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Our Modern Archives
Archiving has recently become a hot topic in newspaper operations. Not long ago, a journalist wanting to research back issues would hand a written request to a librarian, who would then wade into the morgue-a remote room filled with dusty, old bound volumes. Using the new archiving technology, reporters and editors can now directly access computer-based stories and images in seconds.
This capability has started something of a mini-revolution in newspapers around the country. Some papers have started offering archival searches to the public-for a price-and have discovered a new profit center in the process. Others make money by offering their archives to third-party database providers like Lexis-Nexis. Still others drive traffic to their Web sites by providing a direct connection to their archives over the Internet.
At TechNews, we were aware of the power of archiving from the start. That's why, when we started the online version of the magazine in mid-1995, we equipped it with an index (http://www.naa.org/technews/buttons ). This tool allows our Web visitors to plumb our archives either by story title or by complete issue.
As this issue goes to press, we are completing a project to upgrade our index in an effort to make it even more useful. One problem we're attempting to solve is that our printed magazine uses "blind heds"-headlines that draw the reader into a story, but don't necessarily describe what is in the story. For example, we once did a cover story called "The Incision Decision." If you read the story, you know it was about whether or not newspapers should cut their newsprint-web widths to 50 inches. If, however, you were browsing our index and hadn't seen the issue, you probably would have no idea what "The Incision Decision" was about.
Our new-and-improved index will solve the problem in two ways. First, in addition to the blind hed, we will provide a one-sentence summary of each story. Second, we will organize the index by subjects. For example, soon you will be able to find "The Incision Decision" under a category called, "Newsprint Conservation."
The new subject headings will also serve another function. Say you have a technical subject that you need to research for your newspaper-digital advertising, for example, or shaftless presses. Simply log onto our index, and you will find all of the stories that TechNews has ever written on the subject. And, of course, you can drill down to each story by simply double-clicking on its headline.
The final aspect of our archive-upgrade effort is to put each and every back issue online. While the print version of TechNews began with the January/ February 1995 issue, TechNews Online debuted with our July/August 1995 issue-and we never got around to putting the first three issues online. Soon, you will have access to every story and most of the images we've ever produced.
We are confident that our new archives will be a wonderful tool to research newspaper technology and operations issues, and that they will get a lot of use. In other words, our electronic morgue should be one lively place.
Clark Robinson
Editor
Feedback Facts
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