In the last decade the large metropolitan newspaper has
undergone an extensive transformation from a largely manual
operation to a fully automated system where display terminals link
departments and personnel. Although most publishing processes have
been transformed via computer applications, often the newspaper
library has been the last department to experience change. In order
to develop in-house information systems to be used by newspaper
journalists for information retrieval in the course of their
day-to-day work, planners require data about the information-seeking
behavior of different types of journalists and how they search for,
use, and verify information available to them from inside and
outside the newspaper organization.
This study was undertaken to provide descriptive data about how newspaper journalists perceive information channels and the source
types within them in the course of producing copy for the daily
newspaper.
Data was collected from the staffs of the two daily metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, newspapers by survey questionnaire, and
data analysis centered around four major variables. Frequency of
use, the pivotal variable established information use patterns for
the six area of journalistic specialty, and the three source
performance variables, (a) ease of use, (b) degree of reliability,
and (c) degree of accessibility were examined from the perspective
of channel use and use of the source types within formal and
informal information channels.
The findings revealed that the newspaper journalists surveyed preferred informal channel use over formal channel use two to one,
and that personal communication especially with colleagues was the
most important factor across all six areas of journalistic specialty.
While journalists were relatively consistent in their use of the
various source types, there was diversity in the way different types
of journalists look for and use information sources.
Although reliability of channel and source types use was perceived to be important to journalists, ease of use and
accessibility tend most to affect frequency of use.
Future developments involving the library as intermediary between electronic networks and the newspaper organization offer
promise for in-house system designers as a solution to problems of
accessiblity and ease of use.