Law Librarian Blog

Faking It Beyond Fake: Yeah, [AALL] really wants you, they really want you, they really do

Because an LLB reader thought "Doll Parts" was a better musical selection than "Make Me Over" for AALL's huge gaping hole of credibility playlist, here it is. No doubt the request was made because our association continues to demonstrate by its actions when contrasted with its rhetoric that it "fake[s] it so real, [it is] beyond fake." [JH]

The Future of the PLL Summit

Here is the one thing I can tell you:  Nothing has been decided yet and nothing has been finalized.  I have read a lot lately about how AALL is taking over the PLL Summit and that it is a "hostile" takeover.  Yet everything I have read has been short on details as to just what this "hostile" takeover involves.  I can tell you that PLL leadership and AALL leadership are in discussion.   The discussion is continuing and nothing has been finally decided.  I believe that we should let the PLL leaders we elected continue to talk with AALL to see if this can be resolved in a mutually beneficial way. 

Seattle will be the perfect venue to try something new as few East Coast librarians would be willing to come just for a day long summit.

I also want to address Joe Hodnicki's statement that "Contributions to the Summit were not under the direct control of AALL" made in his blog post on Tuesday, August 14th.  It is my understanding that all contributions to the Summit went through AALL.  PLL is a Special Interest Section existing within AALL and as such has no ability to have vendors make direct contributions to it. 

So until such time as I hear concrete plans for the summit or for the lack thereof I will wait before making any judgments.

Caren Biberman

"All the world's a stage" at AALL's Members Open Forum

And at Boston 2012, this was clearly evident in the Podium People's "As You We Like It" performance.

In RESPECT: Musing on AALL Members Forum, 2012, Betsy McKenzie offers her perspective on the two major issues "addressed" during AALL Boston 2012's Members Open Forum: the proposed bylaw membership changes and how future annual meeting programming will be administered by AMPC. I put addressed in quotes because the Podium People kept saying "we are prepared to answer questions" about the bylaws amendment that was unanimously approved by the Executive Board in their pre-conference Boston board meeting. In this case, "prepared" means theatrical staging. Betsy writes:

This item was introduced gingerly, with the moderator and executive board members obviously waiting for a bunch of angry responses. They had 2 former presidents of the association all ready primed with prepared statements about why it is such a terrific idea and why it’s the future of the association. They sort of didn’t know what to do when they received very little feedback from a fairly silent audience.

Frankly I expected the Executive Board to approve the bylaws changes but I had hoped one or more E-Board members would have voted against it. So the unanimously approved membership bylaw change will be up for a vote of the AALL membership. The Podium People indicated that an FAQ about this will be provided. Will it be based on the prepared statements Betsy referenced?

I am unclear whether that FAQ will accompany the ballot or will be published separately and before the ballot with a reasonable amount of time being provided for the expression of alternative views. Of course, then there is the issue of how any such views would be provided to the membership -- by the same means the E-Board uses? Since the E-Board vote was unanimous, there will be no minority views expressed in its approved FAQ.

Where is the "healthy debate'"? AALL statements prepared for former AALL presidents to present at the Members Open Forum, really? The attendance of two rank-and-file members at the E-Board session who were not asked to express their opinions about the Bylaws agenda item per E-Board meeting protocol that stipulates non-Board members may speak only when asked to by a Board member. None did.

If the E-Board's approved Antitrust FAQ is any indication, conveniently selected questions with equally convientiently scripted brief answers is becoming AALL's norm. For the official bylaws FAQ, it is reasonable to expect a white-washed gloss-over based on the warm snuggie known as the E-board "group-think" soliloquy.

Time is of the essence, right? In the Bards of Chicago's Théâtre de l'Absurde, timing certainly is. On July 22, an FAQ about AALL programming procedure changes was posted on AALLNET. That was a couple of days after Steve Lastres, the outgoing chair of the PLL SIS, posted a membership alert on AALL web forums. It was also the first day of Boston 2012. Now, how many attendees do you think actually thought about checking their emails for AALLNET postings during the annual meeting?

Great timing for the release of this FAQ. Of course if our association's official playwrights view rank-and-file existence as having no meaning or purpose other than being a revenue source, then all communication can be expected to break down because contrary opinions are just irrational and illogical speech that leads to one ultimate conclusion, silence. Loop back up to the last sentence in Betsy's quote above.

The already approved annual meeting programming changes was another topic addressed at the Members Open Forum and reviewed in Betsy's post. She charactizes it as "the AALL takeover of the highly successful PLL Summit." In response to Steve Lastres' questions the nutshell answer from the Podium People was "take a hike, Steve." (My assessment, not Steve's.)

This issue is broader than just the PLL Summit. Even my little SCCLL SIS issued a membership alert after the annual meeting. The programming changes are a wholesale takeover of the annual meeting's agenda. See Programming AALL's Next Annual Meeting: Top-Down or Bottom-Up? Compare the new AMPC procedures with the following rhetorical statement from the AMPC FAQ [Download the FAQ]:

Annual Meeting attendees seek relevant, substantive educational content that addresses their professional needs. AALL members – particularly SISs – will be crucial to helping the Annual Meeting Program Committee (AMPC) identify topics critical to our members’ professional success and development.

In calling for improved and more timely communications from the E-Board to the rank-and-file, the E-Board's FAQ communications strategy have taken the tactic of issuing top-down propaganda soliloquies. With respect to AMPC FAQ and the forthcoming Bylaws FAQ, a strong case can be made that their release is a tad too timely for rank-and-file responses. My hunch is given the opportunity, some members would present alternative proposals by way of logical construction and argument in reasoned narratives, something AALL apparently cannot do since it has fallen in love with the convenience of the FAQ short-form format.

E-Board flash "transparency" needs rank-and-file accountability. Absent an Occupy AALL movement, that's more than just a wee bit difficult to do when the Official AALL Players is staging its performance of "As You We Like It" with tickets priced at the cost of membership dues. For more, see Betsy's four-point statement on where the real problem lies. [JH]

Programming AALL's Next Annual Meeting: Top-Down or Bottom-Up?

From 2013 Annual Meeting Program Committee survey.

The 2013 Annual Meeting Program Committee is already thinking about programming in Seattle. We have identified the following content areas, and each includes particular issues and challenges that you may be facing in your job. As you look at these issues on the following pages, let us know which ones pertain to your situation. The feedback you provide here will help us develop programs that meet your educational needs.

Management
Technology
Content management
Legal research/reference
Raising the profile of the library/librarian
Collaboration

I think AMPC should rethink its thinking.The best way to provide relevant programming for as diverse a group as practicing law librarians as we are is to establish track scheduling at annual meetings wherein which sessions will be offered is removed from AMPC's control and given to special interest sections to decide. Addressing topics such as the ones listed above require a far amount of specificity to be relevant for different types of law libraries.

Think programs selected for private libraries, academic libraries, and public and government libraries by their SISs based on their members (and others, if they want) submissions (with deadlines set by each SIS) to fill substantial slots of time each regular conference day. Perhaps, for example, PLL's annual summit could be held during the annual meeting instead of before it so that some of the sessions can be attended by all interested law librarians who can only go to the annual meeting. Functional groups like tech servs and computing can also be given time slots.

Must definitely there should be an official Executive Board track so that the Board's Summer meeting is conducted during AALL's annual meeting, not before the annual meeting, so all interested rank-and-file members can attend, in addition, to the epic tragic comedy known as the Business Meeting and Members Open Forum, as well as the "educational" sessions AALL conducts to inform members what AALL thinks about issues.

AMPC should be left to fill in a remaining limited number of time slots for others (smaller SISs and Caucus groups) and AALL ceremonial events. etc.

Having offered my 2-cents opinion, by republishing (without premission but what the heck) Steven Lastres' post (on AALLNET's Members Open Forum and Private Law Libraries SIS) I am not suggesting he agrees with me. However, he calls attention to changes in the making for programming Seattle 2013. I do think we both agree that (1) there are some serious issues about the 2013 Seattle programming procedural changes and (2) annual meeting programming needs to be relevant for specific types of law libraries.

Help Protect SIS Rights To Keep Providing Our Members With Relevant Programming

Dear Valued PLL Members,

There are significant changes being implemented for the 2013 AALL Annual Meeting in Seattle. While many are positive, there are some that may significantly impact the ability of Special Interest Sections (SISs) to offer programming that is relevant to its members. I am copying the "Members Open Forum" because I think the membership and other SISs should be aware of the potential impact to all of our members.
 
For example, SISs will no longer have any minimum guaranteed programming accepted and all SISs will be limited to sponsoring only one independent education program. SISs can no longer rank their submissions in order of importance/relevance to their members. The Annual Meeting Program Committee (AMPC) will be making all the decisions about your programming.

Why should you care? Because PLL members deserve to attend a conference that provides them with relevant content they need to succeed in their work environment. While we always welcome the opportunity to cross polinate with our academic and court colleagues, law firms are a unique environment and are under economic siege. In fact, we have seen the loss of over 50 PLL members over this past year. A trend that continues since 2008.  

Over the last several years, PLL members have grown accustomed to having over 10 progams at conference approved by the AMPC, in addition to 4 to 6 independent programs PLL pays to present to provide PLL members with more programming choices. These 14 to 16 education programs are also independent of the PLL Summit (now in its third year with expected attendance to exceed 300 attendees), which hosts over 10 additional programs as a preconference.

The PLL Education committee works hard to help our member submit programming relevant to "law firm librarians". As you well know, our working environments are unique and have special challenges.
 
The 2013 Annual Meeting Program Committee is conducting a survey to identify topics and issues of importance to AALL members.

I urge you to tell them what education programming you need to not only survive but to thrive as a law librarian who works in a law firm setting.

(Emphasis added.)

Took the survey and would not have know it existed but for Steve's membership alert. There are comment boxes in the survey but not one that asks "are you in favor of the plan we will be executing for you?" [JH]

Reminder: LawLibCon's "All Things Private Law Libraries" Podcast This Afternoon

From Rich Leiter's list message for today's episode of Law Librarian Conversations:

We're having a special show featuring co-chairs of this year's [PLL] Summit, Jean O'Grady and Joan Axelroth. We hope that you can join us for a discussion about the law firm library of 2020. Academic law librarians are welcome to learn what the "real world" is anticipating and share your insights into what you think the law school library of 2020 will look like. (Will law school libraries be very different from law firm libraries?)

Not a year has gone by where I haven't regretted not attending PLL's annual summit. What's implicit in Rich Leiter's statement is that what happens in private libraries does not stay in private law libraries.

The podcast starts at 2:00 PM CT Details here. [JH]

ALA TechSource's Workshop on Gadgets in the Library: First Session Starts Tomorrow

Jason Griffey will be presenting a two-part online workshop called "Gadgets in the Library: A Practical Guide to Personal Electronics for Librarians":

Session 1: Tablets and eReaders
Thursday, May 10, 2:30pm – 4:00pm Eastern

This session will cover the following topics:

• Why do we care?
• Operating Systems vs Devices
• iOS & Android
• Circulation & Policy

Session 2: E-Readers, continued and Future Tech
Thursday, May 24, 2:30pm – 4:00pm Eastern

This session will cover the following topics:

• More on eReaders
• 3D printing and hackerspaces
• Discussion on best practices
• Wrap up

Registration information.

Last week, Griffey posted Experiences Become Expectations on the ALA TechSource blog. One snip:

Our patrons are increasingly coming to expect that our resources will be available and easily used on their devices. Libraries are the democratizers of information. As information is increasingly amorphous digital content, we need to be familiar with the containers that give our digital bits form and substance. Being democratizers of technology, as well, ensures that everyone has the ability to use the latest and greatest in electronics.

NB: The ALA TechSource Editor's note:

This post is adapted from the introduction to Jason Griffey’s new Library Technology Report “Gadgets and Gizmos: Libraries and the Post-PC Era.” Jason revisits the technologies that he highlighted in his 2010 report. And he beats himself up a bit over it. Help him let go of the past; excuse him from predicting the future; and join him in discussing the gadgets your patrons are using today... .

Got webinars? ALA TechSource online workshops are fairly regular occurrences. Many, like "Gadgets in the Library" for example, IMHO are relevant to law libraries. It might be worth considering an ALA membership because AALL webinars on law library matters are few, far between, and not part of any discernible concerted effort to utilize 21st century communication mediums to offer programs on topical education and professional developments on a regular basis.

For an association that expends so much time, effort and money on its primary vehicle for education and professional development aka the 20th century model of annual meetings, it just might be worthwhile to reform our association's institutionalized focus because, well, it is the 21st century, right? [JH]

Libraries Are Obsolete

In an age of rapid digitalization Harvard Library Strategic Conversations hosted "Libraries Are Obsolete: An Oxford-Style Debate” on April 18, 2012. Here's the much anticipated video of the event which featured Dr. James Tracy, Headmaster, Cushing Academy, and R. David Lankes, Professor and Dean’s Scholar for the New Librarianship, University of Syracuse iSchool and Director of the Information Institute of Syracuse speaking in favor of the libraries are obsolute proposition. They were opposed in the debate by Susan Hildreth, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and John Palfrey, soon to be former Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources and Henry N. Ess III Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.

Steve Matthews offers a summary and critique of the debate on 21st Century Library Blog.

Folks interested in this issue also may want to read two recent articles: Nicholas Carr's Techonlogy Review article, The Library of Utopia, and Steve Coffman's Searcher article, The Decline and Fall of the Library Empire. [JH]

Tuning In to This Afternoon's LawLibCon Podcast: Law Libraries + Law Journal Publishing plus Bloomberg Law BNA featuring Lou Andreozzi

Today's Law Librarian Conversations podcast offers to be very interesting in part because Lou Andreozzi, Chairman of Bloomberg Law, will discuss the new roll-out of BLaw to law schools and the integration of BNA content into BLaw's now "turbocharged" online research and current awareness service. As most everyone paying attention to this matter knows by now, integration of BNA content into BLaw is well underway. Some content, most notably BNA Tax, is not online yet but will be. Complete integration is expected by the end of the calendar year, if not sooner.

There was a time when a CEO (now departed) informed participants in an earnings report conference call that BLaw's strategy appeared confusing. Still confused Thomson Reuters? Not yet obvious? Tune in to today's podcast!

Licensing of BNA online resource libraries outside of BLaw's online service remains an available option for institutions and individuals who do not want to or have not yet been offered a license for BLaw. BNA resource centers have been receiving a noticeable "beefing up" of content and additional formats of content (e.g., video) to existing resource centers as well as the launching of new ones. Clearly this is due in no small part to the financial resources Bloomberg Law is investing in this product line.

Lou Andreozzi's participation in today's podcast was announced yesterday (hence the italics in this post's title). But let's not forget that Michelle Pearse, Ben Keele and Valeri Craigle will be discussing "ways that law libraries and law librarians are uniquely equipped to help academic law journals become all that they should become in the digital world. The missing link in the Durham Statement has always been how law journals should become digital, and, in the process become better and more useful." That too offers to be a very interesting topic for the panel discussion.

LawLibCon's podcast will start at 2:00 PM Central Time this afternoon. Details here. [JH}

Reminder: AALL State Advocacy Webinar Set for Tomorrow, March 20th

From the webinar statement:

In the midst of a rapidly changing technological environment, state budget cuts that threaten the very existence of public law libraries, and a growing number of state governments looking to eliminate print legal resources in favor of online-only, now is a critical time for law librarians to speak up for the important issues that affect the profession. Join this free webinar to learn practical skills and strategies to make a difference in your state. You’ll hear the latest and most effective ways to influence decision-makers, learn how the Southern New England Law Librarians Association (SNELLA) and AALL mobilized to save Connecticut’s courthouse law libraries from closure, and come away prepared to advocate for the enactment of the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act (UELMA) to ensure authentication and preservation of electronic legal material in your state.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to identify AALL’s policy priorities at the state level.
• Participants will learn practical skills to influence decision-makers.

The one hour webinar is free to all AALL members and chapter members. To register, go here.

Save the date for --

Making Your Voice Heard: Your Role in State Advocacy
Tuesday, March 20, 2012, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM CDT

[JH]

Keeping Austin Weird: SXSW 2012 Starts Today

Alas, attending SXSW still remains on my bucket list. Austin is great place to spend 10 days. Perhaps one of the members of our law library community's Lone Star State contingent will be attending and will report on the activities.

SXSW 2012

Interactive: March 9–13
Film: March 9–17
Music: March 13–18

Here's the official First-Timer's Guide to SXSW. But I like the title of UT-Austin School of Information student Paul Vinelli's SXSW Interactive guide, Unofficial SXSWi Primer for Rowdy Librarians. See slide 17 for a listing of some presentatons. More information here.

Hat tip to LISNews. [JH]

The Librarian As Dear Abby

There is a movement in Britain to elevate some of the services a public library provides to include social services to library patrons.  This takes the form of training librarians to not only guide individuals to online resources, but also to qualitatively use those resources.  An article in the Guardian makes this clear as to the motivation.  A government source notes that 8.2 million people in Britain have never used the Internet with slightly less than half of those socially excluded.  A third of this group is out of work. 

The idea is to ameliorate the circumstances for these individuals by getting them connected at their local library.  The information that librarians can provide is described as quality internet advice and information about finding a job, changing career or keeping healthy.  The pilot program which includes about 60 libraries will be ending at the end of this month.  If successful, the plan is to deploy similar services through all U.K. libraries.  From the Guardian:

Brighton's head of libraries and information services Sally McMahon, who is also an executive committee member of the SCL says: "By May we hope to have a report, with supporting staff training information, which can be used in every public library to help ordinary frontline staff guide the public on these kind of issues.

"We can't expect library staff to be trained up to Citizens' Advice Bureau level, however librarians have always had a strong information and advice role and this initiative will enable them to give good quality online advice and direct people to where they can find the knowledge they need."

The pilots are the latest example of the growing role which libraries are playing in helping to reach the digitally excluded.

I imagine this kind of service takes place in public libraries in the United States and elsewhere, at least very informally.  Even in law libraries we have our regulars who may get different kinds of attention from the staff, some positive, some not.  I'm sure we all have our stories.  The fact that there is a concerted effort to expand the role of libraries from an information center to a social center with information at the hub is interesting.  It’s a given that law librarians can’t offer legal advice to patrons, but social information?  We talk about law librarianship as an alternative career for lawyers.  Perhaps public librarianship will become an alternative career for the social worker if this trend becomes popular.  [MG]

Bronze is Wonderful and Represents More Than Just a Few Dollars

Yesterday, Joe Hodnicki wrote a post stating Thomson Reuters (TR) was "...doing the AALL Sponsorship thing on the cheap." Yes, it is a fact that TR is listed as a Bronze Sponsor for the AALL Conference which AALL defines as being in the $5,000-$24,999 range. But it is also a fact that AALL does not take into account the following events which TR is also paying for (in whole or in part) at the Conference this year:

1. The annual Thomson Reuters Customer Appreciation Reception to which all librarians at the conference are invited. I had a fantastic time at last year's event at the Reading Terminal Market and I can only imagine how much that event cost. And I also know TR let the event run about an hour past its scheduled end time because everyone was having such a blast and incurred even more costs as a result.

2. PLL SIS Summit Luncheon on Saturday to which all summit attendees will be invited

3. Conference of Law Library Educators Breakfast Roundtable

4. Academics and Government Librarians Luncheon and Speaker

5. ALLUNY/LLAGNY?NJLLA Reception

6. Government Librarians Leadership Breakfast and Meeting

If AALL did count all of these events TR would be well over the Gold Sponsorship level. Why doesn't AALL count these events? For that answer you will have to ask the AALL leadership. But my point is that regardless of whether or not they are counted TR is certainly not doing the conference "on the cheap".

As LLAGNY president this year I have gotten a much better understanding of the sponsorship that many vendors, including TR, provide to librarian organizations so that we can hold events, programs and give out grants, awards and scholarships. So on behalf of myself (and not on behalf of any organizational position that I hold) I want to say THANK YOU to all of the vendors for your sponsorship. (Caren Biberman)

2012 CALI Conference Call for Speakers: Seeking people with strong opinions, great ideas, interesting projects and useful advice

Some Assembly Required is the theme for this year's Conference for Law School Computing (held at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego, Thursday – Saturday, June 21-23, 2012). Recently John Mayer issued a call for speakers, observing

For 22 years, the CALI Conference has organized its schedule at nearly the last minute in order to bring the most relevant and up-to-date presentations to attendees. This year is no different and we are looking for people with strong opinions, great ideas, interesting projects and useful advice.

(Emphasis added.)

The deadline for session proposals is Friday, April 6, 2012. In his call, John adds

We are going to use community voting to help with selecting sessions again this year. Your votes let us know which sessions you would like to see on the conference agenda. Starting on Monday February 27, 2012, voting will be opened and will remain open until Friday April 27, 2012.

Details, including how to submit a proposal for the 2012 CALI conference, are available in John's CALI Spotlight blog post.

One thing I miss by not working in academic law libraries anymore is not being able to attend CALI's annual meeting. While certainly not a techie, CALI conference sessions are always interesting because the speakers and attendees are actually engaged in the process of experimenting and implementing change. Could that be why CALI is seeking "people with strong opinions, great ideas, interesting projects and useful advice" to offer proposals for its annual meeting? Yup. [JH]

Reminder: Registration for AALL Webinar on Educational Storytelling as an Instructional Technique Due by Feb. 16

Back in the day, I would use one of my own legal research stories for a research class lecture or while working alongside an anxious young firm associate performing research when appropriate. In my case, storytelling was oftentimes a parable that sounded in the research log and writing process to serve as a warning -- "you may think you have finished research and can now just write but the odds are high that during the analytical process that goes into writing, you will be returning to perform more research until the work product is ultimately finalized."

Quoting from the description for AALL's Feb. 22, 2012 Developing and Using Stories to Teach Legal Research webinar:

[S]torytelling ... serves as an effective communication technique in trial practice, business administration, and library science.  While little used in law librarianship, storytelling has the potential to transform the way law librarians convey legal research techniques and legal information to law library patrons.  This comprehensive webinar will introduce educational storytelling, and include a demonstration of a legal education story as well as methods for collecting, developing, and evaluating potential stories.

If storytelling is or has become a technique little used by law librarians, it can be a valuable technique that IMHO should be used in the classroom and in patron assistance. It certainly isn't always appropriate but the technique ought be in the law librarian instructional toolbox. Again quoting from the webinar description:

This comprehensive webinar will introduce educational storytelling, and include a demonstration of a legal education story as well as methods for collecting, developing, and evaluating potential stories.

(Emphasis added.)

This isn't a matter of telling "war stories." The key here is developing stories which are instructional for the patron in the library and other stories for group audiences. In the context of legal research instruction in law schools, storytelling needs to dovetail into the intent of the course. Is the course designed to teach reseach skills to students so they can conduct legal research during their academic career? Is the course designed to teach practice-oriented legal research to students?  

Moderated by Mark Estes, the webinar's speakers are Vanessa Christman (formerly Uribe), El Dorado County Law Library Director, and Beth Wrenn-Estes who is a full-time lecturer in the School of Library and Information Science at San Jose State University. Should be interesting.

Developing and Using Stories to Teach Legal Research
February 22 at 11 a.m CST
Cost: $30 for AALL members; $60 for nonmembers; $150 for site registration (per physical site)
Registration and payment due by February 16 at 5:00 p.m. (CST)

For additional information and to register, go here. Do note, space is limited. [JH]

Reminder: CALI's Free Topics in Digital Law Practice Online Course Starts Feb. 10

Topics in Digital Law Practice is "designed to provide an overview of the changes that are occurring in the practice of law today, especially with respect to technology. It will introduce law students for real-world situations that they will encounter in the job market and point law professors to new avenues to cover in their courses." While intended primarily to law students and faculty, anyone interested can participate in the course. If unable to attend some of the live classes, the presentations will be archived for later viewing. To plan ahead, here is the schedule and topics covered by each class:

Week 1
Friday, February 10, 2012 2pm-3pm EST
The Virtual Law Office
Stephanie Kimbro
Attorney and Technology Consultant
www.virtuallawpractice.org
Twitter @stephkimbro

Week 2
Friday, February 17, 2012 2pm-3pm EST
Document Automation
Marc Lauritsen
Attorney and Document Automation Expert
www.capstonepractice.com/marc.htm
Twitter @marclauritsen

Week 3
Friday, February 24, 2012 2pm-3pm EST
Technology in the Courts
Guest Speaker TBD

Week 4
Friday, March 2, 2012 2pm-3pm EST
Unbundling Legal Service Delivery
Richard Granat
President of SmartLegalForms, Inc. and DirectLaw, Inc.
www.elawyeringredux.com/promo/about/
Twitter @rgranat

Week 5
Friday, March 9, 2012 2pm-3pm EST
Online Legal Forms in Legal Aid
Ronald W. Staudt
Professor of Law
Chicago-Kent College of Law
www.kentlaw.edu/faculty/rstaudt/

Week 6
Friday, March 16, 2012 2pm-3pm EDT
Contract Standardization
Kingsley Martin
President, kiiac.com, www.contractstandards.com/

Week 7
Friday, March 23, 2012 2pm-3pm EDT
Free Legal Research Tools
Sarah Glassmeyer
Director of Content Development / Law Librarian
CALI
sarahglassmeyer.com/
Twitter @sglassmeyer

Week 8
Friday, March 30, 2012 2pm-3pm EDT
Unauthorized Practice of Law in the 21st Century
William Hornsby
Staff Counsel at American Bar Association

Week 9
Friday, April 6, 2012 2pm-3pm EDT
Social Media for Lawyers
Ernest Svenson
Attorney at Law
www.ernietheattorney.net
Twitter @ernieattorney

Topics in Digital Law Practice is free for all registered attendees. Details here. [JH]

Should Librarians Care About Privacy Anymore? Live stream for free UNC Chapel Hill conference on Feb. 3

Celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), SILS is hosting in conjunction with ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom and the UNC School of Law a presentation, titled, "Should Librarians Care About Privacy Anymore?" The event will feature Barbara M. Jones, director of the American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom and a panel discussion with Anne Klinefelter, associate professor of Law and director of the UNC at Chapel Hill Law Library, Christopher (Cal) Lee, SILS associate professor and Zeynep Tufekci, SILS associate professor. SILS Dean, Gary Marchionini, will moderate the panel discussion.

Quoting from the conference abstract:

Libraries must and should care about privacy. We have a long legal tradition of creating and defending library confidentiality statutes in every state in the U.S. We serve as a model for the rest of the world in how we treat our user requests with such considerations for their privacy. We need to remain as a model as new technology in libraries threatens to compromise that legislation we fought so hard for. Libraries can only provide the best service if user privacy is ensured.

Libraries can continue to play a leadership role in this field, as we have with the unforeseen consequences of the USA PATRIOT Act.  ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom has done some groundbreaking work in libraries with their grant from the Open Society Foundations. During her presentation, Jones will review some of ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom activities past, present, and future.

Additional information including joining the conference via the live stream here.

SILS 80th Anniversary Event - "Should Librarians Care About Privacy Anymore?" A Webinar
Start Time: February 3, 2012 - 1:00pm - 3:00pm (Eastern)

[JH}

How Libraries Can Go High-Tech on a Tight Budget

It may not be as big an issue in the private sector which knows how to justify the costs associated with using 21st century tech but it can be a fairly big deal in the academic and government sectors. In Daniel A. Freeman's How to Go High-Tech on a Tight Budget on ALA TechSource Blog, he writes

For libraries, it's one of the biggest conundrums of our time. To be the library your patrons want and need you to be, you've got to be high-tech, offering fast, IT-integrated services people can't get on their own. Yet to do this, you have to spend money...money you do not have in your budget.

In a new ALA TechSource Workshop, trainers and technology experts Robin Hastings and Maurice Coleman will show you how you can utilize the latest technology tools and train yourself to stay on top of new trends without breaking the bank, and in some cases, without even touching it.

Maurice and Robin will discuss best practices for using technology to keep your library connected and up to date. With their expert guidance, you will be able to evaluate and implement low-cost and free tools for your systems and your patrons. You'll learn about sources of information and training that are available to you and your staff.

Granted this presentation does not focus on law libraries per se but ALA consistently offers the kind of professional intelligence on timely and emerging issues AALL does not. I'm thinking AALL's preoccupation with annual meetings could be substantially reduced by stealing a chapter fron ALA regarding professional and educational e-delivered opportunities.

Here's the details for the ALA TechSource Workshop from the Association's eCommerce site:

How to Go High Tech on a Tight Budget (ALA TechSource Workshop) 
Maurice Coleman and Robin Hastings
Item Number: 1541-8880

Wednesday, February 1, 2012, 2:00pm – 3:30pm Eastern: Session 1
Wednesday, February 8, 2012, 2:00pm – 3:30pm Eastern: Session 2
 
Publisher: ALA TechSource
Price: $85.00

[JH]

 

Reminder: LawLibCon's 2011/2012 Year in Review Set for This Afternoon

LawLibCon regulars, Rich Leiter, Roger Skalbeck and Marcia Dority Baker, along with today's guests, Ken Hirsh, Sarah Glassmeyer and Elizabeth Farrell, will be discussing last year's developments in legal bibliography and law librarianship as well as prognosticating about about what to expect in 2012. Always interesting, today's podcast is scheduled for 3:00 PM Eastern Time. [JH]

Save the Date: Free Enhanced eBooks and Apps Best Practices Webcast on Jan. 19th

Presented by Digital Book World and sponsored by Constellation, "Enhanced Projects Best Practices" is a free one-hour webcast that will be broadcast on January 19th at 1 PM EST, 10 AM PST, and 6 PM GMT. From Digital Book World's announcement:

Enhanced ebook and app projects offer publishers new opportunities to present their titles in exciting and interactive ways. But with additional content come some fresh stumbling blocks bringing your titles to market. We’ve put together three experts with a wealth of experience creating, marketing, pricing, and testing enhanced projects to help you put together the best strategy for your content.

While intended for publishers in editorial, marketing, and production, I believe the webcast is well worth the time of librarians for acquiring insights into what, for enhanced eBooks at least, will eventually be a new form of electronic publication, one that will make the typical and commonplace unenhanced eBook not much more than a footnote in early 21st publishing history. If interested, you can register for the free webcast here. [JH]

Free Passes for Law Bloggers Who Want to Attend LegalTech New York, Jan. 30 - Feb. 1

A reminder from Bob Ambrogi:

[L]egal bloggers are eligible for free passes to attend the LegalTech conference in New York, Jan. 30 to Feb. 1, 2012. This is a full-access pass, covering all programs and the exhibit hall. Also again this year, LegalTech is hosting a Blogger’s Breakfast on Tuesday, Jan. 31, at 9 a.m. in the Petit Triannon room at the New York Hilton.

For details on how to reserve your free pass, see Bob's Free Passes to LegalTech for Law Bloggers post. [JH]