianScience Monitor; Elaine Raines,Arizona Daily Star

In an era where news libraries are fac-ing cutbacks in staffing and budgets, it’stime to be proactive by showing man-agement how news libraries are nolonger a service department, but a prof-it-generating force. An important ele-ment of a profit-center includes beingknowledgeable about rights and permis-sions and copyright. µµSponsored byHeritage Microfilm and 10k WizardTechnology

❖ 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. SLA Non-Conflict Time INFO-EXPO Hall

❖ 12:15 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. The future of news libraries, partII Room 608, Washington StateConvention & Trade CenterModerator: Elaine Raines, News &Research Services Director, ArizonaDaily Star

Speakers: Nora Paul, Director, Institutefor New Media Studies, University ofMinnesota, and Katherine Long,Research Editor, Seattle Times

What have news libraries done to adaptto the changing information and newsmedia landscape? Audience participa-tion in the debate and discussion willbe a vital part of the session as Divisionmembers set a course to the future ofnews librarianship. Sponsored byReference USA.

❖ 2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. SLA Closing General Session Seth Godin, author

❖ 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Conference-wide Party Washington State Convention &Trade Center

2008 SLA ConferenceNews Division ProgramsContinued from page 12

CONFERENCE ADVANCE

Notes from the ChairContinued from page 4

this month’ free seminar “Managing theVirtual Office”, and other programming.

Special thanksAmy Disch for care and feeding of the

division website.Leigh Montgomery for meritorious

service as NLN editor.The 2008 NDiv Awards Committee:

Jim Hunter, Leigh Montgomery, AlicePepper, Jennifer Small Evert and MeganWaters.

Carolyn Edds, NewsLib umpire.

Documents

What Makes an Extreme Researcher? An interview with ...An interview with Washington Post’sJulie Tate NLN FEATURE Q Q Q Q A A A A Q A BY SUSAN FIFER CANBY AND BARBARA SEMONCHE How