A MD 80 APCHING ATL WITH A LOW TIME FO WAS GIVEN A RWY CHANGE ON A 15 NM FINAL. THE ACFT FAILED TO CAPTURE THE LOC BECAUSE OF FLT CREW DISTRACTIONS.

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I WAS A NEW FO; ASSIGNED TO A MAINT FERRY FLT TO ATL. DURING DSCNT ON THIS SHORT FLT; WE BECAME VERY BUSY WITH OUR COCKPIT DUTIES. I CONDUCTED AN APCH BRIEFING AND DEVOTED SOME EXTRA TIME TO DISCUSSING THE LNDG WITH NO ANTISKID (THIS WAS THE REASON FOR THE FERRY FLT). AS WE CONTINUED THE DSCNT; OUR WORKLOAD INCREASED AS ATC ASSIGNED US A RWY CHANGE; FOLLOWED BY AN ASSIGNMENT TO A NEW STAR. MEANWHILE; WE WERE SLIGHTLY DISTR BY 2 OR 3 ACARS MESSAGES FROM THE COMPANY THAT WE CHOSE TO READ ON THE GND. THESE WERE ADJUSTMENTS TO OUR SCHEDULES. ON DOWNWIND; ATC INFORMED US TO EXPECT A VISUAL APCH; AND TOLD US WE'D BE BEHIND A B757. AFTER 2 MORE VECTORS; WE WERE INSTRUCTED TO JOIN THE LOC TO RWY 8L. SHORTLY THEREAFTER; ATC COMMANDED A TURN TO REJOIN THE LOC; INDICATING THAT WE'D FLOWN THROUGH AND FAILED TO INTERCEPT. WE COMPLIED; LOCATED THE TFC TO FOLLOW; AND CONTINUED THE APCH WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. I BELIEVE THAT IN ADDITION TO MY LACK OF EXPERIENCE (IN THE ACFT) A MAJOR CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO THIS ERROR WERE THE MANY LAST-MIN CHANGES TO OUR PLANNED ARR; ALL OF WHICH OCCURRED AFTER THE APCH BRIEFING. THIS LED TO A HURRIED COCKPIT ATMOSPHERE. IN THE FUTURE; I INTEND TO INCLUDE RWY/APCH CHANGES AS HIGH THREATS IN MY APCH BRIEFING. I WILL TREAT THE CHKLIST ITEM 'FLT/NAV INSTS' WITH MORE THOUGHT. ADDITIONALLY; I WILL BETTER MAKE USE OF THE PLT MONITORING WHILE I FLY THE ACFT; SUCH AS ASKING HIM OR HER TO SET UP THE FMS FOR THE NEW APCH. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 751420: I WAS THE CAPT AND PLT MONITORING ON THIS FLT. ON ARR INTO ATL; THE FO BRIEFED ILS PRM RWY 9R. UPON CHKING IN WITH APCH; WE WERE TOLD TO EXPECT RWY 8L AND THE PECHY ARR. SINCE THE FO WAS QUITE BUSY FLYING THE ACFT AT THIS POINT; I INFORMED HIM I WOULD INPUT THE NEW ARR IN THE FMS. THE FO LEVELED THE ACFT AND THEN BRIEFED THE RWY 8L APCH. ON L DOWNWIND; ATC TOLD US TO EXPECT A VISUAL APCH. WE PERFORMED THE APCH CHKLIST AND I XCHKED THE SELECTED ILS FREQ WITH THE INITIAL PAGE ON THE FMS; AND THEY AGREED. WHILE FLYING BASE LEG; APCH GAVE US A 120 DEG HDG AND CLRED ILS PRM RWY 8L. BECAUSE OF THIS CHANGE; THE VISUAL APCH WE EXPECTED IS NOW AN ILS PRM. AT THAT TIME; I SELECTED ARC MODE (RAW DATA) WHILE THE FO WAS ON MAP MODE. WHILE WAITING FOR LOC MOVEMENT; I QUESTIONED THE AMOUNT OF TIME IT WAS TAKING. AS I WAS CHKING THE CHART; ATC STATED THAT WE HAD GONE THROUGH THE LOC. WE NOW REALIZED THAT RWY 9R WAS STILL IN THE FMS AND NAV RADIOS. ATC TOLD US TO TURN L IMMEDIATELY AND CLRED ILS PRM RWY 8L; WHICH WE DID. AT SOME POINT DURING THESE XMISSIONS; ATC CALLED PARALLEL TFC WHICH WE HAD SEEN AND CALLED IN SIGHT. AT NO TIME DID WE RECEIVE A TCAS TA OR RA. AFTER THIS; WE PERFORMED AN UNEVENTFUL APCH AND LNDG.