Law Librarian Blog

Just Released, New Book on Alternative Careers for Information Professionals

What's the Alternative? Career Options for Librarians and Info Pros
by Rachel Singer Gordon

List Price: $35.00 
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Information Today, Inc. (April 8, 2008)
ISBN-10: 1573873330
ISBN-13: 978-1573873338

Book Description: As the global information economy grows, librarians who are able to retool and transfer their skills are finding themselves increasingly in demand. Here, Rachel Singer Gordon explains the dynamics of the shifting market for information-based work, reveals a range of nontraditional employment opportunities for librarians, and encourages info pros to utilize their skills in new and exciting ways. Mixing practical advice with real-life stories of librarians working in various fields, Gordon provides a wealth of useful ideas and resources for info pros rethinking their career paths. Whether you re a recent library school grad facing a tight job market, a working librarian seeking improved work/life balance, or an info pro with an entrepreneurial streak, What s the Alternative? will help you explore your options and maximize your career potential.

Alan Holoch Memorial Grant Available for AALL Annual Meeting

The Alan Holoch Memorial Grant Committee is now taking applications for the 2008 AALL annual meeting.

The Alan Holoch Memorial Grant is available to help SR-SIS members defray the cost of travel or registration for the AALL Annual Meeting in Portland.  Individuals chosen to receive the grant have the potential to make significant contributions to law librarianship through their involvement with AALL and the Social Responsibilities Special Interest Section's Standing Committee on Lesbian and Gay Issues.

For more information, please see the application on the SR-SIS website.

2008 CALI Conference: Call for Speakers

Among the many annual conferences, CALI's is my favorite. This year's conference theme is "Transforming Legal Education." CALI Executive Director John Mayer writes:

It is time to put the divisiveness of laptops in the classroom behind us. It is time to face our fears.  Fear of USNews ranks, fear of the student debt implosion, fear of technology and change itself.  It's time to consider the ideas of Carnegie and decide how technology impacts professionalism and ethics in legal education.  What does transformation mean to you and your institution and does technology have a central or supporting role in accomplishing our goals?

Submit your session proposals. Remember, law school "transformation" means reforming legal education.

This year's conference will be on held Thursday-Saturday, June 18-21, 2008 in  Baltimore, MD at the University of Maryland School of Law. Conference Home Page. Registration is now open. [JH]

Dennis Kennedy on Competitive Intelligence

Insightful article from ABA Journal by Dennis Kennedy:

"Gathering information on your client isn’t spying, and do­ing research on yourself isn’t egotism—it’s good business practice. Clients increasingly look to lawyers who know their business and industry well, and a common client wish is that their lawyers alert them to issues in advance, and not simply react when the client calls.

All of this has generated a new interest in something called competitive intelligence. CI addresses ways to get information you can use to be more effective in competing for business and serving clients. If you monitor court filings for your clients’ names, you might alert them to a filing and send a pleading well before they hear it elsewhere. You’re being helpful—and more likely to get the new assignment. If you monitor news items containing your firm’s name, you won’t be surprised when a client mentions the story he or she read about your firm."  [RJ]

10 Non-Librarian Blogs Librarians Should Read in 2008

LISNews has followed up its 10 Librarian Blogs To Read in 2008 [our post] with a great list of 10 Non-Librarian Blogs Librarians Should Read in 2008. The blogs were selected from LISNews reader recommendations. Here's the list:

• Boing Boing
• The Bookslut Blog
• The Consumerist
• Lifehacker
• Open Access News
• Post Secret
• Read Write Web
• Seth Godin
• Slashdot
• Snopes

Some old favorites, some new to me, but one really stands out. ReadWriteWeb is a great blog!

Links with commentary for each selected blog as well as some runners-up discussed by Blake Carver here. [JH]

AALL Scholarship Applications Due April 1

Visit the AALL Scholarships page on AALLNET for complete information, instructions, and applications.

General Educational Scholarships, supported by AALL and the LexisNexis John R. Johnson Memorial Scholarship Fund:

• Graduate Library School Scholarships, for students with JD degrees or for students without JD degrees
• Law School Scholarships, for students with MLS/MILS degrees or for those seeking a dual JD/MLS degree
• Scholarships for Library School Graduates Seeking a Non-Law Degree
• Scholarships for Continuing Education Classes

Additional Scholarships include:

• AALL and Thomson West George A. Strait Minority Scholarship
• James F. Connolly LexisNexis Academic and Library Solutions Scholarship

[JH]

2008 TRIPLL Conference Applications Due by Nov. 30

The Teaching Research in Private Law Libraries (TRIPLL) Conference, sponsored by the LexisNexis Librarian Relations Group, will be held April 11- 13, 2008 in Dallas, TX.  The mission of the 2008 Conference is: It's a Brave New World—Reengineering Training for Today's Law Firm.

The TRIPLL Conference is open to all law firm and corporate legal department librarians. The conference application is available through Friday, November 30, 2007 [Conference Details | Online Application]. Librarians interested in attending must go through an electronic application process by then.  Class size is limited to 30 participants. When deciding on which applicants to accept, the Selection Committee strives for diversity in such areas as geographical distribution, firm size, and an interest in teaching legal research, even if a program is not yet implemented.

The Conference includes presentations, structured breakout sessions, demonstrations, and ample opportunity for networking with the faculty, council, and other attendees. There is no registration fee. LexisNexis covers all conference materials, meals, lodging, and transportation to and from the airport.  Attendees are responsible only for their airfare to and from the conference and any personal incidental charges.  One travel scholarship is available. [JH]

Musings on Memory

Like Amy Wharton over at Law Librations, I'm getting to the "Bob Berring issue" of Law Library Journal a bit belatedly.  A footnote in Dick Danner's piece caught my eye, referencing Dan Dabney's 1986 LLJ article, The Curse of Thamus: An Analysis of Full-Text Legal Document Retrieval, which invoked Plato's Egyptian king who bemoaned the writing of things, fearing the potential loss of knowledge and wisdom when memory was no longer necessary.  Reminded me of this Wired musing on technology, memory, wisdom, and outsourcing our thoughts.  The more things change... 

[JJ]

Sign up for the RIPS-SIS Legal Technology Webinar, Nov. 15

Date: Thursday, November 15, 2007
Time: 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM - Eastern Time

From the announcement: Catherine Sanders Reach, Director of the American Bar Association’s Legal Technology Resource Center, will provide a brief update on current issues and advances in legal technology, addressing questions posed by law librarians from around the country. Academic law librarians can learn more about what students need to know when they get out into the "real world." Private law librarians can ensure they will have up-to-the-minute technology information from the ABA to amaze their attorneys. Government and court law librarians can find out more on how technology advances, such as KM and e-discovery tools, can benefit their patrons.

Registrations for the webinar will be accepted until November 12. Register online at http://www.regonline.com/AALL-RIPS . Spots are limited and will be filled in the order received. Instructions on how to access the webinar will be distributed via email, prior to the presentation. The registration fee is $15.00 for AALL members and $20.00 for all others. Payment can be made either by credit card, or by check, made payable to AALL.

ALA 2007 Conference Videos: Freedom to Read Litigation and Whistleblowing in the Post-9/11 Age

I hope law librarians find the following videos of ALA sessions of the Association's 2007 annual meeting of interest:

Freedom to Read Foundation: Status of Recent Litigation Affecting Libraries. Theresa Chmara, Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) Counsel, Jenner & Block, Washington, D.C., updated librarians on the status of litigation and non-litigation projects recently undertaken or monitored by the FTRF. She also provided practical information on how these court cases affect the daily operations of libraries. Cosponsored by ALA's Intellectual Freedom Committee and FTRF.

Paul Reveres or Benedict Arnolds: Whistleblowing in the Post-9/11 Age. Sibel Edmonds, President, National Security Whistleblowers Coalition, discussed being fired by the FBI in March 2002 for reporting shoddy work and security breaches that may have prevented the 9/11 attacks. She explained firsthand how government secrecy can be abusive and why defending whistleblowing is a free speech issue. Cosponsored by ALA's Intellectual Freedom Committee and the Committee on Legislation.

Reminder: Teaching the Teachers: Effective Instruction in Legal Research Conference, Oct. 18-20

Hosted by Tarlton Law Library, University of Texas. Excerpts from the website:

In 2006, the National Conference of Bar Examiners announced an initiative to explore the development of a stand-alone component of the national bar exam that would test legal research methodology and skills. Implementation of a legal research component of the bar exam would necessarily increase demand for legal research instruction. In my opinion, it will also change how we teach legal research but

Informed by these events, Tarlton's fall 2007 conference will include prominent lawyers and judges, law professors, and law librarians as speakers. Presentations will focus on widely applicable principles of effective teaching and communication, rather than on the nuts and bolts of legal research. Speakers will explore diverse topics, including the use of technology in the classroom to engage the emerging generation of students, the role of librarians as teachers, what it means to be an effective teacher, and the impact of ongoing changes in legal publishing.

Conference Website | Program | Participants | Registration

Learning 2.0

Learning 2.0 is an an online self-discovery program that encourages the exploration of Web 2.0 tools and new technologies. From the site:

This program was originally developed and launched for the staff at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in August 2006 with a total of 352 PLCMC participants creating blogs and many additional guests joining in. Since the program's launch, the exercises here have helped other library systems develop programs of their own, the first being the Yarra Plenty Regional Library system in Melbourne, Australia.

If you're interested in duplicating this program for your own staff, please feel free to do so under Creative Commons. And although PLCMC staff have already completed this program, this site will remain up for your use.

See also New Wiki on Libary 2.0: "The "15 minutes a day" approach to new technology is a growing trend in libraries. This wiki page is designed to provide a practical curriculum for any library interested in putting on their own Library 2.0 program. The whole reason for the '15 minutes' approach is that time is of a big concern, and certainly every library won't have time to build a full curriculum of this sort."  [RJ]

LibVibe for Current Library News

LibVibe is a regularly published audio broadcast of library news and developments. Check it out. [JH]

Early Registration for Teaching the Teachers: Effective Instruction in Legal Education Conference Due Before September 1

Teaching the Teachers: Effective Instruction in Legal Education
October 18-20, 2007
Tarlton Law Library
The Univeristy of Texas at Austin School of Law

• Program
• Speakers
• To register online or by mail

Chicago-Kent Distributes Podcasts and Handouts from the School's Back to the Future of Legal Research Symposium

Handouts and podcasts (plus photos!) are now available for the Back to the Future of Legal Research Symposium held at Chicago Kent last month. Don't miss the podcast [mp3] of "Web 2.0: New Tools for Doing & Teaching Legal Research," featuring Wisconsin's Bonnie Shucha, (WisBlawg), Michigan law prof Richard D. Friedman (The Confrontation Blog), and OSU law prof Douglas A. Berman, (Sentencing Law & Policy and Law School Innovation and his Spring 2007 semester Death Penalty Class blog).

Resources from Chicago-Kent's Back to the Future of Legal Research Symposium:

• Handouts
• Podcasts
• Conference Photos

Hat tip to Bonnie Shucha, WisBlawg. I now regret my last minute decision to not attend this conference. [JH]

Keeping Current, an ongoing activity that law librarians must integrate into their regular duties

In Keeping Current Can Be Hard to Do for Law Librarians, Tricia Kasting, Reference/Government Documents Librarian at Hofstra University School of Law's Deane Law Library, continues her wonderful Law.com series of articles by describing how she manages to stay current. Great advice! [JH]

CALI Conference Set for June 18-20

This year's Conference for Law School Computing is at the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada - Las Vegas, Monday to Wednesday, June 18 – 20, 2007 (early registration on Sunday, June 17).  Some of the sessions of interest include:

• Considerations in Building an Online Law Course
• The Future of Casebooks: Can Anyone Deliver What I Want?
• A Faculty Member's Perspective on the Use of Technology in Legal Education - Is it Time to "Pull the Plug" on Technology Investment?
• Collaborative Self-Assessment: Using Student-Drafted Questions for Internet Quizzes
• Integrating Feedback: Creating a Response Oasis in an IT Mirage
• An Oasis for Collaborative Endeavors: Tools for Law Faculty, Librarians, and Students

Conference Details | Conference Agenda   [JH]

Join AALL's Moderated Discussion on Compassion Fatigue

Compassion Fatigue and the Law Librarian: I Just Don't Care Anymore

Monday, May 14, 2007 to Friday, May 18, 2007

Moderator: 
Amy Hale-Janeke
Reference Librarian/Media Coordinator
U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit Library

This moderated discussion will focus on various compassion fatigue related issues including dealing with patrons, a stressful work environment, cyclical and topical compassion fatigue. Do you have compassion fatigue or know someone who does?

LSAC Research Grant Proposals for Empirical Research on Legal Training and Legal Practice Due by Sept. 1

Proposals for empirical research on legal training and legal practice for the Law School Admission Council's Research Grant Program are due by September 1, 2007.

Contact: Lillian Worthington, Law School Admission Council, P.O. Box 40, Newtown, Pa. 18940-0040
Phone: (215) 968-1198
Fax: (215) 968-1169,
Email: lworthington@LSAC.org
Website: http://members.lsacnet.org/

Early Registration for Copyright Symposium Extended to April 20

Copyright Utopia: Alternative Visions, Methods & Policies

May 21-23, 2007, UMUC Inn & Conference Center, Adelphi

From the announcement: Ordinary people around the world are revolutionizing the way media is produced and distributed. Sites like YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, BitTorrent, Wikipedia and Google are completely altering how the masses interact with video, pictures, art, music, and literature. Colleges and universities desire to harness the power of these incredible tools for distributing scholarship and creative works. But does U.S. copyright law accommodate many of these uses?

Please join the Center for Intellectual Property as we discuss these issues with scholars and practitioners about how students, faculty and the general public can continue to innovate within the U.S. Copyright regime. Each panel and speaker will address some aspect of how or whether copyright law can be adapted or developed to accommodate the massive changes that technological innovation brings.

Confirmed speakers include:

• William Fisher, Berkman Center to Internet & Society, Harvard Law School
• Fred von Lohmann, Electronic Frontier Foundation
• William Brit Kirwan, Chancellor, University System of Maryland; Co-Chair, Joint Committee of the Higher Education and Entertainment Communities Technology Task Force
• Donna Ferullo, Purdue University
• Kenneth Crews, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Confirmed panelists include:

• Alec French, NBC Universal
• Robert Samors, National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges
• Patricia Aufderheide, Center for Social Media
• Heather Joseph, Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
• Tracy Mitrano, Cornell University
• Ann Bartow, University of South Carolina Law School
• Paul Jaeger, University of Maryland, College Park
• Gigi Sohn, Public Knowledge
• Matt Skelton, Office of Policy and International Affairs, U.S Copyright Office
• Miriam Nisbet, American Library Association
• Denise Troll Covey, Carnegie Mellon University
• Reed Stager, Digimarc Corporation
• Mike Carroll, Villanova University School of Law
• Brian Crawford, American Chemical Society Publications
• Elizabeth Winston, Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law
• Karen Coyle, Digital Libraries Consultant
• Steven M. Marks, Recording Industry Association of America

Registration includes a detailed notebook, meals and opportunity for in depth interaction with colleagues and speakers. Early registration deadline has been extended to April 20th! Please check the website for all other discounts.

Legal Research Conferences on the Docket

May 4-5, 2007:

• Global Legal Skills Conference. The John Marshall Law School (Chicago)

May 13-14, 2007:

• The Future of Legal Research: What will it be and how will we teach it? Chicago-Kent College of Law

Oct. 18-20, 2007:

• Teaching the Teachers: Effective Instruction in Legal Research. Tarlton Law Library, Jamail Center for Legal Research, University of Texas at Austin

JURIST Conference, Law As a Seamless Web|site, Set for March 29

JURIST, the Webby award-winning legal news and research service based at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a one-day conference in Pittsburgh on Thursday, March 29.

The conference is entitled "Law As a Seamless Web|site" and highlights JURIST's ongoing mission of "Documenting Law to Empower People". Four panels and 14 distinguished speakers will be exploring a range of issues at the intersections of law, war, rights, social justice, technology, legal journalism, legal education and public service.

You can register for this free event at the official conference website: http://www.law.pitt.edu/juristconference/

Confirmed speakers include:

• Jonathan Freiman (counsel for Jose Padilla and Visiting Lecturer, Yale Law School)
• Marjorie Cohn (President, National Lawyers Guild)
• David Crane (former Prosecutor, UN Special Court for Sierra Leone)
• Geoffrey Corn (former Law of War advisor to the US Army JAG)
• Sherrilyn Ifill (University of Maryland Law School)
• Tony Mauro (Supreme Court correspondent, American Lawyer Media)
• Tim Stanley (CEO Justia; FindLaw founder)
• Ed Adams (Editor and Publisher, ABA Journal)
• Jim Chen (Dean, Brandeis Law School, University of Louisville)
• Nancy Rapoport (University of Houston Law Center)
• John Palfrey (Director, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard Law School)
• Conrad Johnson (Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic, Columbia Law School)

The conference's two keynote speakers are

• Ethan Katsh (Director, Center for Information Technology, U. Mass. Amherst); and
• Charles Bierbauer (former CNN Supreme Court correspondent, now dean of the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies at the University of South Carolina).

The conference will be officially opened via video from Strasbourg, France, by Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

This may be one of the best conferences of the year!  Hope to see you there. [JH]

Time is of the essence! AALL Scholarship Applications Due by April 2, 2007

AALL offers a number of different scholarships that provide financial assistance to individuals who are pursuing a career in law librarianship. If you, or anyone you know, are currently working toward a career in law librarianship and could use some assistance with the related educational expenses, consider applying for one of the many scholarships that are available.

The scholarships are designed to address the needs of the many types of individuals and their different educational backgrounds as they work on their goal of becoming a law librarian.  Below is a brief description of the types of scholarships that are available.

AALL EDUCATIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS & the LEXISNEXIS JOHN JOHNSON MEMORIAL ENDOWMENT

• Scholarships for Library School: Both for those attending with JD and without a JD
• Scholarships for Law School: For those already with MLS/MLIS degree, or for those seeking a dual degree
• Scholarships for Library School graduates seeking a non-law degree
• Scholarships for Continuing Education Courses

AALL & THOMSON WEST - GEORGE A. STRAIT MINORITY SCHOLARSHIP

• Awarded to college graduates with law library experience who are members of a minority group and are degree candidates in accredited library or law schools and who intend to have a career in law librarianship.

You can visit the AALL Scholarship web page at http://www.aallnet.org/services/scholarships.asp to see a complete description of the different scholarships and to fill out an application.  Please note that time is of the essence!  Applications must be received by AALL no later than April 2, 2007.

Participants Needed for AALL Mentor Project

Matching newer law librarians with more experienced members of the profession is a major goal of the Mentoring Committee. But the Committee needs your help. Now is the time to apply to be a mentor or a mentee. The application deadline is May 13, to allow matching to be done in time for the Annual Meeting. On the Mentor Project site you’ll find more information and separate application forms for mentors and mentees.

AALL Grants Available!

The AALL Grants Committee invites qualified applicants to apply for AALL’s Annual Meeting/Workshop Grants and the Minority Leadership Development Award. The AALL Grants Program provides financial assistance to law librarians or graduate students who hold promise of future involvement in AALL and the law library profession. Vendors, AALL, and AALL individual members provide the funds for grants.

Annual Meeting and Workshop Grants are awarded to cover the Annual Meeting registration fee or the registration fee for workshops presented at the Annual Meeting. Preference is given to applicants who are new to the profession and are active in AALL or one of its chapters.  For more inforamtion, visit the AALL Grant Committee’s web site at http://www.aallnet.org/committee/grants/grant_application.asp.

The Minority Leadership Development Award was created to ensure that AALL’s leadership remains vital, relevant, and representative of the Association’s diverse membership. The award provides up to $1500 toward the cost of attending the Annual Meeting, an experienced AALL leader to serve as the recipient’s mentor, and an opportunity to serve on an AALL committee during the year following the monetary award. For more information, visit the Grant Committee’s web site at http://www.aallnet.org/about/award_mlda.asp.

Application deadline: April 2, 2007.

Submitted by Connie Lenz.

PLI The Law Library 2007: Skills, Strategies & Solutions, Mar. 7, 2007, NYC

PLI The Law Library 2007: Skills, Strategies & Solutions
Mar. 7, 2007 in New York City
Cost: $99

Details on the PLI website.

Why You Should Attend
In a rapidly changing legal environment, law librarians are taking on new roles, as well as using new skills and strategies to fulfill their more "traditional" roles. At PLI's annual The Law Library 2007: Skills, Strategies & Solutions, attendees will learn about important new developments that impact their new and ongoing roles as law librarians and "best practices" and solutions to issues they confront in their ongoing day-to-day professional activities.

What You Will Learn

• Law firm finances and how law library operations fit into this picture
• Competitive intelligence: Working with the firm's marketing department to ensure success
• New developments in corporate governance: What you must know about this rapidly developing field
• How to mentor and "grow" your staff
• Update on new technologies for law librarians
• Personal marketing skills

This program is also available as a live webcast.

Chicago-Kent Legal Research Conference, May 18

"Back to the Future of Legal Research" will be held at Chicago-Kent College of Law on Friday, May 18, 2007. The one-day conference will include new survey data and a number of panels and presentations that will focus on how best to teach legal research and how to deal with some of the challenges posed by digital legal materials.

Please visit the web announcement [ http://www.kentlaw.edu/academics/lrw/future/ ]  for complete information about the conference, including a program schedule, a registration form, and hotel information. There is no charge for attending the conference.

AALL Mentoring Committee Seeks Mentoring Project Participants

Are you a new law librarian or an experienced law librarian interested in meeting and advising those who are new to the profession? Are you considering a move to another type of law library, or do you need advice to advance your career? The AALL Mentoring Committee invites you to become involved in a mentoring relationship. And since it is up to the participants to decide how long to continue their mentoring relationship, previous mentors and mentees are welcome to reapply for a new match.

Application Deadline is May 13, 2007. The Mentoring Committee will work with the Academic Law Libraries; Private Law Libraries; and State, Court, and County Law Libraries Special Interest Sections to provide the best matches possible. The application deadline is May 13, 2007, to permit matching in time for the Annual Meeting.  Applications are available at www.aallnet.org/committee/mentoring/mentor_project.html.

Teaching Law School Students to "Think Like Law Librarians"

Earlier this year I posted a list of IMHO Awards that covered a number of 2006 developments I thought worthy of highlighting, some good, some not. One positive development highlighted there is very forward-looking, namely NCBE's consideration of developing a legal research component for bar exams. I'm sure many readers wonder how legal research skills can be tested in bar exams, but they can be if legal research is taught by emphasizing principles of legal research in a format-neutral context. I know, some are wondering about the existence of legal research principles; I'm here to say they do exist.

When I was a large law firm librarian, the bane of my existence was teaching young associates how to perform legal research. Most of the young associates I worked with graduated in the ten percent of the top ten law schools. They simply did not learn effective legal research in law school; most still don't.

Access Points & Routes. Back in the mid-80's, Virginia Thomas, currently Director, Law Library and Information Technology at the University of Cincinnati Law Library but then Documents/Reference Librarian at IIT/Chicago-Kent College of Law, and I, then a Research Librarian at Seyfarth, Shaw (Chicago), and occasional guest lecturer on labor law research for the graduate human resources program at Loyola University (Chicago)  developed a novel teaching approach that focused on access points and routes using bibliographic analysis of document types within the context of the structure of legal literature. This teaching approach applied, and still applies, regardless of publishing format and the on-site availability of legal resources. It also overcomes one of the most serious problems faced by legal research instructors, namely, trying to teach legal research  to students who know so little substantive law. Alas, we both were working stiffs who did not have time to publish but it is rewarding to see that some law librarians have published their insights into similar approaches to teaching legal research. See, for example, J.D.S. Armstrong & Christopher A. Knott, Where the Law Is: An Introduction to Advanced Legal Research (2d ed, 2006).

Anti-Toolbox Approach to Legal Research. At the time, Virginia and I characterized this approach as an anti-toolbox approach to teaching legal research. By that we meant to criticize the still all too common practice of trying to teach legal research by just explaining what each research tool did; "this is a digest, this is a case name index. this is an online research service..." Unfortunately the toolbox method still remains the prevalent approach to teaching legal research, performed perhaps more so by non-librarian legal research and writing instructors, but also still performed by law librarians, even in many elective advanced legal research courses.

Teaching Legal Research Tomorrow. How will legal research be taught if legal research becomes a bar exam component? This is the focus of an upcoming conference at the University of Texas Tarlton Law Library, one I hope all interested parties attend, not just law librarians. Of course I believe the approach Virginia Thomas and I use is one such way, but, relative to law school curricular changes, I also hope serious consideration will be given to requiring a legal research course separate and distinct from traditional legal research and writing courses.

It's time for the legal academy to recognize that legal research and writing classes do a very poor job at teaching legal research; the noise of the writing component drowns out the legal research message and, unfortunately that message is almost universally based, perhaps necessarily so, on a toolbox approach to teaching legal research.

Save the Date for the Tarlton Conference. Must law librarians teach the legal research course I am recommending for your consideration? Absolutely not. Anyone can teach legal research following the approach Virginia Thomas and I have used for years now. Come to the Tarlton conference on Oct. 18-20, 2007 [brochure] to contribute to improving the instruction of legal research in law schools.

Ultimately we must teach law students to "think like law librarians" but law librarians are not the only ones who already approach research thinking this way.

Cross-posted on Law School Innovation. [JH]

2007 AALL Management and Leadership Institute, Register by Jan. 11, 2006

The American Association of Law Libraries is sponsoring a Management and Leadership Institute March 5-8, 2007 in Tucson, AZ. AALL is underwriting a portion of the costs for participants to attend. This is a four day Management and Leadership Institute facilitated by respected organization development consultant, Maureen Sullivan. The institute will present leading edge strategies, equip you with essential tools necessary for management and leadership roles and increase your ability to manage and lead effectively. An action-learning approach will be utilized that includes: lecture, case studies, small group discussion, self-assessment tools, journaling, and skills practice.

Target Audience: All Law Library Professionals with at least three years of professional experience 

Deadline: January 11, 2006

Apply Online: For more information and to apply online, please visit the Calendar of Events section on AALLNET at http://www.aallnet.org/calendar/ .

Reminder: Back to the Future of Legal Research Conference's Call for Papers Deadline is Jan. 15, 2007

Back to the Future of Legal Research
Chicago, May 18 & 19, 2007

Chicago-Kent College of Law is pleased to again welcome legal skills faculty and law librarians to a conference on May 18 & 19, 2007, to continue the discussion that we began at “The Future of Legal Research” conference in May, 2005.  Among the topics that we will consider are:

• Results of the follow-up surveys on practitioners’ research habits;
• Research teaching techniques in our electronic age;
• Law students’ research abilities and how they differ from those of their employers in practice and their law school professors;
• Internet access to abundant free material and how it will change the legal research landscape;
• Teaching students to think critically about the material that they gather from free sites;
• Citing sensibly to electronic sources that will change over time;
• Exploring the burgeoning availability of international law sources and understanding why these sources will take on increasing importance to lawyers and students;
• Teaching students to evaluate the content of their research rather than the medium in which it is found.

Proposals are now being accepted for presenters and panelists for the above topics and other topics that address both how legal research will be accomplished in the future, and how we should prepare our students for these changes.

Proposals are due by January 15, 2007, and should be addressed to either:

Mary Rose Strubbe                               Keith Ann Stiverson 
Director of Legal Writing &                     Director of the Library 
Research                                        Chicago-Kent College of Law 
Chicago-Kent College of Law                     565 West Adams Street                   
565 West Adams Street                           Chicago, Illinois 60661 
Chicago, Illinois 60661                         312-906-5610 
312-906-5288                                    kstivers@kentlaw.edu 
mstrubbe@kentlaw.edu  

Material may be submitted electronically or in hard copy. The material from the conference will be posted on a website after the conference ends.

There is no fee to attend the conference, but attendees are responsible for their own housing and transportation. Information about hotels and a detailed schedule should be available by late January.

Berkman Center's Legal Ed in a Networked World Conference Tonight

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society's (un)Common Knowledge : Legal Education in a Networked World will take place tonight at 6:00 pm EDT. You can attend via webcast or Second Life. Details at Law School Innovation. [JH]

Effective Instruction in Legal Research Conference, Oct. 18-20, 2007

The Tarlton Law Library at the University of Texas will host a conference, Teaching the Teachers: Effective Instruction in Legal Research on Oct. 18-20, 2007. The conference comes on the heels of the National Conference of Bar Examiners plans to develop a legal research component for bar exams. Save the date. [JH]

Becoming a Law Librarian

How, exactly, do you become a law librarian? Charisse Dengler has the answer. [JH]

Robinson on Content Analysis

In Why content analysis should be used more in Library and Information Studies research, Leith Robinson outlines the basic concepts and procedures of content analysis, then explores and denounces possible causes of its limited application in the LIS field. [JH]

Conference Announcement and Call for Presentations: Back to the Future of Legal Research

Back to the Future of Legal Research
Chicago, May 18 & 19, 2007

Chicago-Kent College of Law is pleased to again welcome legal skills faculty and law librarians to a conference on May 18 & 19, 2007, to continue the discussion that we began at “The Future of Legal Research” conference in May, 2005.  Among the topics that we will consider are:

• Results of the follow-up surveys on practitioners’ research habits;
• Research teaching techniques in our electronic age;
• Law students’ research abilities and how they differ from those of their employers in practice and their law school professors;
• Internet access to abundant free material and how it will change the legal research landscape;
• Teaching students to think critically about the material that they gather from free sites;
• Citing sensibly to electronic sources that will change over time;
• Exploring the burgeoning availability of international law sources and understanding why these sources will take on increasing importance to lawyers and students;
• Teaching students to evaluate the content of their research rather than the medium in which it is found.

Proposals are now being accepted for presenters and panelists for the above topics and other topics that address both how legal research will be accomplished in the future, and how we should prepare our students for these changes.

Proposals are due by January 15, 2007, and should be addressed to either:

Mary Rose Strubbe                               Keith Ann Stiverson 
Director of Legal Writing &                     Director of the Library 
Research                                        Chicago-Kent College of Law 
Chicago-Kent College of Law                     565 West Adams Street                   
565 West Adams Street                           Chicago, Illinois 60661 
Chicago, Illinois 60661                         312-906-5610 
312-906-5288                                    kstivers@kentlaw.edu 
mstrubbe@kentlaw.edu  

Material may be submitted electronically or in hard copy. The material from the conference will be posted on a website after the conference ends.

There is no fee to attend the conference, but attendees are responsible for their own housing and transportation. Information about hotels and a detailed schedule should be available by late January.

Conference Announcement: Collaborate and Innovate, November 10

Collaborate and Innovate (November 10, 2006, 9:30-5:00) is the the theme for a day long conference bringing together special librarians from all over the region for professional development and networking. In addition to the keynote address, mini-sessions presented by your colleagues will be held throughout the day. Learn more about conflict resolution, team collaboration and professional collaboration across organizations.

The conference is organized by: American Association of Law Librarians/Private Law Librarians, Special Libraries Association/Cincinnati Chapter, Special Libraries Association/Kentucky Chapter, and Special Libraries Association/Legal Division.

Date & Location: November 10, 2006, Airport Marriott, Hebron KY
Registration: $35 includes continental breakfast and lunch
Advance Registration Deadline: November 3, 2006
Registration at the Door: $45

Announcement & Registration (pdf) | Agenda (pdf)

Opening: Legislative/Food & Drug Library Assistant, DC Law Firm

Prominent DC law firm seeks a Legislative/Food & Drug Library Assistant.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Acquires witness statements and/or transcripts for hearing