AALL Spectrum - aallnet.org

SpectrumVolume 17 No. 2 � November 2012

AALLAALL: Maximizing the Power of the Law Library Community Since 1906

www.aallnet.org

In This IssueWorking for a non-ABA-accredited law school:why the reward is worththe risk

Navigating the grants andscholarships applicationprocess

How to create a librarypolicy for patrons withdisabilities

09

13

19

10

A law librarian’sexperienceswith providinglibrary servicesto inmates

Law Library Service to the Jail

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Advance™

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AALL Spectrum � November 2012 1

Editorial StaffMarketing and Communications ManagerAshley St. John [email protected]

Editorial DirectorMark E. Estes [email protected]

Copy Editor Robert B. Barnett Jr.Graphic Designer Kathy Wozbut

2012–2013 Law Library Journaland AALL Spectrum CommitteeChair Linda C. CorbelliVice Chair Amanda Runyon

MembersJudy K. Davis Marguerite I. MostDeborah S. Dennison Alyssa ThurstonShaun Esposito Mark E. Estes (Ex-Officio)Timothy Gallina Janet Sinder (Ex-Officio)Ryan Harrington Deborah L. Rusin (Board Liaison)

2012–2013 AALL Executive BoardPresident Jean M.WengerVice President/President-Elect Steven AndersonSecretary Deborah L. RusinTreasurer Susan J. LewisImmediate Past President Darcy KirkExecutive Director Kate Hagan

MembersKathleen Brown Gregory R. LambertAmy Eaton Suzanne ThorpeLucy Curci-Gonzalez Ronald E. Wheeler Jr.

AALL Spectrum (ISSN: 1089–8689) is published monthly exceptJanuary and August with a combined September/October issue by theAmerican Association of Law Libraries, 105 W. Adams Street, Suite3300, Chicago, IL 60603. Telephone: 312/939-4764, fax: 312/431-1097, email: [email protected]. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago,Illinois, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send addresschanges to AALL Spectrum, 105 W. Adams Street, Suite 3300,Chicago, IL 60603.

Writers wanted — contribute to your Association’s magazine.For guidelines, visit www.aallnet.org/main-menu/publications/spectrum/policy-spectrum.html or contact Editorial Director Mark E.Estes at [email protected].

AALL Spectrum SubmissionsArticle ideas for the following issues must be approved by theeditorial director by the following dates:2013 Issue Approval DeadlineVol. 17 No. 6 April December 13

No. 7 May January 10No. 8 June February 14

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AALL Spectrum is a free benefit of membership in the AmericanAssociation of Law Libraries. Of each year’s dues, $42 is for one yearof AALL Spectrum. Nonmembers may subscribe to AALL Spectrum for$75 per year. For membership and/or subscription information, pleasecontact the American Association of Law Libraries at the address above.

AALL Publications DisclaimerThis publication is provided for informational and educationalpurposes only. The American Association of Law Libraries doesnot assume, and expressly disclaims, any responsibility for thestatements advanced by the contributors to, and the advertisers in,the Association’s publication. Editorial views do not necessarilyrepresent the official position of the Association or of its officers,directors, staff, or representatives. All advertising copy is subject toeditorial approval. The Association does not endorse or make anyguarantee with respect to any products or services mentioned oradvertised in the publication.

All content copyright 2012 by the American Association of LawLibraries, except where otherwise expressly indicated. Except asotherwise expressly provided, the author of each item in this issue hasgranted permission for copies of that item to be made for classroomuse or for any other educational purpose, provided that (1) copiesare distributed at or below cost, (2) author and AALL Spectrum areidentified, and (3) proper notice of copyright is affixed to each copy.For items in which it holds copyright, the American Association ofLaw Libraries grants permission for copies to be made for classroomuse or for any other educational purpose under the same conditions.

AALL Spectrum

Dead ended! The popular internetmap service directions told me toturn right, but instead of taking

me to another road, it led to a concretewall. This frustrating experience happenedbecause a paving project forced me toeither “expect delays” on my usual bicycleride to work or find an alternate route.

So I checked the internet mapservice for an alternate bicycleroute to work. Its first-choice route was my usualway to work, so I hadsome confidence in thesystem’s accuracy. Onealternate route took meright down to San FranciscoBay and added just a couple ofmiles to my ride—no problem, thatwould burn some extra calories. The routeinvolved crossing an eight-lane freeway,the BART tracks, and a maze-like seriesof turns through back streets. It lookedinteresting, so I decided to try it.

I successfully followed the directionsabout four miles through dozens of lefts,rights, lefts, and rights through residentialand light industrial neighborhoods to thatdead-end concrete wall. Stopping, Ireviewed the instructions, backtrackeda block, and still could not see the roadthe directions said I should turn on.Frustrated at this glitch in the directions,I used my smart phone’s map to plotanother way to work.

Later, I pored over the turn-by-turninstructions with both a street map anda satellite view of the route. The satelliteview showed what I had missed earlier:a bicycle/pedestrian bridge. When I firstread the directions, and then while ridingalong the route, I had been using theperceptual frame of a motorcycle rider/cardriver instead of looking at things fromthe perspective of a bicyclist. I didn’t evensee the bridge because, as a motorist, I wasso focused on finding a road that my onlyquestion was, “What happened to theroad?” Had I looked from the perspectiveof my current vehicle, a bicycle, I wouldhave changed my question to, “How am Isupposed to get across the freeway?” Andthen I would have seen the bridge. Duh!

Focusing too closely on the immediatechallenge, whether it’s a route to work,a last-minute question from a harriedand procrastinating user, a complex andinteresting research question, or anerratically behaving user, curtails ourcreativity. We tend to see only oneapproach or tool available to us. AsMaslow said, “If you only have a hammer,you tend to see every problem as a nail.”As law librarians, we have many tools inour toolbox.

We sometimes forget the range oftools we have available to us, especiallywhen coping with the many challenges ofour daily routines—from which email or

phone call to return first to stretchingbudget dollars. Three often overlookedtools include: (1) your library’s oremployer’s strategic directions and businessplan, (2) a personal “smart list,” and (3) apersonal “mental health list.”

A business plan and strategic directionscan help prevent us from wasting ourenergy and time on that immediatequestion instead of working on long-termprojects or goals. It can help us resistthe seduction of following all of thelinks in a web posting and insteadperform an activity on either oursmart list or our mental health list.A smart list has projects, tasks, and

activities that directly further thebusiness plan and strategic directions.It might include an extensive collectionanalysis, including reviewing the referencequestions received by the reference desk toidentify a gap in the information resourcesthat could be filled by librarian-createdcontent or by acquiring new content.A mental health list relates indirectly tothe business plan and strategic directions.This list contains nonessential tasks thatmake us feel good but don’t have to becompleted this week. It might includediscarding old publisher catalogs insteadof working on a smart list item.

My mental health list includesreviewing old files that predate my tenurehere. I glean a few useful facts or ideasand gain a few inches of file space whenI apply our retention policy and discarddocuments.

My smart list has several projectsrelated to our strategic directions. Oneproject addresses our income. AlamedaCounty Law Library, like many county lawlibraries, gets more than 90 percent of itsfunding from civil filing fees. During thepast two years, the number of cases filedhas dropped, and, therefore, so has libraryincome by almost 20 percent since fiscalyear 2008-2009. So I’ve got to raiseincome. That additional revenue will comefrom renting conference rooms, registrationfees for education programs the referencelibrarians organize and teach, grants, andan online fundraising campaign througha “donate now” link on the libraryhomepage, www.acov.org/law, and on oursocial media posts.

We do have free will. We can chooseto work on items on our smart or mentalhealth lists instead of on whatever distractsus. We can choose to look at the worldfrom a single perspective—as I did on thatbicycle ride—or we can choose to usedifferent perspectives when problemsolving and consider solutions from theend user’s perspective. �

[email protected]

Vol. 17, No. 2November 2012 from the editor By Mark E. Estes

Perceptual Set

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07 Public Relations: Trending on TwitterHow Twitter can help #lawlibrarians

By George Carter

09 Cliff JumpingWorking for a non-ABA accredited law school:why the reward is worth the risk

By Katherine Marsh and Jordan Gilbertson

10 Law Library Service to the JailThe experiences, challenges, and lessonsfrom providing library services to inmates

By Liz Reppe

13 Show Me (How to Get) the Money!Practical advice for managing the grants andscholarships application process

By Andrea Alexander and Ellen Richardson

17 Get Up, Stand UpLaw librarians reject their office chairs’ cold embrace

By Mike VanderHeijden

19 A Simple SolutionCreating and implementing a library policyfor patrons with disabilities

By Stephanie A. Huffnagle

contentsFEATURES

AALL Spectrum � November 20122

22 Promoting Services andCelebrating DifferencesWorking together to provide access tolegal information and justice

By Mari Cheney, Jennifer Dalglish,and Susan Mecklem

24 Enriching the Vocabulary of LawNew legal subject headings

By Suzanne R. Graham and George Prager

26 The Cognitive Disadvantages of E-BooksAlthough e-books have many pros,don’t ignore the cons

By Emily Marcum

17

Here’s a taste of what you can look forward to in theDecember issue of Spectrum:• The role of the dual degree in the profession today• Rules of dating and how you can successfully “court”your faculty

• Law libraries linking data to mobile devices• The value of law librarians

Next Month inSpectrum

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DEPARTMENTS

COLUMNS

Next Month in Spectrum 02

Member to Member 31

Views from You 32

From the Editor 01

From the President 04

Washington Brief 06

The Reference Desk 30

AD INDEX

Bernan 15

Bloomberg Law/Bloomberg BNA inside back cover

LexisNexis inside front cover

Oxford University Press 05

Thomson Reuters back cover

WANT Publishing 16

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The 2012 AALL Election Schedule and Candidates 25

2013 AALL Awards: Call for Nominations 28

CENTER INSERT

The CRIV Sheet

How to Save 100 Hours,See a Beautiful City, andExpand Your Horizons

By Judy Davistinyurl.com/8garz5y

Those of us fortunate enough tohave travel budgets haveprobably attended the AALLAnnual Meeting at least once,so we know what to expect—lots of programming, somemore and some less relevant toour needs, but all of it relatedto some facet of law librarianship. So what happenswhen you send a law librarian to a conference thathas nothing to do with law librarianship? In my case,after some initial trepidation about being out of myelement, I learned something that saved my staffmore than 100 hours of time, discovered a new worldof information outside my comfort zone, andmanaged to have a little fun in the process.

Put Your Library on the Map,Part 1: How to Put Your LibraryFloor Plan into Google MapsFloor Plans

By Ashley Krenelka and Robert Brammertinyurl.com/95nzu4s

Getting your patrons in the frontdoor is only half the battle.Once library patrons cross yourthreshold, they may becomelost in the stacks or be tooembarrassed to ask forassistance. Google Maps FloorPlans can help. We’ll show you how to place yourlibrary floor plan maps into Google to lay thefoundation to add points of interest to the interior ofyour library, allowing patrons to navigate your libraryand make the most of your collection.

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Actually, “association” has got alot to do with what AALL and itsmembers collectively accomplish

and do well. Creating value within theprofessional context is a multifacetedundertaking. Law librarians workingas a unified community provide valueinternally to our members and externallyto the larger legal community. Our taskthis year is to rethink our value in ourchanging environments.

Our strength is not solely in ourdiscrete specialty or library type. Allsectors and specialties contribute to theeffectiveness of AALL. Indeed, avoidingthe silo effect was a theme that emergedfrom the 2011 Futures Summit. Withthe growing need to multitask and(re)think creatively, we need theexperiences and connections of ourvaried and numerous members andperspectives. Associations like AALLprovide cohesiveness and offer venues todebate and discuss issues of importanceacross the profession.

Member BenefitsProfessional development is a strengthof associations in general and AALL inparticular. Our premier memberbenefit—the Annual Meeting—is oursignature educational event, and ourattendance numbers attest to the supportand involvement of members. Forexample, a much larger percentage ofAALL members, between 31 and 38percent in recent years, attend ourAnnual Meeting compared with thepercentage of members of other law-related associations attending theirconferences. These numbers demonstratethe power of the Annual Meeting as aneducation tool. To further improve thiseducational experience in 2013, AALL isundertaking initiatives to more tightlyfocus on topics of critical importance tomembers.

Staying informed and keepingtrack of the diverse and often complexpublic policy issues affecting legalinformation is a challenge for time-strapped members. AALL disseminatesinformation to its members through thecollaboration of Association staff andvolunteer member entities. OurGovernment Relations Office (GRO),working with the Government RelationsCommittee, Copyright Committee, andDigital Access to Legal InformationCommittee, educates and motivatesAALL members to act on issues ofconcern in their locales or for theirinstitutions. We are informed by a

number of GRO tools, including amonthly e-bulletin, bill tracking, andAALL’s Washington Blawg. Theseefforts are a perfect example of valuedelivered, value deployed.

ConnectionsOur professional networks—bothindividual and collective—allow us tobe recipients and disseminators of legalinformation and knowledge creation.AALL, as the destination Association,is the locus for much of this activity.However, that is not to say that otherconnections have not enriched ourprofessional lives. As members, we workin varied environments and are requiredto be knowledgeable, if not experts, inmany facets of legal business. Workingprimarily with practitioners, I use mylegal information skills to teach CLEsessions in bar associations, therebypromoting our profession to thepracticing bar. Members, individuallyand through their chapters, contributearticles to bar journals and periodicals,raising the profile of law librarians as thego-to source for legal research. Memberby member, our collective connectionsstrengthen law librarianship.

A primary example of associationconnections is our RepresentativesProgram. AALL supports representativesto many law-related associations, such asthe American Bar Association’s Councilof the Section on Legal Education andAdmission to the Bar, the LegalMarketing Association, and the NationalCenter for State Courts. (See theexcellent Members’ Briefing in AALLSpectrum’s April 2012 issue.) Ourrepresentatives promote AALL and lawlibrarianship but also inform ourmembers of developments and trendsarising in these affiliated organizations.

Another association-to-associationconnection is accomplished at the stafflevel. Kate Hagan, AALL’s executivedirector, meets regularly with hercounterparts in legal-related associations,such as the Association of LegalAdministrators and the InternationalLegal Technology Association (ILTA).Initiatives arising from these meetingsinclude the AALL/ILTA programs atour Annual Meeting in Boston andreciprocal exhibits at each other’s annualconferences. As part of this effort,Kate and I attended the ILTA conferencein August. While there, I spoke withother attendees—lawyers and firmadministrators—about their struggles tomanage information needs in the absence

of a professional law librarian andwith those in the C-suitequestioning the valueof a law librarian in thebusiness of law. Suchdiscussions andassociation-levelcollaborations provide

opportunities for AALL tocommunicate the value of law

librarians to the legal community,including the financial and economicbenefits.

National InitiativesTwo recent developments are indicativeof the ability of our member-volunteerAssociation to add value to lawlibrarianship and the legal profession:1) the progression of the UniformElectronic Legal Materials Act (UELMA)through state legislatures and 2) thefuture import of the recently adoptedLegal Research Competencies andStandards.

The ability of law students and newattorneys to conduct effective and efficientlegal research has been a source of concernto the legal profession for many years.This issue has ramifications across all typesof law libraries. Ideas on accomplishingthis goal have included legal researchquestions on the bar exam and increasingthe number of advanced legal researchclasses. The collective interest andpersistent effort of AALL members overtime culminated in the AALL LegalResearch Competencies and Standardsfor Law Student Information Literacyapproved by the Executive Board in July.These Competencies and Standards,effectively promoted and distributed byAALL and its members, will identify lawlibrarians as the voice of authority forlegal research instruction and design.

Law librarians have long recognizedthe importance of online primary legalmaterials being official, permanentlypublicly available, and authentic. Out ofthis recognition came the AuthenticationSummit in 2007 and the passage ofUELMA in 2011. Fast forward to latesummer 2012, with California being thesecond state to adopt UELMA. Thisinitiative is an illustrative example of lawlibrarians collectively using their uniqueknowledge and skills to identify a needthat no other professional group hadrecognized and seeking the means tosatisfy that need. The continuedadoption of UELMA by more statesmeans the landscape of electronicgovernment legal information is forever

from the president By Jean M. Wenger


Value: What’s Association Got to Do With It?

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AALLNov2012:1 10/10/12 4:23 PM Page 4

WASHINGTON, D.C.,October 9, 2012—With somuch focus on the election,

it may be easy to forget that the112th Congress has not yetfinished its legislative session.Over the course of the nextfew weeks, the House andSenate—along with a fewselect state legislatures—willconvene to wrap up theirlegislative business in what isknown as a “lame duck session.” A lameduck session of Congress occurswhenever one Congress meets after itssuccessor is elected but before the term ofthe current Congress ends on January 3.

Lame duck sessions are not onlybusy, they’re also brief. In 2010, thelame duck session totaled only 29 daysin the Senate and 19 days in the House.In 2008, the Senate met for 29 days andthe House for only five after the election.

This year, Congress must take upthe trillions of dollars of fiscal issues,including the contentious fights to extendBush-era tax cuts, avert sequestration,and fund the government through nextyear. While the predominant focus willbe on these so-called “fiscal cliff ” issues,there may be some opportunities forprogress on important informationpolicy. Here’s a look at what we canexpect during the lame duck session,both at the federal and state policy levels.

Federal IssuesAccording to David Kocieniewski’sNovember 19, 2006, New York Timesarticle, “The Lame Duck’s Waddle intoOblivion,” the expression “lame duck”was coined in 18th century Britain torefer to a businessman who haddefaulted on his debts and was thereforerendered vulnerable. In the literal sense,it refers to a duck that is unable to keepup with its flock, making it a target forpredators. The phrase was first appliedto politicians in the 19th century, withthe first recorded use in the officialrecord of the United States Congress,the Congressional Globe, in January 1863:“In no event . . . could [the Court ofClaims] be justly obnoxious to thecharge of being a receptacle of ‘lameducks’ or broken down politicians.”

Lame duck sessions can often provedifficult in Congress when defeatedlawmakers either merely “go through

the motions” of legislating or actobstinately to hinder the process,knowing they’re time in Congressis up. However, there’s indicationthat several of AALL’s key policyissues may see some progresswhen the 112th convenes for the

last time.As this article is written, H.R.

727, the Congressional Research ServiceElectronic Accessibility Resolution of 2012,is awaiting consideration by theCommittee on House Administration.Once it is reported out of committee,the bill will go to vote on the floor ofthe House. Unlike most bills, H.R. 727does not require approval by the Senateand thus could have a quick path toenactment. If passed, the resolutionwould provide public access to CRSreports for the first time. Meanwhile,H.R. 1974 and S. 1411, the Access toCongressionally Mandated Reports Act(ACMRA), may have enough support toclear both the House and Senate. If givenfloor time, it’s possible that ACMRAwill pass this Congress, paving the wayfor the Government Printing Officeto provide online public access to allagency reports required by Congressthrough FDsys.

As expected, the House passedH.R. 3289, the Whistleblower ProtectionEnhancement Act, when it returned fromthe August recess. The bill will bereturned to the Senate in the lame duck.AALL has long been supportive ofensuring adequate whistleblowerprotections for federal employees. InAugust, we joined more than 100 diversegroups—including the SoutheasternChapter of the American Association ofLaw Libraries and Susan Nevelow Mart,director of the William A. Wise LawLibrary at the University of Coloradoat Boulder—on a letter to members ofthe House and Senate urging passageof a comprehensive whistleblower rightsbill this year. While Congress will bejuggling many competing prioritiesagainst a ticking clock, we’re hopefulthat we may see some of this importantlegislation enacted in late November orearly December.

State AdvocacyOnly 11 states allow lame duck sessionsin their legislatures, so for the remainingmonths of 2012, we’ll be focused ongrassroots advocacy efforts in those states—and that means we need your help.

Chapters and advocates in Californiarecently celebrated the enactment of theUniform Electronic Legal Material Act(UELMA), which was signed into law byGovernor Jerry Brown on September 13.On the heels of UELMA’s success inColorado and California this year,advocates across the country will gear upfor a renewed push on UELMA whentheir legislatures return to session in2013. AALL offers a number of helpfulguides to aid in the process, including aUELMA Resources page, sample chapterletters, and tips on testifying in your statelegislature, all available in the AdvocacyToolkit on AALLNET.

In many states, funding continues tobe an issue for public law libraries. Thisyear, we provided support to membersand chapters in California, Minnesota,and West Virginia to advocate for lawlibraries faced with budget, staffing, andspace constraints. Please let us know ifyou learn of a threat to the state, court,and county law libraries in your state.

The Government Relations Office(GRO) relies heavily on the input ofour chapters and advocates to determinewhich state issues are a priority. OurChapter Government Relations Listservand Government Relations Committeeliaisons help keep a finger on the pulseof our chapters’ efforts in state-basedadvocacy. For individuals, the AdvocacyListserv offers a space for discussionbetween advocates and the GRO onfederal and state legislative efforts.

As always, we welcome you to joinour advocacy team this lame ducksession. If you have not already done so,I encourage you to visit our website atwww.aallnet.org/gro today to sign upfor the listserv and share your policypriorities with the GRO. �

Emily Feltren, director, AALLGovernment Relations Office, 25Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Suite 500,Washington, D.C. 20001 • 202/942-4233 • fax: 202/737-0480 • email:[email protected] • www.aallnet.org/gro

washington brief By Emily Feltren

A Look at the Lame Duck


transformed, and that success is theresult of law librarians working with andthrough AALL.

Value is a quality that needs to becontinually nurtured, refined, and

communicated. AALL adds value tomany aspects of our professional livesand offers us prime opportunities tocollaborate and effect positive change inthe wider legal arena. �

Jean M. Wenger ([email protected]) is president of AALL andgovernment documents/foreign andinternational law librarian at CookCounty Law Library in Chicago.

from the president continued from page 4

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Whatever your feelings about social media, it is undeniable

that social media remain a force in our culture, despite the

Facebook IPO fiasco. My Communities aside, I believe that

one social media forum stands atop the field for its unique ability to sample

the word on the street: Twitter.

Public Relations

What is Twitter?I probably do not need to explain what Twitteris since we are all law librarians and thereforeincredibly smart and informed when it comesto the latest technological trends. Buteven if you know the basics about Twitter,you might not understand it well. Thatis OK; the best way to understandTwitter is to get an account atwww.twitter.com and just starttweeting. You’ll learn as you go.

Well, actually, it is best to becareful what you say onTwitter. Remember, onceyou put something onthe internet, others canread it. You also haveto be mindfulof your brandwhen usingsocial media asyour law library’srepresentative.Despite thesewarnings, the best wayto understand Twitter isstill to use it.

In any case, here are a few pointers andreasons why law librarians should useTwitter as a force for public relations andadvocacy.

Twitter is TrendingA lot of people are on Twitter, including many of yourcolleagues and, yes, even AALL. In fact, you can tweetAALL right now at @aallnet and, if you have commentsabout Spectrum, include the hashtag #Spectrum.

The truth is, in today’s economy, every person,business, and organization is expected to have a strongonline presence, and Twitter has already cemented itself asone of the main occupiers of people’s time in the socialmarketplace of ideas. If you use Twitter correctly, you cando a lot of good for your organization.

Brevity is BetterTwitter is both the easiest and the most difficult of thesocial network media, mainly because it requires youto make your point. Every Twitter message has amaximum of 140 characters. So, if used correctly,Twitter actually can make you a better communicatorbecause you have to make your point succinctly.

Once you cut out the unnecessary fluff, allyou have left is your point, which

improves your chances thatothers will understand whatyou’re trying to say.

Because of the need forbrevity, acronyms spread likewildfire on Twitter. You can gethelp navigating the acronyms

at www.netlingo.com/acronyms.php.

What areHashtags?As indicated before,

hashtags on Twitter areexpressed through the

# key. Combine the # keywith your subject and you

have a hashtag, which is alibrarian-friendly means for organizing

Tweets. Hashtags are simply subject headingsso that people can easily track what ishappening among subjects of interest to them.

At the recent Annual Meeting, AALLmembers and attendees were live tweeting about

the conference using the hashtag #AALL12.Anyone using Twitter who wanted to know what wasgoing on during the meeting could follow #AALL12 andkeep up with the latest goings-on. Many of the tweetshelped sum up key points made by the speakers, othershelped supplement the content of the speakers, and stillothers were humorous takes on various occurrences atthe conference. Following the conference on Twitterenhanced the conference experience for many members.

Trending On TwitterHow Twitter can help #lawlibrarians

By George Carter

© 2012 George Carter • image © iStockphoto.com

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Managing Your TwitterMany people simply go to www.twitter.com to useTwitter in its basic form. If you want a more enhancedTwitter experience, there are numerous applications thatcan assist you with managing your Twitter account.

Many Twitter users, for example, prefer to use anapplication called Tweetdeck, which is available for bothMac and PC users. Applications like Tweetdeck allowyou to upload pictures and video, shorten URLs, createlonger messages, and schedule tweets in advance.

What is “Trending” on Twitter?When enough people on Twitter start discussing thesame topic or hashtag, it becomes a trend, otherwisereferred to as a trending topic. So when the AnnualConference in Boston had several of its members talkingabout #AALL12, we showed up on the list of TrendingTopics. The more we can get law librarians trending, thebetter. In fact, when #AALL12 showed up on the list

during the Annual Meeting, we even attracted a fewnonlibrarians who noticed that #AALL12 was

trending.Twitter is also alleged to have played a

role in electing Barack Obama in 2008because it allowed his campaign toconnect with potential voters,particularly with younger voters,

who were an important part of

his election success. The use ofTwitter was so effective in 2008that top republicans created acampaign to get moreconservatives using Twitter inorder to compete in the Twittermarketplace of ideas. Twitterallows us to take our message toanyone and everyone.

Get Tweeting!For more information about how to use social media—including Twitter—as a leadership tool, I suggestvisiting AALLNET and reviewing the archived webinarOpen Leadership: Using Social Media as a LeadershipTool.

And in case you have not heard, AALL recentlyhired Stacy Schuble as AALL’s social media andcommunities manager. She is here to assist AALL inimplementing a complete social media strategy. Youcan contact her at [email protected]. �

George Carter ([email protected]) is headof reference and public services at Law Library for SanBernardino County in San Bernardino, California,and chair of the AALL Public Relations Committee.@CarterGP tweets from George are his own and do notrepresent his library or AALL.


To encourage you and your organization to start tweeting, I submit for your consideration usefultweets and hashtags for law librarians. Don’t be a twit—go tweet!

• You don’t have to know the law; you just need to know where to find it. #lawlibraries

• Do you really want 100 associates racking up research costs? #firmlawlibrarians #savemoney#costs

• We don’t give legal advice; we provide you the tools so you don’t need it. #lawlibrarians

• Being a 1L is difficult. Mastering legal research makes it easier. #lawlibrary

• #lawlibrarians make your life easier and save you money and time.

• #lawlibrarians add value to your firm, save you money, and get your new associates workingefficiently.

• Can’t afford a lawyer? See if your #lawlibrarian can help you find the information you need.#publiclawlibraries

Have other tweetful suggestions? Tweet them to @aallnet, and include #Spectrum.

Tweets and Tags to Help You Get Started and Promote Law Libraries

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There is a corollary to that statementin terms of administrators, faculty, andlibrarians. Sometimes these individualsare perceived as “not good enough” tomake it in a “real” law school; thus, theytook the only job they could find.

But, just as students have their ownreasons for choosing a particular law school(accredited or not), we had our choice oflaw schools, and we chose to work forLincoln Memorial University DuncanSchool of Law (DSOL) in Knoxville,Tennessee, a new law school accredited bythe Tennessee Board of Law Examinersthat is actively seeking ABA accreditation.We would like to take this opportunity toshare what it is like to work at a schoolseeking ABA accreditation—and why wefeel it’s a risk worth taking.

About UsKatherine held a tenure-track position atthe University of Tennessee College ofLaw but ultimately left that job to workfor DSOL, less than a mile away. Jordan,a recent graduate of the University ofWashington library school, had severaltraditional options for her first officiallaw librarian position, but she fell in lovewith DSOL and its mission during herinterview. In choosing to work at DSOL,we both made the conscious decision to

work for a new law school instead of anestablished or accredited school. Werethese “bad” career decisions? Some mightsay yes, but we would answer with aresounding, “no!”

The ProsThe best part of working at DSOL is thechance to create—we are helping tobuild an institution from day one on thejob. This is an act of creation; how oftenin our careers do we have a chance tomake something out of nothing? Beforethe law librarians arrived at DSOL, therewere no reference policies, technicalservices workflows, faculty liaisonprograms, or student research assistants—in other words, no institutional memory.

Each of DSOL’s librarians arrivedwith a vision for his or her niche andwas encouraged to bring that vision tofruition. Because the law school is new,we are able to expand our skills beyondour job titles and experiment with thefacets of librarianship and administrationthat interest us. Our director, GordonRussell, has championed the movetoward a predominantly digital librarycollection, and that policy was the firstto be adopted by our law school. WhenJordan accepted the student serviceslibrarian position, her job description

simply stated that she would be a liaisonto the students. In carrying out thatresponsibility, she has not only createdstudent programs and generated studentinterest in the library, but she has takenthe opportunity to engage in marketingthe library and the law school. Likewise,Katherine has found that in addition toher responsibilities as information andfaculty services librarian, which includeteaching, supervising faculty researchassistants, and otherwise aiding faculty,she has an interest in the evolving fieldof library and institutional assessment.At DSOL, she is allowed to pursue thatinterest to the fullest, as the school aimsto be a model for law school assessment.Working at a new, non-ABA-accreditedinstitution allows us to use a short-termtrial-and-error approach (and correct itas often as necessary) to solve problemsinstead of fighting entrenched attitudesabout “how things should be.” We arelucky in that we have the ability todesign policy, to try (and fail), and tolearn from our successes and mistakes.

Another great benefit of working ata new law school is the chance to meetinteresting people.

The faculty and librarians working atnew law schools have all taken the sameleap—each has decided to try his or her

CLIFF JUMPINGGiven the bad press that law schools have received over the past year, a common question andassumption are, “Why would a student attend a school not accredited by the ABA? It must bebecause he or she is not able to get into a ‘real’ law school.”

Working for a non-ABA-accredited law school:why the reward isworth the risk

(continued on page 27)

© 2012 Katherine Marsh and Jordan Gilbertson • image © iStockphoto.com

By Katherine Marsh and Jordan Gilbertson

AALLNov2012:1 10/10/12 1:12 PM Page 9


AALLNov2012:1 10/10/12 1:12 PM Page 10


The first thing I notice when I enterthrough the large metal door is the odor.It’s musty and stale inside the jail. It’s alsouncomfortably warm. I try to rememberto dress lightly when I visit. The inmatesall dress in lightweight, baggy jumpsuitsand plastic slippers. When I am there,there is a protocol. Emily, the jailoutreach coordinator, meets me in thelobby. She has the officer in centralcommand buzz open the door. Sheescorts me to and from the units.

There are five units; each unit’sinmates wear a different color uniform.The guys in blue are awaiting trial.Green jumpsuits indicate the inmate is“ready to change”—these men haveworked hard to improve themselves andhave been deemed the least likely toreoffend once they are released. Tanjumpsuits are for the inmates who areserving a sentence. Orange uniforms arefor the maximum security unit. Thereare not many guys in orange uniforms.These are inmates who have beenaccused of a heinous or particularlyviolent crime. And finally, there are redjumpsuits. These are for men who aresegregated. I have only seen one inmatein a red uniform. He was beingtransported in a wheelchair. His wristsand ankles were handcuffed to the chair.I was told that is how the segregatedinmates are moved about the jail.

For each visit, I spend about an hour

at the jail and go to two or three units.When we arrive at each unit’s door,Emily radios the guard in the centralcommand to open the door. It buzzesopen and clangs shut behind us. There isone guard posted in each of the units Ivisit. I have never been to the orange orred units. I’ve been told that if I want tospeak to the inmates in the orange unit,two guards would have to be present. Iassume that the inmates in the segregatedunit do not have any programming time.

When I arrive, the guard makes anannouncement that is broadcast to theindividual cells. If the inmates areinterested in hearing about law libraryservices, they buzz to be let out. The menassemble in the common area. Emilyintroduces me, and I spend about 10minutes explaining the law library’s jailservices. The men are attentive. They sitquietly and raise their hands if they havequestions. There are always questions.

Explanation of ServicesThe law library offers legal referenceservice to any jail inmate who requests it.Inmates submit a written request toLoren, the jail program coordinator. Hesends the requests to the law library viainteroffice mail. The Law EnforcementCenter and Judicial Center (where the lawlibrary is located) are next door to eachother. The inmates are limited to receiving25 pages of photocopied material per

week. When I speak to the units, I givethem examples of what resources we haveand the types of information that mightbe helpful for them. I also try to explainthe difference between legal informationand legal advice.

I encourage them to be specificin their requests. For example, theyshouldn’t ask “all and everything onprobable cause.” A better request is forinformation on the probable causerequired to search a home. I forewarnthem that if they are trying to draft apleading on their own, there will likelynot be a simple, fill-in-the-blank form.Unfortunately, in Minnesota we lack acurrent criminal law forms resource.Samples often have to come from otherstates or from federal forms books. Courtrules, statutes, sentencing guidelines, juryinstruction guides (JIGs), the MinnesotaPractice Series, and Dunnell’s MinnesotaDigest (legal encyclopedia) are theresources I use most often to fill requests.

What I have found is that inmatesoften do not understand what theyhave been charged with. They are alsounfamiliar with the procedure involvedin a criminal case. They might have beentold that they have a “rule 20 hearing” oran “omnibus hearing,” but they don’tunderstand the purpose of the hearings.These are the types of questions that canbe answered with state statutes and courtrules.

Experiences, challenges, and lessons fromproviding library services to inmates

By Liz Reppe

to the Jail

Every other month I visit the Dakota County Jail in Hastings, Minnesota, to serveas a community speaker. The jail houses 250-300 inmates at any given time.Some inmates are awaiting trial; others are serving a sentence. All of the inmatesare men. The jail no longer has facilities for women, and female offenders aresent to neighboring Ramsey County. Many of the men are here because of drugs,probation violations, and DWIs. There are a few, however, who have beenaccused of shocking crimes. Some of these cases make the news.

© 2012 Liz Reppe • image © iStockphoto.com

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Prior to visiting the jail, I hadassumed that inmates had ready accessto these resources. There is a small “lawlibrary” in the jail. However, its resourcesare not current and are very minimal.Furthermore, inmates have told me thereis a long wait list to use the jail library. Toaddress the issue of out-of-date materials,the law library has donated state statutes,court rules, and practice materials. Theseare materials that have been withdrawnfrom our collection as new updates arrive.While they are not as current as theversions in the law library, they are muchmore up to date than what was previouslyheld in the jail library.

In addition to requests for specificstatutes or rules, the inmates ask forresources on particular topics. Thereare a lot of questions about ineffectiveassistance of counsel, right to a speedytrial, withdrawal of guilty pleas, andunlawful search and seizure. I have foundthat defendants often overestimate theirrights. They ask for the exact number ofdays in which a trial must occur beforetheir right to a speedy trial is violated.They are discouraged to learn that thelaw is much fuzzier than that. They alsocommonly perceive any jail policy orprocedure they are unhappy with to bea violation of due process.

Most of the questions from the jailare related to the inmates’ criminal cases.However, they also ask questions aboutother areas of the law—particularlyfamily law. Being accused of a crimeand spending time in jail is obviouslydetrimental to a person’s life. Divorce,modification of child support, andparenting time (visitation) are all issuesmen in jail deal with.

Challenges FacedThe most challenging aspect of handlinginmate requests is the lack of a referenceinterview. While I do have a chance totalk to some of the inmates when I visit,most of the requests come to me on apiece of paper. If I have questions orneed clarification, I have to send them amessage and wait for their next requestto come back. This is frustrating for theinmates and for me.

Their requests are often overly broad,vague, or unclear. They don’t understandthat I don’t have the ability to search allcases by keyword. Often what they arelooking for is another trial court casewith similar facts in which the defendantprevailed. A recent request I receivedasked for “cases that are won bydefendant for 4th degree assault againstjail officer for spitting.” While theremight have been other trial court caseswith comparable facts, it is unlikely I willfind one that has been appealed. It iseven rarer that I am able to find cases inwhich the defendant prevailed. They also

tend to ask for “recent cases,” notrealizing that the most authoritative casesmight be decades old.

Examples of challenging questions/requests include: “penalty for attemptedcourt,” “jury gig,” “lawsuit,”“information on access to press,”“motion for grounds of dismissal ofcase for appeal courts,” “case where therewas one witness but no victim,” “Howmuch evidence is needed for assaultcharge?” and “all laws concerningMiranda warnings and rights.”

When I visit, many have questionsabout their particular situations. Oftenwhat they are asking for is legal advice.I used to direct them to contact theirpublic defenders (few are represented byprivate counsel). I stopped doing thisafter regularly being told that theirattorneys don’t call them back. Ourcounty’s public defenders often findthemselves scheduled in two differentcourtrooms (or courthouses) at thesame time. They likely cannot answerevery call they get from each of theirapproximately 150 current clients.Therefore, in response to their questions,I explain that I will look for resourcesthat address their circumstance, but thatI can’t tell them what they “should do.”This isn’t always a satisfactory answer,but that is the limitation of a lawlibrarian.

One of the other challenges is thefrustration the men have about the lengthof time it can take to turn aroundrequests. The law library’s goal is tocomplete the research requests withintwo days. The jail staff, however, is morelackadaisical about getting the requeststo and from the law library. It is notuncommon to receive a request that wasdated more than a week before. Prior tothe time I started visiting the jail, we hada period of several months during whichwe received no requests. I can onlyassume the jail staff was not informing theinmates of the service. Nowadays, weregularly process several requests per week.

Lessons LearnedSpending time at the jail has given mea better perspective on the inmates’experience of being locked up. Thehour I spend there can be draining attimes. When I speak to the men, thedesperation they have for someone tolisten to them is apparent. They line up,waiting to talk to me individually abouttheir cases. I will often leave with a dozenor more lengthy requests in my hand. Itis clear that some are overwhelmed andscared. Others are angry and distrustful.Furthermore, the men facing seriouscharges have tight deadlines andcomplicated issues. They are frustratedby their lack of access to informationabout their cases and the law.

Meeting the men in person has givenme a better idea of what resources toprovide them. For example, in the past,I might have just sent a copy of a statuteif that was requested. Now, if it is acomplicated statute, I will also includea jury instruction for the exact sectionthey have been charged with. The benefitto the inmate is that the JIG is writtenin plain language, unlike the statute.Moreover, I know from reading thewritten requests that many of theinmates struggle with literacy.

When I am having a hard timeunderstanding what someone wants,I will often look up the inmate’s chargesand criminal complaint to understandthe factual scenario. This has been helpfulin narrowing my focus. If an inmate asksfor information on theft, I could givehim a copy of the theft statute, which issix pages long and covers everything frommotor vehicle theft to theft by swindle.Knowing the facts of the case allows meto send the inmate information that isspecific to his charges.

Benefits GainedProcessing the inmate requests hasallowed me to gain significant criminallaw knowledge. Most of our self-represented litigants are seeking helpwith family law, debt collection, orcriminal expungement. In the past,I rarely had the need to spend timeworking with sentencing guidelinesor issues related to habeas corpus,breathalyzer results, or constructivepossession. While working with theinmates, I have also learned a great dealabout the criminal court process.

Even though I regularly spend mydays assisting pro se patrons, myexperience at the jail has given me adifferent mindset about access to legalinformation for criminal defendants.In the past, this concept was somewhatvague and amorphous to me. I knewthere were cases in which judges hadmandated access to legal materials. NowI see how significant that access can be.While the resources an inmate receivesmight not make the ultimate differencein the outcome of his case, it can makea difference in the defendant’s experiencegoing through the legal system. Allowingan inmate to educate himself is a benefitto him, the court, the prosecutor, andthe defense attorney. And it is a benefitto me. Providing this service is personallyrewarding. I believe it is important workand aids the access to justice. �

When she wrote this article, Liz Reppe([email protected]) was lawlibrary manager at the Dakota CountyLaw Library in Hastings, Minnesota. InSeptember 2012, she took a new positionas the Minnesota state law librarian.

AALLNov2012:1 10/10/12 1:12 PM Page 12

$AALL Spectrum � November 2012 13

Practical advice for managing the grants and scholarshipsapplication processBy Andrea Alexander and Ellen Richardson

But for many librarians, especiallyin an era of shrinking budgets, thereis a shortage of funds available totake advantage of all these greatopportunities. Grants and scholarshipscan help bridge that gap, but theapplication process can be a dauntingmaze to navigate.

A survey of current literaturerevealed a couple of excellent articlesfor candidates on writing effectivepersonal statements (see MicheleFinerty’s “Putting Your Best FootForward,” an article about writingeffective personal statements for AALLAnnual Meeting/workshop grants, in theFebruary 2011 issue of Spectrum), as wellas practical advice for those writingletters of recommendation (see PaulineAfuso’s “Lending a Hand,” an articlefrom Spectrum’s February 2011 issuewith suggestions for writing better lettersof recommendation for AALL AnnualMeeting/workshop grants), but nostart-to-finish overview of what you, thecandidate, can and should do to managethe process and maximize your chancesof success. Having recently gone throughthe grant and scholarship applicationprocess ourselves with successful results,we’d like to offer a few tips to help thosewho may not have considered a grant orscholarship as a viable option. Goodluck, and we look forward to seeing youin Seattle!

Identify Available and RelevantGrants and ScholarshipsSuccessfully searching for grants andscholarships usually comes down to twothings: sheer persistence in your researchand willingness—nay, EAGERNESS—to apply for everything available to you,even if it’s “only” for a few hundreddollars. When you’re facing six figures ofstudent loan debt, a $500 award might

not seem like a lot ofmoney. But those areoften the awards youhave the best chance ofwinning, as there are farfewer applicants than thereare for the “big money” grantsand scholarships. Do note, however,that you need to exercise some discretionin choosing the grants and scholarshipsto which you will apply; we’ll discussthis in more detail shortly.

Among the best sources for grantand scholarship money are professionalorganizations and, if you’re still a student,your school. Professional organizationsoften have large national prizes, but thecompetition can be fierce. AALL’s specialinterest sections and local chapters aremore likely to have smaller awards withcorrespondingly smaller applicant pools.With either kind of award, it’s importantthat you be not only a member but alsoactive in the group, whether that meansreading and participating in listservdiscussions, volunteering to serve oncommittees, or attending meetings.Grant and scholarship committeemembers look favorably on an applicantwho has demonstrated commitment tothe group, and some awards take intoconsideration not only your past butalso your potential contributions to theorganization and the profession. AALL isobviously one fantastic source of financialsupport for members, but otherorganizations that a law librarian mightbe interested in include the SpecialLibraries Association and the AmericanLibrary Association.

At many schools, you willautomatically be considered for a varietyof scholarship awards when you file yourfinancial aid paperwork. But it’s to youradvantage to be persistent and stayinformed; there may be a scholarship forwhich you would be perfect, but if your

qualifications slip through the cracks,that money might not make its wayinto your hands. Educate yourself aboutthe kinds of grants and scholarshipsavailable at your school, and follow upwith the appropriate people if you thinkyou might have a shot at a prize.

For either kind of award, your bestshot at identifying opportunities is to(1) do your due diligence as far asinternet research goes, and (2) READYOUR EMAIL. Grant and scholarshipopportunities are regularly announcedvia email, and if you’re not payingattention, you can miss out.

Read the Descriptions andDirectionsRead them carefully. Then read themagain. Now is the time to decide ifpursuing a specific award is really worthyour time and effort (as well as those ofthe reviewing committee). While wedo advise you to take the time to applyfor the smaller awards, we don’t advisespending time applying for awardsyou’re highly unlikely to receive. Forexample, if you’re from the Northeast,attending library school in theNortheast, and planning to work inthe Northeast, applying for scholarshipsand grants offered by regional chaptersoutside the Northeast is probably notyour best bet.

If a grant makes it into the applypile, now is also the time to make noteson what they’re looking for so you caneffectively tailor your personal statement

Show Me (How to Get) the Money!

If there’s one thing librarians love, it’s education.From getting your degree to attending webinars,workshops, and the Annual Meeting or writing an

article, there’s no shortage of educational opportunitiesin our profession.

© 2012 Andrea Alexander and Ellen Richardson

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and determine what the applicationrequires. Afuso, a former chair of theAALL Grants Committee, says “Themost important recommendation I haveis to read the directions . . . if theapplicant follows all of the directions,then half the battle is won.” Thissentiment was echoed repeatedly bythe representatives of the AALL Grantsand Scholarships Committees whoshared their thoughts with us.

How many letters ofrecommendation? Who will you ask towrite them? Do they want the letterssent in directly from recommendersor with the rest of your application?Consider making yourself a checklistwith deadlines for each piece of theapplication so you have enough time toget everything together and in the mail.

Letters of RecommendationThe best letters of recommendationcome from people who know you welland can speak to your strengths and tohow the grant or scholarship will benefityou while at the same time providing awell-rounded perspective on you as acandidate. While it can be challengingfor newer entrants to the profession,Sally Wiant, a former chair of the AALLScholarships Committee, recommendsselecting one recommender outside yourdepartment, if possible.

To help your recommenders writethe kinds of letters that will help youstand out from all the other applicants inthe pack, be sure to provide them with acopy of the guidelines for the grant orscholarship application, your resume andpersonal statement, and an example ofwhy you have selected this person towrite you a letter of recommendation.For example, if your recommender is aformer professor, you might include inyour packet of materials the paper youwrote for him that earned you an A.If your supervisor is writing a letter ofrecommendation for you, provide herwith a short list of projects you’veworked on so she can include concreteexamples of what you’re capable of andhow the grant or scholarship will helpyou to develop and contribute further tothe profession. Supplying your resumeand personal statement allows yourrecommender to understand how you’re“branding” yourself and can help him orher write a letter that is consistent withyour message.

Jennifer Duperon, the current chairof AALL’s Scholarships Committee,advises that, “Although you cannot writeyour letters of recommendation yourself,you can give your recommendersinformation that can help them withtheir letters, like a current resume and anexplanation of why you decided to be alaw librarian.”

You should also give therecommender a clear date by which thematerials are due, either back to you orto the committee if materials are to besent in directly. In the latter situation,providing your recommender with apre-addressed, stamped envelope isappreciated.

A word on managing the timeliness ofyour application materials: if the deadlineis becoming uncomfortably close and youstill don’t have confirmation that yourrecommender has submitted the letter,ONE follow-up is acceptable. More thanthat and you risk becoming a hassle, whichis unlikely to improve the recommendationyou will receive, unless one of the awardcriteria is a sense of persistence that trumpspoliteness. A wise woman once said, “Ifyou have to ask for something more thanonce or twice, it wasn’t yours in the firstplace.” This is especially true as it appliesto letters of recommendation; a potentialrecommender who drags his or her feeton writing a letter for you may not be asenthusiastic about your wonderfulness asyou might like, and in some cases you’rebetter off cutting your losses and askingan alternate recommender to go to batfor you.

Writing Your Personal StatementFor many applicants, the personalstatement is the most anxiety-inducingpart of the application process. A goodpersonal statement should explain whyyou want the money, why you deservethe money, and how you fit the criterialaid out by the grant or scholarshipparameters. Crafting a truly great,money-garnering personal statement maytake many drafts—and thus, a lot oftime—so start early! And getting asecond (or third or fourth) pair of eyesnever hurts; if you have friends ormentors who are willing to read yourstatement and offer honest, constructivecriticism, take advantage of their help.

Wiant explains that, “A candidatein his or her personal statement shouldaddress financial need. An explanationabout how this award will help thecandidate develop in the future wouldhelp the committee distinguish thecandidate.” A great way to demonstratefinancial need is with actual numbers.For example, if you already hold a J.D.and are applying for a library schoolscholarship, stating the amount ofstudent loan debt you incurred for yourprior education is more powerful thana vague reference to high debt. If youare applying for a grant to an AnnualMeeting on the other side of the countryand your employer gives you a $500travel budget, providing a comparisonof your available funds with the costof attendance makes your need morepalpable.

Explaining why you are a deservingapplicant is as important as showing yourfinancial need, though. Don’t be afraid toget personal—share details that illustrateyour interest in law librarianship andthat make your personal situation morecompelling. Overcoming obstaclesto your education or professionaldevelopment; a strong, demonstrablededication to public service; or abackground that is specifically relevant tothe scholarship or grant donor’s purposeare all great things to explain. And tryto stay positive! Duperon adds that she“would rather read about why you wantto work as a law librarian or pursuecontinuing education than read severalparagraphs about why you did not receivevery high grades in undergraduate orgraduate school. If you feel the need toaddress something negative, address itand move on.” Making your personalstatement compelling will set you apartfrom your competition.

However, you must also tailor yournarrative to the specific grant orscholarship for which you are applying.Afuso recommends that applicants“focus on what the committee is asking.Although it is a personal statement, itreally isn’t just about you, in the sensethat you have five cats and have alwayswanted to be a librarian.” If you areapplying for a grant from a local chapter,explicitly state your connection to thechapter, whether that is your work onchapter committees, your networkingwith other members of the chapter, oryour status as a student in the region whohopes to become a full member upongraduating and entering the profession.There’s no guarantee that you will be aperfect fit for the grant or scholarshipcommittee’s ideal recipient profile, butby clearly stating how you fit the profile,you increase your chances of success.

Don’t Forget the Details!Be mindful of the small details that canhelp make or totally break yourapplication. Finerty, who is a former chairof the Grants Committee, “caution[s]applicants to completely fill out theapplications; make certain that theirreferences submit the letters of support bythe deadline; and . . . submit theirapplication package by the deadline.”

First, send in your application ontime. This is a small detail that can meanlife or death for your application. If theapplication needs to be in the office andon the committee member’s desk by acertain date, make sure you get it there,even if it means paying for overnightshipping. Better to spend $15 on postagethan waste all your hard work by missingthe deadline by a day and being excludedfrom consideration. If you send in yourapplication with time to spare, consider

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following up with the proper person toconfirm that the application was received.

Second, make sure your applicationis complete. Check your applicationcarefully to make sure it is entirely filledout and that you have includedeverything the application requires.It sounds simple, but it’s a detail thatis frequently overlooked. Given thetime crunch that often occurs near anapplication deadline, this is where it canreally help to have made yourself anapplication checklist you can use as across reference.

Third, you only get one chance tomake a first impression. When you’resending in a grant or scholarshipapplication, there is no interview. Yourpaper application is the only thing theywill see, so you want it to look good.Print it on nice paper, make sure youhave no typographical errors, and alwaysinclude a copy of your resume.

Following UpFinally, prepare for follow-ups withanyone who has helped you duringthe grant and scholarship applicationprocess, such as recommenders and thosewho have offered helpful critiques ofyour personal statement. The initialthank-you notes should be writtensoon after they’ve lent you theirassistance—on real paper, in pen.Hand-written notes are increasingly rare,

and they go a long way towardconveying your gratitude. You get bonuspoints if your note is accompanied by asmall token of your appreciation, likesome kind of homemade baked good,but anything more extravagant than thatis probably a no-no. To most people,cookies say, “I’m so grateful; I made yousomething delicious!” but a $50 gift cardto a nearby department store says, “Thisis payment for services rendered.”

Your second follow-up should comeafter you’ve learned the outcome of yourapplication. Recommenders are oftencurious whether their letters were part ofthe package that made you a successfulapplicant, so let them know whether youreceived the award. Email is generally finefor this—it’s the effort that counts here.

Your third and final thank-youshould go to the committee itself. Onceyou have received notification of yourgrant or scholarship award, send thecommittee a thank-you note. Let themknow how much you appreciate theaward and what you’ll be using it for.If it’s for school, tell them what projectsyou’re working on. If it’s for aconference, tell them what programsyou’re excited to attend. Scholarshipsand grants committees work hard todistribute a finite amount of resources,and, unfortunately, they can’t helpeveryone. Let them know how much youappreciate their assistance and that you

were a good choice. Plus, in a smallprofession like ours, you never knowwhen you’ll run into them again!

Remember to GiveBack When You CanBoth authors of this article and manyof the dedicated AALL members whoserve on the AALL Scholarships andGrants Committees have receivedAALL scholarships and grantsthemselves. We all know that there arefar more deserving applicants than thereis money to go around. If you wanteven more people to be able to receiveAALL scholarships in the future, pleaseconsider making a donation to the AALLScholarship Fund at www.aallnet.org/top-menu/givingopportunities/contribution. �

Andrea Alexander ([email protected]) is a reference librarian andassistant professor at the Taggart LawLibrary at Ohio Northern University’sClaude W. Pettit College of Law inAda. Ellen Richardson ([email protected]) is a reference librarian atthe University of South Carolina’s ColemanKaresh Law Library in Columbia. Theauthors are grateful to all the past andpresent chairs of the Grants andScholarships Committees who lent theirviews to this article.

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Law librarians reject theiroffice chairs’ cold embraceBy Mike VanderHeijden

I suffer from the unhealthy habit of

worrying about my health. I try to

eat well, supplementing with

vitamins. I exercise. I floss. I use

sunscreen before stepping out to

check the mail. I avoid talking on

my cell phone. For a few months in

the late ‘90s, I worried about the

health effects of electromagnetic

fields. So a year or so ago, when

studies began circulating about the

harms associated with prolonged

sitting, I had to take action. Or if

not “action,” per se, the situation

at least required some research.

GET UP,STAND UP

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Lively Up YourselfI found that the recent trend away fromsitting at work in favor of alternativestanding arrangements isn’t necessarilythe result of some news-induced hysteria;it’s soundly science-induced. Genuinescientists are concluding that too muchsitting likely increases the risk of a hostof unsavory diseases and conditions.

Apparently, when you’re sitting forextended periods, levels of somethingcalled lipoprotein lipase (an enzyme thattakes fat away from the bloodstream)begin to fall, which in turn leaves fat freeto cause trouble in your body—serioustrouble, like chronic kidney disease,diabetes, hypertension, obesity, cancer,and heart disease, according to“Television Viewing Time and Riskof Chronic Kidney Disease in Adults:The AusDiab Study,” published inAnnals of Behavioral Medicine. Andaccording to “Sedentary Behaviour andLife Expectancy in the USA: A Cause-Deleted Life Table Analysis,” publishedin BMJ Open August 1, 2012, it doesn’tmatter whether you exercise two hoursa day or not at all; the levels still dropwhen you drop down into yourergonomically designed office chair.

An Australian study by J. LennertVeerman, “Television Viewing Time andReduced Life Expectance: A Life TableAnalysis,” published in British Journal ofSports Medicine in 2011, estimated thatprolonged TV viewing (a marker of howmuch time is spent sitting) reduces lifeexpectancy at birth by 1.8 years in menand 1.5 years in women. Conversely,“Sedentary Behaviour and LifeExpectancy in the USA: A Cause-Deleted Life Table Analysis” indicatesthat if we wish to increase our lifeexpectancy by 1.4 to 2 years, we shouldlimit sitting to less than three hours perday and TV viewing to less than twohours per day. That’s assuming a causalrelationship between sitting andmortality—a relationship on which thereis still disagreement.

Setting risks aside, there are moreimmediate benefits to standing. Standingfor just two and a half hours per dayreportedly burns 350 calories! Of course,ask any supermarket cashier, and they’lltell you that prolonged standing can alsocause discomfort, varicose veins, nightcramps, clogged arteries, and back pain.So if you’re migrating to a standing desk,don’t throw out your chair.

After catching up on all of thisinformation, I made the decision to tryusing a standing desk while working.Until recently, I imagine most peoplewho stood at work did so for specificmedical reasons. During my first week ofstanding, I thought I was mimickinganother stander—the vigorous Ernest

Hemingway. So I was surprised whencolleagues and faculty who noticed thenew arrangement kindly inquired insteadabout my health.

But times change. For example,Facebook Inc. is adding 10 to 15 standingworkstations per week. There are nowapproximately 350 standing workstationsfor its 3,000 employees. And when Iasked a few fellow librarians who stand atwork why they do so, they voiced a desireto improve their health, generally, andsaid they were motivated to do so by therecent attention on the dangers ofprolonged sitting. So perhaps it won’t belong before standing at work turns nomore heads than ergonomic keyboardsand core-strengthening office chairs.

Treat You RightSome associate directors are alreadythere. Teresa Miguel, the associatelibrarian for administration at Yale’sLillian Goldman Law Library, considersstanding desks to be one option amongmany for making sure the library is ahealthy, productive workplace.

“It’s not a luxury item,” explainsMiguel. “We appreciate the unseenuniqueness of everyone on the staff, andwe’re willing to experiment in order tomake sure people are happy in their jobs.

Along the same lines, ElizabethFarrell, associate director at Florida StateUniversity Law Library, puts standingdesks in the same category as otherergonomically correct products. “At aprevious employer, ergonomics expertsperiodically evaluated our offices andworkstations to make sure thateverything was set up correctly—knees,elbows, monitors, all at the proper anglesand heights. Although these consultantsdon’t inspect our law library, offering theoption to stand and sit at our desks isone thing among many that we can doto accommodate people here.”

An entire article could be dedicatedto types of standing desks, workstations,and related considerations for purchasingone model over another. Suffice it to saythat it’s important to buy somethingappropriate to its intended use,budgetary constraints, your technologicalrequirements, and possibly yourinstitutional decor.

My initial request to purchase abudget model from a local start-upmanufacturer of “cardboard furniture forthe urban nomad” (see www.chairigami.com) was not well thought out.What’s good for the urban nomadisn’t necessarily good for a career lawlibrarian. I settled instead on an all-oak,adjustable-height, podium-style modelwhich sits on top of my conventionaldesk (ergodesk.com/category/43-ergo-stand-up-desk.aspx). A colleague,

Jason Eiseman, who needed somethingto accommodate his wider monitor,uses an adjustable height computerworkstation (www.safcoproducts.com).If, like Farrell, you intend to changepositions many times throughout theday, you might consider something elseentirely (www.ergotron.com/tabid/640/Default.aspx).

The good news is none of theseoptions costs more than many popularergonomic office chairs, which mighthelp justify the costs if you’re alreadyin the market for a new chair.

Keep On MovingExtended periods of standing can betaxing. Flat shoes and a floor pad willhelp with any initial discomfort. Tobreak up longer periods of standing,I assign specific tasks to sitting:professional reading, selecting,ruminating, reference desk shifts, staffmeetings. Farrell similarly splits her time,standing while responding to emails,phone calls, and catching up onprofessional reading. Eiseman, on theother hand, powers through the day onhis feet. He says: “I’d like to stand duringmeetings and wouldn’t mind standing atsomething like an Apple Genius Barinstead of sitting at a reference desk.”

Many of the people I spoke with saidthey didn’t feel as tired after a day ofstanding as when they worked sittingdown. Tom Boone, reference librarian atLoyola Law School Library captures wellthe effect of a day spent standing:

“The general malaise which mighthave otherwise set in toward the end ofthe day or after work isn’t there anymore.I might feel more physically exhausted,but I also fall asleep and wake up moreeasily than I did before.”

Crediting notions of a “mind-bodyconnection,” Farrell believes that, “Whenseated, it’s easier to let your posture slide.As you slump, so can your attention. Butwhen standing, I feel more engaged.”

My own standing arrangement hashad a subtle impact on referenceconsultations. When standing, my timewith patrons seems more collaborativeand active, less like a reference meetingthan a lab. But, if you stand up, don’tassume that the other person iscomfortable standing. Farrell advisestaking a cue from your guest. If astudent comes in and immediately sitsdown, then sit. So if you spend a gooddeal of time meeting with patrons inyour office or workstation, consider anarrangement that allows you to both sitand stand.

(continued on page 30)

© 2012 Mike VanderHeijden

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Creating andimplementing alibrary policy forpatrons withdisabilities

In the interest of fulldisclosure and to givereaders a sense of myperspective, I start with this:I have no disability thatimpacts my ability to freelyengage in all of the resourcesand services of any libraries inwhich I have ever been. Mycuriosity in looking at academiclaw libraries and their policies,or lack thereof, for patrons withdisabilities stemmed from mygeneral desire to get involvedwith and be a proactive

member of the academic lawlibrary in which I had juststarted working. I did not wantto show initiative just to addto my resume (and, in futureyears, my multipage CV);I wanted to participate in mynew career field in a useful andmeaningful way. I was lookingfor a problem I could help fixor a gap I could help fill.

A SIMPLESOLUTION

By Stephanie A. Huffnagle

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In one of many brainstormingsessions I undertook, I noticed that,while the academic law library forwhich I work had many policies andprocedures, it lacked a policy regardingproviding assistance to patrons withdisabilities. How could this be? Themain university libraries had a policy; itwas posted right on the website under“Services for Patrons with Disabilities.”Didn’t we, in the Legal Research Center,

care about all our patrons? Of course wecared. Didn’t we want to make sure thatevery patron had equal access to all ofour resources and services, regardless ofthe presence of a disability? Of coursewe did. So why didn’t we have one?

And so it was that I found aproblem and a gap.

In the summer of 2011, I took alook at law school libraries’ websites tosee if they had policies regarding patronswith disabilities. The focus of myinquiry was not about physical accessor accessibility equipment. It wasnot compliance with the Americanswith Disabilities Act (ADA) or theRehabilitation Act of 1973. My attentionwas on written policies that recognizepatrons with disabilities and outlineprovisions providing equal access to lawlibrary resources, specifically referenceand circulation services.

Disability StatisticsAccording to the 2011 American BarAssociation (ABA) Disability StatisticsReport, approximately 19 percent ofAmericans and about 7 percent of ABAmembers identify as having a disability.This report also found that, in lawschools, there has been a slow and steady

increase in the number of law studentsrequesting a disability-relatedaccommodation (last reported at 3.4percent).

Existing MandatesThe American Library Association(ALA) recognizes that patrons withdisabilities should have equal access tolibrary services. In 2001, the ALAapproved the Library Services for Peoplewith Disabilities Policy. Section 2 of thepolicy reads, in part, “Libraries mustnot discriminate against individualswith disabilities and shall ensure thatindividuals with disabilities have equalaccess to library resources.” Currently,there is no specific guidance onthis issue for law libraries (i.e., norecommendations or guidelines comingfrom AALL).

There are two key federal lawsthat may apply to an educationalinstitution—The Rehabilitation Actof 1973 and the ADA. The former,specifically §504, provides that nootherwise qualified individual with adisability can be discriminated againstunder any program or activity thatreceives federal financial assistance.Title II of the ADA applies only to“public entities” and calls for variousrequirements to ensure equal access andopportunity for those with a disability.While the Rehabilitation Act andTitle II of the ADA require educationalinstitutions to provide certain servicesto students with disabilities (thekey concept here is “reasonableaccommodation”), these laws do notobligate institutions to have writtenpolicies and procedures regarding whatservices are available and how they willprovide them.

The Push for PoliciesThe laws prohibiting discriminationbased on disabilities may or maynot apply to a specific educationalinstitution. There are no mandatescoming out of AALL to create andimplement such a law library-specificpolicy for patrons with disabilities. And,of course, just because your academiclaw library doesn’t have a writtenpolicy—at least one that is freelyaccessible via its website—it by nomeans suggests that law librarians wouldnot provide assistance or a reasonableaccommodation to a patron needingassistance because of a disability or any

other reason. So why should academiclaw libraries have policies regardingpatrons with disabilities?

Well, as a first instance, I arguethat it is simply the right thing to do.Having a written policy would callattention to the fact that certain patronsmay have special needs when it comesto being able to access resources in thelibrary, and it would overtly recognizethat all patrons deserve equal access tolibrary services and resources. A formalpolicy would also help create a cultureof diversity in the law library and arespect for all types of law librarypatrons. In addition, a written policywould get law library staff on the samepage in terms of what options andassistance are available and reasonablefor library patrons. Again, thisguarantees that all patrons are getting,or should be getting, the same level ofservice and access to resources.

Many times, an academic law librarymaintains a separate and distinctidentity from its main university library;for example, it may have restrictedaccess or different borrowing policiesand procedures. As such, even if thelarger affiliated university or, morespecifically, the main university libraryalready has a policy regarding patronswith disabilities, a law library shouldhave its own that is compatible with andcomplements any existing university-wide policies. Patrons using an academiclaw library should have the same levelof service and access to resources asthey would in a main university library.A formal written policy allows this tooccur.

Current PoliciesIn order to determine which law schoollibraries have a policy regarding, or offeradditional services to, patrons withdisabilities, I searched law school librarywebsites, along with the affiliateduniversity library websites, if applicable.Overall, out of 197 law school librariessurveyed, only 35, or 17.8 percent, haveseparate disability services/access policiesposted on their websites. With respect to

Less than 18 percent of academiclaw libraries I surveyed haveseparate policies regardingpatrons with disabilities.

© 2012 Stephanie A. Huffnagle

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the law schools affiliated with auniversity, 33, or 19 percent, of lawlibraries posted such a policy on theweb. In contrast, 99 out of 174, or 57percent, of affiliated university librariessurveyed have a disabilities services/accesspolicy available online. These figures, ofcourse, only take into account policiesor services that are specifically postedin some way on a library’s website.Obviously, law librarians could beoffering services that are not formallyrecognized in an official policy postedonline. My investigation did not takeinto account these types of services.

As noted above, less than 18 percentof academic law libraries I surveyed haveseparate policies regarding patrons withdisabilities. Those policies that currentlyexist are, for the most part, basic, andthey generally are not as detailed or ascomprehensive as the larger affiliateduniversity libraries’ policies. For themost part, law libraries’ policiesrecognize patrons with disabilities ingeneral and acknowledge that the libraryand its staff will provide reasonableassistance when needed.

The University of California,Berkeley Law Library is one of thelaw libraries that stands out in termsof having a more extensive policy(www.law.berkeley.edu/library/disabilities.html). The Law Library atBerkeley offers several circulationservices for patrons with disabilities,including retrieval services, photocopyingassistance, modification or extension ofloan periods, and proxy borrowing(allowing designated individuals to checkout library materials for someone else).In addition, that law library offersvarious assistive technologies. Thespecific “Users with Disabilities” policyprovides links and contact informationfor numerous campus resources forpatrons with disabilities.

Overall, there are several commoncomponents that appear in existing lawlibrary disability policies. These include:

• An introductory statementrecognizing the library’scommitment to serving all of itspatrons, including those with adisability

• Physical access attributes of thelibrary (wheelchair accessibility,parking arrangements)

• Circulation services (retrievaland photocopying assistance,modification of loan periods,proxy borrowing)

• Reference services (availabilityof librarians to scheduleappointments or telephoneor online chat reference)

• Assistive technology (adaptivework stations, various computersoftware)

• Information on whom to contactif a patron has more questionsor needs more assistance (eithera specific librarian or librarydepartment, generallyaccess/circulation services)

• Contact information for thecampus-wide disability servicesoffice

• A Web link to the main universitylibrary’s disability policy

Of the 35 law library policies thatwere surveyed, more than half havepolicies that include introductorystatements, physical access attributes,and/or information on what librarian orlibrary department to contact for furtherassistance. Approximately 37 percent ofthe policies have information on specialcirculation services available. (Of theones that offer circulation services, allprovide retrieval assistance, 23 percentprovide photocopying services, 11percent provide modification of loanperiods, and 6 percent allow the useof proxy cards.) Only three out of 35policies mention particular referenceservices available to patrons withdisabilities. Twenty-nine percent ofthe policies refer to various assistivetechnologies. About one-third of thepolicies include contact information forthe campus-wide disability servicesoffice. Only 9 percent of the law librarypolicies reviewed include a link to themain university library’s disability policy.

Creation and ImplementationAfter reviewing all of the statistics aboveand looking at existing policies, it wasdecided that, in our law library, wewould create a basic and generalpolicy for patrons with disabilities.Representatives from the reference andaccess services departments finalized theexact language and extent of the policy.Overall, the policy really just formalizedwhat the practice was or would havebeen if any patron needed assistanceaccessing library services, regardless ofthe presence or absence of a disability(see earlemacklaw.drexel.edu/library/policies.htm#disabilities).

Specifically, the policy acknowledgesour commitment to serving all members

of our patron community and toproviding equal access to librarymaterials and services to all patronsincluding those with a disability. Thepolicy states that the librarians “willmake every effort to accommodatereasonable requests for assistance frompatrons with disabilities.” We selectedour head of access services to be themain contact person regarding thispolicy because we feel this person is bestsuited to handle any requests madeunder or pursuant to this policy. Inaddition, we included links to theuniversity libraries’ Services for Patronswith Disabilities Policy and theuniversity’s Office of Disability Services.

The policy was then added to thelibrary’s website under “Policies andAccess” � “Services for Patrons withDisabilities.” No ceremonies or fanfareensued, but we had our policy, and itwas freely available to all of our librarypatrons. We have had the policy in placenow for several months and have had norequests pursuant to it, but when thetime comes, we will be prepared. In thefuture perhaps we will expand our policyto include details on specific services wecan offer. For the time being, however, ageneral policy allows us the freedom andflexibility to tailor services to the specificneeds of our patrons on an individualbasis.

Final ThoughtsCreating and implementing our policyregarding patrons with disabilities wasrelatively straight-forward and, besidesgathering up all of the statisticalinformation, took very little time.Services such as extending loan periodsor allowing the use of proxy cards mayrequire additional time and revision ofexisting policies, but such measures arenot necessary to create and implement asignificant and valuable policy. Simplystating in writing that the library isdedicated to serving all patrons,including those with a disability, isimportant. It is a great start to ensuringa law library’s commitment to diversityand equal access to services for allpatrons, and it allows us, as lawlibrarians, to make a meaningful andpositive impact in our field. �

Stephanie A. Huffnagle ([email protected]) is research and instructionalservices librarian at the Legal ResearchCenter at Earle Mack School of Law atDrexel University in Philadelphia.

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THREE LAW LIBRARIANS WALK INTOA BAR . . . OR RATHER, THREE LAWLIBRARIANS WRITE A FEW BLOGPOSTS. MARI CHENEY, JENNIFERDALGLISH, AND SUSAN MECKLEM

AUTHORED THREE SEPARATE “WEEKIN THE LIFE” BLOG POSTS FOR THEOREGON CHAPTER OF THE SPECIALLIBRARIES ASSOCIATION. THE BLOGPOSTS WERE THE INSPIRATION FORTHIS ARTICLE ON EXPLORING THEDIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES OF

OREGON LAW LIBRARIES, ALONG WITHTHE POSSIBILITIES THAT COME FROM

WORKING TOGETHER.

Law librarians have a few universaltraits in common: expert knowledge oflegal research and legal materials, bothin print and online; great listening skillsand the ability to redirect a patron whomight get lost in his or her question;the ability to multitask; teaching skills,whether to a large audience or one-on-one; and flexibility.That patron whoalways needs somethingat 4:53 on a Fridayafternoon is both ournemesis and what gets usexcited about our work.

We all agree that thenumber one thing all lawlibraries have in commonis that our patrons comefirst. Regardless of the typeof law library—academic,public, or law firm—apatron’s question or request is firstpriority. A big difference, though, is thetypes of patrons the library serves.

Patron DifferencesThe public county law library providesthe same level of service to every patronwho walks in the door (or calls oremails). It doesn’t matter if the patron isan attorney, judge, or self-representedlitigant. The law librarian spends as littleor as much time as is needed to assistthe patron. A short reference interactionmight include referring the patron toanother resource, like a legal clinic,teaching the patron to conduct basiclegal research, or providing easy onlineassistance. A long reference interaction

might include walking the patronthrough more advanced legal research,providing additional resource referrals,or offering more time-consuming onlineassistance.

On the other hand, the law firm’spatrons are exclusively that law firm’sattorneys and staff, though occasionally alaw firm librarian might work directly witha client on a project. The law firm librariangets to know his or her patrons’ workingstyles and communication preferences,which allows tailoring of responses toreference questions and research projectsfor each individual attorney.

The academic law library is often amiddle ground of service. While someacademic law libraries restrict access tostudents, faculty, and staff, others allowpublic patrons to use limited services.Even public law school libraries limit thetypes of services public patrons can use.

At Lewis & Clark Law School’sBoley Law Library, public patrons cancheck out books after paying for a library

card, use reserve material inexchange for their ID, anduse a public-access Westlawterminal or one of the otherpublic computer terminalsfor research. At theClackamas County LawLibrary, public patronsare welcome to use allmaterials and resources,but only attorneys areallowed to check outdesignated materials.

What else do weall have in common? We do not

give any of our patrons legal advice inaccordance with state law. Though bothJennifer and Mari earned J.D.s, they donot practice as attorneys.

Job DutiesWhile another commonality among lawlibraries is that the staff all have expertknowledge of legal research, legalmaterials, and legal databases, lawlibrarians’ duties and responsibilitiesvary by library type.

At the county law library, prettymuch all staff members end up doing alittle bit of everything. One minute thelaw librarian might be down on the floorchecking computer wire connections,and the next minute she might bestanding in front of a body of power

advocating to continue helping toprovide equal access to justice throughfunding public law libraries. Fromacquisitions to cataloging to processingpayroll to logging patrons into legalresearch databases online, there is nevera shortage of things to do.

When it comes down to it,everything that happens at a public lawlibrary, from maintaining the physicalspace to negotiating online legal researchsubscription database contracts, isultimately all about helping theindividual patrons. Even thoughlibrarians may wear many hats whileworking in the public law library, theheart of public law librarianship lies inthe assistance that is provided to allcitizens, regardless of who they are orwhat their legal request may be.

The law firm library is similar tothe county law library in that a singlelibrarian is tasked with many areas ofexpertise. At large firms, there may belibrarians with specific duties (budgeting,cataloging), but most librarians doreference work as well. Besides answeringlegal reference questions that includepreparing legislative histories andretrieving cases and statutes, a law firmlibrarian does nontraditional librarytasks, such as knowledge management,company research, and competitiveintelligence. As with other law libraries,the firm library will request materialsfrom other libraries, track databasesubscriptions, and manage myriadpasswords. Business and clientdevelopment projects often make upmore of a firm librarian’s day thantraditional legal research.

Even a small law school library isquite different from the other two typesof law libraries just described. Whilethere might not be separate departments,cataloging and reference are likely


Promoting Services and CelebraWorking together to provide access to legal information and justiceBy Mari Cheney, Jennifer Dalglish, and Susan Mecklem

© 2012 Mari Cheney, Jennifer Dalglish, and Susan Mecklem

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disparate tasks without overlap. At amedium-sized law school like Lewis &Clark, the library staff is large enough tohave separate departments: circulation,electronic services, reference, andtechnical services. The circulation staffcovers interlibrary loans, checking booksin and out, and attorney services(document delivery). Electronic servicescovers database support, managingWestlaw and LexisNexis passwords,instructional technology, and updatingand maintaining the library’s website andonline catalogue. The technical servicesdepartment includes acquisitions,cataloging, serials management, andloose-leaf filing.

Academic reference librarians doother things besides work at thereference desk: they teach, specialize ingovernment documents and foreign andinternational law, write research guides,and much, much more. An academic lawlibrarian typically works a few shifts perweek at the reference desk and spendsthe rest of his or her time working ona variety of projects: research guides, in-depth reference requests from studentsand faculty, updating the library’s socialmedia presence, and peripheral tasks liketesting new databases, writing bookreviews, and working on professionalassociation activities.

Practical InformationOf course, besides the work librariansdo, there are similarities and differencesin the practical aspects of managing alaw library and its resources.

The public law library and law firmlibrary are more likely to have a smallerstaff than the academic law library.Both the public law library and law firmlibrary may have only one person onstaff. The law firm library is uniquebecause it may be run out of a centraloffice, with a librarian staffing multiplelocations, or there may be a librarian inevery office; there are many law firmmodels. The academic law librarytypically has the most staff and manybehind-the-scenes people who patronsnever meet.

Similarly, the academic law libraryalways subscribes to the most onlinelegal databases. The public law librarysubscribes to the fewest, and some publiclaw libraries subscribe to none. The lawfirm is somewhere in the middle.

The type of teaching varies. In anacademic law library, the situation mightbe more formal, with librarians teachingtheir own classes, whether they areintroductory or advanced. The public lawlibrarian might teach classes to court

employees or public librarians as anoutreach tool or host classes within thelaw library for the legal community andthe public. The law firm librarian teachessummer and first-year associates thebasics of legal research and is available toteach advanced classes. A commonality isthat all librarians teach one-on-one in aninformal way every day.

Regarding the budget, all lawlibraries’ budgets are decreasing. All ofus have to make do with less money(and possibly fewer employees) toprovide more services.

The management structure of lawlibraries varies greatly.In a public law library,no organizationalstructure is the same, butmost report to a board,director, or both, andalmost all are under thegreater authority oftheir Board of CountyCommissioners. In alaw firm, dependingon the library’s size,the law firm librarywill have a director with afew staff members while reporting to themanaging partner or chief informationofficer. In an academic library with alarger staff, separate departments havedepartment managers who report to thedirector. The director then reports to thelaw school dean.

Working TogetherDespite the fact that law libraries canvary greatly, it is important to worktogether, and there are a number of wayswe can come together to promote accessto legal information and justice.

If law librarians working in each typeof law library have knowledge of theresources and types of services the otherlaw libraries provide, they can makebetter referrals. At a law school, it iscommon to get questions from pro sepatrons about court forms and free legalservices. The public law librarian hasbetter knowledge of these types ofsources and can make better referrals.Additionally, if the law firm librarian hasknowledge of the resources available atthe academic law library, he or she canborrow items and make requests througha document delivery or interlibraryprogram. This knowledge of what otherlibraries collect can cut down on costs.Another alternative is partnering withother types of law libraries to create aconsortium to collectively buy resourcesand share them or collectively negotiatewith vendors.

This sharing of information cancontinue with the development of webpages—the academic law library can listthe public law library’s resources on apro se or free sources for attorneysresource page. The law firm library canlist the law school library’s resources onan intranet page with information abouthow to request print material or journalarticles. The public law libraries canprovide links to the academic lawlibrary’s resources that are freely availableto the public on their websites.

The law firm librarian has thedaunting task of teaching incomingassociates how to do cost-effective legal

research. But this task doesn’tfall solely on his orher shoulders. Theacademic law librarianshould know whatmethodology the firmlibrarian employs andwhat databases he orshe subscribes to so thatin introductory andadvanced legal researchclasses, the academiclibrarian can also focushis or her teaching. Lawstudents should also learn

about the public law library so that inthe more-than-likely event they have tostrike out on their own, they will beaware of the free law librarian assistance,materials, and resources available tothem.

Networking is another thing all lawlibrarians can do to share information.In Portland, an informal group of mostlyfirm librarians meets once a monthfor a brown bag lunch. It would beworthwhile to make an effort to includeacademic and government librarians,as well, and perhaps take turns hostingbrown bag lunches at our respectivelibraries.

Do you have ideas about howlaw libraries should work together topromote library services? We’d love tohear them! �

Mari Cheney ([email protected]) is a reference librarian at Lewis& Clark Law School’s Boley Law Libraryin Portland, Oregon; Jennifer Dalglish([email protected]) isdirector and law librarian at theClackamas County Law Library in OregonCity, Oregon; and Susan Mecklem([email protected]) is a researchlibrarian at Davis Wright Tremaine inPortland.

Celebrating Differences

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TRUE. The LCSH controlledvocabulary turned 114 years old thisyear, and it continues to grow and evolvein size and functionality. Printedvolumes of LCSH expanded from 1,088pages in its first edition (published in1909-1914) to 9,153 pages in the 33rdedition (published in 2011). Ourinteraction with the vocabulary hasundergone dramatic transformation.Libraries no longer routinely provide thehefty red volumes for patron perusal orstaff reference. Our next generationcatalogs push these terms out to users asfacets, clusters, and in tag clouds, andeven our more traditional online catalogshyperlink the subject headings, makingit easy to find the proper phrasing andretrieve relevant titles with a click. Inaddition, law librarians can access themost up-to-date version of LCSH onlinethrough a variety of subscription-basedand free sources, such as ClassificationWeb, Library of Congress’ authority file(authorities.loc.gov), and the SemanticWeb-friendly linked data service(id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects.html).The major bibliographic databases,OCLC and SkyRiver, automatically runqueries against the LCSH authority filesduring the heading validation process.

By Suzanne R. Graham and George Prager

© 2012 Suzanne R. Graham and George Prager • image © iStockphoto.com

Here’s a fun little quiz:Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) are morethan 100 years old. TRUE or FALSE?Every needed law-related heading has already beenadded. TRUE or FALSE?Keyword searching makes subject headings obsolete.TRUE or FALSE?Only catalogers may develop new subject headings.TRUE or FALSE?

Enriching theVocabularyof LawNew legal subject headings

LCSHSACO

Law Funnel

MARCOCLC

FALSE. However, each yearlibrarians have proposed only a few newsubject headings for law-related topics.Either legal scholarship is stagnating, orthe law library community needs to domore to capture and propose headingsfor emerging concepts.

FALSE. Subject headings still havea place in a keyword world. Keywordsenable users to find some things, butwhen they need the nexus of precisionand recall, they need subject headings.Even if users do not know the correctheading at the start of the search, theycan find a relevant hit to zero in on thesubjects assigned and refine the initialquery.

FALSE. Explaining why thisstatement is false is the crux of thisarticle. Since catalogers are not the onlypeople who use subject headings, itwould be counterproductive if no oneelse had an avenue to recommend achange or addition. In fact, almostanyone may assist in the process.Crafting a proposal requires some timeand effort, but it is not an elite art orscience. In the first six months of 2012,the Library of Congress Policy StandardsDivision approved more than 1,900 newterms—an average of 320 successful newproposals every month.

Subject Heading BasicsThe subject heading proposal processdivides into three parts: justifying theheading sufficiently, constructing theheading and references correctly, andcoding the record fields properly.Catalogers speak of literary warrant asthe source of heading justification. Thebasic guidance in the Subject HeadingsManual is to recommend a heading“when it is first encountered in a workbeing cataloged” (H187). As soon as thefirst treatise, thesis, or governmentdocument arrives at a library, thelibrarian should consider making aproposal but maybe not make theproposal. A prospective heading requiresvalidation in either general knowledgeor specialized encyclopedias, dictionaries,or other notable reference tools. If theconcept has not been mentionedanywhere else in the existing scholarlydiscourse, its time likely has not yetcome.

Getting the proper form of theheading and references also involvesresearch into the subject-specificliterature, but the terminology used bythe experts in the discipline may needto be adjusted to take into account theprecedents and patterns for headingsin LCSH. These patterns need to berespected to enhance the logical integrityand predictability of the vocabulary.For example, when one bandies about“civil rights demonstrations” versus“demonstrations, civil rights,” the bestplace to start is how LCSH construesheadings for other kinds ofdemonstrations.

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The MAchine Readable Cataloging(MARC) coding requirements are likelythe most foreign part of the proposalprocess to the noncataloger, but they arethe least ambiguous phase of the process.Clear guidance dictates whether aheading is a 600 (personal name) or 650(topical heading), for example, and theindicators and subfields have definedmeanings. While the other two partsrequire big-picture views, this finalpart demands careful attention todetails.

SACO Law FunnelLibrarians lacking expertise orcomfort with drafting headingproposals can tap into the experienceand talents of colleagues from acrossthe country through one of the 13Subject Authority Cooperative (SACO)funnel projects (www.loc.gov/aba/pcc/saco/funnelsaco.html). The funnelsserve a variety of communities andoffer a helping hand in preparing andsubmitting proposals.

The SACO Law Funnel began in2011. Any member of AALL maysubmit a heading to the funnel throughan online form available on the TechnicalServices Special Interest Section’shomepage (www.aallnet.org/sis/tssis/sacolawfunnel). The goal of the funnelis to encourage submissions of subjectheadings for legal topics and, ultimately,to get as many subject headings addedto LCSH as needed.

The Law Funnel encouragessubmissions at any state of completionto start the dialogue. All that is trulyrequired is the heading idea and areason why it is needed. The funneladministrators will refine and carry theidea through to formal submission to theLibrary of Congress or will explain their

reasons for notsubmitting directly

with the proposer.The first step in the review process

done by the funnel coordinatingcommittee is to research the viability ofthe term proposed. The proposal thenreceives wider blind-review by a panel ofexperienced law catalogers for additionalinput and refinement. Once the conceptis vetted by the catalogers most likelyto assign it, the focus shifts to thetechnical aspects of the submission:making or reviewing decisions about theMARC encoding of authority fields andsubfields.

The whole process for the proposer isrelatively painless and quick. Althoughsubmission through the funnel does notguarantee a proposal’s acceptance intoLCSH, it does benefit from intermediaryconsideration and discussion.

Get involvedComputer automation has changed theway librarians and patrons tap into theLCSH headings, but human assessmentis still the heart of their identificationand creation. Our subject headingsremain a powerful part of our catalogsearches, and all law librarians shouldfeel empowered to help maintain LCSH,regardless of their level of training andexperience. The volunteers of the SACOLaw Funnel stand ready to help developnew heading proposals. Next time youperceive a gap in the headings, doyourself and the law community a favorand consider sending a proposal to thefunnel. �

Suzanne R. Graham ([email protected]) is the cataloging services librarianat the University of Georgia’s AlexanderCampbell King Law Library in Athens.She is the current coordinator of theSACO Law Funnel. George Prager([email protected]) is head ofcataloging and assistant professor at theNew York University Law School Library.

announcement

2012 Election ScheduleNovember 1, 2012Ballots distributed electronically to allvoting members.

November 29, 2012Deadline for receipt of electronic ballotsat AALL. Ballots tabulated at AALLand results of elections announcedimmediately. Biographies and statementsof all AALL Executive Board candidatesare posted at vote.aallnet.org/AALL/bios.asp.

2012 CandidatesThe AALL Nominations Committeenominated the following individualsfor office in AALL:

Vice President/President-ElectJulie Pabarja, research services manager,DLA Piper, Chicago

Holly M. Riccio, library/calendar managerof Northern California, O’Melveny & MyersLLP, San Francisco

TreasurerJoan M. Bellistri, law librarian, AnneArundel County Public Law Library, AnneArundel County Circuit Court, Annapolis,Maryland

Gail Warren, state law librarian, VirginiaState Law Library, Richmond

Executive Board MemberFemi Cadmus, Edward Cornell lawlibrarian and associate dean for libraryservices, Cornell University Law Library,Ithaca, New York

Kenneth J. Hirsh, director of the law libraryand information technology, University ofCincinnati College of Law, Robert S. MarxLaw Library, Cincinnati, Ohio

Allen R. Moye, director of the law libraryand associate professor of law, DePaulUniversity College of Law, Rinn Library,Chicago

Roger Vicarius Skalbeck, associate lawlibrarian, Georgetown University LawLibrary, Washington, D.C.

The 2012 AALL Election Schedule and Candidates

Although submissionthrough the funnel does

not guarantee a proposal’sacceptance into LCSH,it does benefit from

intermediary considerationand discussion.

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The Cognitive Disadvantages of E-BooksAlthough e-books have many pros, don’t ignore the cons

By Emily Marcum

Vendors frequently push theadvantages of buying e-booksinstead of print books. There are

many advantages, but three specific onescome to mind. First, an e-book can beaccessed remotely (depending on licenserestrictions) and can therefore make asingle purchase available in multipleoffice locations, school buildings, or evenat trial or at home. Second, e-booksallow the library to devote space to otheramenities like study carrels or officespace. Third, their use makes the libraryseem technologically progressive. But arelibrarians and vendors also aware of the

cognitive disadvantages of e-books?

What Are the Cons?Ergonomic researchers haveextensively studied the differences

between tasks completed on paperand those completed using screens. Themost common finding, as described in

Andrew Dillon’s 1992 paper, “Readingfrom paper versus screens: a criticalreview of the empirical literature,”published in Ergonomics, has been thatreading text onscreen takes 20 to 30percent more time than reading text onpaper. This difference is not due to textorientation, visual reading angle, aspectratios, screen loading and direction ofscrolling, image polarity, or displaycontrast. Reading slower is bad for lawfirms because they bill by the hour, andclients do not want to pay 20 to 30percent more.

Ergonomic researchers also havemeasured cognitive workload, which is acombination of factors such as increasedstress, feelings of exhaustion, and greatermobilization of perceptual and executivecognitive resources. In short, researchershave tried to measure how much mentaleffort screens require compared withpaper. Screen reading was found to causemore stress and exhaustion and require

more effort than paper reading,according to Jan M. Noyes’ and Kate J.Garland’s 2008 paper, “Computer- vs.paper-based tasks: Are they equivalent?”published in Ergonomics.

More stress and effort areparticularly bad for those in the legalfield because lawyers are known to sufferfrom depression more frequently thanother professions and have higher ratesof suicide. A 1991 John Hopkins studyshowed that lawyers are more depressedthan those in 105 other occupations,and, according to a 2007 study by theTennessee Bar, law students are moredepressed than other student bodies. A1992 NIOSH study showed lawyers aretwice as likely to commit suicide thanthe general population, and 11 percentof lawyers in North Carolina thinkabout suicide at least once a month,according to a 1991 report from theNorth Carolina Bar Association titled“Quality of Life Survey of North

AALL Spectrum � November 201226 © 2012 Emily Marcum • image © iStockphoto.com

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Carolina Attorneys: Report of Quality ofLife Task Force.”

However, it could be argued that themeasure of a successful lawyer or lawstudent is not how quickly he or shecan read or how stressed out he or shebecomes whenever a deadline looms, butthe frequency of those moments whenthe individual not only recalls a rule orfact in the heat of a trial or exam butpersuasively argues that this rule or factmakes all the difference to the outcomeof the case. I haven’t seen any researchthat suggests that a person’s powers ofpersuasion are dulled by e-books. Buton March 14, 2012, an article in TIMEMagazine, “Do E-Books Make It Harderto Remember What You Just Read?”reported that people are less likely toremember information read on e-readersthan information read on paper.

Part of this recall deficit can beexplained by the fact that smaller screenshinder recall. The smaller the screen, thebigger the recall deficit is. Therefore, cellphones are notoriously difficult for ourmemories. Larger screens, such as iPadscreens, are better for memory but notas good as a print book.

The other contributor to thismemory gap is that a larger numberof readings are required to learn

information presented by e-book thanare required by print because printreaders digest information more deeplyand more quickly. The reason for thisappears to be that it is easier toremember things when we can form agreater number of associations with thetext. Print books provide a wealth ofspatial associations with information.Things that might seem irrelevant, suchas whether something is written at thetop or bottom of a page or on the right-or left-hand side, are actually importantin recall. Most e-books provide little inthe way of spatial associations. Manyscreen texts require scrolling instead ofdefinite page breaks, and early Kindlesdo not have pages at all but provide ameasure of the percentage of the bookread.

In case there is continued skepticismthat spatial associations have anything todo with recall, consider “What ActorsCan Teach Us About Memory andLearning,” an article in TIME fromFebruary 22, 2012. The article pointsout that actors require incredible powersof memorization. They must reproducelong scripts under bright lights and infront of an audience, night after night.Just imagine learning long Shakespearesoliloquies by heart! What is the actors’

secret that we should steal to master ourown lists and speeches? Actors don’tmemorize anything in the traditionalsense. Instead, they connect each wordwith an action in the play and a locationonstage. These movements are carefullydecided during rehearsal, and they forma bodily mnemonic device of spatialassociations.

Careful Decision MakingDoes this mean that I will not be buyinge-books for my own library? The answer,as always, is that it depends. I haveordered electronic texts for my lawlibrary in the past. So far, I have neverordered an e-book for my law library,but that may change in the future.The advantages of remote access, spacesavings, and technological imagesometimes overcome the disadvantages ofspeed, stress, and recall. The point is tocarefully weigh the pros and cons usingall the facts. Those pros and cons justhave different weights for professionalliterature than they do for my Kindlepurchase of the latest popular fiction. �

Emily Marcum ([email protected]) is law librarian atLightfoot Franklin White LLC inBirmingham, Alabama.

luck with a start-up school. At theDSOL, our faculty has extensive practiceexperience, but many are newer toacademia. Not only does our newer,practice-oriented faculty enrich thestudents’ experience, it tends to lowerwhat we call “the status wall” betweenlibrarians and faculty. This lesshierarchical attitude allows for a morecollaborative working relationship.

Ironically, because of our practice-based approach to hiring faculty, thelibrarians working at DSOL have asmuch, if not more, academic experiencethan many faculty members. We have achance to help mold the faculty cultureinto one of equal respect between facultyand librarians. In fact, we wouldgeneralize that start-up schools by theirnature are less hierarchical. Theirparticipants are so involved in theadrenaline rush of creation that theyforget to obsess about status.

The ConsRay Bradbury once said: “Living at risk isjumping off the cliff and building yourwings on the way down.” If the process ofcreation is the process of building yourwings, the willingness to seek employmentat a new law school is the process ofjumping off the cliff. (Although, some

people live to jump off cliffs and out ofairplanes—to each his own.) We wouldlike to address a few aspects of the jump.

There is a stigma attached toworking for a new school that is notaccredited by the ABA: that you aren’tgood enough to work at a real lawschool, and you never will be. Sometimesthis means that the professionals youmeet at conferences will initially discountyour contributions. The challenge is toprove them wrong.

It can be disheartening to put somuch time and effort into an endeavoronly to have your institution and yourjob disparaged. It is a constant battle tojustify the choice to work at a start-upschool, to continuously prove that weare just as good at our jobs as otherswho work at established, accredited lawschools. But we are proud of our school,our students, and the work we do, whichmakes the extra effort worthwhile.

And, of course, there is the risk thatcomes with accepting a job at a start-upschool seeking ABA accreditation. Inthese challenging economic times, theNo. 1 question is that of stability. Weare not immune to anxieties about thecurrent climate. Will we be employednext year? What if we do not receiveaccreditation from the ABA? What will

happen to our law school and all of theprograms we worked so hard to create?What will happen to our students andcolleagues? These, of course, are alwaysconcerns, and they are never far from ourminds. However, both of us have learnedto live with the uncertainty and to keepcalm and carry on, because we believethe reward is worth the risk.

Creating Something SpecialThe reasons that led us to DSOL are asindividual as we are, but ultimately, wedecided to assume the risk and plungeahead with this exciting, frustrating,maddening, exhilarating endeavor. Succeedor fail, we know that we took a chanceand are helping to create somethingspecial. Because we believe, in the words ofBruce Lee, that “Man, the living creature,the creating individual, is always moreimportant than any established style orsystem.” We’ll toast to that. �

Katherine Marsh ([email protected]) is the information andfaculty services librarian and JordanGilbertson ([email protected]) is the student services librarian atLincoln Memorial University DuncanSchool of Law in Knoxville, Tennessee.

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announcement

Law librarians are information managers,resource evaluators, expert researchers,teachers, and trainers. They are at the forefrontof ensuring access to legal information. AALLrecognizes individual members and otherswho excel in these endeavors through awardshighlighting their accomplishments. Informationfor all awards, including applicationinstructions and forms, contact information,and previous recipients, is listed on AALLNET atwww.aallnet.org/main-menu/Member-Resources/AALLawards. Award recipients will be recognizedat the 2013 AALL Annual Meeting in Seattle.All nominations must be postmarked byFebruary 1, 2013, unless otherwise noted.

The AALL Hall of Fame was created to recognizethose members whose contributions to theprofession and service to the Association havebeen significant, substantial, and longstanding.An individual’s induction into the Hall of Famedoes not preclude the Association from laterpresenting the individual with the Marian GouldGallagher Distinguished Service Award. NewGallagher Award recipients who have notpreviously been inducted into the Hall of Famewill automatically become members of the Hallof Fame. A nominee must be or have been amember in good standing of AALL for 25 yearsor more, must have provided distinguishedservice to the Association during a substantialportion of his or her period of membership,and must have made significant contributionsto the profession. Up to four individuals maybe selected each year. Send the completednomination form and supporting documentationto AALL Awards Chair Margaret K. Maes,Executive Director, Legal InformationPreservation Alliance, P.O. Box 5266,Bloomington, IN 47407; 812/822-2773;[email protected].

The AALL/LexisNexis Call for Papers Award isselected by the AALL Call for Papers Committee.The award’s objectives are threefold: (1) tohonor scholarship among practicing lawlibrarians and in areas of interest to theprofession; (2) to provide a creative outlet forlaw librarians and a forum for their scholarlyactivities; and (3) to recognize scholarly effortsof established members, new members, andpotential members of AALL. Eligibility is open toactive and retired AALL members of five or moreyears; active and retired AALL members of fewerthan five years; and currently enrolled studentsin library school, information managementschool or the equivalent, or law school.Submissions in the Open, New Member, andShort Form Divisions must be submitted byMarch 1, 2013. Articles in the Student Divisionmust be submitted by May 15, 2013. Eachsubmission must be accompanied by a coverletter describing the purpose of the paper, a

short abstract, and a completed applicationform. Submit the paper, application, coverletter, abstract, and, for the Student Division,instructor’s letter, as attachments to an emailto Hannah Phelps, Membership ServicesCoordinator, American Association of LawLibraries, 105 W. Adams Street, Suite 3300,Chicago, IL 60603; 312/205-8022;Fax 312/205-8023; [email protected].

The Chapter Professional Development Award,selected by the Awards Committee, recognizessignificant achievements in designingoutstanding professional development programsby AALL chapters. Two awards are given: onefor a single program or workshop of one half dayor more, and the other for a more comprehensiveprofessional development program up toone year in length. Send four copies of theapplication and documentation to ChapterProfessional Development Award SubcommitteeChair Elizabeth L. Moore, Legal CollectionSpecialist, Law Library of Congress, 302 HilltopLane, Unit B, Annapolis, MD 21403; 202/707-9794; [email protected].

The CRIV New Product Award, selected bythe Committee on Relations with InformationVendors (CRIV), honors a new commerciallegal information product that has been in thelibrary marketplace for no more than two years.The product must be commercial, enhanceor improve existing law library services orprocedures, and be an innovative project thatimproves access to legal information, the legalresearch process, or procedure to technicalprocessing of library materials. Projects thathave been re-introduced in a new format or withsubstantial changes are eligible. To submitnominations, send a copy to Liz Reppe,Minnesota State Law Library, Room G25,Minnesota Judicial Center, 25 Rev. Dr. MartinLuther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155;651/297-2089; [email protected].

The Emerging Leader Award is selected by theAALL Leadership Development Committee andhonors members of AALL in their first 10 yearsof law library experience who have made asignificant contribution to the Associationand/or the profession and who showoutstanding promise for continuing service andleadership to AALL. The award carries a $500cash prize. Although the award need not begiven in any particular year, up to threerecipients may be honored in any one year.Current members of the LeadershipDevelopment Committee or AALL members whohave previously won the Emerging Leader Awardare not eligible. Send the completed nominationform and all supporting documentation toAmerican Association of Law Libraries,Leadership Development Committee Chair,

105 W. Adams Street, Suite 3300, Chicago, IL60603; 312/205-8010; Fax: 312/205-8011;[email protected]. Please include email subjectline: Emerging Leader Award.

The Excellence in Marketing Award, selected bythe AALL Public Relations Committee, honorsoutstanding achievement in public relationsactivities by an individual, group of individuals,library, chapter, special interest section,consortium, caucus, or any other groupaffiliated with AALL. Awards may be given infive categories: best brochure, best campaign,best newsletter, best PR tool kit, and best useof technology. Please submit four copies ofthe entry (e.g., brochure, newsletter, handbook,PR tool kit, or map). In the case of a campaignor homepage, please submit four hard copiesof all supporting documentation: a campaignnotebook or printout of at least the main pageand introductory material of a homepage.Entries must be signed and dated, and thesubmission itself must have been used orimplemented during 2012. Send entries toHannah Phelps, Membership ServicesCoordinator, American Association of LawLibraries, 105 W. Adams Street, Suite 3300,Chicago, IL 60603; 312/205-8022;Fax 312/205-8023; [email protected].

The Innovations in Technology Award, selectedby the Awards Committee with two committeemembers from the Computing Services SpecialInterest Section, recognizes an AALL member,SIS, chapter, or library for innovative use oftechnology in the development and creation ofan application or resource for law librarians orlegal professionals. The award carries a $500cash prize. Nomination applications andsupporting documentation must describe(1) the application of technology; (2) how theapplication benefits library users and/or thelegal information community; and (3) how thetechnology resource is an example of librariansand information professionals effectively andefficiently serving as the human connectionbetween technology, information, and the userexperience. Send five copies of the applicationand supporting documentation to Innovations inTechnology Award Subcommittee Chair Leslie A.Pardo, Head of Access Services, Arizona StateUniversity Ross-Blakley Law Library, P.O. Box877806, 1102 S. McAllister Ave., Tempe, AZ85287; 480/965-3579; Fax 480/965-4283;[email protected].

The Joseph L. Andrews Bibliographical Award,selected by the Awards Committee, honors asignificant contribution to legal bibliographicliterature. To be eligible, a work must be acompilation of titles, published in any format,organized to serve as a reference tool or findingaid for such publications. Each nominated work

2013 AALL Awards: Call for Nominations

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will be measured primarily by its creative,evaluative elements and the extent to whichjudgment was a factor in its formation. Theworks must have been published or madeaccessible to users during 2012 to beconsidered. Send the nomination to Joseph L.Andrews Bibliographical Award SubcommitteeChair Joseph P. Hinger, Associate Director forTechnical Services, St. John’s University Schoolof Law, 8000 Utopia Pkwy, Jamaica, NY 11439;718/990-1582; [email protected].

The Law Library Journal and AALL SpectrumArticle of the Year Awards, selected bythe LLJ and AALL Spectrum Committee,honor outstanding writing in each publication.Recipients will be chosen from articlespublished in LLJ and AALL Spectrumduring 2012.

The Law Library Publications Award, selectedby the Awards Committee, recognizesachievement in creating outstanding in-houselibrary materials. There are two categories forthe award: print and non-print. Recipients ofthe award may be any individual or groupaffiliated with AALL. Entries are judgedaccording to the quality of the materials,creativity, and usefulness to the targetaudience. Send nomination applications andsupporting documents to: Heidi FrostestadKuehl, Coordinator of EducationalProgramming and Outreach, NorthwesternUniversity School of Law, Pritzker LegalResearch Center, 375 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago,IL 60611; 312/503-4725; Fax: 312/503-9230;[email protected].

The Marian Gould Gallagher DistinguishedService Award, selected by the AwardsCommittee, is presented to an individualnearing or following completion of an activeprofessional career and recognizes extendedand sustained distinguished service to lawlibrarianship and AALL. Honorees may berecognized for achievement in a particulararea of law librarianship, for service to theAssociation, or for outstanding contributions tothe professional literature. The individual mustbe or have been a member of AALL. The awardmay be given posthumously. Nominationapplications should include either additionalsupporting letters or the names of the otherpersons to contact for further informationconcerning the nominee. Each candidate shallbe considered individually and confidentiallyand will be judged according to the criterialisted above. Petitions and letter writingcampaigns (beyond those letters included withthe application) are discouraged and will notbe considered in the evaluation process, norwill they influence the committee. To submita nomination, complete the application form

and send the nomination packet, includingsupporting documents, to Marian GouldGallagher Award Subcommittee Chair JudithMeadows, Director, State Law Library ofMontana, P.O. Box 203004, Helena, MT 59620;406/444-3660; Fax: 406/444-3603; [email protected].

The Minority Leadership Development Awardwas created in 2001 to nurture leaders forthe future and to introduce minority lawlibrarians to leadership opportunities withinthe Association. The award consists of thefollowing benefits: travel, lodging, andregistration expenses for one recipientto attend the AALL Annual Meeting; anexperienced AALL leader to serve as therecipient’s mentor for at least one year; andan opportunity to serve on an AALL committeeduring the year following the monetary award.Send the completed nomination package toAmerican Association of Law Libraries,Committee on Diversity Chair, 105 W. AdamsStreet, Suite 3300, Chicago, IL 60603;312/205-8012; Fax: 312/431-1097;[email protected]. Please include emailsubject line: Minority Leadership DevelopmentAward. Nominations must be received by April1, 2013.

The Public Access to Government Information(PAGI) Award, selected by the GovernmentRelations Committee, honors significantcontributions by persons or organizationsinvolved in the protection and promotion ofgreat public access to government information.Recipients need not be law librarians ormembers of AALL and may not be membersof AALL’s Government Relations Office. Criteriafor selection include: (1) a contribution thatsignificantly improves public access togovernment information, thereby increasingthe public’s knowledge about the workingsof government; (2) the extent to which theindividual or organization has had a positiveimpact on protecting and promoting publicaccess to government information; and (3)the extent to which the effort advances theAALL mission and Government RelationsPolicy. All nominations are considered on anindividual basis with complete confidentiality.Nominations are to be sent to GovernmentRelations Committee Chair Melanie Knapp,Instructional Services Librarian, George MasonUniversity Law Library, 3301 Fairfax Drive,Arlington, VA 22201; 703/993-8111;Fax: 703/993-8113; [email protected].

The Robert L. Oakley Advocacy Award,selected by the Government RelationsCommittee, was established in 2008 torecognize an AALL member or group who hasbeen an outstanding, energetic, and effective

advocate for law libraries and legalinformation and has contributed significantlyto the AALL policy agenda to promote equalaccess to government information at thefederal, state, local, or international level. Theaward may be presented annually, but there isno requirement that it be given each year. Theaward honors the memory of Robert L. Oakley,AALL Washington affairs representative (1989-2007). Current members of the GovernmentRelations Committee are not eligible. Allnominations are considered on an individualbasis with complete confidentiality. Lettersof nomination are to be sent to GovernmentRelations Committee Chair Melanie Knapp,Instructional Services Librarian, George MasonUniversity Law Library, 3301 Fairfax Drive,Arlington, VA 22201; 703/993-8111;Fax: 703/993-8113; [email protected].

The Volunteer Service Award is selected bythe Awards Committee and honors memberswho have made a significant contribution tothe work of AALL but have not served on theAALL Executive Board or received any of theAALL awards for distinguished service listedhere. Nominees must be members in goodstanding of AALL for 10 years immediatelypreceding nomination, must not have servedon the AALL Executive Board, and mustnot have previously received any of thefollowing awards: the Marian Gould GallagherDistinguished Service Award, the AALLHall of Fame Award, the Joseph L. AndrewsBibliographical Award, the ALL-SIS FrederickCharles Hicks Award for OutstandingContributions to Academic Law Librarianship,the CS-SIS Kenneth J. Hirsch DistinguishedService Award, the SCCLL-SIS Bethany J.Ochal Award for Distinguished Service to theProfession, or the TS-SIS Renee D. ChapmanAward for Outstanding Contributions inTechnical Services Law Librarianship. Honoreesmay be recognized for many types of volunteerservice, including volunteer service at AnnualMeetings, service on special projects,presenting educational programs at AALLAnnual Meetings, chairing an SIS, chairing anAALL or SIS committee, serving as a chapterpresident, or representing AALL in an officialcapacity to an outside entity. All nominationsare considered on an individual basis withcomplete confidentiality. Nominations are to besent to Volunteer Service Award SubcommitteeChair Michael Whiteman, Associate Deanfor Law Library Services and InformationTechnology, Northern Kentucky University,Salmon P. Chase College of Law Library, NunnDrive, Highland Heights, KY 41099; 859/572-5717; Fax 859/572-6529; [email protected].

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Q:Help me, please. I’m caughtbetween my supervisor and ourdirector. I really like my job, and

I’m lucky to have it. I received my M.L.I.S.about 18 months ago and found a job inthe city where I live. My supervisor andI get along all right, and I’ve learned a lotfrom her. I don’t have much contact withmy director, but she has always beencourteous to me and appreciative of mywork. Recently, my supervisor asked ifI would present with her at the AALLconference, and I was thrilled. I wasnervous about being in front of somany librarians, but my supervisorwas to do the majority of thepresentation.

I thought things were going well.All of a sudden, in the middle of thepresentation, my supervisor began tocriticize our director, using her name.As if that wasn’t bad enough, she turned tome and asked me to agree with her. “Isn’tthat right?” she asked me. She did thismore than once. I didn’t know what to doand wanted to melt down into the floor.Although I didn’t agree with her, I didn’tconfront her either. I tried to change thesubject and said something like, “I thinkwe’re cutting it close with the time” and“I thought I saw someone raise theirhand.” I didn’t like what she did, but Idon’t know what to say to her. I have towork with her, and, as I said, I’m learninga lot from her. I have to believe that ourdirector will get wind of this, and I feel asif I should say something, but I don’t knowwhat.

It’s no secret that my supervisor anddirector don’t get along well, but I’ve neverwitnessed anything blatant between them,

and I didn’t expect to be drawn into themiddle of it. My supervisor has done hershare of eye-rolling and muttering underher breath, but that was all—until now.What should I do, or what should I havedone?

A:You were in a tough spot, but itsounds as though you handledthe situation as best as you could

under the circumstances. We all know whatshould have happened, in an ideal world,

but the human element keeps the worldmessy and far from ideal. I see theparallels between your situationand what happened at the 2009MTV awards when Kanye Westhijacked Taylor Swift’s moment.Fortunately for Taylor Swift,

she had that classy Beyoncé toremedy the situation. You were on

your own.

Actually, you were wise to downplaythe situation by attempting to keep yoursupervisor on task. It wouldn’t have beensmart or politically wise to try to correct herbehavior, and, as a newbie librarian, youshouldn’t have had to. However, it isn’t toolate to speak with her and explain yourfeelings. (“When you criticized our directorand asked me to support you, I felt blind-sided, embarrassed, caught off-guard, etc.Please don’t do that again.”) You’reexpressing your feelings and stating yourexpectations.

If you’re asking whether you should saysomething to your director, then the answeris yes. However, you should trust yourinstincts. It’s likely that someone hasalready done that for you. We’re a close-knit association, and we tend to take care

the reference desk By Susan Catterall

Are you in a sticky situation with acolleague? Looking for ways to discussadvancement with your supervisor?Send your questions to columnistSusan Catterall at [email protected].

of one another. It isn’t your responsibilityto correct your supervisor’s behavior; thatprivilege belongs to your director. However,your director can’t manage if he/she is keptin the dark. Again, when you relate theincident to your director, try to do so in anunemotional, factual way. Use the EQ “I”statements—“I was surprised”; “I didn’tknow how to re-direct,” etc. Ask yourdirector how you should handle thissituation if it recurs. You said that you’velearned a lot from your supervisor. It’snow time to extend that privilege to yourdirector.

Your mentor did you a disservice, but shewasn’t alone in that. We, individually asyour law librarian colleagues andcollectively as your association, also let youdown. Beyoncé had Taylor Swift’s back, andwe should have had yours. I hope that atleast one person sought you out after thesession and offered some support, such as“I enjoyed your presentation,” or “Youhandled yourself very well,” etc. I hopethat happened, because it should havehappened. As your colleagues, we have anobligation to nurture young librarians andto help them become the best they can be.I think that your experiences have remindedus of that. I wish you the best.

Susan Catterall ([email protected]) is reference librarian at theCharlotte School of Law in North Carolina.


Don’t Give Up the FightIf you think you sit too much, but, forwhatever reason, standing for theselonger periods is not an option, youmight adopt some of these no-coststrategies to keep moving:

• Don’t use your library catalog’s“virtual shelf browsing” options.

• Drink more water (take morebathroom breaks).

• Send fewer emails to yourcolleagues (but visit them instead).

• Set an automatic reminder to getup in whatever task manager orcalendar you use.

• Stand up when you’re on thephone.

• Take the stairs!Everyone with whom I spoke is

pleased with their new standing

arrangements. It’s a great relief to me tobe able to cross off “serial sitting” frommy ever-changing list of health risks. �

Mike VanderHeijden ([email protected]) is faculty servicereference librarian and lecturer in legalresearch at Yale Law School’s LillianGoldman Law Library in New Haven,Connecticut.

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What new project or goal have you setfor yourself, your staff, or your libraryfor the next year?member to member

Write a strategic plan for Library andResearch Services.

—Patricia L. Orr, manager of libraryservices at Dykema, PLLC in Detroit

We plan to tacklethe elephant in thelaw firm conferenceroom: legal projectmanagement (LPM)and alternative feearrangements(AFA). Although weknow what they areand that they are

becoming more common, we want to beready to respond quickly when the firmneeds research and billable metrics forpotential client LPM/AFA requests.

—Christine M. Stouffer, director oflibrary services at Thompson Hine LLPin Cleveland

Choices! Choices! Choices! Here atVillanova, we are currently working ona number of exciting and challenginginitiatives, but the most demanding projectby far involves digitization of our archivesand creation of a repository for thematerials generated by, and for, our newSports Law Center. Our director and ourelectronic services librarian have beenworking feverishly with Digital Commonsand the University’s computing center todesign a repository that will optimallydisplay our unique digital content andincrease the visibility and presence of bothlaw library and law school. Moreover, ourreference librarians have been workingdiligently with Hein to obtain the digitalcontent of the Villanova Law School’sjournals and to make this materialavailable through our Digital Commonsrepository.

—Lynne F. Maxwell, assistant directorfor reader services at Villanova UniversitySchool of Law Library in Villanova,Pennsylvania

My first thought was, “What goals haven’twe set?!” The University of Georgia LawLibrary embarked on a three-year strategicplan in July. We identified parts of the

strategic plan tobegin working onthis year, givingresponsibility tothe relevant libraryteams to comeup with strategiesfor achievingthose goals.Our collection

development team’s goals includeintegrating e-book selection and orderingwith our current print book approvalplan, as well as launching demand-drivene-book acquisition for our library users.

—Wendy E. Moore, acquisitions librarianat University of Georgia Law Library inAthens, Georgia

I have set two project goals for myself(and, consequently, the reference staff)for this year:

• Acquire LibGuides; start convertingexisting guides to LibGuides, andcreate additional ones.

• Organize and administer a facultyliaison program (requested by faculty).

Both are in process.

—Head of Reference and InstructionalServices Barbara Gellis Traub, RittenbergLaw Library, St. John’s University Schoolof Law, Jamaica, New York

We plan to create a searchable databaseof our legal research instructionalmaterials. We currently have coursematerials created by six different librariansstored across various computers andservers without metadata that would allowfor consistent identifying and searching.These materials have been created for bothonline and in-class, for-credit legal researchclasses at the basic, intermediate, andadvanced levels in the J.D. and LL.M.programs. Materials from the researchinstructional sessions for first-year lawstudents and upper-level substantiveclasses will be included as well.A searchable shared database of syllabi,lesson plans, research exercises, lectures,and research guides will better organizeour materials, allow for efficient sharingof work and expertise, and promotecontinuous improvement of teachingmaterials.

—Susan deMaine, research andinstructional librarian, and CatherineLemmer, head of information services, RuthLilly Law Library, Indiana University RobertH. McKinney School of Law, Indianapolis

With staff at three locations servingsix offices, we are planning to launcha unified referencedesk. All requestswill be received in acentral location andthen assigned to staffto complete. We arecurrently exploringsoftware, bothreference trackingand call center(suggested by IT).

—Kathleen Gerwatowski, director ofresearch services and libraries at BrownRudnick LLP in Boston

I am a new law librarian, and afterattending my first AALL meeting in Bostonthis summer, I am inspired to strengthenthe Guam Law Library’s role as a resourcefor self-represented litigants. I plan to startsmall: carving out a dedicated space in thelibrary with our how-to books and legalform books and creating topical researchguides to give patrons a starting point intheir research. But ultimately I envision arobust partnership with the Judiciary ofGuam and our legal services partners(Guam Bar Association, Public Defenders,Guam Legal Services, etc.) so we canprovide classes and workshops to ourpatrons.

—Geri Cepeda, executive director/librarianat the Guam Law Library in Hagåtña, Guam


Christine M. Stouffer

Wendy E. Moore Susan deMaine

Kathleen Gerwatowski

Catherine Lemmer

AALLNov2012:1 10/10/12 1:13 PM Page 31

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views from you

Share Your Views with SpectrumMany law libraries have interesting ordramatic views of cityscapes, mountainranges, or beautiful vistas. Others boastamazing interiors, sparkling facades, orartful landscaping. What views of yourlibrary are meaningful to you? Whether it’sthe atmosphere surrounding your referencedesk or a moment captured on your morningcommute, this is your chance to share itwith AALL.

In order to be publishable, pictures must beof relatively high quality. Although we canwork with a print, digital submissions arebetter. Digital submissions must be high-resolution (300 dpi).

Depending on the number of submissionsreceived, we will publish one or two photosin each issue of Spectrum and post themon AALLNET. Photos will be published on afirst-come, first-served basis. Publicationof a submitted photo is not guaranteed.To submit a photo, or if you havequestions, contact AALL Marketing andCommunications Manager Ashley St. Johnat [email protected].

Yale Law School’s Lillian Goldman Law Library is well known for its architecturally stunning Reading Room. Many famous scholars,lawyers, and politicians have studied under the hand-painted ceiling and gazed through the hand-crafted stained glass windows,pondering the figures and objects scattered among the thick, clear panes. The beauty of the space, however, inspires more than legalscholarship . . .

“I saw the girl several times around school over the next few days, but didn’t approach her. Then one night I was standing at oneend of the long, narrow Yale Law Library talking to another student, Jeff Gleckel, about joining the Yale Law Journal . . . After a whileI suddenly stopped paying attention to his earnest entreaty because I saw the girl again, standing at the other end of the room.For once, she was staring back at me. After a while she closed her book, walked the length of the library, looked me in the eye,and said, ‘If you’re going to keep staring at me and I’m going to keep staring back, we ought to at least know each other’snames. Mine’s Hillary Rodham. What’s yours?’ Hillary, of course, remembers all this, but in slightly different words. I was impressedand so stunned I couldn’t say anything for a few seconds. Finally I blurted my name out. We exchanged a few words, and she left.I don’t know what poor Jeff Gleckel thought was going on, but he never talked to me about the law review again.”-From My Life by William J. Clinton, pp. 181-2 (New York: Alfred A. Knopf) (2004).

Photo submitted by Teresa Miguel-Stearns, associate librarian for administration, and Ryan Harrington, reference librarian for foreignand international law.


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1

OXFORD JOURNALSLAW COLLECTION

ICSID Review - ForeignInvestment Law Journal - NEW

Publishing since 1986, 2 issues per year

ICSID Review is a specialized periodical devoted exclusively to foreign investment lawand international investment disputesettlement. It o�ers legal and business

professionals an up-to-date review of the field and includesarticles, case comments, documents, and book reviews on thelaw and practice relating to foreign investments, as well as theprocedural and substantive law governing investment disputeresolution.

International Data Privacy Law - NEW


Combining thoughtful, high levelanalysis with a practical approach, International Data Privacy Law has aglobal focus on all aspects of privacy and

data protection, including data processing at a company level, international data transfers, civil liberties issues (e.g., government surveillance), technology issues relating to privacy, international security breaches, and conflicts between US privacy rules and European data protection law.

To request a quote, free trial, or more information, please email: [email protected]

Learn more about the collection’s new titles:

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American Law and Economics ReviewArbitration Law Reports and Review British Journal of Criminology, TheCapital Markets Law JournalChinese Journal of International LawEuropean Journal of International LawHuman Rights Law ReviewICSID Review - Foreign Investment Law Journal - NEWIndustrial Law JournalInternational Data Privacy Law- NEWInternational Journal of Constitutional LawInternational Journal of Law and Information TechnologyInternational Journal of Law, Policy and the FamilyInternational Journal of Refugee LawInternational Journal of Transitional JusticeJournal of Church & State

Journal of Competition Law & EconomicsJournal of Conflict and Security LawJournal of Environmental Law Journal of European Competition Law & PracticeJournal of Intellectual Property Law & PracticeJournal of International Criminal JusticeJournal of International Economic LawJournal of Law, Economics, & OrganizationJournal of World Energy Law & Business, TheLaw, Probability and RiskMedical Law ReviewOxford Journal of Legal StudiesPolicing: A Journal of Policy and PracticeReports on Patent, Design and Trade Mark CasesStatute Law ReviewTrusts & Trustees

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AALLNov2012:1 10/10/12 1:12 PM Page 5

The

CR

IVSh

eet

TheNewsletteroftheCommitteeonRelationswithInform

ationVendors

AALL

Volume35,No.1

November2012

Michelle Cosby, CRIV ChairNorth Carolina Central University

School of Law [email protected]

The CRIV SheetLiz Reppe, EditorMinnesota State Law [email protected]

David Hollander, Associate EditorPrinceton University [email protected]

Education SubcommitteeMichelle Cosby, ChairMichael BernierTodd MelnickRebecca RichJacob Sayward

CRIV Web Pages & ToolsMichelle Cosby, ChairJaime KellerCynthia MyersDeb Person

CRIV BlogTodd Melnick, Blog AdministratorJeff Gabel, Assistant Blog AdministratorMichelle Cosby, Chair’s Updates

Member Advocacy (Request forAssistance)

Michelle Cosby, ChairCynthia MyersJacob Sayward

Contents

Editors’ Corner 2

From the Chair 2

CRIV Vendor Roundtable 3

Boston 2012: Annual Meeting Educational Program Summaries 4

New Product Award Call for Nominations 8

New Product AwardSubcommitteeLiz Reppe, ChairMichelle CosbyCynthia MyersRebecca Rich

Vendor Roundtable,Annual MeetingCynthia Myers, ChairMichelle Cosby

Listserv LiaisonsMichelle Cosby, ALL-SIS, PLL-SISJeff Gabel, TS-SISLiz Reppe, SCCLL-SISRebecca Rich, Law-LibJacob Sayward, Consumer Advocacy

Caucus

SecretaryJamie Keller

CRIV Websitewww.aallnet.org/main-menu/Leadership-Governance/committee/activecmtes/criv.html

CRIV Toolshttp://www.aallnet.org/main-menu/Advocacy/vendorrelations/CRIV-Tools

AALLCRIVNov2012:AALLCRIV_May 10/10/12 10:40 AM Page 1

Welcome to the AALL Annual Meeting issue ofThe CRIV Sheet. We selected programs to reviewand summarize that relate to CRIV’s mission. I hopethose who were not able to attend these sessions willfind the articles helpful. The purpose of The CRIVSheet is to provide its readers with useful materialconcerning vendor relations. If you have ideas forfuture articles, please let me or David Hollanderknow. At the end of this issue of The CRIV Sheetyou will find information about how to nominate avendor for the 2013 New Product Award. Last year’swinner was Bloomberg/BNA.

I’d like to thank Todd Melnick, who served asco-editor with me last year. He has moved his effortsand skills to the new CRIV Blog. David Hollanderis the new associate editor and provided valuableassistance with this issue.

The CRIV Sheet’s editorial policy is onlineat www.aallnet.org/main-menu/Advocacy/vendorrelations/CRIV-Sheet/policy-criv.html. If youhave comments about past articles, I welcome yourfeedback.

The CRIV Sheet Vol. 35 No. 1 November 2012

Editor’s Corner

2

Minnesota State Law LibraryLLiizz RReeppppee

Thank you for reading the first issue of The CRIVSheet for the 2012-2013 term! I am following ShaunEsposito, and I will be handing CRIV off to CynthiaMyers for the 2013-2014 term.

During our 2011-2012 term, the committee was ableto establish the CRIV Blog, which is available atcrivblog.com. CRIV will continue on this newadventure, posting news from Vendor Liaison MargieMaes, news from the chair, and other topics ofinterest to the AALL membership. The CRIV Blog also has links to The CRIV Sheet, the Guide to FairBusiness Practices for Legal Publishers, and otheruseful information. We encourage AALL members tofollow our blog and comment often! The committeehas also moved forward and put the Request for Assistance form online. This form, available at www.aallnet.org/main-menu/Advocacy/vendorrelations/request-assistance.html, allows AALL members to submit issues, provide contactinformation, and upload supporting documentationeasily. To this end, CRIV will also continue toencourage vendors to voluntarily comply with theGuide to Fair Business Practices for Legal Publishers,available at www.aallnet.org/main-menu/Advocacy/vendorrelations/docs/fair-practice-guide.html.

At the AALL Annual Meeting in Boston, CRIV hostedits annual Vendor Roundtable. The topic this yearwas e-Books in the Legal Profession. I would like tothank all of the librarians and vendors who attendedthe discussion this year. You can read the summary of our Roundtable, along with many other programsummaries, in this issue of The CRIV Sheet.

CRIV will continue to move forward and work towardthe committee charge. The majority of CRIV work is done through subcommittees. Each subcommittee is led by the CRIV chair or an appointed CRIVmember, and each CRIV member serves on multiplesubcommittees, as well as contributes to the CRIVBlog. I would like to thank all continuing and newmembers of CRIV for their willingness to serve andhelp CRIV grow. Finally, CRIV will continue to workclosely with the vendor liaison and strive to continueto foster relationships with other committees, specialinterest sections, and caucuses.

For more information about CRIV, including usefultools, please visit www.aallnet.org/main-menu/Advocacy/vendorrelations.

From the ChairNorth Carolina Central University School of Law LibraryMMiicchheellllee CCoossbbyy


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The CRIV Sheet Vol. 35 No. 1 November 2012 3

The topic of this year’s CRIV Vendor Roundtablewas e-books. CRIV Chair Michelle Cosby ledthe discussion. Representatives from ALM,Bloomberg/BNA, Fastcase, LexisNexis, and ThomsonReuters provided the vendor perspective.

When asked if they were offering or pursuing e-books,all of the vendors responded that they either hade-books or were working on developing them. Lexishas recently partnered with Overdrive to providecontent. Thomson Reuters plans to have 500 titlesavailable by the end of 2012. Fastcase has recentlyreleased advance sheets for a variety of e-readers. Itplans on releasing 800-1,000 by the end of 2012. Theywill be available via Amazon, iTunes, and Google Play.

Cosby asked the group members how they envisionedlending of their e-book titles would work. Therepresentative from LexisNexis stated that thecompany wants the content to circulate the sameas print. A member of the audience stated that largelaw firms want to be able to sign out an e-book tomultiple users at once. They also need e-books towork in several locations, not just at the firm’s office.Thomson Reuters is working on its own platform, sothey were not sure if e-lending would integrate witha law library’s existing library system. The issues ofhow to handle consortia and interlibrary loan alsocame up. No one had an answer to how those wouldbe dealt with yet.

Ed Walters from Fastcase queried the group as towhether people wanted or expected e-books to bedifferent from print books. Specifically, should therebe greater and more flexible use for an e-book thanthere might be for print format? An audience memberstated they ought to be the same. Others stated thereought to be greater functionality for an e-book, suchas linking.

The group also discussed pricing models. Librariansdesired unlimited use and were nervous after seeinghow nonlegal publishers have handled e-books forlibraries. Some of the vendors seemed to think thee-book pricing would be based on, or similar to,pricing for print, though several predicted thatunlimited views and circulation would be permitted.Walters opined that perhaps the mold should bebroken, and they ought to be looking at what e-bookswill look like in 10 years, not what books looked likefive years ago. He stated he thought e-books ought tobe more dynamic. Books have to be static, but e-booksdo not. A representative from Bloomberg/BNA addedthat it was difficult to talk about 10 years in the futurewhen the technology is constantly morphing.

Privacy was brought up by an audience member. Shequeried what data was being captured by the vendor,specifically, whether the companies retain informationon what content a user has viewed. The representativefrom Thomson Reuters stated that they are capturinginformation at an aggregate, not individual, level.They do this to track what part of the content in ane-book is most valuable. Personal notes added tocontent are posted separately, so they are notavailable to the company. LexisNexis tracks whohas a particular title checked out and provides thatinformation to the library, but LexisNexis itself doesnot have access to that information. It was noted thattracking might also vary by country. Other countrieshave more stringent privacy rules than the U.S.

Librarians asked whether content might be takenoff a title list after it had been purchased. Therepresentative from LexisNexis indicated the titleshould still be available, but the library would notget updates. The issue of updating sparked manyquestions. Librarians wondered how titles would beupdated—would each update be a separate unit, orwould it be integrated? Vendors expressed a desirefor librarian input on that. A representative fromBloomberg/BNA stated that if updates are mergedwith the existing title, it would affect citation andpaging. It was pointed out that e-books could havedynamic pagination, and page numbers would changeif font size was changed. A suggested solution forconsistent citations was to cite sections rather thanpages.

Librarians also wanted to know if each update wouldneed to be purchased separately or if it would be partof the title. Vendors responded that it might dependon how the title has been set up—as a subscriptionor single purchase. Standing orders would likely beautomatically updated. Otherwise, libraries would benotified of an update and given the opportunity topurchase it. An audience member stated that shethought the monograph model didn’t make sense fore-books. Others wondered if the e-book would haveto be checked in for it to be updated or if the updatescould be pushed to a checked-out e-book. It didn’tseem as though that issue had been fully resolved yet.One audience member wanted the option to skipupdates to save on costs. She requested predictabilityin updating schedules so librarians could plan whichones to miss.

There were questions about bundling. Vendorswondered if customers would want the opportunityto buy print alone, print and e-book, or just e-book.

CRIV Vendor RoundtableMinnesota State Law LibraryLLiizz RReeppppee


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Program C-3: Law Library Collections Post-Microform:Future Implications for the Newest Legacy Format

Fordham Law LibraryJJaaccoobb SSaayywwaarrdd


The vendor responses indicated that bundling is notcurrently being planned for most legal e-books.

Vendors asked for feedback from the librarians abouttheir customers’ preferences and the demand for e-books. An academic law librarian stated that herpatrons don’t care about the format as long as theycan get it quickly. No one expressed that there was a huge demand for e-books from patrons. Librariansstated that they see a variety in the types of devicesbeing used, so patrons will want cross-platform e-book access. One audience member opined thatsomething unique has to be done to attract attorneysto e-books.

The representative from ALM asked librarians whatthey don’t like about e-books. Difficulty getting text

out of a document was a concern. Simple copy andpaste is needed. Navigation also needs to improve.Tables of content and indices need to be included and must be easy to use.

The last issue raised was how users would access e-books. Would they be linked on a law library’sintranet? Would they have a separate entry in thecatalog? One librarian commented that at her schoola student had found a title before it had even beencataloged. The book had come up in a Google search.

The roundtable ended with the vendors reiteratingtheir desire for input from law librarians. It was a lively conversation, and many questions wentunanswered. I hope vendors will continue thisdiscussion by making user testing and focus groupsavailable to their customers.

Speakers: Laura E. Ray, moderator and coordinator,Cleveland State University, Cleveland MarshallCollege of Law Library; Jerry Dupont, Law LibraryMicroform Consortium; and Terrence McCormack,The University of Buffalo, State University of NewYork

“Law Library Collections Post-Microform” was not setup as a debate between its two key speakers. TerrenceMcCormack and Jerry Dupont actually agreed on key issues, including the importance of foresight inpreservation and the role microforms may play inthat process. They both criticized the rash decision-making and rushed discard process that leads to theloss of microforms as an archival tool. Although theyboth spoke to law libraries’ future as a place withfewer (or no) microform holdings, they focused ontwo different aspects of preparing for this future.McCormack addressed what libraries can and shoulddo on their own, and Dupont dealt with how andwhy libraries should be working with groups like hisown Law Library Microform Consortium (LLMC).

McCormack began by telling the audience of his ownexperiences at the University of Buffalo. His libraryhad a large microform collection, but its microformsubscriptions were dwindling for a number of

reasons. Manufacturers were no longer making theequipment necessary for reading and printing thesematerials. Patrons hated using microforms, andmicroform use did not yield helpful usage statistics.His library canceled many of its microformsubscriptions because of their cost and the presence of digital alternatives.

McCormack also highlighted the reasons his librarywas keeping some subscriptions. Microforms weremore durable and reliable than some other media.Additionally, there were some microform subscriptions(including governor’s bill jackets) for which theUniversity of Buffalo was one of the last subscribers.

Nonetheless, the trends with microform were clear.Libraries might maintain their existing microformholdings, but they were less likely to add newmicroforms to their collection. Even if they continuedmany of their existing microform subscriptions, theywere unlikely to add new ones. They were also likelyto move more of their microforms into storage.

McCormack stressed the importance of librariesputting together actual plans for how they would dealwith microforms in the future, even if that involvedeliminating these holdings. These plans should be

Boston 2012: Annual Meeting Educational ProgramSummaries


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Program C-5: Hot Topics in Copyright for Librarians

Fordham Law LibraryTToodddd MMeellnniicckk


devised within the context of the library’s overallmission, and they should be incorporated into theircollection development policies.

Dupont spent his time at the podium focusing on hisexperiences at LLMC and his work with law librariesgiving him their materials for archiving. LLMC’s “old” model involved libraries loaning print materialsto LLMC for conversion into a microformat. When the print materials were returned to a library, amicroform reproduction would be included. LLMCwould also make these newly scanned materialsavailable to other libraries.

Nowadays, libraries are more likely to donatematerials to LLMC (in the course of their weedingprojects) instead of merely lending these materials.Because technology has evolved so much in the past half-century, LLMC’s archiving has moved from a microform focus to a digital focus. Dupontconfirmed that there is “no going back” tomicroforms, citing (as McCormack did) the shrinkingavailability of microform equipment and maintenancesupport.

Dupont discussed the importance of redundancy and“backing up” these materials. Although LLMC initiallyintended to back up all scanned materials by creatingat least one microform copy, it can no longer keep up with converting all its materials to microformat.LLMC ensures a small amount of material isconverted to microform by subcontracting out toanother company, but LLMC forgoes this process for most materials because it can no longer handlemicroform conversion itself.

Dupont stressed that LLMC still takes its archival and“backup” mission seriously, repeatedly referencing an

underground storage space in Kansas that LLMC uses for these purposes. LLMC sends donated printmaterials there after they have been digitized.Microform backups and “master” copies in otherformats are also stored there. LLMC also works withonline hosting companies to ensure that multipledigital copies of its holdings are stored ongeographically separated servers.

Questions at the end of the program for both speakersled to some further warnings about future librarypractices. Dupont hoped libraries would give LLMCenough lead time (more than three days) to considerpotential donations, as their commitment tometiculously checking their holdings at the volumeand page level took a while. He also warned ofoverreliance on digital archives, even bringing up a recent example of cyberwarfare (in a nonlibrarycontext) as a lesson for libraries that are abandoningtheir microforms too hastily. McCormack pointed outthat interlibrary loan of microforms has dropped soprecipitously that the only borrowing in that formattoday is for materials that don’t exist in any otherformat.

Between both speakers, there was one overall pointlibrarians were meant to take away. Libraries shouldbe putting more thought into discarding both theirmicroforms and older print materials. Instead ofdiscarding titles on an ad hoc basis, libraries shouldformulate plans for what role microforms will play in their future collections. Instead of discarding older materials in a rushed and rash manner, librariesshould contact a group like LLMC to check ifadequate coverage of these materials is available toother libraries.

Speakers: George Pike, University of Pittsburgh,Braco Law Library; Emily R. Florio, Fish &Richardson, P.C.; Kristen McCallion, Fish &Richardson P.C.; Kevin Miles, Fulbright & JaworskiLLP; Steven J. Melamut, University of North Carolinaat Chapel Hill.

This session was primarily an update on current andongoing issues in copyright law that are of particularinterest to librarians. The topics covered and asummary of each are provided below.

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) would have made it much easier forcontent owners to compel site owners to take down

material and to punish contributory infringement by search engines, internet services providers, creditcard companies, and online advertisers doing businesswith foreign websites engaged in piracy. Internetcompanies were opposed to the legislation because it would require legitimate companies to police thepirates and would hold legitimate sites responsible if users could use those sites to link to sites offeringpirated material. This would leave small internetstartups vulnerable to the huge cost of defendingagainst lawsuits by content providers. Internetcompanies like Wikipedia, Reddit, and Boing Boingwent dark on Wednesday, January 18, 2012, to protestthis legislation. Such pressure from these companies


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and web users lead to the withdrawal of thelegislation. Content owners may have lost the firstround of this fight, but an amended SOPA could bereintroduced.

On September 12, 2011, the Authors Guild and othersfiled suit against the HathiTrust and its partnerlibraries for copyright violation. The HathiTrust, adigital library of almost 10 million volumes, mostlydigitized through the Google Library Project, intendedto make books in the public domain or those undercopyright but for which the copyright holder couldnot be found (orphan works) available online. Only“snippets” of copyrighted books would be madeavailable online. Motions for summary judgmentwere filed in the case in July 2012. The AuthorsGuild argued that the large scale copying of booksby HathiTrust is a prima facie case of copyrightinfringement and is not permitted under the libraryexception (Section 108 of the Copyright Act) or thefair use exception (Section 107 of the Copyright Act).HathiTrust argued that the Copyright Act permitslibraries to digitize books without permission of thecopyright holder for purposes of preservation, search,and to make them accessible to people withdisabilities.

On May 11, 2012, Judge Orinda Evans of the UnitedStates District Court for the Northern District of

Georgia handed down her long-awaited decision inthe Georgia State case. In April 2008, CambridgeUniversity Press, Oxford University Press, and SAGEPublications filed suit against Georgia State Universityand its library for the library’s practice of placingcopies of book chapters and articles on electroniccourse reserve without the permission of thecopyright holders. Opinions differ on the long-termconsequences of Judge Evans’ opinion, but mostexperts see the case as a victory for fair use in theacademic library setting. Nearly all of the counts ofinfringement alleged by the plaintiffs were dismissedfollowing fair use analysis. The judge did find somemerit in infringement claims where the amount copiedwas more than 10 percent of a book’s total page countor where a clear market existed in licenses for digitalexcerpts of the book in question.

The Kirtsaeng case (Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons,Inc.) will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court inOctober of this year. The Second Circuit Court ofAppeals held that the “first sale doctrine” articulatedin Section 109 of the Copyright Act does not apply tobooks manufactured abroad. Library groups like theAmerican Library Association are concerned that anadverse ruling in this case would make it difficult forlibraries to loan books that were manufactured outsideof the U.S. without the copyright holder’s permission.

Program G-4: Antitrust Considerations and the Association

Fordham Law LibraryTToodddd MMeellnniicckk

Speakers: Shaun Esposito, CRIV chair 2011-2012,University of Arizona College of Law; Stephen W.Armstrong, Montgomery, McCracken, Walker &Rhodes, LLP; Margaret Maes, AALL vendor liaison,executive director of the Legal InformationPreservation Alliance (LIPA)

There is not much dispute that AALL is the sort of organization whose activities the ShermanAntitrust Act was intended to regulate. The UnitedStates Supreme Court held in American Society ofMechanical Engineers, Inc. v. Hydrolevel Corp.,456 U.S. 556 (1982) that a professional organizationcan be held liable for the anticompetitive activities of its members acting under the apparent authority of the organization.

The question, therefore, is not whether the actions of AALL staff and members are within the ambit ofantitrust law. The question is what behavior might be considered by courts to be anticompetitive. This

question is of particular interest to members of CRIV, whose official charge involves educating the Association about the practices, including thesometimes dubious practices, of information vendors.It is certainly possible that something written in TheCRIV Sheet or on the CRIV Blog or sent to a listservby the CRIV chair could have an effect, maybe even asubstantial effect, on the market for legal information.When does communication by CRIV about vendorpractices become anticompetitive? Under the ShermanAct, what is CRIV permitted to say and do on behalfof the AALL membership? Can CRIV effectively servethe members of AALL under these strictures?

My conclusion after having attended this session isthat CRIV is not meaningfully hobbled by federalantitrust law and that it can absolutely meet its chargewithout running afoul of that law. CRIV can discussviolations of the Code of Fair Business Practices andcan even engage in discussions about the price ofvendor products and services without violating the


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Sherman Act. As with any law, the issue is fraughtwith exceptions and provisos. But generally speaking,open and honest dialogue about issues relatingto vendor activity, including pricing, is protectedunder the first amendment and is not, by itself,anticompetitive. The Sherman Act punishes collusionin restraint of trade, not the dissemination ofinformation that might have the effect ofdiscouraging a buyer from doing business witha particular vendor.

In the program’s longest and most revealing section,Stephen W. Armstrong, a lawyer who is an expertin antitrust, delivered a primer on how the primaryfederal antitrust statute, the Sherman Act, affectsthe activities of professional associations like AALL.Very simply, Armstrong explained, the ShermanAct prohibits combinations in restraint of trade.Professional associations are combinations. Thesecombinations can violate the law in ways that areper se anticompetitive, e.g. price fixing, limitingproduction, or refusing to deal. Associations can alsoviolate the law if they engage in joint acts that arenot per se unlawful but have the effect of harmingcompetition. Many joint activities commonly enteredinto by professional groups, such as formingpurchasing consortia, publishing salary surveys, andlobbying, are not unlawful on their face but couldbe considered restraints of trade if their effect on themarket is found to be anticompetitive.

What can AALL members, staff, and officers do, then,to avoid violating antitrust laws? Avoiding per serestraint of trade is relatively straightforward.Members of the Association cannot agree to set theprice that they are willing to pay for a particularservice or product. They cannot conspire to refuse topurchase a particular product or service or agree topurchase it only under certain conditions. Neither theAssociation nor a group of its members can solicitor invite a group action such as a boycott. Jointactivities that are not per se unlawful can be engagedin by the Association if they are carefully crafted toencourage competition rather than restrain it. TheAssociation can publish wage and pricing surveys aslong as they are voluntary, aggregated rather thanspecific, and do not reveal current or projectedpricing. Joint purchasing agreements are acceptableif they do not control an overly large portion of themarket. Guides to fair business practices must bevoluntary, cannot be used to fix prices, and mustbe prepared with the participation of all interestedparties. Lobbying is acceptable if it is consistent witha competitive market.

Following Armstrong’s review of antitrust law andits significance to AALL, Margie Maes and ShaunEsposito offered hypothetical situations involvingactivities by law librarians and asked Armstrong

to give his opinion on whether he thought theseactivities were violations of antitrust law. Rather thango through each hypothetical here, I will summarizewhat I learned from the opinions the lawyer offered:

• Consortial purchasing arrangements like NELLCOare not anticompetitive if they are limited (i.e.,do not control the entire industry), if they createdemonstrable efficiencies for both buyers andsellers, and if they allow active participation byall parties.

• CRIV can report on particular vendors violatingfair business practices and can tell readersabout vendors that abide by those practices.Disseminating valid information that has theeffect of harming a particular vendor’s businessis not a per se antitrust violation. CRIV cannotsolicit joint action against the violator, and itshould allow the violator to participate in thediscussion and present its side of the story.

• A small group of library directors can sit aroundand complain about a particular vendor withoutraising the specter of an antitrust violation. But itwould be a violation if the members of that groupagreed among themselves not to pay more than aspecific price for a service or product.

• Parallel conduct is not collusion. It is not anantitrust violation for two or more AALL membersto make the same decision with regard to a price aslong as they did not make that decision in concertwith one another.

• Vendors must be meaningfully included in themembership of AALL. An organization is less likelyto engage in, or be seen to engage in, a restraint oftrade if both sides of any potential transaction arerepresented by that organization.

• Large organizations tend to be risk-averse. Theywant to err on the side of caution with regardto antitrust law because the costs of defendingagainst an antitrust suit and the cost of payingdamages in the event of an adverse judgmentcan be considerable. But an organization mustnot be so averse to risk that it regulates itself intoirrelevance. What I take away from this session—and this is my personal opinion and not a matterof CRIV or AALL policy—is that a free and openexchange of information participated in by bothvendors and librarians is not likely to lead to asuccessful antitrust case against AALL. No AALLmember, officer, or staff member should everengage in per se restraints of trade or call for orencourage boycotts or joint action of any kind.But free and open exchanges of information,even about matters of price, have a place at ourconferences and in our publications.


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Have you discovered any great new library productsthis past year? If so, let us know! It is time tonominate these products for AALL’s New ProductAward.

The New Product Award honors a new andinnovative commercial legal information product thatenhances or improves existing law library servicesand/or procedures. New products may include, but arenot limited to, printed material, computer hardwareand/or software, or other products or devices thataid or improve access to legal information, thelegal research process, or procedures for technicalprocessing of library materials. Any product that hasbeen reintroduced in a new format or with substantialchanges is also eligible. A new product is one thathas been in the library-related marketplace for twoyears or less.

All AALL members are encouraged to think about theexciting new information products being used in theirlibraries and to send us their nominations for thisaward. Interested vendors may also self-nominatetheir new products. Recipients of the New ProductAward need not hold membership in AALL.Nominations can be sent by mail to the addressbelow or via email.

To Submit a Nomination for the 2013 AwardNomination forms can be found on the CRIVwebsite under the new product award tab or atwww.aallnet.org/committee/criv/news/newproductform.pdf. The deadline for receipt of submissions isJanuary 31.

Librarian NominationsIf you are a librarian nominating a product, pleasegive as much information about the product aspossible. The New Product Award Subcommittee willcontact the publisher of the product for any furtherinformation required.

Vendor/Publisher NominationsIf you are a vendor or publisher nominating ahardcopy product, please submit the form alongwith a sample product, if available. If you arenominating a web-based or online product,please submit the form with all necessary contactinformation, including URL(s) and temporary loginand password information.

For hardcopy products, brochures, and/or any othermaterials, we recommend that you send four copiesfor the New Product Award Subcommittee and theAALL Awards Committee.

Submit completed forms and documents byJanuary 31 to:

Liz ReppeMinnesota State Law LibraryRoom G25, Minnesota Judicial Center25 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.St. Paul, MN 55155651/[email protected]

New Product Award Call for Nominations


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Documents

AALL Spectrum - aallnet.org