The Ann Arbor News, after more than 170 years as a print edition, has reinvented itself as a online newspaper combined with a twice a week print edition. There were tears in the newsroom when the last print newspaper was sent to the printer. The online edition at www.annarbor.com is unlike most online newspapers you are likely to see, unless you check out similar ones in Chicago and San Diego. And like any change, it will take a little to get used to. There were a few kinks like the one week launch delay, but overall the on-line version seems to work and staff is interested in making it work better. But since the only thing we care about is how they cover books, authors and the literary scene they did a good job coming out of the box with two articles with real local ties. One article focused on a new mystery author Harry Nolan whose book “Bad Things Happen” is getting a good buzz both locally and nationally while another article looked at a local author and illustrator and who teamed up to create a children’s picture book with a twist on Old MacDonald had a farm. This time the book “Sue MacDonald Had a Book” has some errant vowels that need to be rounded up.

The final article was more generic in tone and was by the deposed book store owner Karl Pohrt who was more estoteric in his writing-they used to call these columns in the old newspaper business and news editors used to call them wasted space. Pohrt waxes eloquently (those are words that would have been hit with the delete sign by old news editors in favor of says) about the Library in Alexandria. Ok, let’s move on. I would rather hear about the problems of the State Library of Michigan and the likelihood that it’s collections could become surplus in the most recent round of state budget cuts. The problem with that type of news is you have to do the old shoe leather thing. Check out the AnnArbor.com book coverage by clicking here .

With some 75 community journalists contributing to the annarbor.com, the trick will be to keep them on track with a vision of what an online newspaper should be. (We may not know what that is yet). But I do remember an old journalism professor saying something about if you invoke God in the lead you better get an interview with him. Tony Dearing, who is one of the honchos at the new operation, said in a New York Times article ”we’re dead serious about journalism”. Interesting word choice; maybe he should’ve written the obituary. He also said the online edition would be hyper local and that’s the hard part. Good luck and good night.