Computerization has greatly changed the newspaper library’s role. It is now a place where reporters seldom go for information, which they can easily get on their computer.

    The function of the librarian has changed at the same time. The staff has gone from 10 to 3. Computers have taken over much of the “filing” of stories and photos, although librarians make sure information going into the Save database is complete and accurate.

    The topic of The Hartford Courant newspaper library and how it has changed over the years was first researched by interviewing a current and a former librarian. Kathy McKula, the former head librarian there who left in 2008 after 32 years told of the establishment of the library in the late 1800s and how it changed over the years, including the introduction of digital storage in the 1980s (personal communication, November 17, 2008). Current head librarian Rose Ciccio also explained changes she has seen and how the library operates today (personal communication, November 14, 2008). Photographs were also taken by the author of aspects of the library. Information was also collected from The Hartford Courant's intranet pages.

    The information gained was written in a word document.

    The first webpage building service tried was Angelfire. However, that instruction proved too difficult for a novice. Then Tripod was tried. This appeared to be better as it was not too difficult to choose a template and begin building pages. The work was slow, mostly by trial and error. It appeared to be going fine, but changes proved difficult. Because of this, the first version had to be discarded and a second version was started again from scratch. Even then a page was lost and had to be rebuilt. Finally, after many hours, the product was completed.

    Creating such a web page would be easier the more it was done. While it was frustrating being confined by a template as to how the pages would look, the template also made it easier to create a polished product.