The triangular outline of the online news librarian: changes and constants of the documentation emitter in online journalism

Abstract

This paper studies the news librarian who works in a digital media, to corroborate some similar roles with another news librarians and, also, to identify the new roles requested for the new media, the new document and the new user. We selected a resource centre of a digital media, and there we applied two methodologies: no participant direct observation and interview in depth for a month. The results of this research show that being a digital news librarian involves traditional roles, like selecting and retrieving information, as well as new skills connected with management, software or the coordination with the rest of the newsroom. The main conclusion attained in this research is that the profile of the digital news librarian is triangular and hybrid: an expert in the software and the technologies but also in the edition of documents in coordination with the journalist. But, above all, he/she is a professional who takes care of the high quality of the documents that a journalist needs, in a context of excess of information. These three sides, however, need to be developed. For this purpose, it is necessary to look after the selection and the valuation, because Internet is one of the main sources of information and, in the same time, it is an environment with too many invalid resources. Second, the technological side requires a permanent training in the best available software for this work. Finally, the journalist side could be fulfilled when the journalist recognizes in the news librarian an ally, a necessary part of a team that needs to work in coordination