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Fall 2004 Meeting: Times-Picayune Tour and Lunch

Date: Saturday, December 4, 2004
11:00 am
(Lunch followed at Mid City Sunray Grill)

Place: Times-Picayune
New Orleans, LA

LaSoMi Fall 2004 Meeting Summary:

On Saturday, December 4, LaSoMi members gathered at the Times-Picayune offices in New Orleans for a tour and brief business meeting. Our host and guide for the tour was Brent Hightower, a LaSoMi member and Library Archives Analyst II at the Times-Picayune, who obtained permission for us to tour the facilities.

Folks began gathering at about 10:45a.m. and after checking in at the guard station according to a strict security protocol, were escorted upstairs to the offices by our host, who provided a most interesting tour of the establishment. The newspaper, of course, runs on a 24/7 schedule, but fortunately, the librarians don’t, though they tend to be on call. LaSoMi members were guided through the offices where information for the various sections of the paper is gathered and assembled in the formats we are used to seeing.

Of particular interest was the library database called SCC, constructed by Software Construction Company. This system is used to store and provide access to the myriad stories and photos and graphics created or garnered by staff, photo assignments, graphic assignments, AP photos and graphics, as well as other useful categories of information. Hightower provided a demonstration of a web-based version of the graphic user interface used to access and manipulate the information contained within. It was quite impressive. A client-server interface also exists for use by staff. Both require authorization, of course, through logon accounts, but a logon account via the web interface can yield the same functionality as the client-server arrangement. (Other database and software vendors should take note of this!)

In addition, members were able to tour a small, but interesting historical collection of newspapers and artifacts chronicling the Times through the years. Participants were also led through the archives of the Times-Picayune, a rather mind boggling collection of all issues published.

During the business meeting, presided over by President Kelly Blessinger, the Treasurer provided a brief report of the state of LaSoMi’s finances. Our financial health is good, with a balance of $3,372.12 in our account as of October 29, 2004 . Bill Armstrong was awarded a certificate for his service as President of LaSoMi in 2003/2004. Also, Blessinger introduced the new President Elect, Lisl Zach. Zach is an Assistant Professor in the School of Library and Information Science at LSU.

Following the business meeting, participants dispersed temporarily, and regrouped at the Mid City SunRay Grill for a very nice lunch and a wonderful opportunity to socialize.

Submitted by William W. Armstrong

PHOTOS:

The Times Picayune printing press.	The Library/Archives area.
History of the press display.
The entire tour group.