Thursday, January 20, 2005
New Year, New Travel
There is much to share with you this week, as it's been over a month since the last edition of From the Desk Of. The first two weeks of the New Year are always packed with travel as President Victoria Trotta and I attended meetings important to AALL, in this case the Association of American Law Schools followed immediately by the American Library Association's Midwinter Meeting. Both events bring together subsets of AALL's leadership and interests and provide an efficient means of representing the association across broad constituencies. They were most successful events, but I am glad to be back in the office and once again communicating with you through this vehicle.
Tsunami and Libraries
While at ALA Midwinter Alex Byrne, President-elect of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) updated several library association executives about the status of libraries hit so terribly hard by the December 26 tsunami. IFLA is working closely with executives from UNESCO to determine the depth and scale of the damage to libraries in the region. In Sri Lanka alone, the National Library has identified, either as destroyed or damaged, 177 school libraries, 53 public libraries and 68 libraries attached to religious institutions. IFLA and UNESCO are currently assessing the situation for libraries in all the affected regions. We will keep you apprised as more information becomes available.
If you wish to contribute to the reconstruction of libraries in these countries IFLA lists many ways you can help. If you wish to help in other ways, National Public Radio has an excellent list of relief organizations.
BNA to Sponsor AALL Education Summit
I'm very pleased to announce that BNA has graciously and generously agreed to sponsor an AALL Education Summit. Plans for this summit are very much in the formative stages, but this spring we will bring together key leaders and constituents from Chapters, Special Interest Sections, and other segments to discuss and plan for the future of continuing education for the profession. This summit follows on valuable data collected from membership during our 2003 Educational Needs Assessment, also sponsored by BNA. More information will be forthcoming as plans take shape.
We especially thank Paul Wojcik, BNA President & CEO, and Kammie Hedges, Director of Library Relations, for their support of the summit and the educational needs assessment.
2003-2004 AALL Year in Review Online
We've just added the AALL 2003-2004 Year in Review to AALLNET. The annual report highlights the facts, figures and fantastic accomplishments realized under the leadership of Past President Janis Johnston. New this year, the report includes links to AALLNET for further information, applications, or full-text publications. We hope you enjoy the new feature.
Call for Contributions to Teach-in/Sourcebook Partnership
Do you have any legal instructional materials, guides, presentations? Why not consider sharing them with your colleagues through the ALL-SIS Legal Research Sourcebook or the RIPS-SIS Teach-In Resource Kit. The deadline is fast approaching - February 1st!
ALL-SIS and RIP-SIS, two long-standing AALL Special Interest Sections, have joined together to recruit submissions of legal research training and instructional materials. The RIPS sponsored National Legal Research Teach-In campaign has provided the popular Teach-In Resource Kit for many years as a print publication designed to support the instructional activities of law librarians. It is published annually in conjunction with National Library Week each April. Now ALL-SIS has established its ground-breaking Legal Research Sourcebook as an electronic database of any and all legal research instructional materials that AALL members wish to submit.
How can you play a part in this exciting new partnership? Get involved by sharing your comments, suggestions - and materials! Teach In/Sourcebook submissions are currently being accepted. More information is available here.
AALL/Aspen Research Grants for 2004
On behalf or the AALL Research Committee (Susan Tulis, Karen Beck, Eloise Vondruska, Trina Tinglum, Joel Fishman, Duncan, Alford, and Michael Slinger, Chair), I am pleased to announce that AALL/Aspen Research Grants for 2004 totaling $5,000 have been awarded to three individuals:
Charles Cronin, Columbia University Law Library, for his project, Music Plagiarism Digital Archive at Columbia Law Library.
Karl Gruben, St. Thomas University Law Library, for his project, AmLaw 100 KM Survey.
Betsy McKenzie, Suffolk University Law Library, for her project, Effects of PCs and Databases on Legal Analysis Skills.
Competition for the grants was particularly competitive this year with 11 submissions, all of which show great promise. This high number of quality submissions certainly reflects well on the vitality of our profession and the high interest in meaningful scholarship among our members. Please join me in congratulating our distinguished colleagues on their awards. Please also join me in thanking Aspen Publishers for their generous support of this important program.
The AALL/Aspen Publishers Grant Program was established in 1996 with a generous contribution of $50,000 from Aspen Publishers, a New York-based legal publisher. Aspen Publishers considers its contribution as an investment in research that will provide a prospective look at the role of librarians, researchers and legal information providers and will yield results to which publishers can respond. Aspen's goal is to sponsor research that will have a practical impact on the law library profession and inspire products and changes in the marketplace.
The AALL Research Agenda offers suggestions for possible research projects that cover a wide segment of professional interest including: the profession of law librarianship, law library patrons, law library services, legal research and bibliography, legal information resources, and law library facilities. However, projects are not limited to those described in the agenda; and the committee will consider all applications and research projects.
SCCLL SIS Awards Committee Call for Nominations
The SCCLL SIS Awards Committee is seeking nominations for the Connie E. Bolden Publications Award. Given triennially at the SCCLL Annual Meeting, the Connie E. Bolden Publications Award is presented to a State, Court and County Law Libraries Special Interest Section member to recognize scholarly publication.
We welcome input from all SCCLL members. To make a nomination, please include the following information:
- Full name and current address of the nominee
- Current and past employment of the nominee
- Short narrative explaining why the nominee should receive this award
- Your contact information, should the Awards Committee require additional information.
The deadline for submitting nominations is March 30, 2005. Send or e-mail copies of nominations to:
Frances M. Jones
Director Library Services
California Judicial Center Library
455 Golden Gate Avenue, Room 4617
San Francisco, CA 94102
Fran.Jones@jud.ca.gov
New Grants Encourage Museum, Library, Public Broadcasting Partnerships
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), in conjunction with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), has released guidelines for the Partnership for a Nation of Learners (PNL) Community Collaboration Grants. The program is designed to support new and existing lifelong learning collaborations between museums, libraries, and public broadcasters with grants that range from $25,000 to $250,000. These collaborations will result in a range of projects that enhance learning in communities across the country. Grant applications are due on March 1, 2005, and grant awards will be made in September 2005.
Eligible projects will include collaborations between a public broadcasting licensee (radio or television) and a museum or library, or among all three types of organizations. Projects that involve all three types of organizations will generally be considered more competitive for funding.
The PNL initiative will also feature extensive professional development opportunities for museum, library and pubic broadcasting personnel.
E- Licensing Web cast: MLA taking Site and Individual Registrations
The Medical Library Association (MLA) will host its first web cast on January 26, 2005, 1:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m. CT. "Tips For Negotiating Electronic Licenses" is part 2 of the September 26th teleconference on electronic licensing and will give attendees useful tips when negotiating electronic licensing agreements and tips on multi-sites, users, fair use, performance clauses, post-termination access, archival rights, and more.
The speakers include Elizabeth R. Lorbeer, collection development manager, Library of Rush University; Mark Danderson, director, International Business Development, New England Journal of Medicine; Rick Anderson, director of resource acquisition, Libraries, University of Nevada-Reno, and John Cox, managing director, John Cox Associates Limited, Rookwood, Bradden, Towcester, Northants, United Kingdom.
For more web cast information and to register, please check MLANET or contact Deb Cavanaugh (mlapd3@mlahq.org) or Kathleen Combs (mlapd1@mlahq.org).
Sincerely,
Susan E. Fox, CAE
Executive Director