Homeward bound

I'm really excited this evening on two counts: I'll be getting my first true vacation in two years and I'll be spending it at home. I was last there at Christmas and am looking forward to seeing my family again, particularly my five-year-old nephew, who I'm sure has grown like a weed since I've last seen him and catching up with good friends. (Apparently I still have some left there -- Yeah!) I'll be spending lots of time at Paisan's, so if we don't connect, go looking for me there. :)

I've been lax in my blog postings lately and I apologize for that. I'll get back to regular posting when I return.

Happy trails all!

Fun with wikis

I've been working hard during my time at a Poynter seminar in Florida.

As an example, today I created a wiki from scratch using Instiki during a fantastic presentation by Derek Willis of the Washington Post.

More details to come soon.

Back for one day only

I'm sure my faithful readers have noticed that things have been quiet on All Things Amy lately.

That's because I've been traveling far and wide, so far for business, but soon for pleasure as well.

I got back today from the beautiful city of Knoxville, Tennessee. I was there in an official capacity, serving on a board I was appointed to. I got to meet some wonderful colleagues, some I'm already well acquainted with and others who I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time.

Thursday evening, we all met for dinner at the Riverside Tavern. The restaurant overlooks the Tennessee River and the view was fantastic. At night, the river is lit up and is absolutely beautiful.

And the people in Knoxville are wonderful. Everywhere I went people would say hello and ask how I was.

The best part though was the scenery. Tennessee is a beautiful place.

Unfortunately, my trip only lasted 24 hours. I left for Columbus around 2:30 and made excellent time, arriving at my apartment at 7:45. Yes, I went over the speed limit, except for outside of Lexington, Kentucky, where I crawled for 15 minutes during rush hour and while going through Cincinnati because, well, it's Cincinnati.

I'm home for one day only. Sunday morning I'm flying to Tampa and will be in St. Petersburg for a Poynter seminar that I'm thrilled to be a part of. I got a glimpse of the schedule today and I'm impressed. I think I'll learn a lot and am excited at the prospect of sharing time with my fellow news librarians.

Heading off for the first of many travels

Cindy and I are heading out tomorrow afternoon after work to Indianapolis and the Great Lakes Regional Conference. It promises to be a good time -- the sessions sound interesting and I'm really looking forward to dinner with my former Wisconsin cohort Betsy. Details to come this weekend. Next week, it's off to Knoxville and Florida. Stay tuned.

A manifesto for newspapers

In a piece published today in Editor & Publisher, Tom Mohr offers "Winning Online -- A Manifesto," a dramatic plan for reshaping the future of newspapers.

The plan is dependent upon seven key tenets which Mohr elaborates on in his article. They include:

"* Local newspapers will not be the innovation source for top online products.
* "Local” is not, in itself, defensible online.
* The big money is not in newspaper websites, but in gaining access to top-tier product via partnerships with vertical online leaders.
* Moving newspaper websites onto common platforms will deliver improvements in quality, cost reduction, traffic and revenue.
* When networked, newspapers bring critical assets to the table that strengthen their competitive position vs. online-only players.
* The window of opportunity is closing; failure to act will compromise the future of the business.
* Ultimately, the key is leadership at the highest levels."

Thanks to Lost Remote for the link.

A positive post about the future of newspapers

Thanks to a colleague of mine for a listserv posting pointing to this article by Jack Fuller, former editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune.

At a time when we constantly hear about declining circulation, the increasing cost of newsprint and newsroom job cuts, it's nice to read an uplifting take on the situation for a change.

Living with ALS: Leo's Story

L.C. Greene is a reporter and videographer with the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in Ontario, California. He has a great job and family and friends that he loves and who love him. He also has ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, perhaps more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He was diagnosed on August 16, 2006.

My heart broke when I watched the video of L.C. receiving his diagnosis. Unfortunately, I know far more about ALS than I ever cared to. I lost my aunt to the disease in April 2003. Her father, my maternal grandfather, died from the disease in 1977. My grandfather's sister and his uncle also died from it. During the course of my genealogy research, where I read through many obituaries, I believe I have uncovered another relative whose symptoms mirror ALS at a time when the disease was unknown and had no name assigned to it.

L.C. is chronicling his struggle with ALS in a special online section that features a monthly column, a blog, photo galleries and videos. Most importantly, he is giving a voice to people like my aunt and others currently facing this disease of the desperate need for research money to look at ways of slowing the progression and eventually curing this awful disease.

From the bottom of my heart L.C., thank you.

Thanks as well to Poynter's E-Media Tidbits for featuring L.C.

"Why should journalists blog?"

Chris Cobler of the Greeley Tribune was completely on target with a recent column he wrote on why journalists should blog.

I've written about Chris before. He was a recipient of a 2005-2006 Nieman fellowship and spent 10 months at Harvard University focusing on the future of journalism in the online age. After returning from Harvard, Chris, who served as the paper's editor since 1995, was named the Greeley Tribune's first Interactive Division publisher.

I admire Chris' efforts and that of John Robinson, the editor of the News & Record in Greensboro, North Carolina, who pointed me to Chris' column in a post on The Editor's Log that addresses the issue of blogs and ethics.

Historic Photos

Thanks to Mark at Depth Reporting, who directed me to Picture History, a site featuring historic and some of the most memorable photos of the past 150 years.

You can browse the site's collections or use its search option. The site also offers a "Featured Image of the Day."

If you're a history buff like me, you can definitely lose yourself here. My favorite offerings are the photos taken by famed photographer Mathew Brady and the photos dealing with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, including an aerial view of the president's funeral procession on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.