The AALL Second Line Blog

Even policy dweebs love Mardi Gras!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:51:00 +0000

I am pictured here with AALL's fabulous Associate Washington Affairs Representative Mary Alice Baish and this year's winner of the AALL Public Access to Government Information Award Cathy Hartman. Mary Alice and Cathy deserved a respite after conducting heavy discussions regarding archiving of government information and Congressional funding for the Government Printing Office--and New Orleans is just the place to relax!

We passed a good time!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:31:00 +0000

This is a picture of me (center) throwing beads in the Mardi Gras parade that followed the Closing Banquet. As you can see, we had a wonderful time! Also in the photo: Denise Uzee and Fran Norton.

Swamped

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Kaddell) — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 06:24:00 +0000

What to do before heading home from the conference? A swamp tour, of course. I wasn't the only one who had that idea. I ran into another AALL conference-goer coming off a tour as I started on my adventure. The swamp was - as promised - extremely hot but fascinating. I even got to hold a gator.

Sumo Brain

noreply@blogger.com (Vicenç Feliú) — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 01:35:00 +0000

Sumo Brain (my name for the Sumobrain.com freebie figure) seems to have been the hot item at the Conference this year. I just made a flickr.com group (aptly named Sumo Brain) to record his travels. If you got one of these freebies, please join the group and post your pictures of Sumo Brain doing his thing.

Beignets

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Fullerton) — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 22:32:00 +0000

I don't care too much for do-nuts but when I heard about the Beignets I decided to try them. Wonderful! Served fresh and hot with loads of powered sugar. Usually you can find them in New Orleans for about $2 for 3.

AALL Opening Reception

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Kaddell) — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 16:37:00 +0000

AALL opened with an after-dinner dessert extravaganza sponsored by LexisNexis. This was the place to be on the evening of July 14th to network and catch up with old friends, enjoy some sweets, and even dance the night away to a live band. Delicious indulgences tempted from every table - bread pudding, beignets, king cake, sweet potato and pecan pie, cobblers, chocolate dipped strawberries, and beautiful chocolate boxes almost too pretty to eat, were some of the treats that were offered. The ambiance was, of course, all New Orleans.

Music Tour Tuesday on Frenchmen Street

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 18:46:00 +0000

For those of you interested in touring the Frenchmen Street music scene tonight, Tuesday evening, come to the Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro at 7pm. It's at 626 Frenchmen (504-949-0696). Several folks will be having dinner there at 7pm, and you're welcome to join us. Depending upon how folks feel, we'll stay for the music there, which starts at 8pm, or go to another club on Frenchmen. Snug Harbor has a $15 cover tonight, but the Apple Barrel Bar (609 Frenchmen; 504-949-9399) and d.b.a New Orleans (618 Frenchmen; 504-942-3731) don't have cover charges tonight. Apple Barrel music starts at 8pm, and d.b.a music starts at 10pm. There are other clubs too, so we'll just see where our mood takes us. Frenchmen street is at the east end of the Quarter, right around the corner from Esplanade and Decatur. Hope to see you there! Laura Ray

Bid early and often!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 23:49:00 +0000

When you're in the exhibit hall, don't forget to check out the Stitchers SIS silent auction hosted at the State, Court & County Law Library SIS table in the activities area. The picture at left is just a sample of the creativity on display.

The auction closes at 2pm on Tuesday. All proceeds will benefit the New Orleans Public Library Restoration Fund.

Bloggers' Get Together

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Whisner) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 23:42:00 +0000

Thanks to Barbara Fullerton, who got us organized and found a spot (Gordon Biersch Brew Pub), around thirty of us got together for the second annual Bloggers' Get Together. With various beers, sodas, and other beverages before us, we had a chance to meet each other, share some experiences, and talk about this new medium we have either tried or would like to try.

A special guest was Ernie Svenson, the thoughtful and witty New Orleans lawyer who founded and writes Ernie the Attorney.

Blogs represented included:

Blogs @ Widener Law Library (sorry, I missed the names of the authors who were there, one from Harrisburg and one from Delaware -- let me know and I can fill in)
Law Professor Blogs (Joe Hodnicki and others)
Biblioblawg and Novalawcity (Meg Kribble,
Bloggy Notion (Julie Horst, UC Hastings)
Lex Scripta (the Dallas Ass'n of Law Libraries' blog, by Barbara Fullerton and others)
Library Boy (personal blog)(Michel-Adrien Sheppard, Supreme Court of Canada)
Trial Ad Notes and AALL Second Line Blog (Mary Whisner, University of Washington)
WisBlawg (Bonnie Shucha, University of Wisconsin)
ZiefBrief (Lee Ryan and Amy Wright, University of San Francisco Law Library)

This group was just a fraction of law librarians who blog. Bonnie Shucha maintains a list of Law Library Blogs and Blogs by Law Librarians or Law Library Associations, now up to 117.

A few notes:

Karen Schneiderman (Drexel University School of Law) analogized legal blogs to something she witnessed as a child. She sometimes tagged along when he and other lawyers and judges in Akron got together, as they did every week, to have lunch at a round table and talk about their cases. Blogging can be a way to share information and ideas -- a new round table.

A few people from different remarked that they began their libraries' blogs because they were tired of formatting their print newsletters.

Lee Ryan added that she thought nobody was reading the newsletter. One test was that they started inserting the word "panda" in the middle of articles and no one noticed. Ernie Svenson had had a similar experience -- he and others put a lot of work into the firm's newsletter. And then at some point they discovered that the staff person who was supposed to mail it out hadn't done so. For two years. And no one had noticed.

Many people had found their audiences were different than originally expected. For instance, Lee and Amy at USF were writing for their own law school community but got hits from all over. They have also responded to search patterns: they'd had a few posts about how to survive the first year of law school that got lots of hits, so they intentionally created more content so those searchers would get a lot more when they reached the site.

People in our communities have different preferences about how they get information. Some like blogs, some would rather still see a print newsletter, some want email announcements, some only want to get information when they go out to search for it.

Many bloggers have found that blogging changes the way we read or take in information. It can help us focus. Several people said they blog partly to help themselves keep track of interesting material they have come across but would otherwise forget.

For more about law librarians and blogging, see Bonnie Shucha, The State of the Law Library Blogosphere, LLRX, Nov. 3, 2006 (winner of the ALL-SIS Outstanding Article award for 2007, by the way).

Law Librarians at New Orleans Habitat for Humanity

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Huddleston) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 04:03:00 +0000

Wow... I just went by Friday afternoon and took pictures for an hour, and I was exhausted. But these guys had been there since the early morning working on a few of the new Habitat for Humanity houses in the Musicians' Village. This is a slide show of the pictures I took:

LL-H4H Slide Show

The pics are also on the Flickr group with the relevant tags. If you recognize youself and want a full-resolution version for prints, let me know.

Gadgethead Drama

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Whisner) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 03:48:00 +0000

This meeting has a lot of technological firsts for me:

This is my first annual meeting with a cell phone (I got a prepaid phone in January and just last week upgraded to a regular plan).
It's my first annual meeting with a laptop (I bought one in May).
And it's my first annual meeting in a hotel with high-speed Internet -- at least, I think it is, but I wouldn't have noticed because I didn't have a laptop (see #2).
And it's the first time I've written blog posts during an annual meeting -- made possible by #2 and #3, as well as a visit to the Internet room in the Activities Area.
It's also the first annual meeting when I lost my PDA.

What? Lost my PDA?

Yep, that's right. When I saw Jocelyn before a program, I reached for it to check for when I was going to a reception so we could set up a time to meet for dinner. Uh-oh! It wasn't there!! I double-checked all my pockets -- jacket, bag, jacket, bag, pants. Not there, not there, not there.

OK, think, think, think ... where did I last see it? At lunch with James? Yes, I think so. OK, go back to the Riverside Internet Cafe in the Riverwalk. Too bad the staff person hadn't noticed it. I left her my name and cell number (see #1), just in case.

Now what? Maybe I didn't really have it at lunch -- maybe I last saw it when I was at the Legal Research Instruction Roundtable. OK, go back to the Hilton. The room was being set up for something else. The man arranging the tables said I should look for someone in Security. I did, and she got on her walkie-talkie to the office. No Palm had been turned in, but she took my name and number (see #1). You never know.

OK, back to the Convention Center. No one had turned it in to Hospitality or Registration. I left a pathetic sign on the message board, then went upstairs to catch the end of the program I'd started to go to. Finally, I went to the AALL staff office. Nope, no one had turned in a PDA. Someone there also took my name and number (see #1).

I really was doing a pretty good job keeping a grip on my emotions. This was just a physical object. I was fine, my loved ones were fine, no one was in danger. Everything was backed up on my laptop (#2), as well as my work PC and our home PC. It would be disappointing if I never found it, but life goes on.

And then Mary said I should check my bag one more time. I humored her and took out every scrap -- the bag of nuts (in case I get hungry), the napkins (in case I spill), the biography of Sandra Day O'Connor (because I so enjoyed Joan Biscupic's talk), the umbrella (wasn't that an amazing rain storm?), the baseball hat (in case it rains enough to want to keep the rain off my glasses but not enough to bother with the umbrella), the final program (to keep track of what's happening where and when), the squeezeball I'd picked up in the Exhibit Hall. Not there... Oh! Look! It was there! Right at the bottom of everything! Wow. Good news. And wasn't it great that I got in that nice brisk walk from the Convention Center to the Hilton and back? And I can share my dramatic adventure in blog post (see #4).

Gadgets help us (setting up my lunch date with James was much easier than in past years when we just exchanged notes on the message board!), but they also present new challenges -- like keeping track of them!

Fun Walk & Run

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Fullerton) — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 22:15:00 +0000

There were quite a number of us that started the Sunday early by celebrating the rain and humidity as we took part in the 25th Annual Hein & Co.'s Fun Walk and Run along the river. Escorted by local police, the participants finished the 3.2 mile track for the runners and (I believe) 1.6 mile for the walkers before 7:30 a.m.

And, as in past years, costumes were adorned by some of the participants, and of course, the Master of Ceremonies (Richard Spinelli)!

I must admit the goal for me was this year's t-shirt: a funky, cool tie-dye shirt!

Thanks again to Hein for sponsoring this wonderful event!

Biskupic on O'Connor, Scalia

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Whisner) — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 16:45:00 +0000

Joan Biskupic, author of Sandra Day O'Connor: How the First Woman on the Supreme Court Became Its Most Influential Justice, gave quite a wonderful keynote address this morning, discussing Justice O'Connor (of course), her research in writing the book, the latest Term of Court, and the book she's now working on, on Justice Scalia.

Indiana University Reception

noreply@blogger.com (Vicenç Feliú) — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 13:43:00 +0000

Alumni of Indiana University are invited to a reception on Monday, July 16,5:30-7:30 pm at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside in the Elmwood Room on thethird floor. If you attended the School of Library and InformationScience, or the Law School in Bloomington or Indianapolis, or ever workedat the Law School Library in Indianapolis or Bloomington, you aredefinitely invited! We will have IU people with us, including Vicky Martinfrom the IU Foundation and Sarah Burton from SLIS, as well as at least onemember of the SLIS Alumni Board. So come start your evening out bycatching up on Hoosier news and connecting with friends, old and new.

Indiana University Reception

noreply@blogger.com (Vicenç Feliú) — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 13:42:00 +0000

TS-SIS Education Committee planning for Portland, Oregon

noreply@blogger.com (Vicenç Feliú) — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 13:40:00 +0000

While it may seem way too early to think about AALL in 2008, we need to plan now due to the very short time-frame for submitting program ideas after the 2007 Annual meeting. We have lots of flexibility to propose learning opportunities that are important to us, but we need your ideas! If you would like TS-SIS to consider sponsoring your program, please join us at the TS-SIS Education Committee Meeting on Monday, July 16, 2007, 11:45AM-1:00PM at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Room 230.

The theme for the 2008 meeting in Portland is Energize, Explore, Evolve.” Just the theme conjures up all sorts of program possibilities. One little idea can be explored and can evolve into a learning opportunity that will energize program participants! If you can’t attend the meeting please contact one of our committee members, and they will be happy to bring your idea to the meeting. Committee members are: Alan Keely, Ajaye Bloomstone, DeDe Bradsher, Carmen Brigandi, Ed Hart, Carol Nicholson, Karen Nuckolls, Jean Pajerek, Janice Anderson, Pat Sayre McCoy, Karen Wahl, and Hollie White.

Legal Publishing in the 21st Century: A Conversation with the Publishers

noreply@blogger.com (Vicenç Feliú) — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 13:39:00 +0000

The transition from print to digital information began in the latter years of the 20th Century, and has moved forward at an ever-quickening pace in the new millennium. The digital revolution has created new challenges, pressures, and opportunities for both publishers and librarians. Join our librarian moderators and publisher executives for a conversation on the changing nature of law and law-related publishing. Like the weather in New Orleans in July, this topic is "HOT."
Bring your questions and concerns and get some answers!
Program H-3 will take place on Tuesday, July 17 at 10:45 am at the Convention Center, Rooms 211-213.
Coordinator: Jim Heller, College of William & Mary Moderators: Jim Heller, College of William & Mary
Sally Wiant, Washington & Lee University Speakers / PanelistsMary Katherine Callaway, Director, LSU Press Stacey Caywood, Vice President of the Legal Professional Group, Wolters Kluwer Law & Business
Scott Livingston, Vice President, Research Solutions, LexisNexis U.S. Legal Market Andrew Martens, Sr. Vice-President for New Product Development, Thomson-West

Dick Spinelli, Senior Vice President, William S. Hein & Co. Paul Wojcik, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, BNA

Thanks to CRIV for their co-sponsorship of this Hot Topic.

Policy Programs To Die For

noreply@blogger.com (Vicenç Feliú) — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 13:38:00 +0000

Elizabeth LeDoux Advocacy/Communications Assistant AALL Washington Affairs Office

The AALL policy committees – the Government Relations Committee (GRC), the Copyright Committee and Access to Electronic Legal Information Committee (AELIC) – have arranged a cavalcade of government dignitaries and straight-up VIPs to wow you with tantalizing, provocative programs discussing national and state information policy issues like you’ve never seen before.

We kick off the week at the GRC’s Annual Legislative and Regulatory Update ((A-5) Sunday, 1:30-2:45 p.m. EMCC-Room 217/218) by awarding the 2007 PAGI Award to Cathy Hartman for her work on the CyberCemetery and to John Joergensen for the Rutgers-Camden Law School Library Digital Project. We then welcome as our guest speaker Marybeth Peters, U.S. Register of Copyrights, to update us on the Copyright Office. Later in the week, Ms. Peters will join a panel of distinguished librarians and Peter Givler from the Association of American University Presses, to give a full report on the Section 108 Study Group (Copyright Exemptions for Libraries in the Digital Age: Report of the Section 108 Study Group (G-1) Tuesday, 9:00 – 10:30 a.m. EMCC-Room 206/207).

Later in the day on Sunday, the GRC has invited the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO) - who manages PACER, the electronic docketing system for the federal judiciary - to discuss the system’s policies and procedures. Ted Willmann and Wendell Skidgel from the AO will reveal plans for PACER and allow users to ask lots of questions at Rising to the Challenge: Finding and Preserving Federal Judicial Information on PACER (B-5) Sunday, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. EMCC-Room 220/221.

Famous for saying “the [digital information] train has left the [government documents] station”, the Access to Electronic Legal Information Committee (AELIC) is pleased to welcome Judge Herbert B. Dixon, Jr., Associate Justice, Superior Court of D.C, and Co-chair of the ABA Judicial Division’s Committee on Court Technology. Judge Dixon will discuss the impact of electronic records on the court and share his perspective on the impact of the AALL’s State-by-State Report on Authentication of Online Legal Resources and the Authentication Summit hosted by AALL in April 2007. AELIC’s Survey on Authentication of Government Information: A Year Later and Still Challenging (E-1) Monday, 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. EMCC-Room 215/216.
. At the Town Meeting on Monday, Dr. Kenneth Thibodeau, Director, and Daryll Prescott, Assistant Director, will update us on NARA's Electronic Records Archives Program. Michael L. Wash, GPO's Chief Technical Officer, and Acting Superintendent of Documents Richard G. Davis will discuss progress with the Future Digital System (FDsys) and GPO Access at Meeting the Challenges of E-life Cycle Management – A Town Meeting with NARA and the Government Printing Office (F-2) Monday, 2:00 – 3:15 p.m. EMCC-Room 208/209.

Last on our list but first in our hearts, 2007 PAGI Award winner Cathy Hartman, Assistant Dean of Libraries, Information Technology Services, at the University of North Texas Center for Digital Knowledge, and founder of the CyberCemetery, will talk about concrete steps law librarians can take to capture and preserve online government resources at Turning Challenges into Opportunities: How Law Libraries Can Capture and Preserve Government Web Resources (H-4) Tuesday, 10:45 – 11:45 a.m. EMCC-Room 217/218.

And here you were thinking information policy was all about hounding certain agency administrators to reopen closed EPA libraries – which it is, and Congress has now demanded they must. But it is a whole lot more, too. Join us while national policy is shaped right here in New Orleans, right now at AALL.

China-United States Conference on Legal Information and Law Libraries

noreply@blogger.com (Vicenç Feliú) — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 13:37:00 +0000

Robert H. Hu
St. Mary's University Law Library

China plays an increasingly important role in the world economy and international relations. The impact of China is felt in our daily life in this country. As the Chinese economy continues to grow, its legal system will evolve to meet the needs of a modern economy and society. So will its legal information infrastructure and institutions. There is a lot we can learn from each other and cooperate in the area of legal information and law libraries. With this development in mind, a group of interested law library directors and law librarians from the United States have started working with the Chinese government and institutions to plan for a conference on legal information and law libraries to be held in Beijing in late May 2009. This conference will present an unprecedented opportunity for law librarians and legal information professionals from both the U.S. and China to share experiences and exchange views in regard to legal information development and law library management. The goals of the conference are to promote communication and cooperation in the area of legal information and law libraries between both countries. More information and updates about the conference will be posted on the newly created conference Website at: http://www.law.du.edu/library/ChinaConference/

The official Chinese sponsor for the conference will be the State Guidance Commission on Legal Education of the Ministry of Education. Two Chinese institutions will host the conference - the Chinese Legal Information Center at China University of Political Science and Law, and the Management Committee of Zhong Guancun Science and Technology Parks. The U.S. sponsor(s) will be identified in the near future. Possible sponsors include the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), the American Bar Association (ABA), and the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), among others.

Upon consultations, we have formed a U.S. Steering Committee to be in charge of planning for the conference. The Steering Committee will work with the Chinese side in forming a joint planning group for the conference. The Steering Committee consists of nine members: Frank Liu, Co-Chair (Duquesne University), Janis Johnston, Co-Chair (University of Illinois), Wei Luo, Treasurer (Washington University in St. Louis), Robert Hu, Secretary (St. Mary's University), Joan Liu (New York University), Betsy McKenzie (Suffolk University), Kara Phillips (Seattle University), Lei Seeger (University of Hawaii), and Sergio Stone (University of Denver). We’ve also set up an Advisory Board, which will advise the Steering Committee in the planning and organizing of the conference. The Advisory Board will be chaired by Terry Martin (Harvard University), joined by members including Roy Mersky (University of Texas), Kathie Price (University of Florida), Dick Danner (Duke University), and Phil Berwick (Washington University in St. Louis). More Advisory Board members will be selected in the near future.

The initial joint meeting of the Steering Committee and the Advisory Board will take place on Monday, July 16, from 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM at the Hilton – Jasperwood Room. The agenda is to discuss the proposal outline for the conference. The Steering Committee and the Advisory Board will meet from 9am to 10:30am. The meeting will be open to all at 10:30am. Some special guests from China will join us at the meeting. Please come to share your thoughts and/or show your support.

Mentoring Program

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Whisner) — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 23:19:00 +0000

The Mentoring Program is working!

This afternoon, I had nice conversations with new law librarians (one is finishing up her MLIS in December; the other just graduated and starts work at the end of the summer), each walking with her mentor.

I wouldn't have met Jennifer outside the Hilton if she hadn't been with Blair, and I wouldn't have met Alison in the Riverwalk if she hadn't been with Simon. but clearly each newcomer to the profession was getting to know a more senior law librarian and, along the way, getting to meet whoever they ran into. We are such a networky lot that meeting people here and there, in hallways and food courts, is a wonderful introduction to the profession.

Thanks to everyone who is serving as a mentor. To all of you newer law librarians, welcome to the profession, and enjoy the annual meeting!

And now, I've got a reunion to go to, speaking of networking! I'm looking forward to it!

Forum on Teaching Legal Research

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Whisner) — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 22:25:00 +0000

I tagged along with a friend to the town hall forum on teaching legal research put together by West Librarian Relations. I'm glad I landed there -- and that there were still seats available -- because the presentations and discussion were really good.

People who had been looking forward to hearing Bob Berring were disappointed. Much as I respect and enjoy Bob, I hadn't even heard of the session, so avoided that disappointment (although of course I'm sorry he wasn't able to come to this year's meeting).

The speakers from West (Anne Ellis, Michael Dahn, and Lezlie Bartz) shared interesting information the company has gathered from roundtable discussions with librarians, from surveys of lawyers, and from observational research of lawyers. For example:

Associates in their first year typically spend 90% of their time researching and writing. That portion goes down in the following few years as they become more efficient at those tasks and gain other responsibilities (client development, administration, etc.). New associates spend a lot more time on any given research task, often gathering more cases than they need. More experienced associates have developed more judgment and knowledge of their practice area, so focus better. Firms often end up writing off a lot of the first year associates' research time.
Many attorneys find research tasks frustrating and time consuming -- and at the end, they don't have much confidence that they have found what they need. (Librarians surveyed often felt better on all three counts.)
Print is still an important medium. Some 90% of West subscribers (ALL West subscribers, from solo practitioners to gigantor firms) have active print subscriptions, not just Westlaw. Among bigger organizations (law schools, courts, big firms) (i.e., organizations likely to have librarians), the number is close to 100%. Lawyers tend to choose print for quick look-ups (e.g., desktop manuals) and material that is highly structured (e.g., statutes). (Lezlie Bartz, senior editor for print and CD-ROM told us about some new print products West is bringing out to fit with those uses: rules pamphlets that brings together key statutes, court rules, and practice tips and expert witness handbooks.
A big deficit noted by lawyers and librarians is young attorneys' lack of ability in using print tools and in using them efficiently with online research.

Michael Dahn ably filled the Berring slot by reading remarks that Bob sent, adding his own, and moderating the discussion. (Michael Dahn is responsible for some Westlaw enhancements, including Results Plus.)

Three speakers reported on their experiences in their settings:

Monice Kaczorowski (Director of Library Services, Neal Gerber & Eisenberg, Chicago) described the training programs at her firms -- spearheaded and supported by top partners who believe it is crucial for their associates to improve their research skills. (The firm has also hired a legal writing professor to be an in-house resource for young attorneys.)
Patrick Meyer (Associate Library Director and Adjunct Professor, Thomas Jefferson School of Law) discussed his advanced legal research class. His teaching is informed by surveys he has conducted of law firm librarians, and he shared results of those surveys.
Connie B. Smith (Firm Director of Library Services, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius) talked about her firm -- its summer associate classes are as large as many law school's entering classes! -- and about roundtables she helped organize in Philadelphia (through GPLLA).

In the discussion session, audience members had a lot to say, including some ideas for ways that West could make it easier to teach students. How about giving students a report of what their "free" law school searches would cost in a typical firm? How about putting the Descriptive Word Index online? How about creating a video or other testimonial with comments from some of those attorneys surveyed who talk about how vital research is and how it makes a difference to a young lawyer's career?

At the end, West gave audience members a copy of White Paper: Research Skills for Lawyers and Law Students, a 9-page report with some comments from the panelists (including the panelists who couldn't make it) and some of the results of West's roundtables and market research. Anne Ellis says that this white paper will also be on the Librarian Relations web page (I couldn't find it on the website yet). Today's forum was also videotaped and will be available on the website as well. Watch for it!

Technical Services SIS

noreply@blogger.com (Vicenç Feliú) — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 16:51:00 +0000

TS-SIS Program: Indigenous Government and Law in the Americas. Library of Congress Online Classification: A Gateway to Web Resources?

Date: Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Time: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM

Place: EMCC Room 224

Description of program: The information needs on indigenous government in the Americas challenges libraries and special repositories to develop, or make accessible, the records of indigenous American law. New inter-institutional collection development and digitization projects aimed at higher visibility of tribal law will be discussed. Also LC Classification Web was explored as an innovative simultaneous access tool for local and remote resources on tribal law and constitutional developments, while retaining its traditional functionality for cataloging.

The second part of the program is a live demonstration of LC Classweb and a pioneered Html version which will be upon completion posted on the LC CPSO web site.

Speakers:
David Selden, National Indian Law Library
Richard Amelung, St. Louis University Law School
Jolande E. Goldberg, LC Cataloging Policy & Support Office
Cheryl C. Cook, LC Automation Planning & Liaison Office

For more information go to the program at http://www.aallnet.org/sis/tssis/annualmeeting/2007/programdescriptions.htm#indigenous

For handouts of the panel speakers go to
Http://www.aallnet.org/sis/tssis/annualmeeting/2007/handouts/

Hot Music Scene on Frenchmen Street

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 16:29:00 +0000

New Orleans, right, everyone thinks Bourbon Street. Sure, lots of clubs, lots of fun. But where’s the happening scene lately? Frenchmen Street baby. If you’d like to join Micrographics/AV SIS folks, carve out a little time Saturday and/or Tuesday evening for a musical journey. The Frenchmen Street area is a real short cab ride to the east end of the Quarter, so no worries getting there.

Saturday, July 14th, anytime between 7pm and 10pm, we’ll start by meeting at Checkpoint Charlie’s (501 Esplanade Avenue; 504-281-4847). In addition to great music without a cover charge, here you’ll find good bar food, pool tables, and, just in case your luggage got a bit trashed on the way to New Orleans, a laundromat. Remember when Julia Roberts sat on the washing machine in a bar in Pelican Brief? That’s Checkpoint Charlie’s. Also, my good friend Joshua T-Bone Stone and the Lazy Boys will be playing for your listening pleasure Saturday, 7pm-10pm. So cut out of the Opening Reception a little early and head on over to Checkpoint Charlie’s to really start off a great evening. Then, it’s a must trip to the Apple Barrel Bar (609 Frenchmen Street; 504- 949-9399). Coco Robicheaux plays his legendary mojo soul there every Saturday night,11pm-3am. For more information, check out http://www.spiritland.com/.

Look for details in a future blog post as to where we'll meet to start Tuesday evening. There are several great clubs clustered behind Checkpoint Charlie’s and near the Apple Barrel. Snug Harbor (626 Frenchmen Street; 504-949-0696) includes a bistro restaurant, bar, and music club. Its scene usually starts a little earlier, and showcases excellent local and national jazz. For more information, see http://www.snugjazz.com/. Café Brasil (2100 Chartres Street; 504-949-0851) features superb Afro-Cuban, Latin, and world music. Things get started a little early here too, and it can get crowded in the later hours. Sorry, no website for Cafe Brasil. Another great club is d.b.a. (616 Frenchmen Street; 504-942 3731). This is a spin off of the New York club by the same name, and has a renowned beer list. The bar’s motto is “drink good stuff.” Great wines as well as jazz, funk, and blues abound. For more information, see http://www.drinkgoodstuff.com/no/default.asp.

Hope to see you Saturday evening at Checkpoint Charlie’s to kick-start the Annual Meeting. Let the good times roll! Laura Ray

M/AV SIS Programs Feature Breaking Technology News and Roman Law

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 16:28:00 +0000

The Micrographics/Audiovisual SIS is pleased to continue its excellent tradition of programming at the 2007 AALL Annual Meeting. In addition, on Sunday, July 15th, 12:00noon-1:15pm, in the Hilton Grand Salon 4, current members and those interesting in becoming members should plan to attend the M/AV SIS Business Meeting. Here we will review M/AV SIS projects and programs, as well as discuss educational programming for the 2008 AALL Annual Meeting.

On Sunday, July 15th, 5:30pm-6:30pm, in the Hilton Grand Salon 3, the M/AV SIS Roundtable will present Mandatory Digital TV: Technological Triumph or Information-Access Tragedy? Laura Ray, Educational Programming Librarian at the Cleveland State University Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, and Terrence McCormack, Head, M. Robert Koren AV Center and AV Librarian at the State University of New York at Buffalo, will present a comprehensive history of the events surrounding the mandatory digital television policy and moderate discussion of the legal and ethical issues surrounding this policy. The M/AV SIS Roundtable will not conflict with formal programs, as well as provide Annual Meeting attendees a final educational session before their Sunday receptions and dinners.

You will have to decide between two M/AV SIS programs on Monday, July 16th, 8:45am-10:15am. One option, in Convention Center Room 211-213, will be D-3. Electronic Preservation: Does Losing the Past Challenge the Future? This program will present a debate between two authorities who advocate conflicting theories about electronic preservation, a purely digital approach that places its reliance upon open systems and mass storage devices, and a hybrid approach including analog systems as archival insurance. This program is being co-sponsored by the State, Court & County Law Libraries SIS. It will be coordinated by John Pedini, Director of Media Services at the Social Law Library, moderated by Jonathan Stock, Supervising Law Librarian at the Connecticut Judicial Branch - Law Library at Stamford, and the speakers will include Victoria Reich, Director of the LOCKSS Program at Stanford University Libraries, and Jerry Dupont, Executive Director of the Law Library Microform Consortium. The other option, in Convention Center Room 215/216, will be D-6. Rome: the Power of Film to Teach Foundations of Roman and Civil Law. This program will demonstrate the educational opportunities afforded by audiovisual materials, as it draws upon the powerful images of the HBO series “Rome,” to explain key elements of Roman Law. This program is being co-sponsored by the Legal History and Rare Books SIS and the Foreign, Comparative & International Law SIS. It will be coordinated and moderated by Laura Ray, and the speakers will include Bernard Keith Vetter, the Ted and Louana Frois Distinguished Professor of International Law Studies at the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.

LHRB SIS Programs Feature Louisiana and Roman Law

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 16:26:00 +0000

The Legal History and Rare Books SIS is pleased to be sponsoring two formal programs, co-sponsoring one formal program, and presenting our annual Roundtable, at the 2007 AALL Annual Meeting. In addition, current members and those interesting in becoming members, should plan to attend the LHRB SIS Business Meeting on Tuesday, July 17th, 4:15pm-5:15pm, in Convention Center Room 230. Here we will review LHRB SIS projects and programs as well as discuss educational programming for the 2008 AALL Annual Meeting.

On Sunday, July 15th, 1:30pm-2:45pm, in Convention Center Room 215/216, A-6. Taking Up the Gauntlet: the Duel in Southern Legal History will feature Bertram Wyatt-Brown, the Richard J. Milbauer Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Florida and a leading historian of the American South. Dr. Wyatt-Brown will discuss the history of the duel, how the duel of honor became entrenched in Southern culture, why it flourished, and how it died. This program will be coordinated and moderated by Jennie Meade, Rare Books Librarian at the George Washington University Jacob Burns Law Library.

The bulk of LHRB SIS programming will be on Monday, July 16th. 8:45am-10:15am, in Convention Center Room 215/216, D-6. Rome: the Power of Film to Teach Foundations of Roman and Civil Law will demonstrate the educational opportunities afforded by audiovisual materials, as it draws upon the powerful images of the HBO series “Rome,” to explain key elements of Roman Law. This program is being co-sponsored by the Micrographics/Audiovisual SIS and Foreign, Comparative & International Law SIS. It will be coordinated and moderated by Laura Ray, Educational Programming Librarian at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, and the speakers will include Bernard Keith Vetter, the Ted and Louana Frois Distinguished Professor of International Law Studies at the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law. Next, 11:45am-1:00pm, in the Hilton Grand Salon 6, the LHRB SIS Roundtable will present Celebrating the 400th Anniversary of Cowell’s Interpreter. Joel Fishman, Assistant Director for Lawyer Services at the Duquesne University Center for Legal Information / Allegheny County Law Library, will coordinate this examination of the history of legal dictionaries in Anglo-American law and their use in legal literature, and the speakers will include Warren Billings, Professor of History, Emeritus, at the University of New Orleans. The LHRB SIS Roundtable will not conflict with formal programs, and we plan to offer light refreshments. 2:00pm-3:15pm, after our Roundtable, in Convention Center Room 217/218, F-3. Huey Long, the Press, and the Fourteenth Amendment: Louisiana’s Contribution to Modern Constitutional Law will examine the unique situations and personalities that led to Louisiana legislation on the taxation of advertising in newspapers, as well as the Grosjean v. American Press Co. U.S. Supreme Court decision in reference to the modern development of freedom of the press in the United States. This program will be coordinated by Etheldra Scoggin, Reference Librarian and Associate Professor at the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, moderated by Stacy Etheredge, Reference Librarian at the University of South Carolina School of Law, and the speakers will be James E. Viator, Associate Professor of Law at the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, Michael L. Kurtz, Dean of the Graduate School and Professor of History at Southeastern Louisiana University, and Richard D. White, Professor of Public Administration at Louisiana State University.