A research team at Texas Wesleyan University (TWU) is seeking input from community newspapers for a research project.
“We are working on a paper about archiving community newspapers in Texas,” Dr. Kay Colley said. “We are collecting data about how publishers are archiving at community newspapers. Based on the results, we will seek to build appropriate training to help make saving the ‘first draft of history’ easier.“
According to Colley, there is a significant lack of news archiving at community news organizations across the nation.
“When they hear the word ‘archiving’ most people automatically think of preserving the hard copy printed newspapers,” Colley said. “There is more to it than that. There is a growing need for proper archiving of our digital content and data as well. This project is geared to train community publishers how to archive better while on a budget.”
Colley is a professor of journalism at TWU where she has partnered with Librarian and Archivist Nancy Edge.
The pair have received a nod from the Huck Boyd National Center for Community Journalism to pursue research in newspaper archiving with the possibility of presenting a paper on the topic at their annual conference in Manhattan, Kansas later this year.
“We want to start with research specific to Texas newspapers and later expand to a nationwide scope,” Colley said.
As such, Colley and Edge are seeking input for Texas editors and publishers.
“If you are an editor or publisher of a community newspaper in Texas, please take my very brief survey,” Colley said. “The information we gather there will help us build case studies for the project.”
The survey is 10 short questions and can be found at:
“We are on a bit of a tight deadline though,” Colley said. “We need to receive all responses by Friday, March 4. Anyone willing to participate will be greatly appreciated.”
The proposed paper will be titled “Keeping Community News Alive: How to Create and Maintain an Archive.”
The nod from the Boyd Center means the TWU has been invited to submit the paper for approval and presentation at their next conference.
Once completed and, if approved, Colley with Edge will present their findings at Kansas State University.
For more information, contact Kolley at [email protected]