When our news staff got together recently to discuss the future of newspapers, we spent a lot of time talking about the Internet.

The Web has given us new ways to tell stories. It has increased The N&O's readership significantly and provided new connections for advertisers and new ways for readers to share information.

The newsroom was full of ideas on what we could do next, online and in print.

You might be surprised to hear such optimism from a newspaper staff. After all, newspapers are supposed to be dying or already dead.

Instead, we're evolving, as newspapers have since they were invented centuries ago.

In 1995, for instance, we didn't have Work & Money, Q or Sunday Journal; we didn't offer a Saturday Home & Garden section, a North Raleigh News or Durham News community section.

In 10 years, the print N&O will be different from the paper you hold. Smaller, perhaps? More magazine-like? Or maybe the opposite, a compilation of top stories and references to deeper reports online.

Reading a newspaper is an entirely different experience from using the Web, and we're working to tell stories the right way for each medium. Most of all, we want to provide substance and great storytelling.

What I hear from readers and nonreaders alike endorses that idea. Information abounds, but people want good information.

Bloggers exhort me to make The N&O better. Community groups ask us to cover more of their news.

In a fragmented world, people want connection. I think that's where The N&O's enduring value lies: In putting information into the hands of our readers and in providing space for them to discuss, debate and now to report their stories.

This year alone, we started a new community paper, The Durham News. We launched weblogs, gave golfers a high-tech online look at the U.S. Open and turned up our investigative reporting.

We told you that overloaded trucks were destroying North Carolina highways, prompting the state to begin enforcing weight limits and calculating the damage. We told you about a Durham mayoral candidate with a checkered past; he withdrew.

The N&O broke stories and led state media on reporting about ethics conflicts surrounding our new lottery and one of its commissioners, who later resigned.

We published a special section, a reader's suggestion, to tell you how to help Hurricane Katrina victims. We sent a team to Afghanistan to take you back close to the forgotten war there.

On Monday, Jean P. Fisher reported on drug companies that would eliminate free programs for seniors once the new Medicare drug benefit kicks in.

She compiled a detailed list showing readers whether their drug company planned to change benefits.

That's what The N&O is about, using our resources to provide information you won't find elsewhere.

The future looks bright.