Where Do Facts Matter?

Print magazines are unique among nonfiction media in their dedication of staff and resources to in-depth, word-by-word verification of stories. Over time, this practice has established magazines’ reputation for reliability, helped them retain loyal readers amid a glut of information sources, and protected them from litigation. But during the past decade, websites, mobile platforms, and social media have expanded the types of stories and other content that magazines provide for readers. Doing so has shortened the time between the creation and dissemination of content, challenging and in some cases squeezing out fact-checkers’ participation. This study examines the procedures applied to stories in magazines and their non-print platforms, seeking to discern what decisions were made in response to the speed of digital publication, what effects these decisions have had, what lessons have been learned and what changes have been made over time. The results suggest that fact-checking practices for print content remain solidly in place at most magazines, if executed with diminished resources; however, magazine media are also exploring new processes to ensure accuracy and protect their reputations in an accelerated media environment.     

Where Does It Hurt?

No abstract available for this article.     

Where are you Coming from?

The increasing prominence of transparency as a news value warrants discussion over its effects in various forms of media. Literary journalism provides a useful platform to assess the function of transparency because of its position on the margins of mainstream journalistic practice. This paper analyses the function of disclosure and participatory transparency against the truth-claims of a book-length work of literary journalism. It concludes that while transparency is valuable in building a journalist's credibility, significant thought needs to be given to how disclosure transparency interacts with the rhetorical effects of narrative in sustaining the truth-claims made about a text.     

Where do journalists go after newsroom job cuts?

This article explores the aftermath of job loss in journalism in 2012, a year of dramatic press industry restructuring in Australia. It reports the findings of a pilot survey of 95 Australian redundant journalists, undertaken as part of the New Beats project, a five-year, university–industry investigation of what happens to journalists, and journalism, after job loss. Three related questions drive the analysis: Where do journalists go after job cuts? How do they make sense of job loss? What happens to professional identity? In contrast to a recent study of journalists laid off from the British press, and the literature on the aftermath of job loss for older professionals, this research finds that, in practical terms, the Australian journalists had relatively better than expected post-job loss experiences. All but two of the redundant journalists seeking re-employment found some form of work within one year, and, thanks to union-enforced redundancy agreements, most left newsrooms with severance payments that cushioned the financial impact of unemployment. Yet, the majority did not resume their full-time careers in journalism, and many were emotionally traumatised not only by job loss but also career change. The article argues a sense of leaving a newspaper industry in seemingly terminal decline amplified feelings of anger and anxiety about both the future of journalism work, and lost professional identity, prompting many to leave the profession intentionally and seek jobs elsewhere.     

The Plugged-in Reference Librarian: Who Do We Think We Are?

In recent years, academic reference librarians often find themselves working in closer proximity to computer workstations, labs, and information commons. They are spending a greater portion of their time assisting library users with the vast array of software and hardware used to access library resources. This study examines whether an increased demand for technological knowledge and proficiency is reflected in job expectations for academic reference librarians. Researchers compared randomly chosen academic reference librarian job advertisements from 1999 to those from 2011, examining both job responsibilities and candidate qualifications. Results were mixed, with some variables gaining prominence but others declining. There was no apparent increase in demand for technological skills and responsibilities overall.     

The Omnipaedia Is Here,But Where Is It?

Summary

Electronic access to information is transforming both the vision of future libraries and the way in which librarians today deliver information services. In reference service, especially in academic libraries, the wide availability of electronic access to periodical indexes and full-text periodical databases has raised speculation about the possibility of relying on purely electronic reference collections. A field test indicates that this is not yet a viable option and points to the continued vital role of the reference librarian as guide, interpreter, and integrator of print and electronic information sources. In the tradition exemplified by Charles Bunge's “Potential and Reality at the Reference Desk: Reflections on a ‘Return to the Field,’” this article rests on field experience and testing, and is written in part in the first person.     

Big Changes Needed: Where to Find the Money?

This article discusses ways that librarians can find the money to make big changes within their organizations. The article discusses strategic planning, metrics, and greater operating efficiencies as sound management methods to obtain the funding to make important changes in tight financial times. The piece has a practical tone addressed to library leaders and to practitioners who are asked to make significant changes in a lean economy.     

Have(n't) We Been Here Before? Lessons from Telephone Reference

SUMMARY

Telephone reference services have been present in libraries for over seventy-five years. Chat reference services are a very recent addition to library services. Telephone and chat reference share some characteristics and the future of chat reference may be seen through an examination of the history of telephone reference. This article will examine issues of policy, staffing, and technology for telephone and chat reference.     

Information ethics education in Africa. Where do we stand?

This paper explores information ethics (IE) education within LIS (Library and Information Studies/Science) schools in Africa to investigate the following: (i) the extent to which IE is necessary; (ii) who should offer IE and why; (iii) who should be taught IE (and at what level); (iv) how long IE education should take; and (v) what should be included in an IE course. This was accomplished through a literature review and a case study conducted via email with purposely selected LIS experts from around Africa. Overwhelmingly, the LIS experts agreed that information ethics should be offered by LIS departments in courses that account for the multidisciplinary nature of the subject and that it should be made available to all students at all levels. The content should be objective and outcomes-based or outcomes-driven. The challenges and opportunities enumerated in this study could potentially be used to set the agenda for further research and professional engagement.     

Do We Still Need Reference Services in the Age of Google and Wikipedia?

With the continuing development of web resources and Internet search utilities, the role of reference services is changing in the modern library. Traditional ready reference is in decline, but the need for broad-based research support will continue for the foreseeable future. As librarians adapt to the evolving research environment, libraries are experimenting with alternative models of reference services. Far-reaching calls to adopt one model or abandon another, such as the traditional reference desk, are off target given that each library must adapt to its own local situation and determine how best to serve its constituents.     

Who Am I and Where Do I “Stand?”

Objective: Students can reflect upon and articulate how they have been shaped by their “standpoints” in life. This assignment allows students to truly see themselves reaching out (understanding others) and reaching in (examining selves) to reflect upon their standpoint in society. Secondary goals are to dispel stereotypes of various standpoints and create more openness in class discussions.

Potential courses: Gender Communication, Communication Theory, Cultural Communication, and Introduction to Public Speaking     

Adding a Feature: Can a Pop-Up Chat Box Enhance Virtual Reference Services?

Online users seek help from virtual reference services via email, phone, texting, and live chat. Technologies have enabled new features in library websites to help make this service more accessible and effective. This article is an evaluation of an experimental pop-up live chat box on the website of a health sciences library to see whether the feature would enhance virtual reference services.     

Should There Be “Privilege” in the Relationship Between Reference Librarian and Patron?

SUMMARY

Certain professional-client relationships fall under the legal umbrella of “privilege,” an evidentiary rule which protects the client from unauthorized disclosure of confidential information by the professional, and which shields the professional from demands to reveal such information in court. The reference librarian-patron relationship does not currently enjoy any such protection, although it shares many characteristics with those professional relationships which do. Some of the possible reasons for this exclusion are explored, and the question of whether or not privilege should be extended to the reference librarian-patron relationship is considered.     

Where Epistemology Meets Ecology: Can Environmental News Reporting Survive Postmodernism?

Several scholars have recently proposed that Richard Rorty's (1979, 1982, 1989, 1991, 1998) liberal ironist epistemology might be appropriate for journalists. In this article, I investigate the ramifications of such a move. I suggest that once Rorty's thought is placed in the context of the abandonment of logical positivism, it is seen as a rather extreme reaction in regards to both ontology and axiology. One way of making such extremity evident is by investigating the applicability of Rorty's ideas to the specific field of environmental journalism. Although Rorty claims that liberal irony will help us learn to be less cruel to each other, we should thoroughly question whether his ideas will help us know our impact on the natural world or make positive changes based on that knowledge. I conclude by suggesting that before abandoning logical positivism in favor of postmodernism, the journalistic community should seriously consider alternative epistemologies.     

The Trouble With Bibliographies: Where Is Mezhov When You Need Him?

This is a review of twelve bibliographies that reflect the holdings of the Russian collection in Hamilton Library at the University of Hawaii focusing on Siberia, the Soviet/Russian Far East, and Russia in Asia and the Pacific, especially Russians in China. The chosen titles represent a mixture of the great, the average, and not-so-good that the author has used over the past four decades. While there is a question about the usefulness of bibliographies in this digital age, most of the old standards should still play a role in academic scholarship.