Journalists, news librarians and the Internet Available to Purchase

Discloses the preliminary findings from an investigation into how the Internet is impacting on the information environment in the news room. Outlines previous studies into journalists’ use of online services and of the US phenomenon of computer‐assisted reporting. The fieldwork, in the form of in‐depth interview, indicates that new librarians are much more positive about the Internet than their journalist colleagues but are also more aware of the problems, such as that of the authenticity or validity of retrieved data. There is no evidence to suggest that the Internet has exacerbated the problem of information “overload”, although fear of this may account for a partial reluctance to embrace e‐mail. Finally there are grounds for suggesting that the Internet, despite being considered an end‐user tool, will create new and important roles for information professionals in the future, including the possibility of involvement in more primary sourced investigative work.