Spotlight on Law Librarians: Neal Axton

Neal R. Axton
Reference Librarian
Warren E. Burger Law Library
William Mitchell College of Law


B.A. 1995 Kansas State University
J.D. 1998 University of Kansas
M.L.I.S. 2006 University of California Los Angeles (pending thesis)


Neal grew up in a military family and moved frequently. A quiet child who loved to read, Neal spent many hours in public libraries as a youth.

Neal attended Kansas State University studying philosophy before attending the University of Kansas' school of law. While in law school Neal worked for the Douglas County District Court and interned at the Douglas County Legal Aid Society. After being in general practice for two years, Neal took a position with the U.S Export-Import Bank in Washington, D.C. in the Structured Finance division.

Neal had always been interested in computers, but working for the federal government made evident the value of information technology and the need for effective information architecture in an increasingly networked world. Seeking a deeper understanding of information technology and its implications for business and society, Neal decided to go back to school.

Neal eventually enrolled in the Information Studies program at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2003. While attending UCLA, Neal worked as the Evening Access Services & Reference Librarian at UCLA's Hugh and Hazel Darling Law Library. Neal is currently finishing his thesis on comparative privacy law.

In November, 2005, Neal joined the William Mitchell College of Law's Warren E. Burger Library as a reference librarian. Neal's interests include international intellectual property law, the role of information technology in law enforcement, federal Indian law, tax law and criminal law.

Neal recently celebrated his fifth anniversary with Sarah Deer. Sarah is a staff attorney with the Tribal Law and Policy Institute in St. Paul, Minnesota. Neal enjoys kayaking, biking and gardening when he isn't blogging. Neal blogs at Safety Neal's Fireside Chat and The Bellman. His homepage can be found at the Deer Sanctuary.

Editor's Note: I'm please to announce that Neal will be serving as a contributing editor for the Law Librarian Blog. I asked Neal to join us because I believe a "newbie's" perspective on law librarianship will make interesting reading. By "newbie," I don't mean that Neal will be chronicling his on-the-job experiences as a new librarian. Rather, I think it will be interesting to see what topics grab Neal's interest. It also can't hurt to have someone fresh out of LIS school applying what he learned to current developments affecting law librarians. Please join me in welcoming Neal to the profession. - Joe Hodnicki

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The Spotlight on Law Librarians feature is edited by Lee Peoples, Law Librarian Blog Contributing Editor and Associate Director for Faculty, Research and Instructional Services, Oklahoma City University Law Library. Please feel free to recommend a colleague for this feature to Lee at lpeoples@okcu.edu