This account was written for the MidAtlantic News Research Conference on July 18-19, 1997.
I manage the public research service/information store for The News & Observer. I usually come in around 8am. I check phone messages and usually forward my phones til 9am. This is best time of day to work uninterrupted. Depending on what I am working on I read email either before or after 9am. There are usually several requests that are forwarded from the online editors about reusing articles from our web site or asking for information from our archives. I refer them to our Reprint Permission Policy which is on the web or explain that PiSYS IQ can do the research for them -- for a fee. I also let them know what resources are available for free locally. I have several "canned" responses that I can easily edit to fit most requests. Today I am working on a project for a client in Washington DC. It involves searching newspapers and business sources in the greater Washington DC area. After doing the online searching, this project requires a lot of post processing. Much of what my client is wanting is found in business briefs. Because briefs can run really long in some publications and the infomation the client needs may be only a couple of lines in the article I delete all the extraneous information from the articles and bold portions of articles that contain significant information for the client. After a final read I print the the file and fax it to the client. A few clients can be sent research by email but for the most part clients still prefer fax. For projects too large to fax we use Fed Ex and Priority Mail. We always follow up a fax or email with a hard copy and invoice (or receipt if they charged to a credit card). Then I prepare and print an invoice for the client and put the hard copy and invoice in the mail. I update our database of client requests. I have already started an electronic file for this project but I need to finish it with the amount of the charge, what online sources were used, when the project was faxed and mailed, etc. Except for when I am doing online searching, I take phone calls from the public. These calls come to us directly because people have used our services before or; they come from the operators, reporters, editors and other departments forwarding calls to us. Depending on the what the people are asking for I explain what IQ can do for the them and approximately how much the request would cost. I also explain how people can do the research themselves with local resources. I have a voice tree that has the same information also but I don't forward people from a live person to a voice tree. The operators are encouraged to forward people to the voice tree ane there is an option from the voice tree to talk with someone in IQ. Though many people prefer to spend their time instead of their money, often business would rather pay the $20.00+ to get the article(s). Today a CPA firm wants an article that they remember being in the biz section a month or two ago. While I talk to them I search for them in the client database to determine if IQ has ever done research for them before. I find that we have worked for another person in the CPA office but not for the person making the call. I double check the fax number that we have on file with the CPA firm. Because I am trying to wrap up the Washington DC project I ask "How quick do you need this article?" He responds "Can I have it by the end of day today?" I reply that he should have the article by fax by mid-afternoon. Less than two hours later I am searching for the biz article. It was an easy find that I print and fax to the client. Today I'm eating a late lunch in the office. It's a good time to read over the Searcher magazine that came in the this week's mail. After lunch I prepare an invoice for the CPA. Since this is the first time we have provided research to this particular person before, when I mail the article and the invoice I include a letter thanking the client for letting us provide him with research. The letter also explains our research service and the array of resources we can provide. This type of personal letter has proved to be one of IQ's best marketing stategies for getting repeat clients. Along with the letter I send a IQ brochure also. Today I have had three phone calls before lunch from people wanting to reprint something from the paper. One was for a cartoon so I refer that person to the syndicate. For the other two I get their fax number and explain that all requests must be submitted in writing and that I am faxing them a copy of the N&O's repring permission policy that explains how to submit a request. Another person who works in my office is Karen Hughes. Her main responsibility is the N&O Bookstore. This is the other component of the research service. The N&O Bookstore sells books and posters. All of th products we sell either are produced by the N&O or have a tie with the N&O. We run numerous house ads for our products. People can order by mail and send a check. They may also purchase the products at the Customer Service desk. In addition they can place orders over the phone with credit cards. IQ runs Karen's phone number as the order line. Karen and I both answer that number as needed to take orders and answer questions about the products. We also have a message on the line that explains how people can leave their order information on the phone. By mid-afternoon I have everything completed with both the projects and begin working on the lastest recipe book. I have downloaded some recipe columns from 1996 and I am making them into a recipe book. Occasionly there is a nonsense character in the file that will require me checking the microfilm to find exactly how the column ran the the paper. We sure don't want to confuse 1/4 t. with 4 T!!! I pring out the pages that I have questions about and set them aside to check against microfilm later. Late in the afternoon I get a call from a writer in features. He has a idea he wants to talk about this afternoon. He is proposing a new series and wants talk about potential products we might develop from the series. He comes over to my office so we can talk without the interruptions of the features dept. We brainstorm some and come up with some ideas he can put in a proposal. Although my days can vary a lot -- this was a typical day I suppose. Research and answering the phone and working on new projects make up many of my days -- its the mixture of those that changes from day to day. I think I would be very bored if my days were too much alike. -- Denise J. Jones PiSYS IQ Information Quest Manager The News & Observer voice: (919) 829-8918 fax: (919) 829-8968
A Day in the Life
SLA News Division Home
Last Updated: 09/16/02
Amy Disch
Send comments or suggestions to newsdivisionweb@yahoo.com