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Deadline |
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May 2002
Editorial The AUKML conference dominates much of this edition of Deadline, so if you're not interested in knowing what happened in Liverpool, read the news then skip to the middle section. Here you will find an article by Alf Endre Magnussen about Scandinavian news libraries and feature writer Mary Riddell answers the My Internet questions. We revive Status, an old Deadline column and in the People section there is the little reported fact that an AUKML member has been awarded an MBE. There is also a review of the recent electronic archiving talk. The conference was a great success. Thank you to Fiona Sanson, Jill Tulip and of course Colin Hunt for organising such a stimulating and enjoyable weekend. As an added bonus and despite the gloomy predictions, the conference made a small profit. Deadline is produced by Richard Nelsson, Andy Murdoch and Margaret Katny. 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.
AUKML Annual Conference 2002 It was the conference that very nearly didn't happen. Events in September led to the postponement of the first date, while as the recession began to bite there was a question mark over whether there would be enough people for the second. Thankfully over 50 signed up, but as delegates began to gather in one of the Holiday Inn's anonymous rooms, news came through that the organisers were stuck in traffic. Then just as everyone was heading towards the coffee and cakes, a red-faced Fiona Sanson and Jill Tulip burst through the door. Soon everyone was armed with a name badge, people started to talk and Felicity Bridgewater began the workshop: Professional and Personal Development. Quite what the point of trying to suspend a pound coin using straws was lost on many, but the clear message from the session was to learn how to prioritise and invest time in planning. Certainly time had gone into planning Saturday's packed programme. Conference chair Charles Oppenheim made the introductions and the first session began. Edmund King launched into a demonstration of the British Library Newspaper Library's pilot project to digitise part of their archive. Material out of copyright (1851-1918) had been scanned from the microfilm, initially for free by Olive software, (http://www.uk.olivesoftware) ). A simple search engine produced a large recall, but King stated that the project was not seeking perfection. In fact advantages of the new system included being able to send the articles as an email and enlarging text made hard to read by spine-curvature. From text to pictures and next to speak was Ian Watson, Head of Rights and Information at the Scottish Media Group (SMG) and AUKML Chair, describing the impact of digitalisation on picture libraries. Amongst the technical talk such as how much to put online and in what format, one point that stuck out was the change in status of the picture librarians. Initially with the move towards digital, jobs had been lost, but those who remained were now seen as highly skilled researchers, rather than just filing clerks. Whenever two or more people from the media get together, talk invariably turns to copyright. To help delegates avoid ending up in court, a couple of sessions were given over to the subject. Firstly, two barristers, Francis McEntegart and Laurence Pritchard talked about intellectual property, with reference to previous copyright cases involving hypertext links. Copyright Consultant Sandy Norman then explained how copyright affects information professionals and the possible repercussions of the soon to be implemented European copyright directive. After this useful, but heavy going session, there was a welcome break for lunch. Fears that the vast amount of free news content on the internet would result in libraries ceasing to buy information from traditional online suppliers have, by and large, not materialised. Reliability of content and good archiving are just some of the qualities that information professionals are still willing to pay for. That was the view of a panel of suppliers and content providers to the question, Is Online Dead?, during the main afternoon debate. Richard Withey from Independent Digital claimed that no information delivery platform had ever been killed off by a new one - the internet is now simply the medium for distribution. Developments in the future may include a micro-payment system for the internet based on the mobile phone model. While the online industry had felt threatened, Pat Baird from Trinity Mirror concluded that it was merely 'wounded'. Why exactly it had been hurt became apparent in the next session, Business Information on the Internet, a paper given by Paul Pedley from the Economist Intelligence Unit and an expert on the invisible web. In a lively talk, he revealed a host of free sources of company and market research data. Pedley both contradicted and complemented the previous discussion; certainly there are plenty of reliable sites out there, but it can be time consuming trying to find them and once they become successful, they often start to charge. This he said could be, "irritating - but that's part of the bargain". The two sessions went to the heart of the conference title. Most media librarians seem to have finally left the world of yellowing paper cuttings and are seeking out new directions in the digital world. Despite the recession continuing to bite, there was an air of optimism and confidence about the future amongst many of the delegates. The day finished on an upbeat note with a discussion, Tips for Success in the Information World, chaired by the Library Association's, (now CILIP), Elspeth Hyams. What could have ended up as a re-hash of a self-improvement book actually revealed some useful nuggets of advice. The all-women panel had all at some stage in their careers been librarians, but to succeed they had moved into other areas of work. Their main message was that while information management skills are highly transferable, it is essential to have a flexible outlook. Judith Dunn, Director of Editorial Services at News International stressed the need to understand the ethos of your particular organisation. Meanwhile Media consultant Kirsten Edmondson described using the fear factor to her advantage. Her criteria for taking on a new job was always that to begin with she did not understand 30% of what was involved. Finally, BBC web producer, Annabel Colley brought the discussion back to the conference title by talking about what librarians should call themselves in their 'emerging role'. Depending on who she was talking to, Colley adapted her job title to what the other person thought she did. Anathema to some librarians, but in her experience this had proved to be very successful. Conference: Social activities
As well as ensuring that delegates had a good time, Colin Hunt seemed
to be on a mission to show off his beloved city. On Saturday night, the bus rolled up to take us to the Royal Liver Building. Ken Martin, architect, lecturer and another one of Colin's mates gave an excellent talk and about the building, while Dialog (http://www.dialog.com/) kindly provided the champagne. Back at the hotel, the dinner was enjoyable and Colin showed that there's a alternative career for him as a compere as he introduced the after-dinner entertainment, comedian Leslie Gibson (http://www.powerpromotions.co.uk/lesgib.htm) - possibly a mate. Never in the history of AUKML has a conference been so divided over a speaker. >From his greeting of a bearded diner as Harold Shipman, you were either with Gibson or against him. Reactions ranged from stunned silence, supressed giggles and splutters to open laughter at his tour through the world of TV light entertainment. Okay he wasn't to everyone's taste, but his impressions weren't bad, there were one or two good jokes and if nothing else he provided a talking point for years to come. A visit to Liverpool would not be complete without a ferry trip across the Mersey. Or maybe the Sunday morning outing was just a test to see who had a strong stomach after the previous night's shenanigans. Actually faces were blue due to the bracing wind rather than green.
Conference: A first-timer's view of the AUKML Conference
by Melissa Robinson I had known about the AUKML conference for several months before going and the thought of going to what I thought would be an extremely serious, high powered business meeting plagued me with worry. Would everyone be wearing suits, know everyone else in the room and talk of topics that I had absolutely no idea about? Would I say the wrong thing or simply feel completely out of my depth? On going to the conference all I can say is that those fears were unfounded. I had expected a mass of hundreds of people, but the smaller number of people made the atmosphere friendlier. Initially I was a little lost and did not know who to talk to or what to say, but the opening workshop in 'Professional and Personal Development' taken by Fliss Bridgewater was a great icebreaker. When the word 'workshop' was bandied around, I was suddenly struck with the fear that the development workshop would involve barrels and planks and possibly a small river. Luckily it was nothing of the sort and I happily spent an hour and a half working alongside other delegates and going back to my school days by making boxes out of cardboard! The delegates attending the conference were all very different. Some were quiet, others were quite loud and opinionated, but all were friendly and approachable. I thought that it being a media librarianship conference there would be stereotypical people in tweed suits aged about 70 looking very stern (yes the same old stereotypes are still hanging around!). I couldn't have been more wrong! The trip to the Beatles museum was very interesting. I did feel quite aware that I was a newcomer that evening as everyone seemed to know each other from years previous. However I had quite a few laughs talking to Charles Oppenheim, Justin Arundale and Richard Withey as we walked around the museum. I was interested to find out how the proceedings of the conference would go when it was in full swing on Saturday. Everyone was extremely friendly and asked me where I was from and why I was at the conference. It was interesting to have Charles chairing the conference as I am used to attending his lectures at University. As usual his style was witty and enthusiastic. The sessions on the automated scanning and indexing of newspapers on microfilm and the impact of digitisation on picture libraries were very interesting and broadened my knowledge of what technologies are available for the digitisation of text and graphics. The session on the impact of digitisation of picture libraries was extremely useful to me as I later visited Judith Dunn at News International and saw how their picture library worked and could see what I had learnt in the session in practice. I was pleased that when I was attending the sessions I understood the concepts under discussion as they related to my studies. It was reassuring to know that what I am studying has direct relevance to the working world. The sessions on intellectual property and information professionals and copyright highlighted many familiar issues for me but gave me extra insight into the perspective of media libraries on the topic. The panel discussions 'Is online dead' and 'Tips for success' highlighted a lot of interesting points. As someone about to embark on a career in media librarianship, I found the tips for success invaluable and shall certainly keep them in mind in my future career. I was amazed by the knowledge that Paul Pedley shared with us in his session about business information on the Internet. His in-depth knowledge of what was available was quite astounding! I found the reception at the Royal Liver building highly enjoyable as I got a chance to talk to members of the conference that I had not got to talk to previously. I was amazed how quickly the time passed and wished I had had more time to be able to meet everyone. Ken Martin was very amusing in his welcoming address and it was fascinating watching him sketch various scenes from Liverpool on menus and any other canvas he could get hold of at the conference dinner! The dinner was very pleasurable and was a good opportunity to see how well all the members of the conference got on together. I found the comedian who entertained us after dinner very amusing, but unfortunately he did not appear to be everyone's taste! In all I found the conference very interesting and found it valuable to be able to put what I have been studying over the last three years into the context of the media library. I felt very lucky to have been able to attend the conference with people who are extremely successful in their field. The friendliness of people at the conference was very much appreciated. By the end of the conference I felt quite at home! I would like to especially thank Judith Dunn and Fiona Sanson for inviting me to visit them in their places of work, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and to Katharine Schopflin who has given me some great advice. It is so nice to know that there are so many people out there willing to give you some of their time. I would also like to thank Charles for making my attendance at the conference possible, and thank Fiona Sanson and Jill Tulip for agreeing to my attendance.I do hope that I shall meet you all again at some point in my future career. Melissa Robinson is an undergraduate student at Loughborough University melissa.robinson@ntlword.com
CONFERENCE: Diary To the casual observer, this year's conference would have appeared a well behaved affair. There were none of the singalongs, room parties or drunken lunges at young librarians, of previous AUKML outings. But seasoned conference watchers reported there was plenty going on, ("X-cert" in the words of one old-hand), it's just a case of looking a little harder. Unfortuanetly as Deadline is unable to afford a Naomi Campbell-like libel case, the lawyers have removed much of the diary. Still... Who would have thought that something as innocent as the silent auction could get a bit tense. Firstly there was some fierce bidding and determined staring-out over the simple matter of a Swiss Army knife and a pile of old magazines. Also, perhaps taking note of Judith Dunn's previous advice about understanding the ethos of the company you work for, a librarian from a publication aimed at the business community was observed engaging in some backroom dealing to enusure her bid for a video was successful. Still it was all in a good cause and nearly £120 was raised. Many, many thanks must be offered to Dialog for not only supplying the champagne, but bringing out more to drink after dinner. However one self-appointed wine buff, rather uncharitably suggested that the 'Dialog label' wasn't quite the real thing. Simon Hair, Dialog's representative, kept his cool and assured the young oenologist that it was, "business standard" and indeed to most delegates it tasted fine. Hair in fact was the true professional talking about the online business until everyone had left for bed. The conference very nearly didn't have a Chairman. Just as Saturday's first session was getting under way, there was a phone call to say that Charles Oppenheim's wife was locked out of their house in Market Harborough. To stop Charles leaving, emergency funds were released so as to courier spare keys to his wife. There was much merriment on the so called 'women's table' during the comedian's romp through the world of British soap operas. The tears of laughter though had less to do with the hilarious impersonations of Kevin Webster et al and more to do with one of their member trying to catch the comedian's attention to ask him a question. Don't let it be said that AUKML members don't live and breathe their calling in life. A bleary eyed conference diary came upon a group of perky delegates at Sunday breakfast. Instead of the usual 'night before' banter, they were discussing everything from copyright to digitlisation. It was a joy if not arduous task to join in.
CONFERENCE:Feedback The Conference questionnaire feedback was extremely positive with the majority of replies stating that they found the weekend extremely useful and interesting. The standard of the event organisation was also applauded. A lot of delegates found the balance of the talks and social activities extremely successful. This enabled delegates to meet new people and one delegate was "encouraged by how supportive people in the profession are." The Panel discussions were deemed to be a great success, more so than the Friday afternoon exercise. A lot of delegates were keen on the open floor policy after such discussions and open up the debate as a whole. Many attendees are keen for such a forum to be part of next year's event. Ideas for the location and subject of the 2003 Conference were varied but some strong themes did emerge. In a time of change, various delegates mentioned problems of staff motivation, perhaps taking the skills they know and re-branding them. Another relevant point which could be up for discussion is the change in the information seeking behaviour of journalists. The South of the country including London, Exeter, Plymouth were all proposed as 2003 locations, but fear not Northerners, so was Edinburgh and Newcastle?so watch this space! If people would still like to give feedback/ideas for next year, but have not yet filled in the questionnaire, please contact me at: fiona.sanson@granadamedia.com MY INTERNET: Mary Riddell Mary Riddell is a weekly columnist for The Observer and an interviewer for the New Statesman. She contributes to a range of other publications. These include the Centre for Reform's recent book on The Seven Ages Of Life, for which she wrote the essay on Childhood, and Demos's forthcoming pamphlet on the future of the monarchy. Her writing awards include Interviewer of the Year in the British Press Awards.
WHEN DID YOU FIRST GO ON THE WEB AND WHAT DID YOU FIND?
HOW OFTEN DO YOU GO ONLINE?
WHAT HAS THE WEB IMPROVED MORE; THE QUALITY OF YOUR WORK OR THE
QUALITY OF YOUR LIFE?
HAS THE INTERNET HAD ANY DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS ON YOUR WORK
(SPECIFICALLY), OR YOUR LIFE (IN GENERAL)?
DO YOU SEARCH THE INTERNET YOURSELF OR DO YOU PREFER TO DELEGATE
SEARCHES TO INTERMEDIARIES?
NAME A FEW OF YOUR FAVOURITE SITES AND A FEW YOU DISLKE (OR IN YOUR
VIEW, WHAT'S THE BEST AND THE WORST OF THE WEB?)
WHICH STATEMENT TO DO YOU AGREE WITH? THE WEB:
CAN YOU RECOMMEND ONE BRILLIANT SITE THAT MIGHT ENHANCE ANOTHER
PERSON'S LIFE?
DO YOU USE ANY OF THE WEB'S MORE INTERACTIVE FEATURES: CHAT ROOMS,
DISCUSSION GROUPS, OR FORUMS?
WHEN YOU CHUCK YOUR NAME INTO A SEARCH ENGINE, WHAT COMES OUT?
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR MOST PLEASURABLE EXPERIENCE WHILE ON THE 'NET?
NORDIC EXPOSURE - Alf Andre Magnussen from Norwegian paper,
Aftenposten, writes about news libraries in Scandinavia
Meeting review We have no equivalent to AUKML in the Nordic countries. But even if we're not as organised as you, a 100 or so of us gather each year to learn more about our jobs. In 1996, Sanna Kilner, former head of the news library at Goteborgs Posten (Swedish newspaper based in Gothenburg) thought that Scandinavian media librarians knew too little about each other, and so she started the conference, "Archive and Research". This was exactly what many of us were looking for; the conference became a huge success, and over the subsequent years it has been held in Stockholm, Malmoe, Copenhagen, Oslo, and again in Gothenburg. This year's conference has been postponed, but I'm sure that next year's in Copenhagen will attract at least the same number of participants as previous gatherings. The importance of the conference is not only the lectures, but being able to get together with others in the same situation, to experience what challenges and problems others struggle with. So: what do we at Aftenposten struggle with? Probably the same as you do. Our Documentation Centre, like most newspaper libraries in the Scandinavian countries, combines archive and research "centres". Not all of Norway's 200 (approx.) daily newspapers have dedicated departments or even librarians, but the larger ones do. Aftenposten is Norway's leading quality newspaper, with a broadsheet morning edition (circulation 262,000), and a tabloid - in size, not necessarily in content - evening edition (circulation 167 000). At the Documentation Centre there are 12 media librarians and a secretary. Traditionally, newspaper articles were archived, and the research was mainly done using the archived material. In the mid-1980s the first external databases came into use, and along with the internet more and more sources have become available, not only for the librarians, but for the whole newsroom. One of our strategies is to make the sources available for the rest of the newsroom, by negotiating with database vendors and the training of the editorial staff. These site licences are of course more expensive and therefore an economic challenge. The news librarians are now specialising in research, most often about people, companies, organisations and so on. The sources could be public records, news and background articles, reports and statistics in Norway as well as from other countries.
... and what do we really struggle with?
What could we do better?
... and CAR http://www.aftenposten.no/english Aftenposten - the the only Norwegian web-newspaper with an English section Alf Endre Magnussen works in Aftenposten's News library alf.endre.magnussen@aftenposten.no
Meeting Review: Archiving the Web, BBC Bush House Speaking to a packed audience in an intimate location at Bush House, Cathy Smith, New Media Archivist at the BBC, announced that her talk may pose more questions about web archiving than it would answer. As she described her experiences in relation to the BBC's online archiving initiatives, it became apparent that the role of the web archivist is by no means clear cut and is fraught with a number of legal, technological and political challenges. In the era of new media, the roles of librarian and archivist have had to evolve and adapt; incorporating core skills with current and future concepts to meet these challenges and effectively develop a standardised system of content production and asset management. New media has become increasingly integral to the role of the BBC's Information and Archives department and to the corporation as a whole.Services introduced under the BBCi brand such as WebOnTV, Digitext and BBC Headstart (digital teaching materials) have made archiving an increasingly extensive and critical procedure. This will undoubtedly increase as take-up of broadband and interactive television accelerates. Add to this current and historical archives for Ceefax and online news since 1997 and there is a wealth of digital data to be stored and magaged. The archiving of online information has many implications both internally and externally. Maintaining a digital bank of content has benefits for those in production as it can store greater amounts of information at lesser costs and introduce a more effective level of standardisation. However the rapid introduction of new platforms and production techniques has posed problems for archiving. As Cathy highlighted, any standardisation of processes will come from a central archive policy to be agreed upon by all parties with a vested interest. As with many large organisations this is easier said than done. Production techniques and delivery methods will continue to develop as broadcasting and computing technology continue to converge. The need for co-operation and knowledge sharing will be increasingly important. Moreover the archiving of online data brings with it new legal responsibilities and implications. The Broadcasting Act requires a 90 day rolling archive of online information and issues of copyright and data protection become even more complicated when applied to electronically stored data. The BBC Charter dictates that the public should be able to access as much published information as possible. Increased freedom of information means greater responsibility for content, leaving the BBC more vulnerable to accusations of copyright infringement and deformation. Every time a web page is accessed it is technically republished and the definition of admissible evidence becomes more difficult to ascertain. Issues of reuse will become even more problematic as systems such as video on demand make online content more permanently available. Interactive television's ability to facilitate audience created media will also raise questions about content responsibility and legal requirements. Despite these issues the archiving of the BBC's online resources will undoubtedly have tangible, long term benefits. More efficient storage, access and reuse will have benefits for research and maintaining historical records and enhancing the national heritage of broadcasting. Moreover effective management of content also allows greater potential for commercial exploitation. Increased access and availability of media creates profit making potential. The BBC's licence-based funding however calls this particular benefit of online archiving into question. Consequently the role of the Information and Archive Department and that of the librarian as a whole has been redefined. Understanding new methods of production, content delivery and media management is crucial. However, equally important are the traditional core library skills of indexing, categorisation and metadata management which are critical in ensuring the effective transformation of data into a valuable media asset. Standardisation of metadata for example is essential in tracking assets, sourcing copyright data and creating electronic programme guides. Cathy Smith described the redefinition of the role of the librarian and archivist in terms such as 'media managers', 'metators' and 'cybrarians': applying the core library skills to the creation of and management of new forms of media and production. Working closely with other departments, Information and Archives will be central to the BBC's New Media Archive Policy. Examining best practice around the BBC and looking to other examples of new media archiving such as Internet Archive (The Wayback Machine) and developments in newspaper libraries, the department will be an integral component in the standardisation and modernisation of the BBC's development of media creation, storage and management.
Linda MacDonald works in the Guardian/Observer Research Department |
