Super Searchers in the News: The Online Secrets of Journalists & News Researchers

What a lovely surprise this book turned out to be!Those of us who work in news research might fancy we know the implications of Internet research in our newsrooms, but absorbing the ideas of "the best in the business" helps to fill out the larger picture. Super Searchers in the News is a quick read and contains a few useful gems. The surprise was a higher degree of insight than you might expect from the format.The interview format is not one I usually find very useful but Paula Hane got a lot from her subjects. Her writing is good and she lets the voice of her subjects be heard. There is an interesting mix of professional news researchers and journalists each with a point of view and something valuable to say. There are plenty of ideas in this book that range far outside news research: Nora Paul-"...there is a new job for the news researcher and an evaluator and qualifier of sources", "...a coordinator of the group effort to make collective intelligence available to everyone". C.B. Hayden "The Intranet is the main focus of our activity. On-demand research is still our biggest product". The diminishing reliance on commercial vendors and the implications that has in news libraries and newsrooms. The growing training and teaching aspects of news researchers.This book shaped my thinking about the kind of library I run and the tools and techniques I use to manage our research service. As a result we are more focused on the Intranet as a research platform and the growing importance of news researchers.I highly recommend this book.

This book is worthwhile and inspirational reading for the news research pros and for the "news junkies" of the world. Paula Hane has done an impressive job interviewing stellar news researchers and investigative journalists. These two professional groups (news librarians and reporters) may not share identical strategies or resources, but their common goal is shared: to get the information first and to get it right. The experiences offered in this book are worth telling and retelling. I enthusiastically recommend "Super Searchers in the News" for the perfectionistic research pros and for those who are simply fascinated with the endless challenge of tracking down data on deadline. J-School students as well as library/information science students could profit from these true life stories. It should be required reading.