ABSTRACT
Each month, the news library at USA Today in McLean, VA, receives about 2,500 information requests. The approximately 100 requests per day-the center is open 6 days a week-come from USA Today news staff members, the Gannett News Service, the 40,000-employee parent Gannett Company, and the general public from just about everywhere in the world. A total of 17 library staff members provide valued support for writers and editors needing assistance in preparation of daily features and news stories. Staff writers and reporters have access to the Internet, an Intranet restricted to employees only, e-mail, and text and image archives of the newspaper, but librarians provide the more specialized assistance. This is feature writing support at its best. Feature writers and their editors working for top-flight organizations such as Gannett Corporation and its flagship daily newspaper have access to skilled and experienced assistance in a facility that includes a wide range of current reference books and state-of-the-art online databases such as Lexis-Nexis, Factiva, Pacer, AutoTrack XP, Baseline, Courtlink, Dialog, Hoovers, and Periscope (O’Neill, 2002).
