Thursday, March 11, 2004
Fieldwork
Yesterday afternoon I had the fine pleasure of breaking bread with the law librarians at the University of Chicago D’Angelo Law Library. During the brown bag lunch we talked about the university’s collection; about the challenges of delivering technical services; about serials cataloging; and about a myriad other subjects related to running a large university law library efficiently and well. I learned a great deal from these remarkable men and women and came away from the experience once again thanking my lucky stars to have this opportunity to work with all of you to further this great profession.
We’ve mailed out our ballots for electing vice president, treasurer, and members of the Executive Board. If you haven’t already, you should receive yours shortly. Ballots are already arriving at headquarters, and we’ll count them all on April 5. This is our last paper ballot. We’ll change the scheduling and transition to electronic balloting in the fall. Stay tuned here for more information later this summer.
Legal Publishing Issues: Are You Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered?
Law librarians and legal publishers face many challenges to meet the needs of information users in a rapidly evolving environment of developing technologies and new business models and practices. Economic pressures and budget constraints coupled with a continued blurring of traditional lines of demarcation between publishers and librarians have left many of us confused at best, frustrated at worst.
Are you interested in legal publishing issues, such as pricing, marketing, sales channels, changing formats, product development, customer service, and the future of the information industry? If the answer is yes, mark your calendars—the upcoming online list discussion is just for you!
Through AALL's Career Development Task Force, the Committee on Relations with Information Vendors (CRIV) is sponsoring a week-long list discussion starting on Monday, March 22. Moderated by Rebecca Hensley (former CCH president and CEO) and Ellen Strbak (CRIV member, administrative office of the U.S. Courts), the discussion is open to both librarians and publishers. You may subscribe to the discussion online. If you experience a problem subscribing, please contact Pam Deemer.
Following the week-long discussion, the list of subscribers will be purged; you will not be subscribing to a permanent list. Subscribers to past career development/prodev forums, please note: Because prodev's subscriber list is purged after each forum, you will have to re-subscribe for this new one.
Join in and hear what your colleagues will be talking about the week of March 22 and post a message.
Annual Meeting and Conference Update
AALL registration and housing have officially opened, and members now have the opportunity to conveniently register online or download a form to fax or mail to Ambassadors (housing desk) and Convention Data Services (registration desk). Housing in Boston will likely fill up fast, so be sure to make your reservations early.
The Preliminary Program has been mailed out (bulk mail) and may take as long as four to six weeks to be delivered. In the meantime, you can visit AALLNET to view the program and the many diverse educational sessions offered, as well as register for various activities, including Boston sight-seeing excursions and library tours. Meetings and events can be viewed to assist you in designing your on-site schedule. Visit the Local Advisory Home Page for Boston information from a hometown point of view.
Are you required to procure a purchase order or check from your institution to attend the Annual Meeting and Conference? If so, it is advisable to start your request as soon as possible, especially if you are interested in attending one of the several pre-conference workshops. Workshop attendance is limited and offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Please do not schedule early flights to attend workshops until you have received a registration confirmation verifying your enrollment.*
NEW! Starting soon, look each month to receive an Annual Meeting and Conference Update e-mail From the Desk of Pam Reisinger, director of meetings. What a great way to keep abreast of what’s happening at the Annual Meeting and receive valuable information you’ll need to make your meeting experience in Boston a memorable one!
*AALL reserves the right to cancel workshops, programs, and events if there is insufficient registration or for any other reason. AALL is not responsible for cancellation charges assessed by airlines or travel agencies or other losses incurred due to cancellation of workshops, programs, and events.
The Emotional Intelligence of Law Librarians
Kelly Browne received an AALL/Aspen Publishers Research Grant to study “The Emotional Intelligence of Law Librarians,” and now she needs your help! She is seeking nominations for successful law librarians in the following fields:
- Academic law library director with faculty status
- Academic law library reference director (not necessarily a supervisor)
- Academic law library cataloger (not necessarily a supervisor)
- Academic law library information technology director or department supervisor
- Large law firm library director (supervising several staff)
- Solo law firm librarian
Those nominated will be asked to take an emotional intelligence survey. The data will be analyzed to produce “successful” position profiles for law librarian positions at different types of law libraries.
Please e-mail Kelly directly with the names of no more than 10 librarians in each category by March 30.
Sincerely,
Susan E. Fox, CAE
Executive Director