In this issue:
Greetings LISP members. Welcome to another edition of the LISP Newsletter, and many thanks to all who have taken the time to write for us and keep us updated on the many issues that concern our special interest section. We had a very lively and spirited discussion in our business meeting in Philadelphia, the minutes of which are published here. We have a very impressive group of people working with us. Thanks to all of you.
We need program ideas and proposals now for the 2002 meeting in Orlando. Please share them with the education committee and me during the next few months. If you want to get an idea of what a proposal looks like, check out
http://aallnet.org/events/01_handbook.asp for this year's proposal form. Other SISs are getting theirs done a year ahead, while we have been frantically working on program proposals during and after the annual meeting. This year we saw several that I thought were excellent die and only one be approved. We need to be able to tweak and polish prepared proposals at the annual meeting, not be just starting them. There simply is not enough time to think up ideas, refine them, and produce polished proposals between the annual AALL meeting and the deadline, which this year was Aug. 14.
Secondly, we want to update our brochures. I have submitted to headquarters for publication the chapter brochure that we looked at during the business meeting, and it should be ready for us by annual meeting time, though things are a little uncertain with Peter Beck leaving AALL to take a position at the John Marshall law school.
Also, Angus and I are working to update the How to Research a Legal Problem brochure. This LISP brochure has sold over 10,000 copies and is posted on our web page as part of the Public Libraries Toolkit. We are bringing it into the digital age.
Finally, we need volunteers to provide state-specific guidance for the Public Library Toolkit, to be posted as state pages on the website. Angus agreed to produce a template, and has done the first version for Oregon. Now we need volunteers to do additional states. I will be glad to receive your comments and your state pages at warthenl@law.utah.edu or fax to 801-585-3033. Angus's efforts are below:
The Native American Rights Fund is a non-profit organization that provides legal advice and representation to Indian tribes, individuals and organizations nationwide in the areas of: the preservation of tribal existence; the protection of tribal natural resources; the promotion of human rights; the accountability of governments to Native Americans; and promoting the development of Indian law and educating the public about Indian rights, laws and issues. NARF is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado with offices in Washington, DC and Anchorage, Alaska.
I. The 2000 LISP Business Meeting was called to order at 5:25 pm by Chair Angus Nesbit, the following Board members were present: 1999-2000Vice-Chair/Chair Elect Lee Warthen, 2000-2001 Vice-Chair/Chair Elect Debby Norwood and 2000-2001 Secretary/Treasury Elect Steve Thorpe.
A complete list of members attending, with e-mail addresses and institutional affiliations, appears at the end of the minutes.
II. OLD Business:
A. The 1999 Business meeting minutes were approved.
B. 2000-2001 Election Results C. Treasurer's Report D. Committee Reports
Newsletter Committee, report made by Betsy McKenzie. Clearinghouse Committee, report by Elizabeth Schneider. Education Committee, report by Angus Nesbit. Membership Committee, report by Lee Warthen. E. AALL Time Capsule, report by Angus Nesbit. F. Programs accepted for Annual Meeting 2000, Philadelphia. New Business
A. Program Proposals for 2001 AALL Annual Meeting B. ALA has requested a LISP liaison for the Public Libraries Association.
C. The strategic plan for the AALL is on the web, http://aallnet.org/about/strategic.challenge.asp. LISP is listed, on the web site, as a recognized expert on helping the public.
D. LISP Grants E. E-Mail Reference F. GPO Committee, report by Betsy McKenzie. IV. Passing of Gavel to New Officers V. The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 pm.
LISP Members Attending The 2000 Annual Business Meeting
AALL LISP PUBLIC LIBRARIES TOOLKIT SUGGESTED STATE INFORMATION (TEMPLATE)
by Angus Nesbit
AALL LISP PUBLIC LIBRARIES TOOLKIT SUGGESTED STATE INFORMATION (OREGON)
by Angus Nesbit
NATIONAL INDIAN LAW LIBRARY LAUNCHES INTERNET ACCESSIBLE CATALOG
The National Indian Law Library (NILL) is pleased to announce that its library catalog is now available on the Internet. Over the past twenty-seven years NILL has collected nearly 12,000 resource materials that relate to federal Indian and tribal law. The Library's holdings include tribal codes, ordinances and constitutions; legal pleadings from major American Indian cases; law review articles on Indian law topics; handbooks; conference materials; and government documents. Library users can access the searchable catalog which includes bibliographic descriptions of the library holdings by going directly to: http://wanderer.aescon.com/webpubs/webcat.htm or by accessing it through the National Indian Law Library link on the Native American Rights Fund website at www.narf.org. Once relevant materials are identified, library patrons can then choose to review their selected materials at the National Indian Law Library, located in Boulder, Colorado; request mailed copies for a nominal fee; or borrow materials through interlibrary loan. In addition to making its catalog and extensive collection available to the public, the National Indian Law Library provides reference and research assistance relating to Indian Law and tribal law. NILL serves a wide variety of public patrons including attorneys, tribal and non-tribal governments, Indian organizations, law clinics, students, educators, prisoners and the media. The National Indian Law Library is a project of the Native American Rights Fund and is supported by private contributions. For further information about the Library, visit: http://www.narf.org/nill/Nillindex.html or contact David Selden, the Law Librarian at 303-447-8760 or dselden@narf.org.
BUSINESS MEETING MINUTES
American Association of Law Libraries
Legal Information Services to the Public
Special Interest Section
2000 Annual Meeting
July 17, 2000
Running unopposed for Vice-Chair/Chair-elect was Debby Norwood of Washington State Law Library and for Secretary/Treasury-elect Steve Thorpe of the University of Tennessee College of Law Library.
Steve Thorpe, Secretary/Treasurer elect, reported that the May 31, 2000 statement from headquarters, containing all revenues and expenses through May 2000, reflected a balance of $4,375.13 for the SIS. Costs since May 31, 2000 are $473.00 leaving a balance of $3,902.31. This balance will be slightly reduced by business meeting expenses. Also a more accurate figure will be forthcoming from AALL after dues are collected.
Committee members called LISP members to solicit articles. Betsy also reported that Fred Hanson has put the Newsletter index on the web.
Elizabeth reported that the bibliography is being weeded and that the Clearinghouse is going on the web. The Committee continues to collect research guides, syllabi and path finders. It was also reported by Betsy McKenzie that CALI, with assistance from the AALL Academic SIS, was working on "lessonettes."
What was the Planning Committee has turned into the Education Committee. The Committee is working two ahead in order to plan for AALL Annual Meeting Education Program proposals which are due each August.
The Committee is working on the draft of a brochure which will be published by AALL. Comments to the Committee on what to include in the brochure included, LISP Newsletter is not being published, and the dates on past programs should be removed just leaving the topics. Lee asked that additional comments be sent to him in the next couple of months. Lee suggested that to help recruit new members we use the LISP member list to see who has recently dropped their membership. A personal contact could be made to those dropped members to encourage them to stay in the SIS. Another method of increasing membership would be to have current members nominate new members.
The Committee also sponsored a LISP SIS table, with brochures, pencils and candy at the Annual Meeting. LISP was also represented at the CONNEL meeting.
Angus commented on the Research Brochure that it was valued by others in the Association and that it would be revised in the next two months. Lee reported that according to Peter Beck at AALL, the 10,000 LISP Research Brochures have been sold out.
Another LISP publication, the Public Library Toolkit was then discussed. Marsha Thomas had started the Toolkit which was still being developed. The next step in development was to add annotated state pages. Angus will start with Oregon which can then be used as a template in the future. A form, developed by Marsha Thomas, will be distributed for comments. Other suggestions, which are being done at other institutions, were to sell an internet bookmark list for $10.00 and to teach a class to pro se's and legal assistant's class for $15.00
Forty-one AALL committees, SIS's and Caucuses have given items to Sue Birch to be included in the AALL Time Capsule which will be opened in twenty-five years. LISP has submitted and labeled many items to be included in the Capsule.
A list of three programs with descriptions was distributed. The programs included a joint program with the SCCLL Chapter titled: "Gateway to legal Information: Building Partnerships with Public Libraries; a joint program with RIPS SIS titled: "Greeting our Lay Patrons at the Gateway: Who Are They and How Can We Help Them?; And a joint program with SR titled: "Taking the Lead in Pro Bono Work."
The AALL program handout is available and program proposals are due August 14, 2000. Some possible programs include; Accuracy of reported legal events in the media being worked on by Trish Cervanka; Meet your AALL representative being planned by Alva Stone. Another idea was a program or workshop on legal research classes for Pro se litigants.
Grants are being proposed for new and active members to help defray the cost of attending the annual meeting. Joan and Angus volunteered to draft a document for LISP grants. It was suggested that dues money be used for funding the grants.
24/7 software is being developed to link together librarians throughout the country to answer reference questions. Thomas Bruce at Cornell could pass along the questions from the Cornell web site. Susan McGlamery is working on a similar project in California. It was suggested that LISP conduct a pilot project.
Betsy reported that the Committee needs help. She will compile a list of areas they need help with.
Angus thanked the members for attending and passed the gavel to the new Chair, Lee Warthen.
| Name | Institution | E-mail address |
| Betsy McKenzie | Suffolk U. | emckenzi@acad.suffolk.edu |
| Pat Court | Cornell | pgc1@cornell.edu |
| Ruth Nunez-Schaldach | Sac Coll. | rnunez-schaldach@saclaw.lib.ca.us |
| Karen Anderson | Superior Ct. Law Lib. | keanders@scll.maricopa.gov |
| Carl Romalis | Antaur Kill OF | (none at this time) |
| Debby Norwood | WA. State Law Lib. | debby.norwood@courts.wa.gov |
| Joan Allen-Hart | S.D. Co. Public L.L. | jallhart@sdcll.org |
| Connie Von Der Heide | WI. State Law Library | connie.vonderheide@courts.state.wi.us |
| Beth Schneider | ||
| Amy Hale | San Diego County | ahale@sdell.org |
| Brendan Starkey | Seattle U. | bstarkey@seattleu.edu |
The first section of the book provides a general introduction to public records and includes information on restrictions in accessing state public records, the types of state documents available to the public, and the means of accessing federal documents electronically. There is also a chart of which agency maintains UCC and real estate records in each state, as well as city/county and zip code/city cross-reference tables.
Section two provides the name, address, phone and fax numbers, and web site address for listed agencies, as well as information on indexing and storage formats, restrictions on searching, means of access, and fee and payment information for the agencies, licensing and regulatory boards, federal courts, county courts, and the county recorders in each of the fifty states. It also provides the address, phone and fax numbers, web site address, and office hours for the governor's office, attorney general's office, state court administrator, and state archives for all 50 states.
The work's systematic organization makes it easy to use. Anyone should be able to quickly determine where and how to locate and obtain the public record in question. Law libraries, public libraries, and any other library whose patrons seek information contained in public records will find this work a valuable resource. It should enable researchers to substantially reduce the amount of time spent locating and obtaining records. Its only fault may be that the work contains over 1500 pages and the paperback binding my not withstand heavy usage.
R. Lee Warthen Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect
Deborah Norwood Secretary/Treasurer
Steven Thorpe Past Chair
Angus B. Nesbit Elizabeth K. Schneider (Chair) Members: Laura Stockton, Steven Thorpe Education Committee
R. Lee Warthen Members: Karen Anderson, Patricia Lopez, Angus Nesbit, Debby Norwood, Kerry Prindiville, Diane Rodriguez, Barbara Glennan Membership Committee
Amy Hale (Chair) Newsletter Committee
John Adkins (Chair) Members: Elizabeth McKenzie, Brendan Starkey
Nominating Committee
Joan Allen-Hart (Chair) Members: Ruth Nunez-Schaldach, Randy B. Mafit
LISP wants to know what its members are doing. Have you, or anyone you know, given or attended a lecture, seminar, training session or other presentation? Published an article? Discovered a good Internet site or other resource? Know of any other news that LISP members may be interested in? Don't keep it a secret - LISP wants to know! No news is too small!
Please send submissions to:
John Adkins Email or use regular mail - with 3.5" floppy, and current version of Word or WordPerfect. YOU HAVE REACHED THE END OF LISP NEWS, VOL. 2001-1.
Book Review
by Elizabeth Schneider
BRB Publishing recently published the second edition of The Source Book to Public Records Information. It combines the Sourcebook of State Public Records, The Sourcebook of County Court Records, Federal Court Records, County Asset and Lien Records, and The County Locator, making it possible for the researcher to now access information on locating and obtaining all types of public records in one convenient title. Anyone searching for information contained in a public record may quickly determine where the relevant records are kept, access requirements, and whether the records are available on line.
LISP-SIS Executive Committee
Chair
Assistant Director and Head of Collections, Building and Maintenance
University of Utah
S.J. Quinney Law Library
Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0731
801-581-6594
Fax: 901-585-3033
warthenl@quinney.law.utah.edu
State Law Librarian & Reporter of Decisions
Washington State Law Library
Temple of Justice
Olympia, WA 98504-0751
360-357-2136
Fax: 360-357-2143
debby.norwood@courts.wa.gov
Head of Public Services and Associate Professor of Law
University of Tennessee Law Library
1505 W. Cumberland Ave.
Knoxville, TN 37996-1800
426-974-6736
Fax: 423-974-6571
thorpe@libra.law.utk.edu
Reference Librarian
University of Oregon Law Library
1221 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-1221
541-346-1673
Fax:541-346-1669
anesbit@law.uoregon.edu
Other LISP-SIS Committees
Clearinghouse Committee
Associate Law Library Director
Texas Tech University School of Law Library
1802 Hartford
Lubbock, TX 79409-0004
806-742-3964
Fax:806-742-1629
xpeks@ttacs1.ttu.edu
Assistant Director and Head of Collections, Building and Maintenance
University of Utah
S.J. Quinney Law Library
Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0731
801-581-6594
Fax: 901-585-3033
warthenl@quinney.law.utah.edu
Reference Librarian
San Diego County Public Law Library
1105 Front Street
San Diego, CA 92101-3904
619-685-6552
Fax: 619-238-7716
ahale@sdcll.org
Head of Public Services
Legal Research Center
University of San Diego
5998 Alcala Park
San Diego, CA 92110
619-260-4612
adkins@acusd.edu
North County Branch Librarian
San Diego County Public Law Library
North County Branch
325 S. Melrose, Ste. 300
Vista, CA 92083-6697
; 760-940-4386
Fax: 760-724-7694
jallhart@sdcll.org
SEND US YOUR NEWS!
University of San Diego Legal Research Center
5998 Alcala Park
San Diego, CA 92110
adkins@acusd.edu
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