By Robin Sherman

The Wall Street Journal is closing its news research library, it has been reported; another form of cost-cutting.

Now, we have another loss of institutional research capability. Research is now left to the individual reporter using software databases, which cannot think analytically and discern context like a human. Reporters must now learn the collective knowledge of the trained librarians. The semantic web is not really here yet, and editors, librarians, journalists, even readers, still have to tag content properly so it can be found, read, and used.

How many B2B editors and writers have ever had the help of news librarians?

Robin Sherman is a principal at Robin Sherman Editorial and Design Services and associate director and newsletter editor for the ASBPE.