meet the gleaner’s library: jamaica-based with global ... · library profiles, so you can take a...

Vol. 29, No. 2/Winter 2007

NOTES FROM THECHAIR / 5Find out from the newlyseated Division Chairwhat’s new in the NewsDivision.

KNIGHT/SALZBURGREUNION/ 8Leigh Montgomery writesabout her experiences atthis 3-day conference inNew York.

TECH TIPS/ 10 & 7Derek Willis takes usinto his Mac world withnew software programsand their parellels in theWindows environment.

MILITARYDATABASE MARKSANNIVERSARY / 11Military Periscope cele-brates 20th year track-ing military worldwide.

THE INSIDESTORY

The GleanerCompanyL i m i t e d

publishes newspa-pers in Jamaica,North Americaand the UnitedKingdom andmaintains severalWeb sites withcommunity, enter-tainment and trav-el information forJamaica’s residentsand visitors. Thecompany’s “flag-ship” paper, TheGleaner, is pub-lished morningsMonday throughSaturday and con-tains “news, views,sports and in-depth reporting.”

Meet the Gleaner’s Library:Jamaica-Based with Global Reach,Renovated Digs and Revenue Streams

Continued on page 9

LIBRARY PROFILE

The Gleaner’s Library Staff (December 2006). Back row, l-r: Malekia Stennett, Junior ResearchAssistant: Apologies & Research; Kevin Fung, Research Assistant: Photographs & Research;Nicolia McDonald, Senior Researche; Hyacinth Maitland, Photography Archives Clerk; MicheleAnderson, Research Assistant: Indexer & Research; Sheree Rhoden, Research Assistant -Sales/Copyright & Research. Front row, l-r: Mavis Belasse, Manager - Information Systems; AhonGray, Junior Research Assistant: Archives & Research; Doneisha Williams, Junior ResearchAssistant: Apologies & Research; Judith Silvera, Indexer & Research; Oral Anderson, Archives.Assistant), Nickolae Fletcher (Administrative Assistant).PHOTO: Andrew Smith/Photography Editor

BY AMY DISCH

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 NewsWINTER 2007Vol. 29, No.2

PAGE 2 NEWS LIBRARY NEWS WINTER 2007

COMMITTEECHAIRS

NLN STAFF

CHAIR, Jim Hunter, Columbus Dispatch, Columbus,OH, 614/461-5039,e-mail: [email protected]

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

2008 CONFERENCE PLANNER, Ron Larson,Wisconsin State Journal/The Capital Times,Madison, WI, 608/252-6113,e-mail: [email protected]

PAST CHAIR/DIRECTOR-AWARDS,Denise Jones, The News & Observer, Raleigh,NC, 919/829-8918e-mail: [email protected]

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

TREASURER, Peter Johnson, Preservati Partners,Los Angeles, CA, 323/478-9417 or 213/590-5983,e-mail: [email protected]

DIRECTOR-EDUCATION/PROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENT CHAIR, Dana Gordon,Newsweek Inc., New York, NY, 212/445-4012,e-mail: [email protected]

DIRECTOR-PUBLICATIONS, Gail Hulden, TheOregonian, Portland, OR, 503/294-5086,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

It is now the depth of winter and despite the frigid temperatures, January always feelslike a fresh start. It’s as if the Zamboni has just resurfaced your own personal ice rink,wiped away last year’s blade scrapings, gouges, scratches, scribbles, and hot chocolate

spills. Time to lace up the skates and get ready for at the very least, an eventful 2007. I liketo think this Winter issue of the News Library News will help you do just that!

Derek Willis is back with his Tech Tipscolumn - one I know I will have taped to mynew iMac myself - with his recommendationsfor customization. For non-Mac users, somecool library tools are also mentioned. AmyDisch is back with one of her wonderfullibrary profiles, so you can take a virtual visit to the Gleaner library in Jamaica! Catch upwith your news library colleagues and moves in the People Column, and a most interest-ing seminar attended by some friends you might recognize...addressing multimedia jour-nalism, and global topics for American audiences - or any audiences! We’ve got an item onthe 20th anniversary of the database Military Periscope, and Notes from our new Chair,Jim Hunter.

So enjoy these inspiring stories of our colleagues and useful tips they have provided - totake to your own “home ice!”

❝ …January always

feels like a fresh start.❞LEIGH MONTGOMERY

THE ASIDE BAR

WINTER 2007 NEWS LIBRARY NEWS PAGE 3

NEWS LIBRARY NEWS WINTER 2007

BY JIM HUNTER

NOTESFROMTHECHAIR

The word for today is transition.In January, the News Division transi-

tioned to new leadership, reflecting ournew calendar year cycle.

Congratulations to Justin Scroggs,Chair Elect, NewsBank; Chair Elect ElectRon Larson, Wisconsin State Journal/TheCapital Time; Secretary Amy DischColumbus Dispatch; and PublicationsDirector Gail Hulden, Oregonian; who willbe working closely with newly appointedNews Library News editor LeighMontgomery, Christian Science Monitor;NewsLib listserv owner Carolyn Edds, St.Petersburg Times; and Webmaster AmyDisch, Columbus Dispatch. They join PastChair Denise Jones, Raleigh News &Observer; Treasurer Peter Johnson,Preservati Partners; Dana Gordon,Newsweek, and myself as your leadership.

Dana Gordon has planned somethingspecial for us,-an all-day CE entitled “NewsResearcher’s Tech Toolbox: Turning Datainto Stories.” She will showcase some of theprojects our colleagues have developedusing public records or internal informa-tion to create databases or repositories; a“how to” on ways to automate the intakeand updating of records, open source andother software available, working with yourIT staff, and resources for learning more.

You don’t need to be a tech wiz toattend. You just need an interest in learningmore about some cool technologies that arepowering data-driven news projects- a tran-sition we all need to embrace!

Justin Scroggs has been working hard onthe Denver program and has put together abroad mix of important programs includ-ing a reception and tour of the Denver Post(fabulous!), high technology content man-agement systems, the future of newslibraries with Nora Paul, managing andpreserving digital archive with VickyMcCargar, copyright issues in the 21stcentury, Mary Ellen Bates, and onlinesources for genealogical research.

Our new Chair Elect Elect is planning

farther out than just the next conference.Ron Larson is already planning the confer-ence after the current year (Seattle 2008).I’m a big fan of long term planning, conti-nuity, goal setting, tackling larger issues,heading off problems and making the mostof opportunities. The Chair Elect Electposition is a big step in that direction.

SLA is on the move as well. Our association is revamping the

mechanics of the annual conference; anevent with far too many programs, dupli-cate programs and (quite frankly) weakprograms. Under the new rules, divisionswill be allowed to run 4 to 6 programs andwill be able to cosponsor two additionalprograms with other divisions. (The NewsDivision typically runs 10-11 programs).Since the News Division has a tradition ofvery strong programming, we will need toleave our “silo” to work with new partnersby the Seattle conference. Ron has the chal-lenge of planning programs with broaderappeal to other divisions while satisfyingthe appetite of the News Division forintense programming.

Finally, the most painful transition of all,the perfect storm of print media to digitalmedia continues unabated. Anecdotally wehear of drastic changes, newsrooms (andlibraries) gutted and papers shrinking — areal shock-and-awe of downsizing. Yes,we’re losing staff and resources but most ofus are hanging in there, becoming in somecases smaller and more multi-media, andcontinuing to provide real value to ournews organizations as well as being daringand innovative.

I would love to know what’s going on inyour news libraries. To those of you fightingthe good fight, would you please drop me aline and tell me your challenges and hopes?I would like very much to sift through yourideas and pass them back as ammunition.

Courage is [email protected]

CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS


News Librarians attend Knight/Salzburg Reunion in New York

BY LEIGH MONTGOMERY

THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

Sixty-nine journalists con-vened at the Museum ofTelevision and Radio in

New York for a three-day dis-cussion about global stories,multimedia storytelling, andfuture journalism programmingfor the host organization, theSalzburg Seminar, an Austria-based global organization andeducational institution thatbrings journalists, professionalsand policy-makers together toaddress global issues and prob-lems.

The attendees were from avaried group of news organiza-tions - from large city dailies topublic radio stations; from edi-torial writers to foreign corre-spondents. This group alsoincluded five news librarians:Susan Fifer Canby, NationalGeographic, Lu-Ann Farrar,The Lexington Herald-Leader,Leigh Montgomery, TheChristian Science Monitor,Susann Rutledge, BusinessWeek, and Barbara Semonche,University of North Carolina /Chapel Hill.

“In a room filled withreporters, editors and produc-ers, our perspectives as newsmedia librarians brought valueto the conference. Because wedeal with all levels of our newsorganizations, we’re especiallytalented at seeing the big pic-ture and bringing disparateunits together for collaboration.

Our occasional librarian hud-dles did not go unnoticed andmore than one person referredto us as a cabal,” wrote SusannRutludge, recounting her con-ference experience in an e-mailmessage.

The conference’s missionwas to affirm that global topicsare of increasing importance forAmerican audiences, thisdespite the sobering reality thatsome newspapers are closingtheir foreign bureaus in order tocut costs and focus on local top-ics. While going ‘hyper-local’ islargely to appeal to advertisersas news organizations struggleto adapt to a multimedia envi-ronment, Americans - and

indeed, all readers - need to bekept informed about our inter-national economic and geopo-litical situation. This conferencesought to reinforce the fact, aswell as that global topics can becovered in any news outlet andshould be made relevant fortheir audiences.

The day began early with awide-ranging discussion withan ambitious goal: identify the

most pressing topics thatAmerican audiences need toknow about in the next fiveyears. After ninety minutes,each of the groups came upwith a list of topics, which weresummarized on the finalSunday (see sidebar on page 7for what they came up with).

The attendees also made rec-ommendations for ‘getting sto-

Pictured left to right: Lu-Ann Farrar, The Lexington Herald-Leader, Leigh Montgomery, The Christian Science Monitor,Barbara Semonche, School of Journalism, University of North Carolina / Chapel Hill, Susan Fifer Canby,National Geographic, Susann Rutledge, Business Week.

Global topics for American audiences, multimedia storytelling addressed

Continued on page 7

❝ The conference’s mission was to

affirm that global topics are of

increasing importance for American

audiences…❞


PEOPLE

BY JENNIFER O’NEILL

Patti Graziano of The Plain Dealerin Cleveland, Ohio decided to takea buyout. She posted her farewell

to the NewsLib listserv thanking us forbeing the consummate research and dis-cussion group. She said it had been atremendous 34 years, and she wished us allthe best.

Darlean Spangenberger at the DallasMorning News has accepted the position ofthe Reference Editor.

Sharon Reeves of The San DiegoUnion-Tribune decided to take a buyout.She says she will be signing onto the listfrom her home email address so she canstay in touch. She says, “It has been a realpleasure working with all of you over theyears, and it is with very mixed emotionsthat I leave.” Sharon became a member ofSLA in 1972 and was president of her SanDiego Chapter in 1981. In the NewsDivision she was Strategic Planning Chair,Nominations Chair, and was a member ofthe Automation/Technology Committee/Text Archiving Special Interest Group. AsBarbara Semonche said in her postregarding Sharon ‘s departure, “ Sharon,with rightful pride, announced onNewsLib in April 2006 that The San DiegoUnion-Tribune’s research staff was part ofthe newspapers Pulitizer Prize-winningseries. Sharon was always prepared tohonor her library’s team for their extraor-dinary research contributions. Seems onlyfair for us now to salute Sharon for herefforts and achievements over the pastthree decades.”

Carol Bradley Bursack, NewsResearcher/Elder Care Columnist for TheForum in Fargo, ND has an ezine for care-givers and seniors at www.mindin-goureldersblogs.com.

Julia Franco has retired from the LosAngeles Times Editorial Library after 14years. She started as a News Researchlibrarian, and became the Training/Communications Specialist. She says thatshe is retiring in order to have family time,

but will be working part-time at theGlendale Public Library at the ReferenceDesk for the next few years: “an interestingchange of pace,” she predicts.

Congratulations to Belinda Harriswho graduated from the University ofSouth Carolina in December with aMasters in Library and InformationScience. She started at The Roanoke Timesin 1978 and has been the librarian theresince 1984. A librarian friend told her thatthe University of South Carolina was plan-ning to start a distance education MLISdegree in Jan. 2003. She applied, wasaccepted and The Roanoke Times paid thetuition.

Derek Willis told me he’ll be leavinghis position as Research Database Editorfor the Washington Post and joining wash-ingtonpost.com as Database Editor. Weknow he’ll do a great job in his new posi-tion.

Paul Koehler has been promoted tothe position of Assistant Librarian at theSt. Louis Post-Dispatch. Paul’s new respon-sibilities include overseeing the creationand maintenance of the newspaper’s digi-tal and hard copy archives, includingmicrofilming and vendor feeds. Paul wasalso recently married, on December 30th2006, to Amanda.

Researcher Matt Fernandes at the St.Louis Post-Dispatch was recently engagedand plans to marry his fiancée, Rachel, onLabor Day.

BY SUSAN FIFER CANBY

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

The Knight Fellows agreed that keysubject trends for the new fewyears are:

❖ climate change (implications forwater, food, energy, health, etc.)

❖ America’s role is the World (as eco-nomic leader, in terms of civil liber-ties, terrorism, etc.)

❖ global immigration (conflict of cul-tures, ethnic pressures, regionalism,divides, deployment, disruption ofcivil life leads to war)

❖ impact of technology and spread ofknowledge

❖ nuclear proliferationJournalists, in the future, should: ❖ make content relevant to reader

❖ establish context - tell the larger story

❖ be a bridge

❖ encourage individual socialresponsibility

❖ creative presentations that may utilizepop culture to draw in reader

❖ come in for a story from the obliqueor provide nuance

Strategically, news organizations, needto also focus on:

❖ increased collaboration across thenews room, organization, and othernews organizations to share resources(staff, money) for the bigger stories

❖ use technologyUsing the media means:❖ tell different stories with different

mediums

❖ first write the story - you’ll need allthe notes and the color to form the‘backbone’

❖ photograph the faces to capture emo-

tion or pause the reader for a moment

❖ film anything that moves

❖ edit for the medium

❖ more citizen journalism with readersand journalists turning to the web forfast breaking news and to printsources for the “record”

❖ providing transparency on how sto-ries are created or to provide addi-tional information.

Journalists are expected to be able tocommunicate on a multi-media platform

❖ to file stories, shoot photos, report ontheir blogs.

Journalists are using news aggregatorsto keep up on international news:

www.Globalvoicesonline.org

www.WatchingAmerica.com

www.VoicesthatMustBeHeard

www.OhMyNews

ries past gatekeepers’, and also providedfeedback for future programming and net-working for the 17,000 strong Salzburgattendees - a priority for the new SalzburgSeminar president, Stephen Salyer.

Lu-Ann Farrar found this discussioninspiring. Writing about her conferenceimpressions in an e-mail message, she stat-ed: “At the Herald-Leader, I believe we willcease to think of ourselves as a state-widemedia and will begin to realize that theworld is now our market - more specifical-ly, the world of readers who are interested inKentucky. Sounds obvious, really, but ournewsroom organizational structure, ourwriting and editing style and our contentdoes not yet reflect this. To me, that is quite

a new way to think about journalism inLexington, Kentucky. For the next week orso, I’m going to share a mental exercise inour morning news meeting: I’m going tosee if I can attach the five internationalnews trends to any stories on our daily bud-get.”

Other highlights of the conferenceincluded a panel presentation by AndrewNagorski, senior editor, NewsweekInternational - who discussed Newsweek’sInternational editions, translated into dif-ferent languages, and Srennath Sreenivasan,dean of students at Columbia UniversityJournalism School, where he also runs thenew media program. Sreenivasan not onlymentioned several web sites that aggregatenews in other languages, but also remindedattendees of some of the serious risks thatyoung journalists are taking to cover con-flicts around the world without the backingand training of an employer.

Other speakers included Mary Kay

Magistad, also of The World, who spokeabout a profile she did of a Korean youngman who had spent some time in the US,and how he used rap music to communi-cate his nationalist sentiments - this was anexample of the use of music ‘to pull thestory along’ for readers. Another presenta-tion was from Kevin Sites, who coveredworld conflicts for a year as a multimediajournalist for Yahoo!’s ‘Kevin Sites: In theHot Zone.’ His presentation was followedby Nishat Kurwa, news director and inter-national desk editor of Youth Radio, whichemploys young people around the world tocover stories in their countries for audiencesof all ages.

Susan Fifer Canby, who was also a mod-erator for the breakout sessions, was anadvocate for the news library profession onoccasion, summarizing so concisely on thefinal day: ‘That all journalists need to startcollaborating - more with librarians, andacross their organizations.’


CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Knight/Salzburg Conference - In Summary

News Librarians attendKnight/Salzburg Reunionin New YorkContinued from page 5


TECH TIPS

BY DEREK WILLIS

THE WASHINGTON POST

This holiday season I got exactlywhat I wanted: a new MacBookPro, the top of the line laptop from

Apple. So this column will be devoted tohow I customized it with some of myfavorite programs. For those of you who arenew to Apple computers, or contemplatingthe switch, I hope to show you that the leapfrom Windows to Mac isn’t very far and canbe very rewarding.

New Mac desktops and laptops comewith a wide array of software - the mostwell-known being the “iLife” suite thatincludes iTunes. But one built-in featurethat most new users don’t take note of is themost powerful application on the machine:the Terminal.

The Mac’s Terminal is a command-lineinterface similar to the DOS or C:\ prompton Microsoft Windows; you have to typethings in to make anything happen, but inthe case of Apple computers, the Terminalis a gateway to a whole other world. Apple’soperating system, OS X, lies atop a Unix-based operating system called Darwin. Sowhile the Mac OS looks really pretty whenyou start using an Apple, the blandness ofthe Terminal hides its power.

Inside the Terminal is where you’ll accesssome of the best tools available for the Mac.These include my favorite scripting lan-guage, Python, but also other languages likePerl, PHP and Ruby. All of them are pre-installed on every Mac running OS X.Same thing for Apache, the popular serverthat runs most web sites - it’s alreadyincluded.

So what did I add to my new laptop?Those of you who have heard me talk aboutxPDF, a conversion utility that extracts textfrom electronic PDFs, know how useful itis to me. But there’s no Mac version - unlessI install it via the Terminal, since there is aUnix version available. So that was one ofthe first things I did.

I also installed my favorite database

manager, MySQL, but this time I did it viaa package built specifically for the Mac.Then I downloaded and installed the Macversion of wget, which I use to retrieveentire websites or collections of pictures ordocuments. In order to install nearly any-thing on a Mac you need administrativerights. If you bought the machine, that’s noproblem; otherwise ask your IT departmentto make you an administrator.

There’s plenty to like about the softwarethat comes with the Mac, but there areother applications I sometimes prefer touse. For example, instead of Apple’s iChatinstant messaging program, I use Adium,which keeps great logs of conversations. Tokeep track of my book collection, I use aprogram called Delicious Library, whichhas nothing to do with the web book-mark-ing service. Delicious Library takes advan-tage of Amazon.com’s collection and theMacBookPro’s built-in iSight camera in areally neat way: when I want to add a newbook to my collection, I simply hold up thebar code in front of the camera, which scansit and then fetches the details fromAmazon.com. Imagine not having to enterbook details any more!

Macs are great at dealing with video, butsometimes I want to watch something dur-ing my commute on my video iPod. So I

use HandBrake, a free program that con-verts video of nearly any format (DVD,MPEG, etc.) to an iPod-friendly format.And when it comes to large text files, I likeTextWrangler, a free program from themakers of BBEdit, one of the best pro-gramming tools around. But I have toadmit that I also downloaded and installedWriteRoom, an old-school sort of text edi-tor that you have to see to believe: thedefault presentation is of a completely blackscreen with green lettering. No drop-downmenus or toolbars, just like Atex!

Unfortunately, I can’t leave the Windowsworld behind, but there’s a great solutionwith the newest Apple computers that havean Intel processor. Parallels is software thatcosts about $80 and enables Mac users toinstall and run Windows or another operat-ing system alongside OS X. It’s not a dual-boot system, where you have to log out ofone OS to switch to another. Parallels willlet you run two or more operating systemsside by side, provided you have the memo-ry to do it. And you can run Windows infull-screen mode, so everything looks thenormal size. Now I can take myMacBookPro with me knowing that I haveaccess to any files and programs I mightneed.

[Note: a full list of the programs mentionedhere, and where you can go to download them,will also be posted on the News Division website at http://www.ibiblio.org/slanews/], orrefer to the following URLs:

xPDF - http://www.foolabs.com/xpdf/

MySQL - http://www.mysql.com/

Adium - http://www.adiumx.com/

Delicious Library - http://www.delicious-monster.com/

HandBrake - http://handbrake.m0k.org/

TextWrangler - http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/

WriteRoom - http://www.hogbaysoftware.com/product/writeroom

Parallels - http://www.parallels.com/en/proucts/desktop/

❝ For those of you who

are new to apple com-

puters, or contemplating

the switch, I hope to

show you that the leap

from Windows to Mac

isn’t very far and can

be very rewarding.❞

First published in 1834 and based inKingston, Jamaica, it “is the oldest oper-ating newspaper in the Caribbean.”

The Gleaner Company’s Library &Archive, which is part of the InformationSystems Department, plays a crucial rolewithin the company. Its primary goals,according to Mavis Belasse, InformationSystems Department Manager andLibrarian, “is to preserve in electronic and

paper form a complete record of allGleaner publications and to provideinformation and services in support of theeditors and reporters of The GleanerCompany as well as any other interestedpersons.”

The value the Library & Archive provideis best demonstrated by its accomplish-ments over the past five years. Completedprojects have included a library renovation,creation of a Research Desk, developmentof the book /periodicals /photographs andreports collections and establishment of “ane-commerce based photo gallery, scholar-ship database and print publication.” Inaddition, there has been digitization of oldphotographs, implementation of severalmarketing initiatives, the development of a

strategic plan for the Information SystemsDepartment and the launch on February28, 2005 of The Gleaner newspaper archive.

The Library & Archive has an impressivecollection of materials in both print andelectronic format. The former includes2,000 books, 25 magazine titles, statutoryand non-statutory reports from 2001 to thepresent, photographs from 1948 to 2000,photo negatives from 1980 to 2002 andbound volumes of Gleaner publicationsfrom 1968 to the present. Electronic collec-tions include a photograph database span-ning 1948 to the present, an e-Library ofGleaner publications from 2001 to the pre-sent and a newspaper archive going back toThe Gleaner’s beginning in 1834. The


LIBRARY PROFILE

Continued on page 12

The newly renovated Gleaner Library

Meet the Gleaner’sLibrary: Jamaica-Basedwith Global Reach,Renovated Digs andRevenue StreamsContinued from page 1

BY PAULA BROOKS, CLIENT SERVICES MANAGER

MILITARY PERISCOPE

Where does one go to find themissile warhead weight for aNorth Korean No Dong

MRBM? The secret weapon of researchersis a user-friendly, authoritative database,Military Periscope. Military Periscope hasbeen helping defense contractors, mediaresearchers and military analysts obtainquick, accurate weapons information fordecades.

Military Periscope celebrated its 20thanniversary as an American innovation fortracking military resources worldwide. Theanniversary was marked by a luncheon atthe Army and Navy Club in Washington,DC on November 15th. Two of thedatabase’s co-creators, Dr. Scott C. Truver, aresearcher and author specializing in home-land defense and security and naval/mar-itime requirements, and Mr. NormanPolmar, an internationally known navalanalyst and author, attended the luncheon.Dr. Truver presented a fascinating odysseyof how a few determined military analysts,most being one step away from a typewrit-er, developed a weapons database - that is -after the concept of a database wasexplained to them.

Were it not for author Tom Clancy, thedatabase might never have been created.Flush with revenues after publishingClancy’s blockbuster title, The Hunt forRed October (1984), the United StatesNaval Institute (USNI) and InformationSpectrum Inc. spearheaded the database in1986 as an alternative to the paper versionof researching weapons records. MilitaryPeriscope (then called the USNI MilitaryDatabase) became the first all-electronic,subscription weapons database of globalunclassified information that also included

each nation’s order of battle.UCG (a privately-held, Rockville, MD-

based information company) took controlof the database in 1989 and greatly expand-ed its coverage thereafter. Some of the earli-est clients included the Pentagon Library,National Security Agency, NationalDefense University and the AustralianDefence Armed Forces. Many in the mediaand defense industry quickly saw the bene-fits of having ready access to records andphotos of weapons in an easy-to-use, updat-ed format. It became a necessary resourcefor analysts worldwide.

One longtime subscriber notes: “Thetechnical library has been using MilitaryPeriscope for many years,” commentsMary-Ellen Read, Technical Librarian atBAE Systems in Nashua, N.H. “It is anexcellent resource for information and it isa product that I value.”

Today, Military Periscope’s clients areglobal, including government agencies,armed forces, intelligence agencies, educa-tional institutions, the media and defensecontractors. Military Periscope includesmore than 5,000 weapons records, span-ning the spectrum of multinationalweaponry: complex systems, combatground vehicles, ships, aircraft, tanks, mis-siles, mines, chemical/biological/nuclearweapons, unmanned vehicles, a wide vari-ety of sensors and experimental systems.Records on the military structure of morethan 164 different nations, commonlyreferred to as the order of battle, are con-stantly updated.

“I enjoy Military Periscope immensely,”notes D. Mitchell Garner, CEO &President of Symetrics Industries inMelbourne, Fla. “It contains all the infor-

PAGE 10 NEWS LIBRARY NEWS WINTER 2007

NLN FEATURE

Continued on next page

Employees celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Military Periscope database at the Army andNavy Club, Washington DC, in November 2006

Military Periscope Celebrates 20 Years as an ElectronicWeapons Database


NLN FEATURE

Military PeriscopeCelebrates 20Years as anElectronicWeapons DatabaseContinued from previous page

mation we need on a day-to-day basis to assist us inour international marketingefforts.”

In response to clientfeedback, Military Periscopenow includes databases onUnited Nations peacekeep-ing missions as well as ter-rorist organizations. TheWeb site carries current,often hard-to-find, militarynews: Daily Defense NewsCapsules. In addition, theeditors provide subscriberswith in-depth coverage oftopical events through fre-quent special reports.

“Periscope is invaluableto journalists for up-to-datemilitary information,” saysMadeline Cohen, Director,Newsweek Research Center.

After 20 years of grow-ing popularity, MilitaryPeriscope has proven thatits creators were on targetfor this specialized market.Not all researchers know aKatyusha rocket from aZelzal missile. However,they will if they subscribe toMilitary Periscope.

For further informationon Military Periscope, visitthe Web site, www.mili-taryperiscope.com.


LIBRARY PROFILE

library utilizes subscription databases suchas Lexis / Nexis, Factiva and AutoTrack, aswell as “local databases” for research pur-poses.

The library’s recent renovation allowedfor the addition of staff workstations and acustomer service area where users can readmagazines or utilize available PCs to searchseveral Gleaner databases and library-creat-ed Web pages. The renovation also allowedfor the incorporation of a Research Deskwhich has, according to Belasse, resulted ina better monitoring by staff of researchrequests and an improvement in customerservice.

Twelve employees comprise the Library& Archive’s staff. In addition toInformation Systems Manager MavisBelasse, there is one senior researcher whocoordinates research efforts andsupervises two research assistants,whose duties include indexingnewspapers for inclusion in thelibrary’s digital database. Thereare two research assistants, one ofwhom performs research and ful-fills hard copy photo requestsand another who is responsiblefor research and sales and copy-right issues, as well as threejunior research assistants whodeal primarily with archivalissues. The remainder of the staffincludes an archives assistant, a photogra-phy archive clerk who works with the elec-tronic photo database and an administra-tive assistant. Working in the GleanerLibrary, Belasse says, requires computer,research and “excellent organizationalskills.”

The Library & Archive is open from 8a.m. to 9:30 p.m. for Gleaner employeesand from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for public cus-tomers. Belasse says “there is no typical day”and that she and her staff “are extremelybusy most days” dealing with requests from

Gleaner’s London, New York and Torontooffices as well as with customers fromaround the world who contact the staffwith requests via telephone and e-mail.

The amount of requests, which concernback issue and photograph sales as well ascopyright issues, are so numerous Belasse

says she and her staff “have to complete ourroutine tasks and assignments and projectsaround the requests of our customers.” Sheadds that as a result, it is often difficult toplan a week’s activities in advance.

Belasse has been with The GleanerCompany for five years andrecounts her hesitation inpursuing the InformationSystems Manager position. “Isaw an ad in The Gleanernewspaper and thought Iwould apply as I met most ofthe requirements,” she says,adding that the ad did notstate a company name. “Itwas not until I received a callto say that I was short-listedfor an interview that I knewthe vacant position was at the

Gleaner.” Belasse says she “became moreapprehensive about pursuing the positionas I knew nothing about working for anewspaper company or for that matterworking for the private sector.” (Belasse’s

Meet the Gleaner’sLibrary: Jamaica- Basedwith Global Reach,Renovated Digs andRevenue StreamsContinued from page 9

Students from St. Cecilia’s Prep School tour the North Street offices of the Gleaner Company,October 2005.PHOTO: Andrew Smith / Photography Editor

Continued on next page

❝ …The library’s recent renovation

allowed for the addition of staff work-

stations and a customer service area

where users can read magazines or

utilize available PCs to search several

Gleaner databases and library-created

Web pages.❞

past experiences have included ten yearsworking in public libraries and seven yearsin college and university libraries.) Withencouragement from friends and col-leagues, Belasse went in for an interview“and to my surprise I was offered the joband decided to take on the challenge.” Thatdecision has proven to be a successful one.“I have gained so much knowledge andexperience working at the Gleaner,” shesays. It has “given me many opportunitiesand given me the confidence to take onnew challenges.”

Many of those challenges fall within theareas of copyright and licensing and finan-cial management. Of the former, Belassepoints to the difficulty of drafting policygiven Jamaica’s 1993 Copyright Law, which“has brought about change in the way weuse and re-use intellectual property.”

As for financial matters, Belasse saysbeing a senior manager means “my job isnot so much hands-on but more decisionmaking. Every decision I make has to bedone with financial issues in mind, soassessing revenue loss or gain, budgetingand making projections is a must.” Sheadds that both these topics are things shewished she would have learned about dur-ing her time in library school.

The library employs a variety of meth-ods to market its services. Advertisementsare placed in Gleaner publications, outsideradio broadcasts promote library servicesand brochures and business cards are dis-tributed. A feature known as “From ourArchives” touts the photo collection andexhibitions displaying those photos areheld. In addition, Belasse writes about thelibrary in “Gleanings,” The Gleaner

Company’s staff magazine and for “locallibrary network newsletters.” Library toursare offered to both internal and externalcustomers and “open days” are held during“Library and Special Library Week.”

With an eye toward the library’s future,Belasse has two main initiatives she wantsto focus on. The first is “doing more collab-orative projects with the Editorial and On-line Departments of the newspaper.” Thishas already occurred to a degree, with staff“collating information to produce bothprint and on-line publications for supple-ments, handbooks and scholarships,” butBelasse is hoping for increased involvementin this area.

The second goal is to develop “sales andcopyright initiatives to increase revenue” inorder to meet the yearly target that is set forthe library. Belasse adds that there is a needto further develop the library’s photo galleryand she “would like to see us offer otherproducts such as those offered by NISyndications, Getty and The MiamiHerald.”

The important role the Library &Archive and its staff has and will continueto play in the company’s success is perhapsbest demonstrated by a quote on the Webpage of The Gleaner Company’sInformation Systems Department. It sim-ply states: “The Library & Archive is a richsource of information and a valuablenational treasure.”

Gleaner Web sites• Gleaner Company:

http://www.go-jamaica.com/

• Archiveshttp://gleaner.newspaperarchive.com/DesktopDefault.aspx

• Library services: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/library/

• Scholarship database: http://www.go-jamaica.com/scholarship/

• Photo gallery: http://www.discoverjamaica.com/gallery/

A full list of Gleaner newspapers andWeb sites can be found at:

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/about/newspapers.html#1


LIBRARY PROFILE

Meet the Gleaner’sLibrary: Jamaica-Basedwith Global Reach,Renovated Digs andRevenue StreamsContinued from page 1

Librarians tour the Gleaner Library on Friday, September 30, 2005. Standing far left is theManager for the Information Systems Department assisting Research Assistant, Judith Silver (seat-ed) whilst she demonstrates how the newspapers are indexed and imported into the Library's elec-tronic database. Winston Sill / Freelance Photographer

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