Infofind – The Radio New Zealand Library
Infofind, the Radio New Zealand (RNZ) Library, can be found on the Terrace in central Wellington. It sits among the producers and presenters for RNZ National and RNZ Concert. These content makers call on Infofind for research into all manner of topics and issues. Infofind librarian Melanie Stassen tells Te Rau Ora Library Life about this unique special library.
We were the library for the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, which included TVNZ and the Listener, but nowadays, we serve only RNZ. Infofind holds the print resources for RNZ and provides research services to the whole organisation.
We serve the producers and presenters of programmes like Music 101, Nine-to-Noon, Saturday Morning, Culture101, RNZ Pacific, and newsroom journalists. They will ask us for background information about an author or topic they are putting on air, which we deliver depending on how they want the information or where they are located—many of our programme producers are based in Auckland.
None of our days are the same, and we never know what we will be asked next. We could be asked for anything, often under tight deadlines. In a day we might do historical searches for William Ray’s podcasts, an urgent query on a developing story for Nine-to-Noon, and background on a musician who will be interviewed on Music 101.
We were the library for the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, which included TVNZ and the Listener, but nowadays, we serve only RNZ. Infofind holds the print resources for RNZ and provides research services to the whole organisation.
We serve the producers and presenters of programmes like Music 101, Nine-to-Noon, Saturday Morning, Culture101, RNZ Pacific, and newsroom journalists. They will ask us for background information about an author or topic they are putting on air, which we deliver depending on how they want the information or where they are located—many of our programme producers are based in Auckland.
None of our days are the same, and we never know what we will be asked next. We could be asked for anything, often under tight deadlines. In a day we might do historical searches for William Ray’s podcasts, an urgent query on a developing story for Nine-to-Noon, and background on a musician who will be interviewed on Music 101.
Melanie Stassen of Infofind Library, with the’ Prince’ File. Image supplied.
One of the best things about working here is that you can hear the results of your work. It comes out in the interview and the questions asked of the interviewee. Our value to journalism is in providing easy access to high-quality sources of information, fact-checking, and providing producers and presenters with accurate, timely information that informs the on-air and online content.
For decades, our main source of information was the newspaper articles that we clipped and filed daily. We have a perhaps not-quite unique collection of articles from the 1950s to 2015 arranged in 43,000 subject files. It’s an historically important collection, often containing information that is hard to find elsewhere, especially for media resources yet to be digitised.
These days, we subscribe to electronic databases like Factiva and PressReader to search for background information on upcoming radio programmes. Our book collection is small—only 1,600 items—but our journal collection is large. We will miss Index New Zealand terribly, as it has provided excellent access to resources in our journal collection.
One of our most prolific users was Kim Hill. When John Pilger said she had “not prepared for this interview,” we were flabbergasted! She is a voracious reader and reads everything we give her. She is one of our favourite clients ever—a librarian’s dream.
Usually, our first patron of the day, Kathryn Ryan- also a heavy library user, keeps us busy with queries as diverse as the subjects on her show, from politics to today’s news stories to profiles on sports people she might interview.
We have a specialised collection on broadcasting and broadcasters, and our journal archive includes the the first issue of the New Zealand Listener.
One of the best parts of the job is scanning magazines—and the contribution we can make when we see a good story, a producer agrees, and it gets on air.
Working with so many people who are into information is a delight. Around here it helps to be a news junkie with a broad general knowledge! But it is intense at times.
For decades, our main source of information was the newspaper articles that we clipped and filed daily. We have a perhaps not-quite unique collection of articles from the 1950s to 2015 arranged in 43,000 subject files. It’s an historically important collection, often containing information that is hard to find elsewhere, especially for media resources yet to be digitised.
These days, we subscribe to electronic databases like Factiva and PressReader to search for background information on upcoming radio programmes. Our book collection is small—only 1,600 items—but our journal collection is large. We will miss Index New Zealand terribly, as it has provided excellent access to resources in our journal collection.
One of our most prolific users was Kim Hill. When John Pilger said she had “not prepared for this interview,” we were flabbergasted! She is a voracious reader and reads everything we give her. She is one of our favourite clients ever—a librarian’s dream.
Usually, our first patron of the day, Kathryn Ryan- also a heavy library user, keeps us busy with queries as diverse as the subjects on her show, from politics to today’s news stories to profiles on sports people she might interview.
We have a specialised collection on broadcasting and broadcasters, and our journal archive includes the the first issue of the New Zealand Listener.
One of the best parts of the job is scanning magazines—and the contribution we can make when we see a good story, a producer agrees, and it gets on air.
Working with so many people who are into information is a delight. Around here it helps to be a news junkie with a broad general knowledge! But it is intense at times.
Julie working on a query. Image supplied.
|
RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly. Image supplied.
|
At the moment, Julie and I share one librarian position, and Yumi is a library assistant . We used to have a lot more. But RNZ suffered severe cuts a few years ago, and that affected our service, too. However, our clients, namely news and current affairs show producers and presenters, valued us so much that they loudly supported the service, and we survived.
We use Liberty as our library management system and were early adopters of it when it was called Concordance. The flexibility of the system enabled us to manage our clippings files.
The Murder Index is a slightly gory list we compiled of who’s done who in, from the early 1990s to 2015.
We also monitor RNZ content and provide two newsletters on the media landscape in New Zealand and overseas. The library is for RNZ employees. However, we are always happy to welcome researchers to use our collections.
We use Liberty as our library management system and were early adopters of it when it was called Concordance. The flexibility of the system enabled us to manage our clippings files.
The Murder Index is a slightly gory list we compiled of who’s done who in, from the early 1990s to 2015.
We also monitor RNZ content and provide two newsletters on the media landscape in New Zealand and overseas. The library is for RNZ employees. However, we are always happy to welcome researchers to use our collections.