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SPECIAL LIBRARIES
ASSOCIATION LEGAL DIVISION |
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Leadership and Organization |
Legal Division Quarterly Special Libraries Association Winter, 2001 - Vol. 7, No. 3 tech support Legal Division Quarterly Editors' Notes From the Boardroom Call For Legal Division Regional Meetings your pr update Top Tech Trends for 2001 back room Slate of Nominees for 2001-2002 tax file water cooler international corner - Law Library News from Australia A Book Review international corner - Letter from Canada change control international corner - Letter from Europe A Matter of Perception member news net results SLA Legal Division 2000-2001 tech support
(Editors' Note: Since the writing of this article, the product name has changed from WebCheck to WebTop PDA and is found at www.webtop.com ) One of the primary goals of a law librarian is to inspire independent research. As we train attorneys, paralegals, law students, and secretaries to use search engines to navigate the Web, we often have multiple battles to overcome before our patrons feel comfortable conducting electronic research on their own. Although recent graduates of law school are fairly fluent in Boolean search techniques and search strategies with Lexis and/or Westlaw, even they sometimes stumble when confronted with the wide-open Web. The situation with older attorneys and partners who were trained on books and rarely use electronic resources is usually more complex. They understand the benefit of quick access to many free legal resources over the Web but often are hesitant to use it due to a lack of experience with computers, electronic search services or search engines. Search engines consistently try to market to both user types. The benefits of Internet search engines are clear to most: they provide a rough index to the Web and can offer a good starting point for research when you have an idea of what you are looking for. The shortfalls to search engines vary and are too numerous and specific to detail here. Generally, user queries are not translated well and users are often overwhelmed with thousands to hundreds of thousands of results. Search engines that use natural language capabilities still have trouble correctly parsing the request and consistently providing accurate results. Users often enter vague queries which may consist of only a couple of words, helping produce the enormous amount of retrievals from a search engine. Large retrieval rates also occur when users do not understand search engine strategies: phrase searching, Boolean searching, or limiting by language, date, or domain type, for example. Designers of search engines are well aware of typical user types and searching habits. Modern search engines attempt to intuit what the user is asking for with his or her search request. Google, for example, uses a type of citation chaser to help assure that the pages it produces are more likely to be relevant for a user's search request. Other search engines, such as Alltheweb.com, give a large number of drop down menus, leading a searcher through the process of limiting his or her own search. A relatively new search engine, WebCheck, is trying to attack the problem from another angle. WebCheck, offered by WebTop.com, attempts to provide more accurate and relevant results by encouraging users to give the search engine more context. The product is also designed to be as easy to use as possible. It is a Personal Desktop Assistant (PDA) that is downloaded onto the computer desktop. It is free and quick to download. The program appears as a quarter-size disc on one's screen and can be minimized or closed when not in use. WebCheck hopes to take the stress (and perhaps some of the fun, if one asks a librarian) out of Web searching by offering a click and drag service. One can click on a document one wants to get more information about (background information about the topic, a Web bibliography of papers written by the author, definitions or explanations of terms in the paper) and drop it into the WebCheck PDA. WebCheck launches a browser and connects to WebTop.com to display results. Results are displayed in two categories: News zone (for news items that appear to match one's search) and Web zone (for Web results that match one's search). A search box exists as well so that one can actually enter terms or cut and paste a few sentences to create a search query. WebTop hopes that the click and drag feature will eliminate the stress users may have with creating a search query and will provide the search engine with more context with which to refine search results. The possible benefits for law librarians are clear. One could download such a PDA to an attorney's desktop, teach him or her how to use it in a of couple minutes, and they could search independently from that day forward. If only it worked as well as a librarian. Over the course of a couple months, I entered search queries the library received that had some context and represented information one might suspect could be found on the Web. Because the requests came from attorneys, I felt these were prime candidates for questions they might pose to a desktop PDA when a librarian is not available. I included searches that involved requests for materials I knew both could and could not be found on the Internet, since searching for information that is not on the Web happens frequently. One search involved searching for a Congressional Record section from 1947. I knew this was not online, but the request was very specific, including the senator's name, full citation, and subject keywords (the testimony involved the National Labor Relations Act). Technically, dropping and dragging this e-mail into WebCheck would provide the context necessary to search. WebCheck's first result was a pathfinder on finding Federal Labor Law by Ken Kozlowski at the University of Dayton (http://www. aallnet.org/sis/ripssis/federal_labor_law.html), which mentions that old congressional hearings can be accessed at the Government Documents department of a public library. In the absence of a librarian, an attorney who performed this search could quickly determine that the congressional record he or she sought is not online and find out where to look for it. A second search involved finding a weather report for a specific day four years ago in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dropping and dragging that e-mail request into WebCheck produced a link to the National Weather Service (http://www.nws.noaa.gov). Although the answer was not immediately on the screen when I linked to this page, there is a link to Climate Data which leads to Past Information. Within a minute I was able to locate a very specific historical weather report for the day and location requested. This search brought to light another problem with most search engines: they miss the information on the deep Web, that is, information contained in a database or files that are not immediately accessible or indexable by spiders from the front page of a Web site. In this example, the historical data was in the National Weather Service's database, however, it was not indexed by the search engine. WebCheck was able, however, to point the user to the correct spot to look for the information. One would have to encourage users to consider deep Web content and to look for sites that could contain the information they want in such a database. Another e-mail requested an Ohio Bar Association Formal Opinion. I knew already that it was not online, but tried WebCheck to observe its results. WebCheck linked to another opinion that was online (one of the few at this point) at the Ohio Bar Association's Web site. With some basic Web skills, one could back up the hierarchy of the Web address and quickly confirm at a higher level that the opinion sought was not online. Not all the searches, unfortunately, resulted in efficient, dependable results. For example, one e-mail requested Ohio Attorney General regulations regarding a specific Ohio Revised Code citation. WebCheck routed the user to the Ohio Attorney General site, which does not list administrative regulations. I knew the address for the Ohio Administrative Code online and quickly pulled off the pertinent sections. An attorney working on his or her own who was familiar with Web resources would likely have done the same. Someone not so familiar might have come away empty-handed and frustrated. WebCheck in this instance did not lead to the appropriate site. This likely occurred for a couple reasons. One, the request asked for “Ohio Attorney General Regulations” and did not mention the Ohio Administrative Code at all in the request, the lack of the appropriate keywords prevented the Ohio Administrative Code from being retrieved. Secondly, this is another example where the content is considered deep Web content, it is not indexable by a traditional spider and is therefore not immediately transparent to search engines. Of the ten sample research requests I tried on WebCheck, information existed on the Web to answer six of them. WebCheck led to the information on four of the searches, although some correct links were not in the top five links listed, so at times a user would have to be willing to sort through up to ten results to find an answer. Of the four searches for which information did not exist on the Web, WebCheck provided links which could quickly prove a lack of information for the research online in only one of the four instances. The results did not, in my opinion, rate any better than with a typical search engine. It does not yet work as well as the more sophisticated search engines available on the pay-per-use services, however, the concept behind WebCheck is interesting and provides a unique answer to the challenge of teaching others to use search engines and getting search engines to more dependably provide accurate and pertinent answers to search requests. Their answer – requiring the user to know very little about searching but just to provide more context than traditional searches do – may work for users who are hesitant to use electronic resources and, when they do use them, want to obtain information for free. With this issue, Legal Division Quarterly moves to a Web-enhanced format. In addition to the print articles, please go to our Web site (www.slalegal.org) to see the following contributions: International Corner – Letter From Europe, by Liz Blankson-Hemans, Clifford Chance LLP, London, England; Law Library News From Australia, by Ruth Bird, University of Melbourne and Letter from Canada – Access to Canadian Law: Getting Better all the Time for American Law Librarians, by Suzan A. Hebditch, LibraryCo., Ontario, Canada Change Control – Low-Cost OPAC Alternatives for Law Firm Libraries, by Robert R Myers Jr., Arter & Hadden LLP Member News – by Karen Krupka, Wildman Harrold Net Results – Municipal Codes on the Web, by Angela A. Hodge A Book Review, by Edward Grosek, Northern Illinois University A Decade of Celebrating International Special Librarians Day A Matter of Perception, by Joan M. Ogden, McGuireWoods LLP, Chicago, Illinois We hope you will find this an improvement that provides quick access to a greater number of useful articles.
Legal Division Quarterly is published four times a year. We reserve the right to edit for space and clarity. Please send submissions to Barbara W. Silbersack as an attachment to e-mail in Microsoft Word for Windows, 12-point Times font. Legal Division Quarterly accepts sponsorship of mailing, printing and other services. Inquiries regarding Legal Division Quarterly sponsorship or advertising should be sent to the advertising manager: Merrill Chertok, Alexandria Law Library, 520 King Street, Room L34, Alexandria, VA 22314, 703-838-4077. The Special Libraries Association assumes no responsibility for the statements and opinions advanced by the contributors to its publications. Editorial views do not necessarily represent the official position of the Special Libraries Association. Acceptance of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product by the Special Libraries Association. Mission Statement The Legal Division intends to play a leading role in the SLA as it becomes the premier association of the library world. Our profession is our central focus, and our activities will promote professional development and competence. Join the Legal Division Discussion List Send a message to listserv@listserv.uh.edu. In the message type: subscribe sla-law your name. One of the uses for this listserv is Division business. You will not be inundated with messages. Please subscribe. Co-Editors Advertising Manager Design, Layout and Production Web Site Welcome to the Winter Issue. There is a good amount of Division News in this newsletter from our Chair, Anne Abate. You get a good peek at the Conference programs. Read the piece on Regional Meetings. Also, please note the Nominating Committee's activities; we are very grateful for the volunteers who are willing to run and work for our Division. Please welcome our newest contributor, Angela Hodge of Perkins Coie. We had been looking for a Net Results columnist and Angela agreed to take that one on. We think you will find it useful and we thank Angela for coming on board. The big news is that Carolyn Korkmas has retired. She is one of the co-founders of the Division and has been very instrumental in its success. We are glad to hear she will continue to be active. If anyone has any Carolyn Korkmas stories, please contact Barbara Silbersack. We would like to salute Carolyn appropriately. As always, we are looking for article ideas; contact one of us and share your thoughts! Till next time, Barbara W. Silbersack Mary Lynn Wagner
Greetings Legal Division members. The Program Year marches on and we have many exciting things to report. First, the Legal Division Executive Board was able to hold a meeting in January. This was possible because several of us were attending the SLA Winter meeting in Savannah, Georgia and we had time to get together and have the rest of the Board join us in a conference call. This was an important step for the Division as we were able to complete some business in mid-year and it proves we are now able to function as a “large” Division. I want to particularly thank the Committee and Roundtable Chairs who provided me with mid-year reports for this meeting. The entire Executive Board now has a much better idea about what is going on in the entire Division. Planning for San Antonio is fairly well set. I am happy to say that we will again be able to have the use of a suite during the conference. Look for the open times in the conference program. We have a full plate of programs again this year. Look for the preview elsewhere in this issue of the Quarterly. Have you been to an SLA Conference? This might be the year to make it. Please make sure to check out the SLA Web site for complete details on the conference. We need volunteers! If you will be joining us in San Antonio, please let me know and I will put you on the list to help out. So much is happening in our world. On one hand, we see the legal industry expanding and growing, and on the other, we hear reports of library downsizing in large firms. We have so much to keep up with, new sites on the Internet, a new administration in the White House, volunteer association duties. Where is the time to keep learning? Following my theme for the year: New Tools for the New Century: Utilizing Emerging Technologies for Continuous Learning, allow me to provide you with a couple of pointers on how I try to keep learning. As technology keeps changing, it is becoming more difficult to keep our tool set updated in order to stay on top of everything. Like many of you, I went back to school to learn about technology. For some of us, graduate school was a long time ago. Even if you just completed your graduate program in the last couple of years, things have changed too fast. My first suggestion is to take a log of the things that you are missing. Are you up-to-date on new technologies; do you know everything you want to know about the Internet; are new tools being used in your workplace that you have not even heard about? Consider that these may all add up to an advanced degree. It's not for everyone, but organized education may be the answer. Take a look at programs in your area, but don't forget about distance learning opportunities (I won't drag on about that here – if anyone would like to chat about distance education, feel free to call or drop me an e-mail). What if you don't have time for another degree? What can you do to keep learning? Here are a few of my own suggestions regarding e-mail newsletters, learning something new every day, and the use of help files. E-mail Newsletters I subscribe to a laundry list of e-mail newsletters. I am sure many of you do as well. Are you getting everything you should out of these subscriptions? Do you have time to read them? For every newsletter that I really need to read in order to learn more about an area, I set up a mailbox in my e-mail system. As the newsletters arrive, I drop them into the mailbox. I can then get to them when I have time, and I rotate between the various newsletters. Watch for the extra features in the e-mail newsletters. Sometimes the extra links can be valuable. Often something that looks like an ad will actually reveal valuable content. You may be missing some of the links that provide the extra features made possible by this new format. One warning – don't waste time on things you don't need to know. In the beginning of this new format, you might have signed up for things just to be ahead of the curve. Make sure you are getting the most out of everything that dumps into your mailbox. If not, dump it! Learn Something New Every Day Take advantage of every new day by learning something new. There are many sources to use for this. You might select print sources that you can use, or your source may be the Internet. Make your life exciting by seeking out change and embracing it. You never know when the item you read about telecommunications will come up in a staff meeting! Remember that you can also learn from the people that you work with, and have a good time along the way. Stroll around the firm, university, or agency. Talk to people. Have you gone out to lunch with someone from the Accounting Department? You never know what nuggets you might learn from such an encounter. Remember to learn from people. Learn from Help Files I am a strong believer in using the “help” functions in every software package that I have on my desktop. I am sure you have taught your patrons about using help files. Have you ever used the help files provided by Microsoft products, for instance? These are a librarian's dream. They are sorted by topic, they are keyword searchable, and they even provide a table of contents. Rather than throwing up your hands or calling the help desk, try to solve some of your own problems through the use of the help files. You may learn something along the way. Another way that I expand my knowledge through the use of help files may also work for you. Every time that I need to look something up, I take the time to read the explanation that I need to solve my problem, then I read one additional explanation on something that I don't need right away, but may need someday. This allows me to double the knowledge, and only takes a few minutes at a time. These are just a few of the ways that you can use new technologies, and a few older techniques, to improve your own scope. Now, learn from this issue of the Quarterly and book your flight to San Antonio! Anne K. Abate
Call For Legal Division Regional Meetings
April through July is every librarian's favorite time to meet. Philadelphia, San Antonio, Minneapolis, Scottsdale, Naples. Librarians travel the U.S. and learn, learn, learn. But not everyone gets to go to all of the meetings, some people belong to SLA while others belong to AALL. So how do you get together with your colleagues long enough to share some of those grand ideas that you have while conferencing? How do you prepare to attend the next annual conference with new knowledge and fresh ideas that can be shared with colleagues you meet there and only there? How do you get the information that your colleagues received at the annual conference when you can't make it? Regional meetings seem to be an unnecessary burden in a busy time of the year. Goodness knows, I don't have time for them. I'm a co-presenter at the spring meeting of my state association, I'm preparing for my San Antonio programs, and I'm busy doing my job. So it's next week and I'm here to tell you regional Division meetings are a must. We must take some time to gather our thoughts, share them with our colleagues, and open a dialog of communication that will inspire, enthuse, and examine our membership and our Division. I propose that each of you select a regional representative to coordinate a meeting time and place. Open the dialog among your colleagues, set goals for the upcoming year, make plans for meeting at the annual conferences and sharing with those unable to attend. Take the time to make SLA's Legal Division work on a regional level for you. Set aside time to discuss what you need and want from the division, formalize a plan to get the division to work with you to meet your needs. If you don't take time to address issues on a regional level, the Division can't work successfully for your unique needs. Please let me know who your local coordinator will be and send agenda items to me. You can e-mail me at csa@gdm.com. Knowledge and ideas shared make difficult problems easier to resolve with colleague support. your pr update The 2001 SLA Conference provides an excellent opportunity to build on our existing skills with new knowledge and to continue to network and learn from each other. It is time to block your calendar and make plans to attend the conference. You will receive the program and registration materials from SLA Headquarters in March, and here is an overview of the Legal Division programs and events. Anne Abate, Legal Division Chair and Gayle Lynn-Nelson, Legal Division Program Chair are hard at work with the program planners, moderators and speakers to create a dynamic program for conference attendees. The Legal Division is pleased to repeat the very popular workshop Legal Research for Non-Law Librarians. This CE course will be offered as an all day program on Sunday, June 10. The course is intended for librarians who want to learn the basics of legal research. It will be useful for special librarians whose fields touch law or who are considering law librarianship. Topics include the U.S. legal system, legal materials such as cases, statutes and regulations, and how to learn more. Additional Educational Programs include: County, Court and Province/State Library (CCAPS) Roundtable: Join the CCAPS group for a discussion on assisting the pro se client. Share the experiences of your library and your local bar in providing help to the public and in obtaining funding and materials for your collection. Current Internet Legal Issues: From Privacy to Piracy: Learn how the Internet has changed the way we do business. Lawmakers have been pushing legislation to expand and deregulate the Internet, reduce the nation's debt and improve online privacy. Both chambers have introduced Internet privacy bills that tackle everything from information piracy to the use of “cookies”or third-party devices that track online consumer trends. Hear what the experts have to say and then you make the decision! Fun in the Stacks: Creating a Dynamic Environment: If you dare – librarians with a flare will floor you with fundamental techniques for a fun-filled environment. The Key to Success: Keeping the Customer Satisfied: Joan Axelroth and Mary Talley of Axelroth & Associates, speakers. Customer service is key to achieving a competitive edge. What exactly does that term mean? What are the benefits of good service and the consequences of poor service? In a virtual world, how do you figure out what the customer wants, translate that into action and then deliver it? Legal Issues of Presentations: Donna Gies of West Group and Eric Jorstad of Faegre & Benson will speak. Presentations are an important tool for communicating and promoting the value of libraries. This program will address common legal issues to ensure that your presentation is trouble free. The first speaker will outline how to use copyrighted materials in presentations and handouts. The second speaker will address defamation and invasion of privacy issues. Managing a Value-Driven Tax Information Service: Tax librarians will share their experiences in delivering “value-driven” services while meeting the challenges of changing management goals, client needs, changing tax laws, staying aware of new tax services, and keeping up with the ongoing changes to existing CD-ROM and Internet tax products. Mastering the Organizational Map: Pat Wagner of Pattern Research will speak. Your ability to manage people, not just numbers and papers, will decide your success in your workplace. Identify the three main roles in your workplace – task, management, and leadership – and the principles of mastering the organizational map, while avoiding the pitfalls of micro-management, list-making, and “loose cannon” syndromes. Personal to Virtual Communication in an Ever-Changing World: Face-to-face, telephone, e-mail . . . these are all important communication tools. How do you choose the best tool to make your point and improve your position? What do you use to communicate effectively? Listen to new ideas, learn about tools of the trade and improve your position with effective communication tools. 60 Sites in 60 Minutes: Once again, our knowledgeable panelists, Jenny Kanji and Gayle O'Connor, will present a selection of Internet sites from legal to business to indescribable, with an eye to informing, educating, and just plain entertaining. A minute's worth of description and we're off to the next site! Tax Roundtable: The Tax Roundtable is presenting a full program this year, in addition to their regular meeting. In this program, the panel will present a lively discussion of issues concerning librarians in today's evolving workplace, including: networking and discussion lists; resource availability and sharing; and firm downsizing and realignment of the knowledge/ information functions. The panel will encourage full audience participation in the discussions. Panel members include: Linda Boyko, KMPG, Toronto; Laurie Smith, Deloitte & Touche, Toronto; Yoko Beriault, Thornsteinssons, Vancouver; and Thomas Tatarian, Skadden Arps, New York. Working with MIS Professionals: A panel including a MIS professional, a technical representative from a major publisher, and a librarian will discuss the technical needs of the electronic library. Attendees will learn how to facilitate the dialog between the in-house technical expert and the publishers' representatives. The Legal Division is co-sponsoring the following programs: Environmental Law, with the Environment & Resource Management Division Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) – Regulatory and Environmental Concerns, with the Food, Agriculture & Nutrition Division Risk Issues and the Internet: Cyberrisk, with the Insurance and Employee Benefits Division Social Science Research: An International Perspective, with the Business and Finance and Social Sciences Divisions Additional Legal Division events include: Annual Luncheon and Business Meeting Emerging Technologies Breakfast, Monday, where an exciting panel will describe cutting-edge emerging technologies and their impact on you, your job, your library and the information profession. Topics include: e-commerce, just-in-time document delivery, work-at-home, the tremendous increased power of hardware/software, and the fantastic enlargement in transmission bandwidth. Ice Cream Social, Sunday Legal Division Open House, open at various times throughout the Conference International Roundtable on Monday No Host Dinner on Monday evening Networking Breakfast, Tuesday, where the speaker will address methods to improve communications in all formats Social Event, Tuesday evening Please consider extending your stay in San Antonio to participate in the Alamo and Mission Trail City Tour on Thursday, June 15. Join the history buffs for a journey back to the 18th century. Tour the Alamo, Texas' most popular tourist attraction, the National Historical Park, comprised of four more 18th century missions: Mission Concepcion, Mission San Jose, Mission San Juan Capistrano, and Mission Espada, and “The Acequia System,” the 255-year-old aqueduct. Finish the tour with a visit to El Mercado, the Mexican market, where you can be on your own to shop and eat lunch. Volunteer Opportunities: The Public Relations Committee is coordinating the summary of programs for use on our Web site as well as in follow-up articles after the Conference. If you are interested in writing a short review of the Legal Division program(s) you plan to attend at the conference, please contact Cindy Spohr at cindy.spohr@lexis-nexis.com. It is time to begin planning to attend this dynamic, educational and thought- provoking conference. The Legal Division Board and members of the Legal Division are looking forward to seeing you in San Antonio! Top Tech Trends for 2001
As the new year begins, take a moment to examine the legal technology landscape before it changes seasons once again. Here are some new technology trends to be aware of during 2001: ASPs Application Service Providers (ASPs) provide a cost-effective way for law firms to outsource their IT needs, which allows attorneys to concentrate on practicing law. ASPs eliminate the need to load bulky, soon-to-be-outdated software onto PCs and networks. Attorneys access software applications over the Internet or through a secure private network, conveniently leaving software updating and other expensive non-billable tasks to the hosting company. (Think of it as leasing a car: You always have the latest model and somebody else handles the maintenance.) Andy Adkins, nationally recognized legal consultant and director of the Legal Technology Institute at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, notes that an ASP “combines traditional outsourcing principles with the Internet to offer a potentially less expensive alternative to purchasing equipment and software and implementing it in-house. Simply put, the only 'software' law firms may need is a Web browser.” Extranets An extranet is a private, external, secure Web site, usually accessible from the Internet, but available only to designated users. Extranets allow law firms to electronically exchange documents, data and messages, and create virtual online meeting rooms with clients. Presentations, depositions, interrogatories, status reports, draft documents and research can be instantly shared with authorized users from anywhere at any time. Documents can be developed, reviewed and edited, issues can be tracked and resolved, and milestones can be monitored to ensure that team members are up-to-date. James Eidelman, attorney and nationally recognized writer and speaker on law office technology, from Ann Arbor, Michigan, noted that such collaboration tools can give clients and counsel a key advantage. “Whether preparing for trial, revising documents or simply working with clients and experts on a continuing basis, using extranet technology makes things move faster. Lawyers who share with clients this way work with greater confidence. You get faster turnaround, build consensus, resolve issues and complete final drafts much more effectively.” Wireless Research Approximately three out of five large law firms are now supplying attorneys with Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) with wireless Internet access. The Palm OS platforms and Windows CE-based pocket PCs are two of the most well-known PDAs, and RIM devices (owner of BlackBerry pagers) are widely available and growing in common usage. These unique platforms allow lawyers to have access to time and billing software, e-mail and word-processing programs. PDAs with wireless Internet access are being used to access online legal research content from leading providers such as West Group. “As wireless Internet connection rates increase and as displays on PDAs get better, they will be one of the greatest ways to do legal research outside the office,” said Paul Kiesel, founding partner of Kiesel, Boucher & Larson, in his Legal Research Innovation article in the Winter 2000 issue of Cyber Esq. magazine. “I can't count the number of times I have been in court when opposing counsel has cited a case I have never heard of and whose application to the facts before the court I have never comprehended. With the next-generation Westlaw wireless research services, you will be able to have access to the case even before the judge does.” back room
With the new administration, there is a lot of office shuffling in D.C. right now. It seems that there is also a lot of office shuffling in the legal world as well. Lots of mergers still seem to be happening and in D.C. there are still a number of new firms moving to the area to handle the Northern Virginia version of Silicon Valley. I am having to contemplate the move of my law firm for the second time in 4 years. This firm is much larger than the first one and the challenges are going to be much greater. Already the space granted has shrunk by 50%. That was a surprise. Now the challenge is going to be what to do with 50% of the library that would have gone in that space. One of the contributing reasons to the sudden reduction in space is an impression on the part of the office administration that we don't use the books much anymore. It is interesting to see how many folks think that most of what librarians do is electronic and that books are almost superfluous. As someone who regularly points users to book sources for information instead of online, this is not something easily understood. I am overwhelmed at the number of electronic sources we have in our firm and notice that for the most part, the attorneys are on their own using them. The sheer volume makes it impossible for library staff to keep up and the lack of standardization across the vendor platforms adds to the difficulty. Providing training sessions and vendor access to users is also often difficult. Not everyone is as available as Lexis and Westlaw with representatives that can come to do frequent updates and training classes. The library is also no longer responsible for the updating of the systems and working with the IS department to keep information current and subscriptions in place – and to get new hires up and running is a real challenge. One of the nice things about Westlaw and Lexis is the “one stop shopping” idea. Having a totally separate resource for tax, labor, benefits law, etc. just adds to the confusion about where to look for what materials. Programs that load on the desktop are an even greater challenge – who needs what, when does it change and need to be updated, and why isn't it working like it used to work? Having an “electronic services librarian” is a way that a lot of larger firms have tried to handle the proliferation of electronic resources. The challenge now is that the resources no longer reside on that nice CD tower over in the corner but on a network where you aren't given any administrative access. The IS department has one of the most active turnover rates as computer techies are wooed away from law firms by other companies. Keeping track of who is your contact this month can be like playing musical chairs. The proliferation of electronic resources available both onsite and on the Internet does not seem to be slowing down. Having a program in place to handle the issues that arise and taking steps to ensure that resources offered to library users are supported by either internal or external training will be more and more important. Our jobs don't just include showing folks how to use the BNA Labor Law publications or explaining the mysteries of how CCH publications are set up. Making your staff take the time to be comfortable with their electronic resources is just as important as making sure they can explain the Federal Register to those summer associates who have never heard of how regulations come to be. I would be interested to hear about how you have managed to stay in control of the expanding resources that your library and firm offer to users. It's always helpful to hear how others have succeeded, or not, so that frustration levels don't get too high!
Slate of Nominees for 2001-2002 Thank you to the three members who have stepped forward to run for Division offices this year. For Chair Elect Elect: Charlene M. Cunniffe (Bass Berry & Sims PLC) of Nashville. Charlene served as the Vendor Relations Chair for two years in 1999-2000 and currently is Membership Chair. For Treasurer: Johanna Bizub (Prudential Insurance Company of America) of Newark. Johanna has held the position of Treasurer for the New Jersey SLA Chapter and the New Jersey Law Librarians Association. Karen Krupka (Wildman Harrold) of Chicago. Karen has been the Division Photographer since 1999 and is currently on the Bylaws Committee. She has planned a program for the San Antonio Conference and is currently in charge of creating the Division's organizational manual. She has also been writing the Member News column for our Legal Division Quarterly for the past several years. Ballots will go out by May 1st to the membership. You may contact any of the members of the Nominating Committee: Angela Hodge of Perkins Coie (HODGA@PerkinsCoie.com), Barbara Silbersack of Thompson Hine & Flory (barbara.silbersack@thompsonhine.com) or myself with any questions. Thank you. Submitted by Judith A. Jackson, Nominating Committee 2000-2001. Associate Law Librarian, Harris County Law Library, Houston, TX. ja_jackson@co.harris.tx.us, 713.755.5649 tax file
As librarians and online trainers, we know how important it is to know the scope of a resource. A dusty treatise with yellow pages would be a clue to an attorney that the information in it might not be up to date, but this isn't so obvious in an electronic database. Attorneys and others doing electronic tax research need to be aware of the scope of a database to ensure that they retrieve the correct results. This article was developed for training purposes; in a recent session, the concept of database scope was well received by the trainees. The case study looks at the scope of three current-awareness tax databases and the different numbers of results obtained in researching the same tax issue. The numbers provide concrete proof that the scope of a database can affect the number of search results and the success of the research. Researching E-Commerce — A Case Study Tax Analysts is the provider of three daily current-awareness files: Tax Notes Today (TNT), State Tax Today (STT), and Worldwide Tax Daily (WTD). I have chosen to use these files on Lexis for this case study. While the three files cover taxation, the scope of each database depends on what jurisdiction the database covers. Specifically, TNT provides practitioners with U.S. federal news, STT covers news that affects the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, and WTD offers international tax news from 180 countries. In each of these three databases, articles on the same topic may have a different angle to suit the jurisdiction the database focuses on. To see how the scope of a database affects search results, I ran searches using the same search terms in the three databases. I picked electronic commerce – this year's hot tax topic. I ran six monthly searches for the terms “electronic commerce” and “e-commerce” in each database and compared the search results from each database.1 The statistics show that the majority of e-commerce articles were in the Worldwide Tax Daily file (and there was little duplication between the files). Number of documents relating to e-commerce in the daily files:
A review of the results shows that the jurisdiction covered in each article is in keeping with the file's title and coverage. TNT turned up an article titled “IRS Study Looks at Tax Administration Challenges of E-Commerce” (2000 TNT 218-2), while STT found an article titled “Massachusetts Governor Vetoes Study Panel on E-Commerce” (2000 STT 163-19), and WTD retrieved “Luxembourg Set to Profit From EU E-Commerce VAT Proposal” (2000 WTD 223-4). Therefore, if you are interested in the impact of e-commerce on a specific locale, choose the file that is likely to encompass that locale in its coverage. A Massachusetts e-commerce bill may be covered in TNT if it has multistate implications, but it would be more likely to show up in STT. The time period a database includes is another thing to consider in determining its scope. For example, TNT contains all news and documents from 1984 to the present, but the Tax Notes magazine file (TXNMAG), a weekly news publication, goes back two more years to January 1982. Then again, you might also want to consider the depth of coverage and the types of materials you want to retrieve as well as the range of years being covered; TNT offers supporting full text documents in addition to news, whereas TXNMAG provides mostly articles and a rare few full texts. Conclusion As the case study shows, the scope of a database can have as much impact on your research as the search terms you enter. Therefore, you should try to determine the scope of the database you're searching before you begin.2 This may take a little time at first, but in the end it will be worth the effort. 1 The following search was used to compile the statistics above: In Lexis, chose the TAXANA library, the TNT or WTD or STT file, search used: date is 6/2000 and (electronic commerce or e-commerce) and not headline (contents or summaries or abstracts). 2 To see the scope of a database on Lexis, type .GU in the Lexis software or click on the information button in Lexis.com. water cooler E-mail, goodness, how we love our e-mail. Our job used to consist of face-to-face or telephone contact; now we receive multiple requests at once via e-mail. Staying in touch with our colleagues used to be a social event at annual meetings or long telephone conversations. Today we e-mail, teleconference, web meet and find ourselves much more accessible; even to colleagues we don't know. Once in a while, an e-mail comes to me and I sit back and wonder what exactly did he/she mean? I get angry, frustrated, and upset. The e-mail seems to be saying: You are not doing your job and I'm telling you now, here's how you need to be doing your job. Those types of e-mails from one of my many bosses can ruin an entire day. We've all read the tips on how to deal with desk rage. Don't respond immediately to an e-mail that has invoked a serious reaction on your part. Keep everything formal and never e-mail something you don't want the entire world to see. How many times have we forgotten that golden rule? Recently one of my bosses sent me an e-mail that highlighted communication errors. A set of binders had shown up in the library with no instructions. The library staff assumed they just needed to be reshelved and did so. My attorney sent me an e-mail saying he didn't know why the library sent them to him and why they were misfiled, etc. I was furious. I was wise enough to heed the “don't respond immediately” advice. I e-mailed back much later with an explanation of why we, the library, had sent the binders to him. I offered to meet with him to discuss any problems he had with the library; period. This was offering open dialogue and I was being the sacrificial goat. Surprisingly, this meeting went off without a hitch. We met, we ate, we communicated openly. I listened. They threw out ideas and complaints as well as needs. The meeting ended with a library sell. They wanted information on a topic and I said, “The library can research that for you.” Their response was wide-eyed wonder. I also left them with the sense that their problems would be addressed. In further proof of that, I followed up with immediate action, informed them of that action, and calendared myself for further action on some of the other problems. The moral of my story: e-mail was not an effective communication tool for the problems that existed between that particular attorney and the library. A face-to-face meeting with him and his colleagues allowed for their needs to be heard and responded to; it allowed the library a chance to say, “We can do that.” It also provided one more client for the library's reference and research services. If this is a topic that you, like myself, feel you can learn more about and utilize more effective communication techniques, plan on attending SLA's Annual Conference. In order to gain more tools in your arsenal of effective communication, attend the Legal Division program Effective Use of Communication Tools. Susan M. Klopper of Arthur Andersen LLP and Judith Field of Wayne State University will offer an open dialog about effective communication. I'll see you there – I can always use more help with this topic. international corner – Law Library News from Australia
Happy New Year, and greetings from down under. In the US the new President is now in power, and we Australians have a busy year ahead, with a possible nine elections in the wind – two states have called elections in February (Western Australia on 10 Feb, and Queensland on 17 Feb), and the Federal Government will have to hold one before the end of the year. One of the differences we noted during the American Presidential elections, is that in the US there is no Federal body governing the conduct of elections. Australia has a Federal Statutory Authority, the Australian Electoral Commission, as well as State electoral commissions. These bodies have the responsibility for ensuring consistent practice in the conduct of elections, whether voters are in the outback or the middle of Sydney. Thus the method of counting votes is the same no matter where you live in Australia. Of course the major difference is that voting is compulsory in Australia, but you don't have to be registered with any political party to vote. In the legislative arena, a piece of Australian legislation of interest to law librarians was assented to late last year. It was the Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act, No. 110, 2000. It was designed to bring the copyright regime up to date with new technologies, but in a neutral manner, so that it has relevance as the technologies change. There was twelve months between introduction of the bill, and final assent, and there has been a great deal of discussion over many years prior to the introduction of the bill. The major achievement of the Act is to reach a balance between the protection of copyright owners, and reasonable access for copyright users. The Government toyed briefly with a restricted definition of “library”, which would have excluded libraries owned by bodies conducted for profit, such as law firms. Luckily, this did not prevail. What the Act does is to extend the library copying provisions to the digital environment, allowing libraries to communicate reasonable portions to users and other libraries. The digital copy in the originating library must be destroyed after transmission, leaving the originating library only with its print original, whilst the recipient has a new digital copy. The Act also makes provision for lawful circumvention of "locked" material provided by publishers of electronic data. There is a discussion of the Act in the papers from the Law Librarians Symposium held in Sydney last year (http://www.allg.asn.au/). The Attorney-General's library has made a mockup of the Copyright Act, which includes all these amendments, as well as those of a second Act, the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act, no. 159, 2000. It is available at http://law.agps.gov.au/. All the best until the next issue. A Book Review
Modern Treaty Law and Practice. By Anthony Aust. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. pp. 443. Index. Biblio. $120, cloth; $44.95, paper. Anthony Aust's intention in writing Modern Treaty Law and Practice was to create a comprehensive handbook on treaty making and practice by a treaty practitioner for diplomats, legal advisors in foreign ministries, and academics. Aust's definitions, explanations, illustrations, and conclusions are drawn from precedents of the last quarter of the twentieth century, as well as from older references if they are still relevant and instructive. He defines his facts and ideas succinctly and footnotes them with conference events, actual history, and particular treaties. His style is clear and authoritative, his sentences are never tedious. Aust has sections on all aspects of treaty-making. He covers the rudiments: capacity to conclude treaties, the treaty format, reservations, entry into force, self-execution, amendments, dispute settlement, and the effect on treaty relations of a severance of diplomatic relations. He explains terms like consensus, authentication, full powers, breach, open for signature, signature ad referendum, and invalidity. He devotes chapters to how treaties are related to domestic law, treaties and third states, interpretation, depositaries, registration and publication, succession to treaties and how treaties differ from memorandums of understanding. In fact, on p. 27 Aust explains the different wordings for “treaty” and for “memorandum of understanding” and then provides citations to several MOUs. In chapter one, Aust introduces and summarizes the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, whose full text is included among the annexes; and throughout the book, he refers to specific articles of the Convention for exemplification. All treaties and court cases mentioned in the book have citations. All abbreviations for journals, international organizations, and legal terms are spelled out in four pages of the prefatory section. On p. 432 is a list of the articles of the Vienna Convention and the pages of the book whereupon those articles are discussed. Of course, there are a bibliography and an index. In criticism, Aust omits some basic concepts of international law, like judicial precedent and international equity. His chapter on searching for specific treaties is far too brief. (But in fairness, treaty research is an independent topic, large enough to occupy a volume all by itself.) The index is imperfect: rebus sic stantibus is explained on pp. 240-242, but the term is not included anywhere in the index. Modern Treaty Law and Practice deserves a place on the library shelves of every law school and every college with a political science program of study. Moreover, anyone entering the diplomatic service and reading this book will be ready to participate in his or her nation's treaty activities. Conceivably, Modern Treaty Law and Practice would also be useful to journalists writing on this subject. international corner – Letter from Canada
In the Spring 2000 (volume 6, number 3) issue of the Legal Division Quarterly, I commented on QL Systems (see: http://www.quicklaw.com/en/home.html) foray into the American market with the addition of American legal materials to their, then, some 1,450 databases. Their efforts in adding American materials continue to expand, much to the delight of Canadian law librarians. The “one-stop shopping” approach to legal research has made life easier for law librarians as well as the clients we serve. Lexis-Nexis is of course no stranger to any of us. From the Canadian perspective and certainly American law librarians looking for Canadian material, access to our primary law is getting better all the time with Lexis. When a number of Canadian legal publishers began withdrawing their information holdings from QL some years ago, Lexis-Nexis stepped up to the plate and has added their materials to other Lexis holdings. Now, searchers have access to many Butterworths, Canada Law Book, Maritime Law Book and Western Legal Publications. From their literature, you will find that Lexis makes sweeping promises for comprehensive scope and coverage including:
The ease of applying a similar search strategy to all your research needs is a very attractive prospect. Check out Lexis' Canadian content at: http://www.lexis-nexis-canada.com/canadianlegalcontent.htm change control In the 158 years of Arter & Hadden's existence the library collections have never been formally cataloged. Over the years there have been various inventory lists. During the 1970s an alphabetical title card catalog was created. In the late 1980's I created a standalone electronic catalog using Folio software. None of these systems however, rely on Library of Congress call numbers or LC subject classification. Instead, each record merely gives the shelf-unit number where the particular book can be found hiding among numerous other books. With no call numbers on the spines, it takes a keen eye to shelf read all the titles in the same unit to locate the particular book. “The big red book” or “the small brown loose-leaf” are frequently uttered phrases in order to connect attorney with book. While a non-cataloged library is great job security for library staff (only we know where all the books are located), it does a great disservice to our patrons. I resolved to change this state of affairs a few years ago. I knew my Firm would not go for the systems I learned about in library school. I quickly ruled out the Dynix's, GEAC's, and Innovative Interfaces of the world due to cost. Instead, I began to focus my search on mid-priced systems such as ILS' SydneyPlus, SIRSI's WebCat, Horizon's ProLibia, SIMA's OCAT, and Alexandria's Companion. Not having decided on a particular vendor, but having had enough contact with each vendor to have a sense of cost, I proposed a five-figure amount for library automation software in this year's budget. While that may sound like a lot, the site licenses for a firm with thirteen offices add up fast. Moreover these systems come loaded with most of the bells and whistles of the big systems (keyword: integrated)! Well… it is now January and, while the budget is still pending, it appears highly unlikely that the OPAC proposal will be funded. My hopes of leaving a legacy of being the first library director to formally catalog the Arter & Hadden collections are nearly dashed; or are they? An E-mail came across from law-lib a few weeks ago from a law librarian who stated that he had planned on responding to the list with names of low cost electronic catalogs but that he had misplaced his notes. He apologized and went on to say that he purchased an electronic catalog from Jaywil Software for under $300. He indicated that he was happy with his purchase. My first reaction was what kind of catalog can you get for $300? On the other hand, he had a catalog and I didn't. That started me thinking that maybe I had set my sites too high by limiting myself to the major players marketing full-blown integrated systems. I resolved myself to find more affordable OPAC software and catalog the A&H collections once and for all. This time I was determined to look only at systems costing under $1000. Listed below are the results of my search. The list is not comprehensive but represents a cross section of what is available for under $1000. I do not rate the systems nor do I critique interfaces. (I find that a fairly subjective endeavor.) What I hope I've presented is just enough information for you to get a feel for what is offered along with cost and contact information. Some of the catalogs are merely standalone units but are priced so inexpensively that multiple copies of software could be purchased and loaded on several PCs located throughout the library. My goal is to have the A&H catalog available on every desktop throughout the firm. Surprisingly, three of the six systems below offer web access as part of the purchase price or for a few dollars more. Note that these are not integrated library systems. They do not have a serials component that will automatically update your catalog's holdings to show the latest supplement received. (Several of the systems actually do offer add-on modules that enable integration but that puts them over $1000.) Ironically, I know of several libraries that purchased one of the more expensive systems mentioned above and they have never been able to get the integration between the serials module and the catalog module to function properly. Finally, and perhaps most determinative for me, is that two of the systems are designed to enable quick, convenient, and free copy cataloging from the Library of Congress' Z39.50 website. When one finds himself in the market for cataloging software costing under $1000, the word “free” has a hypnotic effect! LibraryCom, Library World Bronze, FreeMARC, LibraryNet
CASPR Library Systems, 100 Park Center Plaza, Suite 550, San Jose, California 95113
(800) 852-2777 E-mail: sales@caspr.com web: http://www.caspr.com
Library World Bronze is CASPR's pc based cataloging software. Windows 3.1, 95, 98, NT, Novell. Search by title, author, subject, publisher, keyword, or browse. Enables copy cataloging by importing records via FreeMARC. Print spine labels and bar code labels using laser printer. Web enabled access available via LibraryNet. Integrated serials module available by upgrading to Library World Gold. MARC Management and OPAC System
InfoWorks Technology Company, P.O. Box 2261, 240 Executive Drive, Cranberry Twp., PA 16066
(724) 772-3403 E-mail: info@itcompany.com web: http://www.itcompany.com/
Search by title, author, subject, and call number. Enables copy cataloging using MARC records including OCLC and RLIN. Zsearch enables free copy cataloging over Internet. Print spine labels and pocket cards using laser printer via InfoWorks Label Maker (Version 3.0- download free via website). Web access not available. Not-networkable. No serials module available. MOLEHill 2000
Cassidy Cataloging Services, Inc., 111 Frank Rodgers Blvd., South Harrison, NJ, 07029
(973) 481-0900 E-mail: mailto:info@cassidycat.com web: http://cassidycat.com
MOLEhill is an entirely web-based catalog hosted by Cassidy Cataloging Services. In fact, it the most turnkey of all the system listed here. Cassidy takes your records (MARC, InMagic, dBase, or ASCII), searches their database of MARC records, exports the matching MARC records and mounts them on a searchable webpage dedicated as your OPAC. Access can be password protected. The webpac is searchable by author, title, subject, publisher, series, call number, location, and keyword. Limited boolean searching is available. This is a truly user-friendly OPAC. When a search produces multiple titles, a cite list is retrieved rather than the full records. This enables the user to quickly scan the list and find the title he/she is looking for. A drawback to MOLEhill is that there is no way to produce spine and pocket labels. (This would have to be done by the Cassidy Cataloging staff at an extra cost.) Another drawback is that if your library is not already cataloged, you're going to have to contract Cassidy to perform a retrospective conversion. Thus while this web-based OPAC solution falls within the $1000 limit, there can be some large hidden costs if your library is not already cataloged. No serials module available. Resource Mate 2.0
Jaywil Software Development Inc., P.O. Box 25005, Guelph, ON, Canada, N1G4T4
(800) 815-8370, E-mail: sales@resourcemate.com web: http://www.resourcemate.com
Windows 3.1, 95, 98, 2000, NT. Z39.50 format.
Search by title, author, subject, publisher, category, call number, and ISBN. Enables copy cataloging by importing records directly from Library of Congress Z39.50 website.
Print spine labels and pocket cards using laser printer. Web enabled access available. No serials module available. SmartTracker Books
Insight Software Solutions, Inc., P.O. Box 354, Bountiful, UT 84011.
(801) 295-1890 E-mail: info@wintools.com web: http://www.wintools.com
Windows 3.1, 95, NT
Not MARC compatible. Enables books to be tracked by categories, location, and value. Contains pre-defined fields and allows user to create new fields. Allows printing of spine labels. Information can be imported in ASCII to database. Can be networked. Contains circulation entries for dates book are lent and the names of borrowers. Contains library checkout status. TLC Total Library Computerization
On Point, Inc., 2606 36th Street, NW, Washington DC 20007
(202) 338-8914 E-mail: tlc@onpointinc.com web: www.onpointinc.com
Windows 95 and later
TLC is designed to be a fully integrated library system including catalog, circulation, serials, acquisitions, ILL, and memo modules. However, each module can be purchased separately and a single user version of the catalog module puts it under $1000. The catalog does not support full MARC records but TLC's MARC interface (available at additional cost) converts MARC records to TLC format for import into the catalog module. Author, title, keyword, and boolean searching is available. Prints spine, pocket and bar code labels. Networkable, internet and intranet capability. international corner Seems like I only blinked since my last letter, and Global 2000, Online 2000 and Christmas 2000 all whizzed past. I almost feel cheated! We're supposed to savour these things, roll them on the palate, like good wine, not feel like a tornado rushed through the office. Still, it gives me that much more to tell you about… Global 2000 in Brighton was hectic for those of us representing both our chapters and our divisions. As anyone who has helped to organise a speaker will know, it can be a bit of a roller-coaster, but the Legal Division was very well represented by Kurt Wimmer's session on 'Copyright and other forms of Intellectual Property as International Human Rights issues'. Mr Wimmer, the joint managing partner of the London office of Covington & Burling led an interactive session, interspersed with questions from the floor. This in no small measure, contributed to the Legal Division's efforts at making Global 2000 a success, and on behalf of the Division, our thanks to Mr Wimmer, and to Larry Guthrie for his help in finding him to speak. We barely had time to draw breath from that, and the Queen's speech and Online 2000 were upon us. The Queen's speech at the official beginning of the Parliamentary session, is traditionally when the government's legislative programme for the session is elaborated. As an election is in the offing in the spring of this year, the legislative programme is quite short with only 15 bills and four draft bills. However, on 30th November, one important piece of legislation for civil libertarians received Royal Assent. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (www.UK-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts2000/20000036.htm) makes provision for the disclosure of information held by public authorities, and amends the 1998 Data Protection Act and the 1958 Public Records Act. The Act does not go as far as campaigners would like, but it is a milestone in a country not renowned for its freedom of access to information, although it does not start to come into force until April 2002 at the earliest. Some key bills in progress during the current session include the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Bill designed to control the advertising and promotion of tobacco products, the European Union (Implications of Withdrawal) Bill to set up a committee of inquiry into the implications of a withdrawal by the UK from the European Union, and the controversial Hunting Bill to make provision about hunting wild mammals with dogs. And so, to Online 2000 at which the flavour was very much content integration and online communities of interest. The three biggest players in the online industry, Reed Elsevier (for Lexis-Nexis), Thomson Corporation (for WestlawUK) and Factiva dominated the stands with their various offerings. Portal offerings were also very much in evidence, with Lawtel launching their interactive-lawyer.com for access to a number of its legal products and services, including Lawtel, The Lawyer and EU Interactive. Factiva also launched the InfoPro Alliance portal to support information professionals in their daily work (www.factiva.com/infopro). Christmas 2000 was a blur of corporate hospitality, Christmas cards and too much chocolate and turkey (not all at once, although it sometimes felt like it!) At this point, I will mention all the seasonal greetings I received from divisional board members. However, the highlight for me was the card I received from a division member, thanking me for my contribution to the legal division newsletter. Ah! Thank you so much! You might just tempt me to go on… and on… and on… A MATTER OF PERCEPTION
PART 1: THE GAME First, let's pretend. Let's say that you are the managing partner or firm administrator of your law firm. If you work in some venue other than a law firm, you might want to pretend to be one of your top-level managers or the dean of your law school. Let's say you have access to the Internet and a variety of fee-based databases on your desktop. You don't do a lot of legal research these days. In fact, you rarely ever go to the law library. You have been known to call the law librarian, though, when you needed some research done in a hurry and you couldn't figure out how to do it yourself, using the Web. Now let's play a word-association game. What words pop into your mind when I say, “Law Librarian”? I'm afraid I'm going to have to penalize you –10 points right off the bat if you came up with any of the following:
Give yourself 5 points if you said:
Give yourself 5 extra bonus points, for a total of 10 points, if you said:
Give yourself 20 points each if you came up with any of these terms:
Now, what's your score? If you have –10 points, your concept of a law librarian comes from movies like “The Music Man” and “The Mummy”. You don't really have a good idea of what a law librarian does for a living. If you have 5 points, at least you know what a traditional law librarian does. You may some appreciation in having a law librarian around, but you probably don't really have a good understanding of what your law librarian actually does all day. If your score is 10 points or more, though, you know and appreciate what your law librarian does every day, and you may even have some idea of what your law librarian could be doing for your firm, if given the right opportunities. PART 2: THE POINT OK, you can stop pretending now… You're probably wondering, “What the heck is the point of this little exercise?” Well, there's no million dollar prize, TV contract, or lucrative book deal waiting for you. Actually, I was just hoping that you would be able to step away from your own perception of yourself for a moment and take a good, hard look at how your managers might see you and your role within your organization. How librarians are perceived by others has become somewhat of a nagging issue for me lately. For example, there was a nice article on the CNN.com website, back on November 28, 2000, entitled, “Looking It Up: Not an Endangered Career”. It was a very positive article about the value of librarianship in the information age, but the picture at the top of the article was a drawing of a librarian, complete with bun and glasses. Of course, she had multiple arms and a cell phone, but still... On January 17, 2001, USA Today posted an article on their website that was very favorable to librarianship. In that article, the author had nothing but praise for the librarian who helped him when he was younger, although he described this woman as someone who could have “walked out of central casting, down to her thick glasses, which she'd take off when she needed to get her face as close to a book as possible to read the small print of a footnote.” I guess if the glasses fit... Then there were those unsettling moments I experienced last summer, when I attended the SLA conference in Philadelphia. I went to hear both Jim Lehrer and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. give presentations to members of our organization. Both of these men are clearly intelligent and world-wise. Yet, when they each took a few moments to wax fondly about the librarians they knew when they were growing up and attending school, they could not resist mentioning the traditional, dare I say, stereotypical view of a librarian. To their credit, Jim and Bobby were trying hard to relate to our group, but I don't think they really understood what we are all about. I recall groaning a few times, and I'm fairly certain I heard other murmurings and mutterings from the audience. My point is this: I think that we, as information professionals, have a problem here. Yes, we have the problem, not the public at large. Of course, we know what our profession is all about and we have been taking every opportunity to demonstrate our value to management. But do we ever take the time to do anything about our image? Let's face it…people in general really like libraries and librarians, but they are still a little afraid of us. They also don't really know what law librarians do these days. Perhaps we need to hire some good Madison Avenue spin-doctors to come in and work up a “boffo” advertising campaign that would give our entire profession a “make-over!” Then again, I suppose it could be worse…For instance, what words pop into your mind when I say, “Lawyer”? member news Happy New Year to all! Welcome to your Member News Column. A note from your editor: Those of you planning to attend the Annual Conference in San Antonio may want to begin looking at the SLA web site. Hotel names and prices have already been posted and I suspect that rooms near the convention center will be booked quickly. Here's the latest: VCR ALERT! Dorene Smith of Ater Wynne LLP in Portland, Oregon was a contestant on Jeopardy. The show was taped in November but will air on March 7th. She says she “came away with lovely parting gifts!” Congratulations, Dorene...we'll be watching! Alan Schroeder of Rutan & Tucker LLP reports that: Dina Dreifuerst of Clements O'Neill, Pierce, Nickens & Wilson LLP in Houston reports that she is "really excited" about being invited to West Group's Innovators Institute, to be held in March. Carolyn Korkmas of the Shell Oil Company Tax Library is retiring at the end of January. As many of you know, Carolyn was instrumental in the founding of the Legal Division and has since served the Division in a multitude of ways. We are all grateful for her guidance and friendship and the good news is that she will remain active as a retired member of SLA. David Bryant reports that:
Danielle Levesque started her new position as Computer Services Librarian with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP on August 28, 2000. Her address information is as follows: Danielle Levesque, M.I.St. Priscilla Streightoff's biography appeared in the August 7th edition of the Texas Legal Pro, which is an insert to the Texas Lawyer. The URL for the biography on the net is : http://www5.law.com/tx/txlegalpro/edit/080700/080700j.htm Priscilla is Assistant Attorney General and Law Librarian for the Office of the Attorney General, State of Texas. Abigail Ellsworth has recently been promoted to Head Librarian at Wilkes Artis. The firm name and address has also changed, Abigail's correct address appears below: Abigail Ellsworth John DiGilio of Kirkpatrick and Lockhart LLP in Pittsburgh has taken a new position within his firm. He has been promoted to “Legal & Business Research Librarian/Instructor”. Thanks! Deborah Hartwell recently accepted a position with Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich, running a newly established library in their Austin, Texas office. Her contact information is listed below: Deborah E. Hartwell Angela Hodge, Law Library Manager of Perkins Coie in Portland, Oregon, and LaJean Humphries (from Schwabe) are presenting “Internet Strategies for the Paralegal in Oregon” on 3/22/01. Suzan Hebditch sends the following news: The concept of LibraryCo. was approved by Convocation of the Law Society of Upper Canada in June of this year. The Law Society is the principle funder of the county law library system. Other key stakeholders in the system, including the county law associations, have also endorsed this new administrative model, which will be governed by a representative Board of 15 individuals. Suzan, for the past twelve years has been the Regional Law Librarian for the Prairie and Arctic Region of the Canada Department of Justice. She is currently the immediate past President of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries and writes the column “Letter From Canada” for the Legal Division Quarterly.” Suzan's contact information appears below: Suzan A. Hebditch Jeff Stickle, formerly of Wilkes Artis and current Legal Division Chair-Elect-Elect and Bylaws Committee Chair, has changed jobs and is now the law librarian for WorldCom in Washington D.C. His new contact information appears below: Jeffrey R. Stickle Henry Gozdz has a new position with the Bergen County (New Jersey) Superior Court. His address information is below: Henry Gozdz That's all for now. Keep in touch! I can be reached as follows: Karen Krupka net results Municipal codes generally include items such as city codes, city charters, county codes, development codes, zoning codes, and land use codes. Whether you're new to the area of law or an experienced user, you'll soon discover that municipal codes can be quite frustrating to use. Most of the frustrations stem from the fact that municipalities either don't have subscription updating services or don't have a regular schedule for issuing updates. So, it's often QUITE difficult to determine if your print collection is up to date. Thankfully, many municipalities are getting on the Web! But, if you're looking for a complete Web site with Municipal Codes, I'll wish you “Good Luck!” I've searched high and low, but there are only a few mega-sites in existence. Unfortunately, these sites all seem to be missing pages or sites and it can be impossible to tell if the mega-site is incomplete or if the municipality for which you're searching doesn't have a Web presence. In an effort to reconcile these omissions, I came up with the list of sites below. Please note that I'm not implying that this list is complete! It's just my effort at compiling some of the odd sites I haven't found via other sites. One quick note, be sure to hit your “refresh” or “reload” button often when using municipal codes on the Web, as changes occur frequently and you may be viewing a previously-cached version of a site. As a final note, it is ALWAYS a good idea to call the municipality in question to double-check that the section for which you are looking is up to date. I've had attorneys in my office practically in tears because the municipality may have changed the section yesterday, the attorney printed it off the Web today, and the Web page is being updated tomorrow! You'll never know unless you call and ask. Remember to get a name and title of the person you speak with and keep that in your notes. Mega-Sites: Oregon Alaska Arizona California Colorado Georgia Hawaii Illinois Indiana Maryland Massachusetts Missouri Nevada Ohio Oregon Rhode Island South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Washington Wisconsin Wyoming Updated 12/15/00 and special thanks to Ann Poteet for updating this list! If you have more code sites, please email them to me at hodga@perkinscoie.com. SLA Legal Division 2000 – 2001 Executive Board
Chair Chair-Elect Chair Elect-Elect Director 2000–2002 Secretary 2000–2002 Treasurer 1999–2001 Past Chair
Affirmative Action Archivist Bylaws Division Directory Editor Fax 651-687-5614 Division Manual Division Photographer Employment European Liaison Government Relations International Relations Legal Division Quarterly Advertising Manager Co-Editors Mary Lynn Wagner Design, Layout, Printing and Mailing Liaison to AALL and Other SLA Divisions Liaison to the ABA Membership Nominating Professional Development Chair Program Chair 2001 Public Relations Regional Meeting Coordinator Scholarships and Grants Strategic Planning Committee Member Student Chair Vendor Relations Loretta Mak Web Site Content Manager Web Site and Listserv Administrator Yearbook Editor
County, Courts and Provinces/State Librarians (CCAPS) Emerging Technologies
in the Law Dina Dreifuerst International Tax
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