Criminal Law Library Blog

Take the Lead:
AALL Leadership Academy
October 3-4, 2008
Hyatt Lodge
2815 Jorie Blvd
Oak Brook, Illinois 60523

REGISTER ONLINE NOW!

Registration Deadline: June 30, 2008

Law librarians in the early stages of their careers can get ahead in the profession by attending the first AALL Leadership Academy, October 3-4, 2008.

Train for leadership roles by acquiring both the self-awareness and strategies you need to merge as a leader within your organization and the profession. Academy participants will use self assessment tools, group exercises, case studies, and skill practice to develop eight key signatures of leadership. You Will Gain Key Leadership Strategies:

Identify and capitalize on your unique strengths while understanding how they may differ from others on your team.

Frame productive questions to understand your role in your workplace and the profession.

Expand your capacity for strategic thinking and decision mapping.

Increase your visibility, using meetings, speeches, and memos to show the value you bring to your organization.

Learn to work effectively with varied personalities and bridge generations.

Grow your capacity for creativity, innovation, and fresh ideas.

Build trust by translating your values into a vision for your leadership and organization.

Enhance your ability to embrace change.

Faculty:

The program will feature speaker Dr. Barbara Mackoff, leadership educator and widely-acclaimed expert in understanding the way leaders think. She is the author of five books, has been featured on "The Today Show" and "All Things Considered," as well as in The New York Times, USA Today, and the Washington Post, and was a keynote speaker for the Special Libraries Association.

Application and Selection

The academy application process is open to AALL members. Applications are accepted May 1-June 30, and 35 fellows will be selected and notified by mid-August. Applications will be accepted online and a link to the application will be available on this page beginning May 1. Interested applicants will be asked to outline professional experience, explain career/professional goals and give detail about participation and service to the profession.

Interested applicants should seek to obtain two professional recommendations (at least one from someone in a supervisory or managerial role). Please request your recommendations be sent to AALL Education Manager Celeste R. Smith at csmith@aall.org.

Selected fellows will participate in pre-engagement exercises, have an opportunity to obtain a mentor, and receive ongoing leadership development opportunities.

The cost of attendance will be $150.00. It will cover two nights of hotel, meals and academy materials. Fellows are responsible for covering transportation.

We would like to thank BNA for its sponsorship of the AALL Leadership Academy.

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Posted In: Conferences, Seminars and Webinars , Library News and Views , Library Organization and Planning , News from Organizations

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by: David Badertscher

For those who have not visited us, the New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library of New York County (sometimes referred to as the New York Criminal Law Library) is located in lower Manhattan near the Brooklyn Bridge, City Hall, and State and Federal courthouses. Like other Supreme Court libraries located throughout the State of New York, it operates under the
auspices of the New York Unified Court System and participates in the various state-wide initiatives sponsored by the OCA Office of Legal Information.

Although the primary focus of this library is to provide reference and research support to personnel of the Criminal Term, its actual responsibilities and obligations are quite broad. Using its various collections in all formats, including digital, in conjunction with various web and online services, including a website and a weblog, this library functions as both an information repository and an information service. These resources and services enable it to reach out to patrons both local and worldwide, as time and resources permit. Part of the library's responsibility is to provide support as needed and operational oversight to the New York County Public Access Law Library, which is charged with serving those members of the public who need law-related information.

In order to discharge these responsibilities with limited staff, it has been necessary for the library to work cooperatively with library consortia and other groups to provide the added resources and services required to maintain an acceptable level of service. One of the organizations that has been especially helpful to us is the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO). The library has been a member of METRO since 1981. It was through METRO that we first learned of QuestionPoint and were invited to participate in a 2002 pilot project. With some initial apprehension we accepted the offer and became an active participant in the latter part of that year. The New York County Public Access Access Law Library has also been very helpful in enabling this library to maintain an acceptable level of web based reference services. Since may of our QuestionPoint users are public patrons a majority of those questions are now handled by that library; Theodore Pollack, the Senior Law Librarian at the Public Access Library also serves as my backup administrator for QuestionPoint. We are grateful for the assistance of Ted and his staff in helping support this effort.

Despite some initial reservations that we might not be able to keep up with expectations and workflow, the use of QuestionPoint has been quite successful for us. It serves as a useful and important adjunct to our other web based services in both reaching out to our patrons and through its referral features. It enables us to augment our resources in ways otherwise impossible. For example on more than one occasion we have used QuestionPoint to search worldwide for materials that would otherwise have been unobtainable. In order to make it work for us, however, we have needed to avoid some of the features that are essential to others. We do not use chat or any form of instant messaging because we simply do not have the appropriate staff resources to make this work satisfactorily for us. We have not, however, found the lack of chat a limitation at all.

Over the past few years many libraries, including this one, have been involved in lively discussions as to how best to respond to demands for digitized information which can be retrieved at any time from a variety of devices, both stationary and mobile. After some experimentation, our response has included the use of blogging technology coupled with rss feeds. In 2004 we introduced the New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library blog powered by Bloglines, http://www.bloglines.com/blog/pll . It incorporates many features including a link to our QuestionPoint form for submitting reference questions, RSS feeds, and the capability of storing online reference, legislative, and other information useful to patrons. This blog based outreach service also serves as a vehicle for sending New York Legislative Activity Reports, updated information regarding appellate court criminal decisions originating from this court, and other relevant updated information directly to the work stations of judges and judicial staff on a regular, ongoing basis. It is popular with both court personnel and public users and remains our most effective outreach service on the web. As of April 29, 2008 it is visited by an average of 153 patrons per day and 1,069 per week. We obtain this and additional statistical information through special software designed to collect statistical information regarding website use. Reports are sent to me weekly.

Although the New York Supreme Court Criminal Term blog remains both useful and popular, we have found it necessary to also create a new blog, www.criminallawlibraryblog.com, to take advantage of added features which cannot be incorporated effectively into the original blog. For example, the new blog includes both a QuestionPoint form for submitting questions and a direct link to the public portion of the QuestionPoint knowledgbase. Using this feature, users are able to type in key words which will in turn retrieve questions/answers in the knowledgbase which correspond to their queries. The global knowledgbase feature is located near the upper left part of the screen of our newest blog. This particularly innovative feature has been developed and included as a direct result of the inspiring online QuestionPoint presentation this summer by Peter Armenti of the Digital Reference Team at the Library of Congress. This blog also includes the capability for uploading documents not currently on the web, a useful feature not included in the original blog. Finally, the Criminal Law Library Blog has substantially greater search capabilities. In order to adequately describe the added features included in the Criminal Law Library Blog, we are calling it an "added value blog."

We are encouraged by the positive responses from library patrons both inside and outside the courts to these services. These responses along with statistics gathered and staff observations demonstrate that by introducing these initiatives along with others sponsored by the Office of Legal Information, the library has been able to meet reference, research, and access needs of patrons far more effectively than in the past. Our hope is to be able to continue developing web based services and to work together with others to improve access and services for all of our libraries. Recently I have taken classes offered by the Unified Court System in the setting up and use of WIKI's, preparing and tabulating web based surveys, aa well training in the development of public access applications using specialized web based software. Only time will tell if we are able to inplement additional services using these applications.
_____________________________________
*This posting is based on an article recently prepared for publication in a future issue of Pro Se the newsletter of the New York State Unified Court Law Libraries Association.

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Primary Research Group has published Library Use of E-books, 2008-09 Edition, (isbn 1-57440-101-7) and would like to share some of the results. *

Data in the report is based on a survey of 75 academic, public and special libraries.. Librarians detail their plans on how they plan to develop their e-book collections, what they think of e-book readers and software, and which e-book aggregators and publishers appeal to them most and why. Other issues covered include: library production of e-books and collection digitization, e-book collection information literacy efforts, use of e-books in course reserves and inter-library loan, e-book pricing and inflation issues, acquisition sources and strategies for e-books and other issues of concern to libraries and book publishers.

Some of the findings of the 110 page report are:

• Libraries in the sample expected to renew over 77% of their current contracts.

• Well over 81% of the sample cataloged their e-book collection and listed it in their online library catalog.

• E-book spending by libraries is growing rapidly in 2008 but by significantly less than in 2007.

• For the most part, librarians in the sample felt that their patrons were less skilled in using e-book collections than they were in using databases of magazine, newspaper and journal articles.

• The libraries in the sample had MARC records for a mean of approximately 74% of the e-books in their collections.

• Many libraries reported significant use of electronic directories. 12.5% reported extensive use and 30% said that use was significant. The larger libraries reported the heaviest use.

• Use of e-books in the hard sciences was particularly high. More than 30% of participants said that use of e-books in the hard sciences (defined as chemistry, physics and biology) was quite extensive and another 26% noted significant use.

• Libraries in the sample maintained a print version for a mean of 24% of the e-books in their e-book collections.

• Nearly 21% of the libraries in our sample have digitized out-of-copyright books in their collections in order to make their contents more available to their patrons.

• E-books account for only about 3.9% of the books on course reserve, with a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 30%.

• Nearly 70% of the sample’s total spending on e-books was with aggregators, while just over 24.6% of the total spending was spent with individual publishers.

Data is broken out by library budget size, for US and non-US libraries and for academic and non-academic libraries. The report presents more than 300 tables of data on e-book use by libraries, as well as analysis and commentary.

For further information view our website at www.PrimaryResearch.com.
____________________________________
*It would be interesting to know how many, if any, of the respondents to this Survey were law libraries. While doing some work in related legal reference information in digital formats, I was suprised at how few references I found which mentioned e-books.
David Badertscher

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As information becomes available to us, we post information about the status of various initiatives including the Working Group for Bibliograph Control and RDA. On May 1 we received the following correspondence from Richard Amelung, the AALL representative to this group:

Dear all--

As your AALL representative on the Working Group on the Future of
Bibliographic Control, I have been asked to forward to you the letter
below released today by Deanna Marcum, Associate Librarian for Library
Services, Library of Congress.

Richard Amelung

May 1, 2008

Dear Colleagues,

The Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control submitted its
final report, On the Record, to me on January 9, 2008. I have
distributed the document to three groups within the Library of Congress
for analysis and comment. I expect to respond formally to the report in
early June.

On the Record contains more than one hundred recommendations aimed at
the Library of Congress, other specific organizations and entities, and
to the broader library community. In the words of the members of the
Working Group, they envision "a future for bibliographic control that
will be collaborative, decentralized, international in scope, and
Web-based…change will happen quickly, and bibliographic control will be
dynamic, not static." The group urged the readers of the report to view
it as a " 'call to action' that informs and broadens participation in
discussion and debate, conveys a sense of urgency, stimulates
collaboration, and catalyzes thoughtful and deliberative action." The
many recommendations suggest ways in which the necessary systemic change
can take place.

When the Library of Congress issues its response, we will be focusing
on how it will position itself to work in this new, networked, and
collaborative environment, not simply on single recommendations. We
recognize that any cataloging code (AACR2 or the proposed Resource
Description and Access--RDA) is but a part of this environment.

It may seem counterintuitive that we issue a joint statement with our
colleagues from the National Agricultural Library and the National
Library of Medicine on RDA before we issue a full response to On the
Record, but we do so because the international Joint Steering Committee
and the Committee of Principals continue their work, and because so many
librarians are asking about the national libraries' plans to implement
the proposed code.

We are pleased to report that we three libraries have worked together
to establish an approach to the consideration of RDA in the attached
joint statement.

We ask that you bear in mind that it is the entire bibliographic system
that needs to be considered and reworked, and the cataloging code is
only one small piece of the work that lies ahead.

Sincerely,

Deanna B. Marcum
Associate Librarian for Library Services
The Library of Congress

Joint Statement of the Library of Congress, the National Library of
Medicine, and the National Agricultural Library on Resource Description
and Access

May 1, 2008

Leaders of the Library of Congress (LC), the National Library of
Medicine (NLM), and the National Agricultural Library (NAL) met on March
10, 2008 to discuss the recommendation from On the Record: the Report of
the Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic
Control to suspend work on RDA.

The group agreed that the Joint Steering Committee for Development of
RDA's work on Resource Description and Access (RDA) is an important
international initiative that has been underway for several years and is
one that requires continued collaboration with our international
partners who have joined with the United States in a global initiative
to update bibliographic practices to make the library resources more
accessible and useful to users. The participants also agreed that their
decisions whether or not to implement this new standard must be made
jointly. Further, participants agreed that LC, NLM, and NAL have
collective leadership responsibilities to assist the U.S. library and
information community to remain relevant and vital in an increasingly
digital future. Key to this role is providing a broad assessment and
commitment to RDA if they believe this standard will further national
strategic goals for improved bibliographic control and access.

Colleagues from NLM and NAL are most concerned that a systematic review
of RDA has not yet been possible and, given the potential magnitude and
broad impact of the changes, such a review is essential. While draft
chapters of RDA have been available, a clear, concise, and cohesive
understanding of the overall impact of the entire standard is needed.
Until the completion of the rules and the availability of the RDA online
tool, reviewers will not be able fully to assess their impact on:

--Description, access, and navigation practices for a broad array of
users and types of materials

--Current and future electronic carriers and information management
systems to support RDA goals

--Estimated costs for implementation and maintenance during a time of
flat, even reduced, budgets

The three national libraries agreed on the following approach: First,
we jointly commit to further development and completion of RDA. Second,
following its completion, a decision to implement the rules will be
based upon the positive evaluation of RDA's utility within the library
and information environment, and criteria reflecting the technical,
operational, and financial implications of the new code. This will
include an articulation of the business case for RDA, including benefits
to libraries and end users and cost analyses for retraining staff and
re-engineering cataloging processes.

Together, we will:

--Jointly develop milestones for evaluating how we will implement RDA

--Conduct tests of RDA that determine if each milestone has been
reached; paying particular attention to the benefits and costs of
implementation

--Widely distribute analyses of benefits and costs for review by the
U.S. library community

--Consult with the vendor and bibliographic utility communities to
address their concerns about RDA

Included among the tests that will be developed to assist in
formulating implementation decisions:

--Usability testing with cataloging staff, i.e. librarians and
technicians, experienced and newer staff from the three national
libraries in consultation with representatives from the U.S. library
community (including OCLC and library vendors) about its participation
in the process

--Testing of records for a broad array of materials created during
usability studies to determine compatibility with existing record sets
and ensuring records are usable and understandable for our end users

--Testing the feasibility of integrating this new cataloging standard
into all relevant technology systems

The three institutions agreed that these steps will be followed and, if
there is a decision to implement RDA, that the implementation would not
occur before the end of 2009.

The collective resolve is to complete the development of RDA, to
conduct appropriate tests that will inform and involve the broader U.S.
library community as to the utility of the code, and to ensure a product
that is useful, usable, and cost effective. The Library of Congress
will continue to work with its international colleagues on the Joint
Steering Committee for Development of RDA and the Committee of
Principals and keep them apprised of the evaluation progress and
outcomes as the three national libraries, representing their
constituents, undertake the tests outlined above.

--
Richard C. Amelung, Ph. D.
Professor of Legal Research
Associate Director
Saint Louis University Law Library
Tele.: 314-977-2743
Fax: 314-977-3966

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The Organisation of South African Law Libraries (OSALL) is one of the sponssors and will be participating in this Conference:

NINTH Southern African Online Information Meeting
Tuesday 3rd of June to Thursday 5th of June 2008
CSIR Conference Centre
Meiring Naude Road, Pretoria
Organised by Southern African Online User Group
Together with SLIS and OSALL

The 9th SAOIM once again expands over three days in 2008 to include a pre-conference workshop. The meeting provides a forum for the exchange of information on current developments, applications and opportunities in the expanding field of online information in the broadest sense. The aim is to provide an insight into the extent of growth and activity taking place in the information industry. Coverage will include not only the traditional online systems and services, but will extend to some of the newest areas of information transfer and exchange. SLIS and OSALL will also be contributing to this event in 2008.

Keynote speakers already confirmed include:

Derek Law - Head of the Information Resources Directorate, University of Strathclyde.
Derek has worked in several British universities and published almost 200 book chapters, articles and conference papers. Most of his work has been to do with the development of networked resources in higher education and with the creation of national information policy. Recently he has worked on the use of wireless technology in developing new methods of teaching and learning. This has been combined with an active professional life in organisations related to librarianship and computing.

Geoff Hoy - Geoff has been associated with UCT libraries for many years, and is now involved with TENET, the tertiary education network which is used by all tertiary academic institutions in South Africa. From his unique perspective gained on both sides of the computer screen, Geoff will be addressing strategies on how to bridge the communication gap between the librarian and library systems on the one hand, and the computer technicians' understanding and implementation of programs on the other.

Christof Appel - Christof has presented in the UK, USA, Dubai and South Africa. He has wowed audiences with his entertaining and thought provoking business presentations. As a naturally gifted communicator he has proved an ability to connect with audiences ranging from high school students in Soweto to Fortune 500 CEO’s. His business career started at the age 19 when he launched a media and marketing company. After selling the business and its flagship youth magazine he joined Business Day and Financial Mail. During his corporate career he started consulting to companies on their ability to attract, develop and retain top young talent. His new company is assisting organizations in an economy where the business rules have changed considerably.

More details can be found at http://www.saoug.org.za/conferencenote.htm

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Posted In: Conferences, Seminars and Webinars , Information Technology , Library News and Views , Library Organization and Planning , Library Reference and Research , News from Organizations

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National Library Week is being observed April 13-19, 2008 with the theme, "join the circle of knowledge @ your library."

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation's libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support. All types of libraries - school, public, academic and special - participate.

National Library Week affords a wonderful opportunity for librarians and non-librarians to both promote and reflect on the importance of libraries to our society. Here are some examples of various groups are observing National Library Week:

Gale, a library publisher, is providing free access to their new Books & Authors database all month, during National Library Week - April 13-19 - libraries will have free week-long access to these resources.

In special recognition of law and other librarians during National Library Week, West Librarian Relations is hosting three educational opportunities via Webex. Join us for one or more!

Topic: A Federal Legislative History Goldmine on Westlaw
Presenter: Elinor Cheung, Senior Product Developer, Thomson West
Date: Monday, April 14, 2008
Time: 2:00 pm, EST
Register for this meeting: https://tlr.webex.com/tlr/j.php?ED=91601012&RG=1

Topic: Getting To Know Your Clients Needs:
Using Surveys As A Marketing Tool
Presenter: Nina Platt, President & CEO, Nina Platt Consulting
Date: Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Time: 2:00 pm EST
Register for this meeting: https://tlr.webex.com/tlr/j.php?ED=91938272&RG=1

Topic: A Federal Legislative History Goldmine on Westlaw
Presenter: Elinor Cheung, Senior Product Developer, Thomson West
Date: Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Time: 2:00 pm, EST
Register for this meeting: https://tlr.webex.com/tlr/j.php?ED=91601062&RG=1

Representatives from Lexis have offered to work with individual libraries to develop programs in observance of National Library Week.

These are only a few of the many examples of how National Library Week is being observed in all types of libraries throughout the nation.

In closing I would like to look back to Thomas Jefferson's contribution to librarianship through his wonderful collection of books which eventually became the foundation of the U.S. Library of Congress. Although it was published just before the beginning of National Library week, Amy Orndorff has written an article in the Washington Post which discusses Thomas Jefferson in terms of the importance of his books and their contribution to the foundation of the Library of Congress and by extension the libraries of our nation.

Click here to see her article, "Re Created Library Speaks Volumes About Jefferson,

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The following is a listing of articles which appear in the most recent issue of LLRX at the time of this posting. See http://www.llrx.com:

The Personal Information Trainer, by Stuart Basefsky
http://www.llrx.com/features/personalinfotrainer.htm

Criminal Law Resources: Fingerprint Evidence Challenges, by Ken Strutin
http://www.llrx.com/features/fingerprintevidence.htm

The Social Networking Titans: Facebook and MySpace, by Deborah Ginsberg and Meg Kribble
http://www.llrx.com/features/facebookmyspace.htm

Update to Choosing Law Librarianship: Thoughts for People Contemplating a Career Move, by Mary Whisner
http://www.llrx.com/features/lawlibrarianship.htm

Living With the Asus Eee PC, by Conrad J. Jacoby
http://www.llrx.com/features/asuseepc.htm

Competitive Intelligence - A Selective Resource Guide, by Sabrina I. Pacifici, completely revised and updated.
http://www.llrx.com/features/ciguide.htm

Doing Legal Research in Canada - revised and updated, by Ted Tjaden
http://www.llrx.com/features/ca.htm

The Tao of Law Librarianship: If the Books Go, Will They Still Want Us? by Connie Crosby
http://www.llrx.com/columns/tao13.htm

E-Discovery Update: Minimizing E-Mail Archive Data Conversion Issues, by Conrad J. Jacoby
http://www.llrx.com/columns/emaildataconversion.htm

Reference from Coast to Coast: Making A Federal Case Out of It, by Jan Bissett and Margi Heinen
http://www.llrx.com/columns/reference57.htm

FOIA Facts: Increasing the Quality of FOIA Releases, by Scott A. Hodes
http://www.llrx.com/columns/foia48.htm

The Government Domain: Rich Resources from the Librarians of the Fed, by Peggy Garvin
http://www.llrx.com/columns/govdomain34.htm

LLRX Book Review by Heather A. Phillips - Jerome Neu’s Sticks and Stones: The Philosophy of Insults
http://www.llrx.com/columns/bookreview8.htm

Commentary: Waterboarding, Congress and the President, by Beth Wellington
http://www.llrx.com/extras/waterboarding.htm

**LLRX Court Rules, Forms, and Dockets: the unique, free searchable database, maintained and updated by Margaret Berkland.
http://www.llrx.com/courtrules/

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Call for Participation

Deadline Extended to April 22, 2008

A Reference Renaissance: Current and Future Trends August 4-5, 2008 Denver, CO Conference website: http://www.bcr.org/referencerenaissance

Sponsored by BCR (Bibliographical Center for Research) and RUSA (Reference and User Services Association), an ALA Division

Rumors of the "death of reference" have been greatly exaggerated! Reference and information service now encompasses not just traditional forms such as in-person point-of-service, telephone, and e-mail, but also Instant Messaging, Text Messaging (SMS), blogs, wikis, library pages on MySpace and

Facebook, and virtual reference desks in Second Life.

A Reference Renaissance: Current and Future Trends conference will explore all aspects of reference service in a broad range of contexts, including libraries and information centers, in academic, public, school, corporate, and other special library environments. This two-day conference will incorporate the multitude of established, emerging, and merging types of reference service including both traditional and virtual reference. It presents an opportunity for all reference practitioners and scholars to explore the rapid growth and changing nature of reference, as an escalating array of information technologies blend with traditional reference service to create vibrant hybrids.

Our theme of a "Reference Renaissance" was taken from an editorial by Diane Zabel, in a recent issue of Reference and User Services Quarterly (winter 2007). Zabel wrote of a "resurgence of interest in reference" and that "reference is experiencing a regeneration, a reference renaissance."

Submissions of papers, panels, and workshop proposals are welcomed that analyze issues, identify best practices, advance organizational and technological systems, propose standards, and/or suggest innovative approaches that will reveal as well as invent the future of reference in this exciting and unfolding landscape. The conference will be organized around the following interest tracks. Please note that the sub-bullets are intended to be suggested topics, not to be a comprehensive listing.

. Virtual Reference (including e-mail, chat, IM, SMS, Second Life, etc.)

o Interpersonal aspects of reference service across different types of service

o Comparison of VR modes . Innovative Service Models (including face-to-face, outreach, and Web 2.0)

o Comparison of different modes (locations, configurations, etc.) of service delivery

o Social networking applications (such as blogs, wikis, Facebook, MySpace, etc.)

o Case studies in virtual outreach

o Satellite (or outpost) reference, roving reference . Managing Reference Services

o Assessment/Evaluation (including guidelines and best

practices, benchmarking performance, service quality, accuracy, effectiveness, and efficiency)

o Hiring, training and motivating staff in an era of rapid change (including performance issues)

o Marketing initiatives . Approaches, Values, & Philosophy of Reference Services

o Reference as teaching

o How much help to give (e.g., homework, course assignments) . Wild Card (including, but not limited to, controversial issues, comparisons, other innovative topics - be creative!)

o Sustainability and budgeting issues

o Reference consortia issues

o Software and hardware development . Vendor (including demonstrations and workshops)

o Vendor software and hardware development

TYPES OF SUBMISSIONS:

1. Papers (500 word abstracts): include reports and research studies on

any aspect of reference, user studies, evaluation projects, innovative practical applications, theme papers, or theoretical developments. In addition, works in progress and student papers are invited. Submissions should include: 1) a cover sheet with the paper title, author(s), contact information and affiliations(s) for each author, conference track(s) and 2) a second page consisting of a 500 word abstract that summarizes the paper but does NOT show your name or any contact information. Papers will be refereed by the program committee.

2. Panels: include proposals for 1.5 hour long sessions on topics such

as reference innovations, implementation of new technology, evaluation projects, reports by practitioners on current initiatives, theme panels, and contrasting viewpoints on controversial or hot issues. Innovative formats are sought, especially those that encourage audience participation, such as:

roundtable discussions, debates, forums, or case studies. Submissions should

include: panel title, names, affiliations, and contact information for all participants (moderators, panelists, respondents, etc.), conference track(s), and a brief overview (250 words) of the issues, projects or viewpoints to be discussed. Panels will be refereed by the program committee.

3. Workshops, Demonstrations, and Reports from the Field: include

proposals for 30 minute sessions on working projects, new services, new approaches to reference instruction, or to developments-in-progress. These can be educational in nature. Submissions should include workshop of demonstration title, names and affiliations of all participants, contact information, conference track(s), and brief overview (250 words) of the session.

DEADLINES:

April 22, 2008 Deadline for All Submissions (Deadline extended!)

May 15, 2008 Notification of Acceptance to Speakers

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:

Submissions should be sent in electronic format (as an e-mail attachment as a Word document or pdf) to Program Chair Marie L. Radford

(mradford@scils.rutgers.edu).

Information on conference registration and hotel reservations will be forthcoming on the conference website at: www.bcr.org/referencerenaissance

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American Libraries Direct is e-newsletter of the American Library Association. Here is the Table of Contests for the April 4, 2008 issue:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

U.S. & World News
ALA News
Booklist Online
D.C. Update
Division News
Round Table News
Awards
Seen Online
Tech Talk
Actions & Answers
Poll
Calendar

To see the full text of the entire issue, click here.

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The TS-SIS Awards Committee is pleased to announce that the recipient of the Renee D. Chapman Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions in Technical Services Law Librarianship for 2008 is Joseph Thomas.

Joseph is Head of Technical Services at the Kresge Library, University of Notre Dame Law School. His many contributions to the field of technical services law librarianship include:

8 program presentations delivered since 1991 at the AALL annual conference as well as at other venues

8 publications in addition to serving as editor of Technical Services Law Librarian and editor of the “Miss Manager” column for TSLL

Service on the AALL Annual Meeting Program Selection Committee, Chair of the AALL Price Index Advisory Committee, Chair of the Technical Services SIS, and on various SIS, chapter groups

Congratulations Joe!

The Renee D. Chapman Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions in Technical Services Law Librarianship is presented to an individual or group in recognition of extended and sustained distinguished service to technical services law librarianship and to AALL. Honorees may be recognized for achievement in a particular area of technical services (acquisitions, cataloging and classification, materials processing, preservation, automation, or technical services administration), for service to AALL, or for outstanding contributions to the professional literature. These achievements may include the publishing, presenting, or sharing of innovative techniques or research, analysis or commentary; the development of software, hardware, or other mechanisms that significantly enhance access to law library materials and collections; and the contribution of service to the Technical Services SIS as a whole.

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Posted In: Library News and Views , Library Organization and Planning , News from Organizations

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Not everyone is happy with the discussion in Wikipedia regarding pro se and why people proceed pro se. Today there has been some lively discussion on this topic on the web. Here is the question which seems to have generated much of the discussion and some responses to it. As always, I have edited out all names and other forms of identification in order to protect the confidentiality of the participants:

QUESTION:

Wikipedia's listing for Pro Se under "Why people proceed Pro Se"

"Many individuals choose to act pro se because they themselves are lawyers or have other legal experience, or simply because they are confident in their ability to convey their claim or defense without professional aid. Some pro ses may simply not want to pay the fees and expenses associated with hiring counsel. Others may want a lawyer, but find themselves unintentionally unrepresented due to their inability to find or pay for a lawyer willing to take their case. In civil court matters, this often occurs where the outcome is uncertain, such as in cases of alleged defamation where the plaintiff may be burdened by costly SLAPP legislation. Such people will often continue the case pro se rather than give up their quest for damages."

"In most serious criminal prosecutions in the United States, an indigent defendant has a right to a lawyer appointed by the court, so the decision to proceed pro se is rarely based on financial considerations. However, even indigent criminal defendants in jurisdictions that guarantee legal representation may still have to represent themselves in the later stages of the case, as free representation is often only provided by the state during the initial trial and the direct appeal. This is especially true in collateral proceedings such as habeas corpus or postconviction petitions that fall outside the normal appeals process".

Does anyone else think that this definition needs a rewrite? Most pro se's we help are not lawyers, do not have legal experience and are not confident in their abilities.

SOME RESPONSES:

The "Notable Pro Se Litigants" section is interesting but we see very few of those in our library.

Under the "Resources Section", local law libraries are mentioned but with a somewhat incomplete description of possible resources and services offered.
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I agree with the rest of you that the Wikipedia entry is completely inadequate. However, even a re-write from a public law librarian may be inadequate if we are not careful. The pro se litigants we see in our libraries are not exactly that same as the much larger group that appears before the courts. Also, while we in law libraries may see a lot of vexatious litigants and mentally ill litigants who are repeat visitors, their actual numbers among those who go to court are quite small, and I would be concerned that too much emphasis on them in a Wikipedia article may well do damage for the many court-based and alternative organization based efforts to obtain funding to create programs for serving self represented litigants.
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Actually, at least one study rates the accuracy of articles there fairly highly. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061127-8296.html

IMHO, I find wikipedia to be fairly accurate in a number of areas, but ONLY where there is iterative feedback and editing. Britannica is not itself flawless. The longer the article exists, and the more input it has received from diverse sources, the better the article seems to be in this environment.

So if we aren't willing - as experts and scholars - to contribute to the accuracy do we share some of the blame for the inaccuracy that exists? I'm not sure of the answer to that question, BTW, just throwing it out there for cogitation.

I do not believe everything is on the web, nor do I let Time Magazine "Help me understand." I also don't believe everything I hear from people with long strings of initials after their names just because they have long strings of initials after their names. :)

I think it's more useful to ask those who use this sort of tool "where do they grant what Berring calls "cognitive authority"?" rather than to dismiss the tool and those who use it.
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It's not up to us to fix it. Black's Law Dictionary is a publication authored by legal experts. Wikipedia is like an open group diary - the problem is the expertise of some of the contributors (on any topic) is suspect. I feel those who rely on Wikipedia are like those who feel that the Internet has all knowledge, in one place; is accurate and is easy to find. Who needs experts and scholars to explain things to them?

The difference is Wikipedia focuses on public perception and not actuality. I wouldn't trust Wikipedia over PubMed, NIH or CDC. Peple just need to be aware - and made aware that Wikipedia is not the same as BRITANNICA.
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Regardless of whether wikipedia is or isn't a good source, it's used and therefore should be corrected. Because of the nature of the source, we can always edit the entry if we don't like it
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Knowing the limitation of Wikipedia and its authorship, I wonder if we want to take on the responsibility or rewriting the article.

My Public Services Librarian commented that "To me the encyclopedia is a unique idea and experience but is not something that I would rely on for accurate information. It can be OK for just a basic touch of a definition about most anything. I avoid it."

"The definition noted for pr se does seem inadequate and could be edited so that a better notion is out there for the general user. However, I am sure there are countless other definitions on Wikipedia that would not stand up to professional scrutiny.

Use it to look up anything to do with law libraries and see what you get. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_library I think there is too muchattention being paid to this single article. It could well be a full
time task of several law librarians to edit what is on Wikipedia. And
to what purpose?"
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It's not whether to act, but how do we act? I've heard it said that he best answer to ignorance is information. As information specialists our aim is to provide an array of resources and our best work is being able to show the connection betwen resources - including limitations.
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To Readers:

Please feel free to comment on these responses; I'm sure others would be interested in your thoughts.

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Posted In: Commentary and Opinion , Library News and Views , Questions and Answers

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The Legal Division Quarterly is published four time a year as a Newsletter of the Legal Division of the Special Libraries Association. Included in the WinterSpring 2007-08 issue is a very interesting article "Help - The Lifeguard is Drowning!: Thoughts and Reflections on How Librarians Can Stay Afloat in the Information Age" by T. Z. Maleef, (the article begins with a great quote from Linton Weeks of the Washington Post). In addition to this article the issue also includes the following which collectively highlight the broad range of activities of this organization:

Editor's Letter
Liz Smith

From the Board Room
Nola Vanhoy

Adventures of a First Time Leadership Summiteer
Diana Daleo

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at SLA 2008 Conference Planning...
Linda Lev-Dunton

2008 SLA-LD Travel Grant Award Winners
Suzanne Castroman

The Library as a Software Pilot-Group
Devin Gawnemark

Searching Bills with Thomas
Will Mattingly

Letter From Australia--Greetings From Down Under!
Miz Brmbota

Ode to Professional Assistance
E.S. Quire

Water Cooler--Balance
Constance Ard

IT Division Launches 2008 "IT Innovation Challenge"
John DiGilio

News From the Legal Division Archivist
Anne K. Abate

To see the online version of the WinterSpring 2007-08 issue, click here

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Conference Dates: November 30 - December 3, 2008:

You want to join the next IALL Annual Course?
The International Association of Law Libraries each year makes available financial assistance to enable law librarians who are normally unable to benefit from Association activities to attend the Annual Course in International Law Librarianship that forms the annual conference of the
Association.

2008: Puerto Rico
The 2008 Annual Course will be in Puerto Rico Nov 30th - Dec 3rd, and the topic is Puerto Rico and the Ciribbean: Legal Information in Multiple Legal Systems. The conference website is found at http://www.iall.org/conference.html.

Three Bursaries
IALL offers three bursaries to attend its Conference comprising the following benefits: The conference registration fee is waived. A grant of up to US$1,500 to assist with accommodation and travel costs membership of IALL for one year (including journal) without charge

Deadline
The deadline for 2008 applications to be received is May 15 and all applications will be considered after that date.

More information
For more information, have a look at our website at have a look at http://www.iall.org/scholarship.html - or contact the chair of the IALL
Scholarship Committee (halvor.kongshavn@ub.uib.no).

Applications
Application should normally be by typed letter with full contact details to:
Halvor Kongshavn
Chair, IALL Scholarships Committee
Bergen University Library, Law Library
N-5020 Bergen, NORWAY

Please, also send a copy of your application, including CV etc, by e-mail -
halvor.kongshavn@ub.uib.no