News Library News Online
Vol. 23, No. 3/Spring 2001

Table of Contents
Regular Features

New This Month

News Library News
SLA News Division Home

 

Debra BadeNotes from the Chair
By Debra Bade


"Carpe Diem" – Seize the Day

The phrase "carpe diem" always seems to reflect your mood in the springtime, doesn’t it? Days lengthen, flowers bloom, and we, like all of nature, feel restored, rejuvenated and energized. We are eager to take on new challenges and apply ourselves to goals with a new passion. As news librarians, we are fortunate to be working in a field that is always changing (yes, that’s a good thing!) and evolving into something we may not even recognize a few years from now.

We have opportunities to learn something new every day. Despite being eternally short on staff and resources we are notorious for using our many creative talents to find a better, faster, cheaper, easier way to get things done within our news organizations. And we exert profound influence repeatedly in those organizations, inspiring an excitement and eagerness among our newsroom cohorts as we help them learn about new newsroom systems, new archive systems and new research tools. Good journalism begins with asking the right questions, and knowing where to go (or who to ask) to answer those questions. News librarians are an essential part of the best journalism out there. Be proud. And now that you’ve rediscovered that energy and passion of yours, seize the day and apply it! Use your talents to show your management how instrumental you are to producing the good journalism your company strives for every day.

See you in San Antonio

Speaking of seizing the day, the theme of our upcoming annual conference in San Antonio is "An Information Odyssey: Seizing the Competitive Advantage." News Division Chair-elect Jody Habayeb is busy planning sessions to stimulate the creativity and professional skills of Division members. This is the perfect place to expand on your passion and creative energy – you’ll find sessions on new media copyright, media asset management, the census, disaster planning, convergence, and digital photo archiving just to name a few of the topics in store. I hope many of you are planning to be in San Antonio with us.

Vormelker-Thomas Student Stipend Award

This News Division award is jointly sponsored with Bell & Howell Information and Learning and is granted to a graduate student with an interest in news librarianship to allow him/her the opportunity to attend our annual conference. This year, I’m pleased to announce that our recipient will be Christine Davies. Christine is a grad student at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia and also has a B.A. in Journalism. She has both journalism and archive experience, having held a number of positions with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). After completing her graduate studies Christine will return to her position as Associate Producer of History Programming with CBC Radio, where her responsibilities include oversight of the Record Library and Archives. Christine’s essay appears in this issue of News Library News. Thanks go to C.B. Hayden, who began the work to select a student stipend award winner before his death, and to the committee members who joined me in this process: Rachel Sapienza, Jessica Baumgart, and Carolyn McClendon.

A Fellowship to Honor C.B. Hayden of ABC News

C.B.’s sudden and unexpected death in February touched many of his Division friends and colleagues who will all miss the special humor, sparkling intelligence, and wonderful creativity which C.B. brought into our lives. Since his love for news librarianship was so strong, it is only fitting that we honor him in a way that will allow others to learn more about news librarianship and participate more fully in pursuing the skills of news librarianship. The News Division will discuss the creation of a special fellowship to make this a reality during our annual business meeting in San Antonio. We’ve are accepting donations to a fellowship fund if you’d like to contribute – please send your check made payable to SLA News Division to Treasurer Bill Van Niekerken at the San Francisco Chronicle Library.

A Regional Seminar in Atlanta

The News Division will sponsor a one-day seminar "News and Resources for the Library and Information Community" in Atlanta, Georgia on May 25, 2001 so please mark your calendars. David Bender, executive director of SLA, will be on tap as our keynote speaker. Information industry leaders from Factiva, Lexis-Nexis, and Northern Light will offer thoughts on trends and hot issues in the business. A toolbox session will focus on skills to implement on the job and we’ll enjoy two research facility profiles. Watch NewsLib for further details and please plan to join us!

Thank you

In closing, let me add a personal thank you to all of you here. Serving the News Division as your Chair has been an incredible experience for me – working with all of you is such a pleasure. The roles of Chair and Chair-elect pass on to our incoming Chair, Jody Habayeb and Chair-elect, Michael Jesse during our annual conference. I know they too will find this an exciting and rewarding time to be involved as Division leaders.


Debra Bade is the Director of Online Training and Development for CNN in Atlanta, Georgia and can be reached at debra.bade@turner.com.