Thursday, September 9, 2004
Back in the Saddle
This is a concise introduction to a rather long edition of From the Desk Of this week. There are two important reasons why this edition is longer than usual. First, we are announcing the candidate slate for our first-ever online election. Second, we want to keep you fully apprised about our strategic planning process. Future editions will be less fulsome but no less informative.
AALL Elections Go Electronic
The schedule for the AALL elections will change dramatically this year. Instead of sending ballots out by postal service, the Association will distribute and tabulate ballots electronically. The elections will also occur four months earlier in November instead of March. Here is the 2005 election schedule:
October 9, 2004: Deadline for receipt of petition candidates
November 15, 2004: Ballots distributed electronically to all voting members (those who wish may receive paper ballots upon request to Gina Bordeleon, 312-939-4764, ext. 12, by October 1).
December 15, 2004: Deadline for receipt of electronic ballots at AALL. Ballots tabulated at AALL, and results of elections announced immediately.
2005 Candidates
The AALL Nominations Committee nominated the following individuals for office in AALL. In the near future, full candidate profiles and platforms will be made available on AALLNET and published in a future issue of Law Library Journal.
Vice President/President-Elect
Sally G. Holterhoff, Government Information/Reference Librarian at Valparaiso University School of Law Library.
Alvin M. Podboy, Jr., Director of Libraries at Baker and Hostetler LLP.
Secretary Darcy Kirk, Assistant Dean for Law and Technology and Professor of Law at the University of Connecticut School of Law Library.
Lawrence R. Meyer, Law Library Director at the Law Library for San Bernardino County.
Executive Board Sarah Andeen, Director of Research at Greenberg Traurig.
Steven P. Anderson, Director of Research Services at Gordon Feinblatt Rothman Hoffberger and Hollander LLC.
Francis L. Drake, Jr., Director of Library Services at Arnstein and Lehr.
Lyonette Louis-Jacques, Foreign and International Law Librarian and Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago D'Angelo Law Library.
Update on AALL's Strategic Direction
Last spring the Executive Board began discussion on AALL's next strategic plan. The Association accomplished nearly all of what it set out to do in its ambitious 2000-2005 plan. This year, with your help and insight, we will create a new plan. This one will look and feel much different than the last and will involve a series of conversations both within the community here at AALL and, underway now, formal interviews with outside stakeholders, such as law firm IT directors, academic deans, judges, and consultants who also have a voice in the future of law libraries and the profession.
The major goals of the process for establishing the new plan will be two pronged. The first prong is what we are undertaking this year-an investigation into what is changing for law libraries and the profession and to determine how best to position AALL to respond to these changes strategically and effectively.
Once we have accomplished that, in the second prong we will continue to plan for the evolution of the association's infrastructure so that we will be able to better identify and address emerging challenges. Our goal is to become ever more nimble in our response to these challenges. The pace of change today demands agility, flexibility, and trust. We are working hard toward achieving that level of responsiveness.
We have already started the process of making time for the board to concentrate on ongoing strategic thinking and deliberating. We will continue to explore options to make this flexible response a reality. For example, the board is contemplating the creation of an executive committee to oversee some subset of decisions now brought to the board as a whole.
Executive Board member Anne Myers is in the process of working with IT staff here at headquarters to set up a blog for members to receive more information about our collective strategic thinking and, importantly, to give you an opportunity to contribute to the conversation.
In addition, Immediate Past President Janis Johnston is currently in the process of constructing a series of e-mail discussion lists that will explore questions such as, What does it mean to be 'strategic'?, What's the front page newspaper headline about AALL that you'd like to see? and five years down the road, What type of law library do you think your boss hopes to see? These questions and others will, we hope, spur a lively and thoughtful discussion with a broad set of viewpoints in the mix.
We will then gather your feedback and use it as important data for the fall board meeting, where we will hold a facilitated discussion about what is uncovered. This is also the meeting where we will develop our vision and our BHAG-big hairy audacious goal.
After the first of the year, a subcommittee of the board will gather and draft the strategic plan. This draft will be discussed at the spring board meeting April 7-9, 2005. We will then circulate the draft to membership for comment. The board hopes to adopt the final plan at its July meeting in San Antonio.
AALL Annual Meeting Site Selection Policy Revised
At its July meeting the Executive Board revised the AALL Annual Meeting Site Selection Policy. Site selection will now be criteria based rather than based on a set rotation among regions. The board selected a target list of 10 cities, and other cities may come on to the list as they develop facilities to meet our needs. Our professional meeting managers will negotiate with the cities to determine where we can receive the best opportunities. The resulting negotiations will determine the order in which we will rotate through the cities. Because of the nature of our Annual Meeting cycle, there will be several years before we repeat any one city.
The 10 cities that currently meet our criteria are: Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New Orleans, San Antonio, San Diego, San Jose, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.
AALL conference cities are set through 2008. The Executive Board will choose the 2009 and 2010 cities at its fall meeting, November 18-20.
Take the Survey! AALL Task Force on Gen X/Gen Y Issues
We are conducting a short (five-minute) survey designed to examine generational relationships within AALL. Please take a few moments to share your views with us. You may access the survey through this link. We appreciate your participation and look forward to receiving your responses!
AALL Task Force on Gen X/Gen Y Issues:
Jill Duffy, Chair
Beth DiFelice
Elizabeth Lambert
Elizabeth LeDoux
AALL Price Index for Legal Publications Updated with 2003 Information
The Price Index for Legal Publications, 2d ed. has been updated to include 2003 data. It is available in the members-only section of AALLNET. The index includes data from 1998 to 2003 for legal periodicals, newsletters, loose-leaf services, court reporters, digests, codes, citators, and supplemented treatises. The ability to query the database was added to the index in January 2004. You can create a subset of the data based on publisher, state, category, and subject area. The data is viewable in html or Excel formats and can be downloaded to your computer.
The Price Index for Legal Publications Committee will look at adding electronic titles to the database for 2004.
Medical Library Association Satellite Teleconference
The Medical Library Association is hosting a satellite broadcast on electronic licensing on Wednesday, September 22. "The Art and Practice of Electronic Journal, Book and Database Licenses: Practical Tips for Health Care Organizations" will begin at 1 p.m. Central Time.
This program will deal with the basics of electronic licensing. The teleconference will cover critical elements and language in a license agreement, pricing, negotiating, and troubleshooting. The information given will help out all library professionals, not just those in medical libraries.
To register your site and to find more information about this program, including the agenda and list of speakers, please visit MLANET.
Sincerely,
Susan E. Fox, CAE
Executive Director