ARCHIVED: Special Interest Section Histories and Bylaws

Academic Law Libraries SIS

The Academic Law Libraries Special Interest Section (ALL/SIS) was approved by the Executive Board at the July 1979 annual meeting in San Francisco. The purpose of the Section is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and information on academic law libraries and to represent its members' interests and concerns within the Association.

The Section has sponsored programs at all of the annual meetings subsequent to San Francisco. A sampling of programs to show the diversity of interests of the Section's members include: "How the Academic Libraries Teach the Legal Research Computers, Lexis and WESTLAW" (1982); "Publications/The What, Where, Why, When and How of Getting Published" (1983); "Changes in ABA and AALS Library Standards: Impact on the Accreditation Process" (1984); "Legal Education for the Practice of Law: Today's Challenges and Tomorrow's Needs" (1985); "Marketing the Academic Law Library" (1986); "Renewing our (own) Constitution--The Librarian's Sabbatical" (1987); "Academic Law Library Inspections: What You Need to Know" (1988);" and "Hard Times: Enduring Economic Adversity in Academic and Public Law Libraries" (1992).

In addition, the Section sponsors several continuing projects: maintaining a list of persons teaching legal bibliography who are willing to exchange problems and examinations; compiling a survey of law libraries which retain superseded pocket parts for the codes of the various states; and collecting documents concerning tenure of law school librarians. In 1987, a SIS-sponsored resolution on faculty status for librarians was approved by the AALL membership.

As a result of a special report (Task Force on Long-Range Planning, prepared by Nancy Carol Carter), a new organizational structure was instituted at the SIS's annual meeting in 1986. "Roundtables" are aimed at providing vehicles for discussion and action to members with shared interests and/or job responsibilities. As of July 1987, the following roundtables had been established: Collection Development, Fee for Services, Library Administration, Middle Management, and Teaching in Library Schools. In 1989, the SIS sponsored the first meeting of academic law library directors. In 1990, the SIS sponsored the first meeting of middle managers, and in 1993, all newer academic law librarians will meet in an informal setting.

The ALL Newsletter is published two or three times a year and is received as part of the Section dues. Traditionally the SIS sponsors a reception on Tuesday evening during the annual meeting.

Chairs of the Section:

Andrea Roberts 1979/80

Reynold Kosek 1980/81

Dan J. Freehling 1981/82

Fannie S. Fishlyn 1982/83

Kathleen Carrick 1983/84

Barbara Gontrum 1984/85

Sandra Coleman 1985/86

Peter Schanck 1986/87

Frank G. Houdek 1987/88

Lynn Foster 1988/89

Donald J. Dunn 1989/90

Ann Puckett 1990/91

Bruce Johnson 1991/92

Nancy P.Johnson 1992/93

Arturo L. Torres 1993/94

Barbara Bintliff 1994/95

Jacqueline Orlando 1995/96

Sara Robbins 1996/97

Scott Pagel 1997/98

Ed Edmonds 1998/99

Victoria K. Trotta 1999/00

American Association of Law Libraries

ACADEMIC LAW LIBRARIES

SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION

BYLAWS

Article I: NAME

The name of this special interest section of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) shall be the Academic Law Libraries Section.

Article II: OBJECT

The object of the Academic Law Libraries Section shall be:

1. To provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and information on Academic Law Libraries; and

To represent its member's interests and concerns within the American Association of Law Libraries.

It shall conduct its affairs in conformity with the Constitution and Bylaws of the American Association of Law Libraries.

Article III: MEMBERSHIP

Membership shall be open to any AALL member requesting affiliation with the Academic Law Libraries Section as provided in the AALL bylaws.

Article IV: MEETINGS

There shall be an annual meeting of the Academic Law Libraries Section, held in connection with, or during, the annual meeting of the AALL.

Article V: OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES

Section 1. Officers.

The officers shall consist of a Chair, a Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, and a Secretary/Treasurer. The Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect shall automatically become chair one year after being elected Vice-Chair, and shall serve as Chair during the second year following that election. The Secretary/Treasurer shall be elected biennially.

Section 2. Duties of Officers.

The Chair, Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect and Secretary/Treasurer shall perform the duties usually pertaining to their respective offices, and such other duties as may be assigned by the Executive Committee of the membership.

Section 3. Executive Committee.

There shall be an Executive Committee consisting of the Officers named above, and the immediate past Chair.

Section 4. Committees.

There shall be such standing or special committees as the Executive Committee, or the membership of the section, shall create. There shall be a standing Nominating Committee, appointed by the Executive Committee, to consist of three members, no one of whom shall be a member of the Executive Committee, and no one of whom shall be a candidate for office at the succeeding election. Each member of the Committee shall serve for a term of one year.

Article VI: NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Section 1. Nominating Committee.

The Nominating Committee shall submit the names of candidates for the office of Vice-Chair/Chair-elect and Secretary/Treasurer, together with their written acceptances, to the Chair in sufficient time to enable the Chair to inform the members of the Section of the nominations prior to April 1, either by publication in the AALL Newsletter, the SIS newsletter, or by mail.

In the event that the Vice-Chair/Chair-elect cannot assume the duties of Chair, and such fact is known prior to March 1, the Committee shall also submit the names of candidates for the office of Chair for the term of one year.

Section 2. Nomination by Petition.

Further nominations may be made upon written petition of five (5) members of the Section. Such petitions, accompanied by written acceptance of the nominees, must be filed with the Chair not later than May 1.

Section 3. Ballots.

The Secretary shall prepare an official ballot, including nominations by petition. The professional position of each nominee shall appear on the ballot.

Section 4. Election.

The Officers of the Section shall be elected by mail ballot. The Secretary shall mail ballots to each member of the Section prior to May 15. Ballots shall be marked and returned to the Secretary prior to June 10. The candidates receiving the largest number of votes for each office shall be declared elected, and shall be reported by the Secretary at the annual meeting of the Section. All candidates shall be notified of the results of election at the earliest possible time.

Section 5. Tie Votes.

In case of a tie vote, a run-off election shall be held at the business meeting of the Section at the annual AALL convention. Run-off elections shall be by secret ballot. The ballots shall be immediately counted, and the candidate with the largest number of votes declared elected.

Section 6. Destruction of Ballots.

If there are no challenges to the results of the election, the ballots may be destroyed by the Secretary after the annual meeting.

Article VII: AMENDMENTS.

Section 1.

Bylaws of the Section may be adopted, amended or suspended at the annual meeting of the Section by a majority vote of the members present and voting. Or, bylaws may be adopted, amended, or suspended through a mail ballot. Whenever the by-laws are to be changed by mail vote, the Secretary shall mail ballots to every member in good standing of the Section. Such ballots shall state the text of the proposed change, the purpose of the change, and the date by which ballots must be returned to the Secretary. Proposed changes in the bylaws by mail must receive a majority vote of the ballots returned to the Secretary in order to pass. Tie votes shall be considered failure to pass.

Section 2.

Any amendment shall take effect after it has been approved by the AALL Executive Board.

Article VIII: PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY.

Robert's Rules of Order, in the latest edition, shall govern all deliberations of the Section when not in conflict with the bylaws of the Section.

Computing Services SIS

The Computing Services Special Interest Section is an outgrowth of a Special AALL Committee on Automation and Scientific Development established in 1972 with Peter Nycum as the first Chair. At the 1976 AALL Annual Meeting in Boston, the Committee petitioned the Executive Board for special interest section status. The Executive Board approved creation of the SIS at its December 1976 meeting in Houston. The ASD/SIS was officially created at the Toronto meeting in 1977, when the existing Committee voted to dissolve itself in favor of the new SIS. Bernard Reams, Committee Chair, became the first Chair of the SIS. At the 1996 AALL Annual Meeting, the Section changed its name to the Computing Services SIS.

The mission of CS SIS has continually evolved in response to the increasing integration of computing in law libraries. Initially created to serve as a watchdog to the industry as it relates to law libraries, the SIS later focused on surveying the development of software designed for law libraries, and conveying information on automation developments to law librarians. In 1996 the name of Computing Services SIS was chosen to reflect the growing prominence of computing services librarians in law libraries. CS SIS has sponsored numerous programs at AALL annual meetings.

The Section newsletter, Automatome, highlights new ideas, equipment, and programs in the fields of computing in law libraries and of electronic legal information. Automatome is published irregularly and is sent to all members of the Section.

Chairs of the Section

Bernard Reams 1977/78

Tom R. Heitz 1978/79

Robert Grundy 1979/81

Jenni Parrish 1981/82

Duncan Webb 1982/84

Thomas M. Steele 1984/86

S. Patricia Rempel 1986/87

Laurel Wendt 1987/88

S. Blair Kauffmann 1988/89

Richard Leiter 1989/90

Carol Ebbinghouse 1990/91

Nuchine Nobari 1991/92

Ruth Armstrong 1992/93

Thomas R. Fleming 1993/94

Gary Gott 1994/95

Mark Folmsbee 1995/96

James Milles 1996/97

Judith A. Kaul 1997/98

Kenneth Hirsh 1998/99

Lyonette Louis-Jacques1999/00

American Association of Law Libraries

COMPUTING SERVICES SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION

BYLAWS

(as revised June, 1989, June, 1997, and March 2000)

Article I: NAME

The name of this special interest section of the American Association of Law Libraries (hereinafter referred to as the "Association") shall be the Computing Services Special Interest Section (hereinafter referred to as the "Section"), abbreviated CS SIS.

Article II: OBJECT

The objects of the Section shall be:

To provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and information on computing services in law libraries, and to represent its members' interests and concerns within AALL;

To serve the professional development needs of law librarians interested in the provision of computing services, whatever their job title or type of library;

To provide leadership in the adoption, evaluation, and use of technology in law libraries;

To provide technical advice and assistance to the Association in its educational programs and other activities; and

To promote relations with non

Article III: MEMBERSHIP

Membership shall be open to any member of the Association requesting affiliation with the Section, as provided in the Association's bylaws. Membership shall be renewable each year.

Article IV: GENERAL BUSINESS MEETINGS

Section 1.
There will be a general business meeting held annually at the annual convention of the Association. It shall be held at a time and place so that all business which needs to be conducted can be.

Section 2.
At each annual meeting the budget will be submitted to the membership for approval.

Section 3.
For purposes of tabulating votes, only members in full standing of the Section may vote; a quorum shall consist of the members present at the meeting; and majority shall be based on the number of voting members who vote (i.e. do not abstain).

Article V: ELECTED OFFICERS

Section 1.
The elected officers of the Section will include a Chairperson, a Vice

Section 2.
The election of officers will be conducted every year by mail ballot, to be completed prior to the annual meeting. The Secretary/Treasurer shall mail a copy of the ballot to each member of the Section. Marked ballots shall be returned to the Secretary/Treasurer by a specified deadline. The candidates receiving the largest number of votes shall be elected. The Chairperson and the Vice-Chairperson shall each serve for a term of one year. The Secretary/Treasurer and Members-at-Large shall serve for two-year terms, with the terms of the Members-at-Large being staggered so that one new Member-at-Large assumes office each year. During the even

Section 3.
If a Chairperson leaves his office, the Vice-Chairperson will assume his duties.

Section 4.
If a Vice-Chairperson, Secretary/Treasurer, or a Member-at-Large leaves his office, the Chairperson will appoint a member of the Section to assume that office until the next annual convention of the Association, whereupon an election will be held to fill the office for the remainder of the term.

Section 5.
If a majority of the members present at the Annual Business Meeting determine that the Vice-Chairperson has demonstrated either an inability or an unwillingness to assume the duties of the Chairperson, the newly-elected Vice-Chairperson automatically becomes the Chairperson, and a new Vice-Chairperson is to be elected by a majority of those present at the Business Meeting.

Article VI: DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE OFFICERS

The Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary/Treasurer, and Members-at-Large shall perform the duties usually pertaining to their respective offices, and such other duties as may be assigned by the membership, or temporarily by the Chairperson.

Article VII: COMMITTEES

Section 1.
There shall be an Executive Committee consisting of the officers named above and the immediate past chair.

Section 2.
There shall be such standing or special committees as the Executive Committee, or the membership of the Section, shall create.

Section 3.
The Chairperson may appoint a Nominating Committee in anticipation of coming elections. The Nominating Committee shall be a special committee, whose term will end with the election. No action of such Committee shall be presumed to preclude write-in votes on the official ballot.

Article VIII: AMENDMENTS TO THE BYLAWS

Section 1.
These bylaws may be amended at the annual meeting of the Section by a majority of the members present and voting, or by a majority of the votes case by a mail ballot conducted by the Secretary/Treasurer. Any amendment must be presented to the AALL Committee on Constitution and Bylaws for review.

Section 2.
Notice of proposed amendments shall be mailed to the Section's members, or be published in the Section's newsletter, 30 days in advance of the meeting, or of the mailing of ballots.

Article IX: PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE

Sturgis Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure, in the latest edition, shall govern all deliberations of the Section, except as otherwise specified in these bylaws.

Foreign, Comparative and International Law SIS

The Foreign, Comparative and International Law SIS (FCIL SIS) was originally organized in 1947 as the Committee on Cooperation with the Latin American Law Libraries. The name was changed to Committee on Foreign Law in 1950, and then to Foreign and International Law Committee in 1966. In 1985, an AALL Executive Board Resolution reorganized the Committee into the Special Interest Section.

The FCIL SIS serves as a forum for the exchange ideas and information on foreign, comparative and international law librarianship, and represents its members' interests and concerns within the AALL. The SIS strives to promote the participation of AALL members in its activities and takes a leading role in the education of a new generation of foreign, comparative and international law librarians.

The SIS and its predecessor have a long history of publication accomplishments, including the Union List of Basic Latin American Legal Materials and the creation of the Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals. More recently, the SIS sponsored the Directory of Foreign Law Collections in Selected Law Libraries (AALL Publications Series no. 41), edited by Ellen Schaffer and Thomas Bruce.

FCIL members served as organizers, faculty and participants in the five Institutes between 1993 and 1996 sponsored by AALL to train the next generation of foreign and international law librarians. The presentations were published by Oceana under the following titles: Introduction to Foreign Legal Systems, edited by Richard Danner and Marie-Louise Bernal; Introduction to Transnational Legal Transactions, edited by Marilyn Raisch and Roberta Schaffer; Introduction to International Organizations, edited by Lyonette Louis-Jacques and Jeanne Korman; Introduction to International Business Law, edited by Gitelle Seer and Maria Smolka-Day; and Introduction to Contemporary Practice of Public International Law, edited by Ellen Schaffer and Randy Snyder (due fall 1997).

The FCIL Newsletter is published three times a year. It carries news, announcements, committee reports, Chair's update reports, conference announcements and reports, as well as feature articles, survey reports, and bibliographies. It is the main vehicle of information that reaches all the SIS’s members. It is available online at the FCIL homepage on AALLNET. As the occasion warrants notices are published in the Special Interest Section News of the AALL Spectrum, formerly the AALL Newsletter.

The SIS sponsors a number of educational panels and programs on foreign law at the annual meeting. It cooperates with AALL by providing member expertise for AALL institutes on foreign and international law librarianship. To provide the SIS members an opportunity to meet and exchange information with colleagues who have similar interests or expertise on more specific jurisdictions and topics, it has created working and issues groups on African Law, Asian Law, Latin American Law, CIS and East European Law, Teaching Foreign and International Legal Research, and Electronic Issues.

The SIS has three standing committees, in addition to the Nominating Committee. These are Education/Program Committee, Publications Committee, and Clearinghouse for Internships and International Personnel Exchanges. Ad hoc committees are also created to respond to current needs of the SIS and to implement charges from AALL.

Former Committee Chairs:

William B. Stern 1947/54

Lawrence Keith 1954/55

Kate Wallach 1955/56

William B. Stern 1956/57

Kurt Schwerin 1957/63

Meira G. Pimsleur 1963/66

Frank Lukes 1966/68

Kate Wallach 1968/69

Thomas H. Reynolds/Kate Wallach 1969/70

Igor Kavass/Adolf Sprudzs 1970/72

Ivan Sipkov 1972/74

Mario Goderich 1974/75

Juan Aguilar 1975/78

Susanne Lee 1978/80

Anita Head 1980/81

Claire M. Germain 1981/83

Margaret A. Aycock 1983/84

Helena von Pfeil 1984/85

SIS Chairs

Claire M. Germain 1985/86

Linda Thompson 1986/87

Ellen Schaffer 1987/88

Daniel Wade 1988/89

Tim Kearley 1989/90

Janet Zagorin 1990/91

Amber Lee Smith 1991/92

Milagros R. Rush 1992/93

Jonathan Pratter 1993/94

Lyonette Louis-Jacques1994/95

Francisco Avalos 1995/96

Margareta Horiba 1996/97

William B. McCloy 1997/98

Maria Smolka-Day 1998/99

Katherine Topulos 1999/00

American Association of Law Libraries

FOREIGN, COMPARATIVE, AND INTERNATIONAL LAW

SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION

BYLAWS

(As Amended December 1993)

Article I: NAME

The name of this special interest section of American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) shall be Foreign, Comparative, and International Law Section.

Article II: OBJECT

Section 1.
The object of the Foreign, Comparative, and International Law Section shall be to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and information on foreign, comparative, and international law; and to represent its members' interest and concerns within the AALL.

Section 2.
It shall conduct its affairs in conformity with the Constitution and Bylaws of the American Association of Law Libraries.

Article III: MEMBERSHIP

Membership shall be open to any AALL member requesting affiliation with the Foreign, Comparative, and International Law Section as provided in the AALL bylaws. Membership shall be renewable each year.

Article IV: MEETINGS

Section 1.
There shall be an annual meeting of the Foreign, Comparative, and International Law Section held in connection with or during the annual meeting of the AALL. The scheduling of the annual meeting during the annual meeting of AALL shall be cleared with the Convention Program Chairperson or as otherwise provided in the AALL Bylaws. Meetings shall be open to all members of the Association (AALL) but no person may vote in any meeting who is not a section member in good standing.

Section 2.
A quorum shall consist of ten members.

Article V: OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES

Section 1. Officers.
The officers shall consist of Chair, Vice-Chair/Chair-elect, and a Secretary/ Treasurer. The Vice-Chair shall automatically become Chair at the end of one year. The Secretary/Treasurer shall be elected biennially. Officers shall serve until their successors are elected.

Section 2. Duties of Officers.
The Chair, Vice-Chair/Chair-elect, and Secretary/Treasurer shall perform the duties usually pertaining to their respective offices and such other duties as may be assigned by the Section's Executive Committee or the membership.

Section 3. Executive Committee.
There shall be an Executive Committee consisting of the officers named above and the immediate past Chair.

Section 4. Committees.
There shall be a Nominating Committee and such other standing or special committees as the Executive Committee or the membership shall create.

Section 5. Vacancies.
Should the position of Chair become vacant, the Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect shall succeed immediately as Chair in advance of the next annual meeting. Any vacancy in the office of Chair that cannot be filled by the succession of the Vice-Chair or by extension of the term of the current Chair shall be filled on a temporary basis by the Executive Board of the AALL from among the members of the section in good standing.

A vacancy in the office of the Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect shall not be filled until the next regularly scheduled election. The Vice-Chair's duties shall be assumed by the current Chair or a section member appointed by the Executive Committee. A vacancy in the office of Secretary/Treasurer shall, however, be filled by appointment of the Executive Committee.

Article VI: NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Section 1.
The Executive Committee shall appoint a Chair and two others to serve as a Nominating Committee. The members, whose terms shall be for one year, shall not be current officers or candidates at the next election. One candidate shall be nominated for the office of Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect and one for the office of Secretary/Treasurer. During the even numbered years there shall be an election for Vice-Chair. During the odd-numbered years there shall be an election for Vice-Chair and Secretary/Treasurer. In the event the Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect cannot assume the duties of Chair, the Nominating Committee shall also submit one name of a candidate for the office of Chair for the term of one year.

Section 2.
The Nominating Committee shall submit the names of candidates together with their written acceptances to the Chair in sufficient time to enable the Chair to inform the members of the nominations prior to April 1, or as soon thereafter as possible, by publication in the SIS newsletter. In the event of nominations for the office of Chair after the April 1 deadline, such notification may be limited to the actual mail ballot itself along with an explanation for the exigent circumstances.

Further nominations may be made upon written petition of five members. Such petitions, with the written acceptances of the nominees, should be filed with the Secretary/Treasurer not later than April 12. The Secretary/Treasurer shall prepare an official ballot, including nominations by petition.

Section 3. By April 15, the Secretary/Treasurer shall mail a copy of the ballots to each member of the section. The professional position of each nominee shall appear on the ballot. Ballots shall be marked, sealed in a plain envelope, and returned to the Secretary/Treasurer before May 10, in covering envelopes bearing on the outside the name and address of the member voting. The Secretary/Treasurer shall verify the validity of all votes against a list of individual voting members and shall count and tabulate all votes cast. The candidates receiving the largest number of votes shall be elected and shall be so reported at the annual meeting by the Secretary/Treasurer. All candidates shall be notified of the results of the election by the Secretary/Treasurer at the earliest possible time. In case of a tie vote, a run-off election shall be held at the annual meeting. Run-off elections shall be by secret ballot. The ballots shall be immediately counted and the candidate with the largest number of votes declared elected, provided there is a quorum. Should the run-off election result in a continuing tie, the candidates shall be named co-officers. In the event the Secretary/Treasurer is a candidate, the Chair shall appoint another member to perform all election-related functions with the exception of the preparation and mailing of the ballot.

Any vacancy occurring between April 15 and the annual meeting shall be filled by nomination from the floor and election at the annual meeting. The candidates with the largest number of votes shall be declared elected, provided there is a quorum.

Section 4.
If there are no challenges to the results of the election at the annual section meeting, the ballots may be destroyed by the Secretary/Treasurer after the meeting.

Article VII: AMENDMENTS

Section 1.
Amendments to the Bylaws may be proposed by the Executive Committee or by a petition signed by 20 members in good standing of the Foreign, Comparative, and International Law Section.

Section 2.
Proposed amendments shall become effective when approved by the AALL Executive Board, and by either of the following as specified by the Executive Committee:

a majority vote of the members present and voting at an annual meeting, assuming a quorum is present, or

a two-thirds majority of the votes cast by a mail ballot conducted by the Secretary/Treasurer.

With regard to method (a), notice of any proposed amendment shall be mailed the Section's members or be published in the Section's newsletter 30 days in advance of the meeting.

With regard to method (b), each ballot shall state by what date it must be returned.

Mailings sent with regard to either method shall not only state the text of the proposal, but shall also contain a brief explanation of the reasons for the proposal.

Article VIII: PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY

Robert's Rules of Order, in the latest edition, shall govern all deliberations of the section. The Executive Committee shall appoint a member in advance of the annual meeting of the section to serve as parliamentarian.

Government Documents SIS

Established in 1974 as the Government Documents Committee, Government Documents became an SIS in 1976. Just under 100 members joined the GD/SIS in its first year; membership now numbers over 400. The goals of the GD/SIS are: to disseminate information on government documents to the AALL membership; to further the continuing education of law librarians in the area of government documents; to coordinate the activities of law librarians in representing their interests to public and private groups with regard to the publication, dissemination, citation, and use of government documents; and to work in cooperation with documents groups in other associations and organizations.

GD/SIS sponsors at least one major program at each AALL annual meeting. Recent programs have covered Federal Statistics, access to highly secret government publications, examining local government web sites and teaching legal research classes using government documents.

Members of the SIS have compiled a series of bibliographies of state publications to acquaint law librarians with documents used in researching state law and other legal issues. Commercial publications are also often included. Until 1986, the GD/SIS published and sold the state bibliographies. From 1986 to 1994, the bibliographies were available through the AALL Headquarters in Chicago. In 1994, the SIS resumed production, sales and distribution of the bibliographies through a volunteer SIS member, with all revenues and expenses associated with the series accounted for in the SIS funds. The series is part of the AALL Occasional Papers series. Each bibliography has its own number within the state bibliography series. Bibliographies for forty-four states and two Canadian provinces have been prepared. Selected revised and supplementary bibliographies, as well as new bibliographies, are issued annually.

Jurisdocs is the name of the GD/SIS newsletter. Publication began in 1978 and three issues a year are produced. Jurisdocs contains news about and from the GD/SIS and other groups and associations interested in government documents, including ALA/GODORT, the Government Printing Office, and the Depository Library Council. Substantive articles and bibliographies, annual meeting program announcements and summaries, and minutes of business meetings also appear in the newsletter.

Chairs of the Section:

Emelyn House 1977/78

Nancy Johnson 1978/79

Kamla King 1979/80

Michael Gehringer 1980/81

Colleen Pauwels 1981/82

Judy Gecas 1982/83

Marian Parker 1983/84

Linda Fariss 1984/85

Lynn Foster 1985/86

Sally Holterhoff 1986/87

Mary Ann Royle 1987/88

Chris Corcos 1988/89

Cheryl Rae Nyberg 1989/90

Mary Ann Nelson 1990/91

Susan L. Dow 1991/92

Marsha Baum 1992/93

Veronica Maclay 1993/94

Carol Moody 1994/95

Kay Schlueter 1995/96

W. David Gay 1996/97

Paul Arrigo 1997/98

Charlene Cain 1998/99

Pegeen G. Bassett 1999/00

American Association of Law Libraries

GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS

SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION

BYLAWS

Article I: NAME

The name of this special interest section of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) shall be the Government Documents Special Interest Section (GD/SIS).

Article II: OBJECT

The object of the Government Documents Special Interest Section shall be to disseminate information on government documents to the AALL membership; to further continuing education of law librarians in the area of government documents; to coordinate the activities of law librarians in representing their interests to public and private groups with regard to the publication, dissemination, citation, and use of government documents; and to work in cooperation with documents groups in other associations and organizations.

Article III: MEMBERSHIP

Any active individual member or designated institutional member of the AALL, as defined by its Bylaws, may affiliate with GD/SIS upon payment to the AALL of an annual fee for this SIS. All members of the GD/SIS shall have full voting rights.

Article IV: MEETINGS

Section 1.
An annual meeting of the Government Documents SIS shall be held in connection with or during the annual meeting of AALL.

Section 2.
Meetings shall be open to all members of the AALL but no person may vote in the SIS meeting who is not a GD/SIS member in good standing.

Section 3.
A quorum for a business meeting of the GD/SIS shall consist of 15 of the GD/SIS members.

Section 4.
Notice of the meeting shall be made in conjunction with the notice for the AALL annual meeting.

Section 5.
Robert's Rules of Order, in the latest edition, shall govern all deliberations of the GD/SIS when not in conflict with the bylaws of the GD/SIS.

Article V: OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES

Section 1. Officers.
The Officers shall consist of a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-elect, and a Secretary/Treasurer. The Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-elect shall be elected annually by the SIS. The Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-elect shall automatically become Chairperson after one year and shall so serve during the second year following his or her election.

Section 2. Duties of Officers.
The Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-elect, and a Secretary/Treasurer shall perform the duties usually pertaining to their respective offices and such other duties as may be assigned by the Executive Committee.

Section 3. Executive Committee.
There shall be an Executive Committee of four, consisting of the officers named in Article V, Section 1 and the immediate past Chairperson. The duties of the Executive Committee shall be those usually assigned to such committees in similar associations.

Section 4. Committees.
There shall be such standing or special committees as the Executive Committee shall create or shall be created by a majority vote of those present and voting at the annual meeting of the GD/SIS.

Section 5. Appointments.
The Chairperson shall appoint all members of committees unless the SIS shall direct otherwise.

Section 6. Terms of Office.
All offices and members of committees shall serve until their successors are elected or appointed and qualified.

Section 7. Early Vacancy.

In the case of the death or resignation of the Chairperson of the GD/SIS, the Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-elect shall become Chairperson and shall serve until the end of his or her own elected term.

If the Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-elect cannot assume the duties of Chairperson, the GD/SIS will elect a Chairperson, as specified in Article VI, Section 1 b) and Section 2.

Should the office of Vice-Chairperson /Chairperson-elect become open for any reason, such as the death, resignation, or promotion of the Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-elect, the office shall remain vacant until filled by the next regular election.

The Executive Committee shall have the power to fill any vacancy in the office of Secretary/Treasurer, the person so elected by the Executive Committee to serve the unexpired term.

Article VI: NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS

Section 1. Nominations.

There shall be a Nominating Committee appointed by the Executive Committee, to consist of three members, no one of whom shall be a member of the Executive Committee, and no one of whom shall be a candidate for office at the succeeding election. The Chairperson of the committee shall be designated by the Executive Committee. Two candidates for each office to be elected shall be presented.

In the event that the Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-elect cannot assume the duties of the Chairperson and such fact is known prior to March 1, the committee shall nominate a candidate for the office of Chairperson for the term of one year.

Names of the candidates, together with their written acceptances, shall be presented by the Nominating Committee to the Chairperson in sufficient time to enable the Chairperson to inform the members of the SIS of the nominations prior to March 1, either by publication in the AALL Newsletter or Jurisdocs, or by mail. All candidates must be members of the GD/SIS.

Further nominations, except for the office of Chairperson, may be made upon written petition of ten members in good standing of the SIS. Such petitions, accompanied by written acceptance of the nominees, must be filed with the Chairperson of the SIS not later than April 1.

The Chairperson of the Nominating Committee shall prepare an official ballot, including nominations by petition. The professional position of each nominee shall appear on the ballot. The ballot also may include some biographical information about each nominee furnished by the nominee.

Section 2. Elections.

The Nominating Committee shall have charge of the conduct of the annual election and the counting and tabulation of all votes cast.

Prior to April 15, the Chairperson of the Nominating Committee shall mail a copy of the official ballot to each member in good standing of the GD/SIS. Ballots shall be marked, sealed in plain envelopes marked "BALLOT," and returned to the Chairperson of the Nominating Committee before May 15.

The candidates receiving the largest number of votes shall be declared elected and shall be so reported by the Chairperson of the Nominating Committee at the annual business meeting of the SIS. All candidates shall be notified of the results of the election by the Chairperson of the Nominating Committee at the earliest possible time.

In case of a tie vote, a run-off election shall be held at the business meeting of the SIS at the AALL annual meeting. Run-off elections shall be by secret ballot of the members of the SIS attending the meeting. The ballots shall be counted immediately and the candidate with the largest number of votes declared elected.

The ballots may be destroyed by the Chairperson of the Nominating Committee after the annual business meeting of the GD/SIS.

Article VII: AMENDMENTS TO THE BYLAWS

Section 1.
Bylaws of the Section may be adopted, amended, or suspended at the annual meeting of the Section by a majority vote of those present and voting. Or, bylaws may be adopted, amended, or suspended through a mail ballot. Whenever the bylaws are to be changed by mail vote, the Secretary shall mail ballots to every member in good standing of the GD/SIS. Such ballots shall state the text of the proposed change, the purpose of the change, and the date by which ballots must be returned to the Secretary. Proposed changes in the bylaws by mail must receive a majority vote of the ballots returned to the Secretary in order to pass. Tie votes shall be considered failure to pass.

Section 2. Any amendment shall take effect after it has been submitted to the AALL Committee on Constitution and Bylaws for review, and thereafter approved by the AALL Executive Board.

Legal History and Rare Books

On June 17, 1989 the AALL Executive Board approved the formation of the thirteenth Special Interest Section, the Legal History and Rare Books SIS. For many years members of AALL have maintained a keen interest in both legal history and in the collection of rare law books. Inspired by the enthusiastic reception given a program on legal history sponsored by the Law Librarians of New England Chapter in the Fall of 1988, several academic law librarians in that region began to promote the idea of forming an SIS. As stated in their formal petition to the Board: " The object of this SIS shall be to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and information on rare books and legal history, including preservation issues, and other matters of pertinent interest." Although required to present only 25 names on their petition, the founders submitted 130 signatures as evidence of the enthusiasm for their enterprise.

The SIS publishes a newsletter with articles of substantial merit on both legal history and rare books topics. It has sponsored speakers and programs on both substantive legal history and rare books librarianship at the annual meetings. The first Legal History and Rare Books sponsored program was Provenance is Not in Southern France: Rare Book Vocabulary. Recent programs have included Judicial Biography, The Impact of Roman Law on the Civil Tradition, and Secrets in the Stacks: Rare Books in Small to Medium-Sized Libraries.

Chairs of the Section:

Erwin Surrency 1989/90

Michael G. Chiorazzi 1990/91

Nicholas Triffin 1991/92

Cynthia Arkin 1992/93

Daniel L. Wade 1993/94

Mary Cooper Gilliam/Byron Cooper 1994/95

Byron Cooper 1995/96

Gretchen Feltes 1996/97

Gretchen Feltes 1997/98

Laura Anne Bedard 1998/99

Daniel Smith 1999/00

American Association of Law Libraries

LEGAL HISTORY AND RARE BOOK

SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION

BYLAWS

Article I: NAME

Section 1.
The name of this special interest section of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) shall be the Legal History and Rare Book SIS.

Article II: OBJECT

Section 1.
The object of the Legal History and Rare Book SIS Special Interest Section shall be:

To provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and information on legal history and rare books librarianship; and

To represent its members' interests and concerns within AALL.

Section 2.
The Section shall conduct its affairs in conformity with the Constitution and Bylaws of the American Association of Law Libraries.

Article II: MEMBERSHIP

Section 1.
Membership shall be open to any AALL member requesting affiliation with the Legal History and Rare Book Special Interest Section as provided in the AALL Bylaws. Membership shall be renewable each year.

Article III: MEETINGS

Section 1.
There shall be an annual meeting of the Legal History and Rare Book SIS held in connection with, or during the annual meeting of AALL. The scheduling of the annual meeting during the annual meeting of AALL shall be cleared with the Convention Program Chairperson or as otherwise provided in the AALL Bylaws. Meetings shall be open to all members of the Association (AALL), but no person may vote in any meeting who is not a Section member in good standing.

Article IV: OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES

Section 1. Officers
The officers shall consist of a Chair, Vice-Chair/Chair-elect, and a Secretary/Treasurer.

Section 2. Duties of Officers
The Chair, Vice-Chair/Chair-elect, and the Secretary/Treasurer shall perform duties usually pertaining to their respective offices, and such other duties as may be assigned by the Section's Executive Committee or membership.

Section 3. Terms
The Chair and Vice-Chair/Chair-elect shall each serve one year, and the Vice-Chair shall succeed the Chair at the end of the year in which he or she serves as Vice-Chair. The Secretary/Treasurer shall serve a two-year term.

Section 4. Executive Committee
There shall be an Executive Committee consisting of the officers named above and the immediate past chair.

Section 5. Committees
There shall be such standing or special committees as the Executive Committee, or the membership, shall create.

Section 6. Vacancies
The occurrence of a vacancy in the position of Chair shall be filled by the succession of the present Vice-Chair/Chair-elect to serve as Chair until the next scheduled election of Section officers.

A vacancy in the office of the Vice-Chair/Chair-elect shall not be filled until the next regularly scheduled election. The Vice-Chairperson's duties shall be assumed by the current Chair or a Section member appointed by the Executive Committee. A vacancy in the office of Secretary/Treasurer shall, however, be filled by appointment of the Executive Committee.

Article VI: NOMINATIONS AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Section 1.
The Executive Board shall serve as the nominating committee. The Vice Chair/Chair-elect will serve as the Chair of the Nominating Committee.

Section 2.
The Nominating Committee shall submit the names of candidates for the office of Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect and Secretary/Treasurer, together with their written acceptances, to the chairperson in sufficient time to enable the chairperson to inform the members of the Section of the nomination prior to February 1, either by publication in the AALL Newsletter, the SIS newsletter or by mail.

Section 3.
In the event that the Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect cannot assume the duties of Chair and such fact is known prior to January 1, the Nominating Committee shall also submit to the current Chair of the committee the names of candidates for the office of Chair for the term of one year to appear on the ballot with the candidates for Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect and Secretary/Treasurer. If such fact becomes known after January 1, the Executive Committee shall appoint a member of the section to serve for one year as Chair.

Section 4. Ballots
The Chair of the Nominating Committee shall prepare an official ballot. The professional position of each nominee shall appear on the ballot. Space for write-in votes will be provided for on the ballot.

Section 5.
The Secretary shall send the ballots to the membership by March 1.

Section 6. Voting.
Ballots must be returned to the Secretary/Treasurer by April 1.

Section 7.
The Secretary/Treasurer will count the ballots by April 15.

Section 8.
The candidate receiving the largest number of votes for a position shall be declared elected to that position.

Section 9.
In case of a tie vote, the successful candidate shall be determined by lot conducted by the Section's Executive Committee.

Section 10. Destruction of Ballots
If there are no challenges to the results of the election, the ballots may be destroyed by the secretary after the annual meeting.

Article VII: AMENDMENTS

Section 1.
These bylaws may be amended at the annual meeting of the Section, by a two-thirds vote of he members present. Any amendment so adopted shall take effect after it has been approved by the AALL Executive Board.

Section 2.
Notice of proposed amendments shall be mailed to the Section's members, or be published in the Section's newsletter, 30 days in advance of the meeting.

Article VIII: PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY

Section 1.
Robert's Rules of Order, in the latest edition, shall govern all deliberations of the Section.

Legal Information Services to the Public

Evolving from the Legal Information Services to the Public Committee, LISP was officially established as an SIS at the 1988 AALL Annual Meeting in Atlanta. After the SIS was approved by the AALL Executive Board at its January 1988 meeting, 1987

The SIS continued the activities of the Committee that had been in existence since 1982. One long

The SIS also has a brochure available from AALL Headquarters, "How to Research a Legal Problem, a Guide for Non

The SIS also promotes the creation of LISP committees in each of the chapters. Chapter committees are encouraged to prepare legal research guides, state legal bibliographies and community agency referral lists. Guidelines for these activities are published in LISP's Public Services Procedural Guide. Local groups also present programs such as legal research for public librarians.

In addition, the SIS encourages and supports AALL chapters in providing pro bono legal research assistance to legal service organizations, bar associations pro bono programs, and the community.

Results of a survey of chapters’ LISP and pro bono committees and programs will serve as a guide and referral directory for local efforts.

The SIS publishes the LISP Newsletter to publicize activities of the SIS, AALL chapters, and individual libraries concerning legal information to the public. The SIS has also prepared a brochure describing its goals and activities. Copies may be obtained from Headquarters.

While a committee, several programs were presented at annual meetings. The SIS has continued this practice. The first program sponsored by LISP as an SIS was at the 1990 Annual Meeting in Minneapolis.

Chairs of the Section:

Elizabeth Schneider 1988/89

Roberta (Bobbie) Studwell1989/90

Mary Ann Nelson 1990/91

Kathy Garner 1991/92

Sharon Blackburn 1992/93

Heather Simmons 1993/94

Maria E. Protti 1994/95

Frank Herch 1995/96

David McFadden 1996/97

Elizabeth McKenzie 1997/98

Patricia Court 1998/99

Angus B. Nesbit 1999/00

American Association of Law Libraries

LEGAL INFORMATION SERVICE TO THE PUBLIC

SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION

BYLAWS

(As Amended March 31, 1997)

Article I: NAME

The name of this Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) shall be the Legal Information Service to the Public Section.

Article II: OBJECT

The object of the Legal Information Service to the Public Section shall be:

To improve access to legal information and to promote legal information service to the public.

To represent its members' interests and concerns within AALL.

It shall conduct its affairs in conformity with the Constitution and Bylaws of the American Association of Law Libraries.

Article III: MEMBERSHIP

Membership shall be open to any AALL member requesting affiliation with the Legal Information Service to the Public Section as provided in the AALL bylaws.

Article IV. MEETINGS

Section 1. Annual Meetings.
There shall be an annual meeting of the Legal Information Service to the Public Section, held in connection with, or during, the annual meeting of the AALL.

Section 2. Quorum.
A quorum shall consist of the members present at the meeting.

Article V: OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES

Section 1. Officers.
The officers shall consist of a Chair, Vice

Section 2. Duties of Officers.
The Chair, Vice

Section 3. Executive Committee.
There shall be an Executive Committee consisting of the Officers named above, and the immediate past Chair.

Section 4. Committees.
There shall be such standing or special committees as the Executive Committee, or the membership of the section shall create. There shall be a standing Nominating Committee, appointed by the Executive Committee, to consist of three members, no one of whom shall be a member of the Executive Committee, and no one of whom shall be a candidate for office at the succeeding election. Each member of the Committee shall serve for a term of one year.

Article VI: NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Section 1. Nominating Committee.
The Nominating Committee shall submit the names of candidates for the office of Vice-Chair/ Chair-elect and Secretary/Treasurer, together with their written acceptances, to the Chair in sufficient time to enable the Chair to inform the members of the Section of the nominations five (5) months prior to the annual meeting, either by publication in an AALL publication sent to all members, the SIS newsletter, or by mail.

In the event that the Vice-Chair/Chair-elect cannot assume the duties of Chair, and such fact is known prior to the time that the Nominating Committee submits its report, the Committee shall also submit names of candidates for the office of Chair for the term of one year.

Section 2. Nomination by Petition.
Further nominations may be made upon written petition of five (5) members of the section. Such petitions, accompanied by written acceptance of the nominees, must be filed with the Chair not later than four (4) months prior to the annual meeting.

Section 3. Ballots.
The Secretary/Treasurer shall prepare an official ballot, including nominations by petition. The professional position of each nominee shall appear on the ballot.

Section 4. Election.
The Officers of the Section shall be elected by mail ballot. The Secretary/Treasurer shall mail ballots to each member of the Section three (3) months prior to the annual AALL meeting or they may be sent to all members of the Section in the Section newsletter, if it is mailed at the latest three months prior to the annual AALL meeting. Ballots shall be marked and returned to the Secretary/Treasurer at the latest two (2) months prior to the annual meeting. The candidates receiving the largest number of votes for each office shall be declared elected, and shall be reported by the Secretary/ Treasurer at the annual meeting of the Section. All candidates shall be notified of the results of the election at the earliest possible time.

Section 5. Tie Votes.
In case of a tie vote, a run

Section 6. Destruction of ballots.
If there are no challenges to the results of the election, the ballots may be destroyed by the Secretary/Treasurer after the annual meeting.

Article VII: AMENDMENTS

Section 1.
Bylaws of the Section may be adopted, amended or suspended at the annual meeting of the Section by a majority vote of the members present and voting. Or, bylaws may be adopted, amended, or suspended through a mail ballot. Whenever the bylaws are to be changed by mail vote, the Secretary/Treasurer shall mail ballots to every member in good standing of the Section. Such ballots shall state the text of the proposed change, the purpose of the change, and the date by which ballots must be returned to the Secretary/Treasurer. Proposed changes in the bylaws by mail must receive a majority vote of the ballots returned to the Secretary/Treasurer in order to pass. Tie votes shall be considered failure to pass.

Section 2.
Notice of proposed amendments to be considered at an annual meeting shall be mailed to the special interest section's members, or be published in the SIS newsletter, at least 30 days in advance of the meeting.

Section 3.
Any amendment shall take effect after it has been approved by the AALL Executive Board.

Article VIII: PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY

Robert's Rules of Order, in the latest edition, shall govern all deliberations of the Section when not in conflict with the bylaws of the Section.

Micrographics/Audiovisual SIS

"Micrographics" and "Audiovisual," the two interests of M/A SIS, are longstanding interests of AALL members. Back in the late 1930's a Committee on the Microfilm Survey reported to the Committee on Scientific Aids to Learning. By the late 1950's the AALL Committee on the Application of Mechanical and Scientific Devices to Legal Literature included Subcommittees on Audio

The stated objectives of the Section are: to disseminate information on micrographics and audiovisuals; to further the continuing education of librarians in micrographics and audiovisuals; to promote the effective and creative use of micrographics and audiovisual materials in technology; and to cooperate with similar special interest groups of other organizations such as the American Society for Information Science.

In 1991 four subcommittees were created. In addition to a Newsletter Subcommittee, which oversees production of the A-V and Micrographics Newsletter, the other subcommittees are Audio/Video, Microforms, and New Technology. The subcommittees, which meet during the annual conference, allow members to focus attention on specific areas and projects.

More recent M/A SIS programs at AALL annual meetings have included: "A to V: Almost Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Audio and Video" (1987); "The Future of Microforms in the Optical Disk Environment" (1987); "Protect or Perish: The Preservation of Non-Print Materials"(1988); "Interactive Videodisc as an Instructional Medium: Its Use and Potential" (1988); "A Mixed Bag -- The Cataloging and Management of Mixed Media" (1989); "In-House Video Production for Law Libraries" (1989); "Audio and Video Cassettes -- What to Buy, When to Buy: The Collection Development/ Selection Issue" (1991); "Micrographics vs. CD-ROM Optical Discs: A Debate" (1991); "Media Longevity: Preservation Methods for Audio, Video and Microform Materials" (1992); "Media Center Development: Planning Law Library Media Centers in New and Existing Facilities” (1993); “Micrographics in the Computer Environment” (1995); “Microform Digitization and Imaging” (1996).

The A-V & Micrographics Newsletter, received as part of Section dues, is in its thirteenth volume, with contributions and enthusiastic editorial work by section members.

Chairs of the Section:

Randall T. Peterson 1979/80

H. Lynn Wishart 1980/81

James R. Fox 1981/82

Bethany J. Ochal 1982/83

Nina Cascio 1983/84

Naomi Ronen 1984/85

Win

Michael Klepper 1986/87

Gary Bravy 1987/88

Kay L. Andrus 1988/89

Randall T. Peterson 1989/90
Carol Meyer 1990/91

Merle J. Slyhoff 1991/92

Terrence E. McCormack1992/93

Michael Klepper 1993/94

John W. Pedini 1994/95

Andrew Laurence 1995/96

Laura Ray 1996/97

John W. Pedini 1997/98

John W. Pedini 1998/99

Laura Ray 1999/00

American Association of Law Libraries

MICROGRAPHICS AND AUDIO-VISUAL

SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION

BYLAWS

Article I: NAME

The name of this special interest section of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) shall be the Micrographics and Audio-Visual Special Interest Section.

Article II: OBJECT

To disseminate information on micrographics and audio-visual materials to the AALL membership;

To further the continuing education of law librarians in the area of micrographics and audio-visual materials;

To promote the effective and creative use of micrographic and audio-visual materials and technology in law libraries; and

To work in cooperation with similar special interest groups in other associations and organizations.

It shall conduct its affairs in conformity with the Constitution and Bylaws of the American Association of Law Libraries.

Article III: MEMBERSHIP

Membership shall be open to any AALL member requesting affiliation with the Micrographics and Audio-Visual Section as provided in the AALL Bylaws.

Article IV: MEETINGS

Section 1. Annual Meetings.
The annual meeting of the Section shall be held in connection with, or during, the annual meeting of the AALL.

Section 2. Special Meetings.
Special meetings shall be held when called by the Section Executive Committee. Notice of such meetings will be published in the official publication of the Section, or via a mailed official notice.

Article V: OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES

Section 1. Officers.
The officers shall consist of a Chair, Vice-Chair and a Secretary/Treasurer.

Section 2. Duties of Officers.
The Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary/Treasurer shall perform the administrative duties usually pertaining to their respective offices, and such other duties as may be assigned by the Section Executive Committee or the membership of the Section.

Section 3. Terms.
The Chair, and Vice-Chair shall each serve one year, and the Vice-Chair shall succeed to Chair at the end of the year in which he serves as Vice-Chair. The Secretary/Treasurer shall be elected every year.

Section 4. Section Executive Committee.
There shall be a Section Executive Committee consisting of the Officers named above and the immediate past-Chair. The Section Executive Committee shall direct the activities of the Section in achieving its stated objectives.

Section 5. Committees.
There shall be such standing or special committees as the Section Executive Committee, or membership of the Section shall create by a majority vote. One standing committee shall be the Nominating Committee.

Article VI: NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Section 1. Nominating Committee.
The Nominating Committee shall submit the names of candidates for the offices of Vice-Chair and Secretary/Treasurer, together with their written acceptances, to their Chair, in sufficient time to enable the Chair to inform the members of the section of the nominations prior to April 1, either by publication in the AALL Newsletter, the SIS newsletter, or by mail.

In the event that the Vice-Chair cannot assume the duties of Chair, and such fact is known prior to March 1, the Nominating Committee shall also submit the names of candidates for the office of Chair for the term of one year.

Section 2. Nomination by Petition.
Further nominations may be made upon written petition of five (5) members of the Section. Such petitions, accompanied by written acceptances of the nominees, must be filed with the Chair no later than May 1.

Section 3. Ballots.
The Secretary/Treasurer shall prepare an official ballot, including nominations by petition. The professional position of each nominee shall appear on the ballot.

Section 4. Election.
The officers of the Section shall be elected by mail. The Secretary/Treasurer shall mail ballots to each member of the Section prior to May 15. Ballots shall be marked and returned to the Secretary/Treasurer prior to June 10. The candidates receiving the largest number of votes for each office shall be declared elected, and shall be so reported by the Secretary/ Treasurer at the annual meeting of the Section. All candidates shall be notified of the results of the election at the earliest possible time.

Section 5. Tie Votes.
In case of a tie vote, a run-off election shall be held at the business meeting of the Section at the annual AALL convention. Run-off elections shall be by secret ballot. The ballots shall be immediately counted, and the candidate with the largest number of votes declared elected.

Section 6. Destruction of Ballots.
If there are no challenges to the results of the election, the ballots may be destroyed by the Secretary/Treasurer after the annual meeting.

Article VII: AMENDMENTS

Section 1.
Bylaws of the Section may be adopted, amended or suspended at the annual meeting of the Section by a majority vote of the members present and voting. Or, bylaws may be adopted, amended or suspended through a mail ballot. Whenever the bylaws are to be changed by mail vote, the Secretary/Treasurer shall mail ballots to every member in good standing of the Section. Such ballots shall state the text of the proposed change, the purpose of the change, and the date by which ballots must be returned to the Secretary/Treasurer. Proposed changes in the bylaws by mail must receive a majority vote of the ballots to be returned to the Secretary/Treasurer in order to pass. Tie votes shall be considered failure to pass.

Online Bibliographic Services SIS

The Section originated in 1977 as the OCLC SIS. At the San Francisco meeting in 1979, in response to the interest of RLIN (then called BALLOTS) users, the Section broadened its scope to include all bibliographic utilities and changed its name to Online Bibliographic Services SIS. Proposals to merge the Section with the Technical Services SIS were defeated in 1979, 1983, and 1988.

The OBS/SIS focuses on all aspects of the various national and local bibliographic utilities, including public access to bibliographic data online, acquisitions sub

Standing committees of the Section include: the OCLC Committee, the RLIN Committee, the Local Systems Committee, the Education Committee, the OBS/TS Joint Research Grant Committee, and the Web Advisory Committee.

Some recently sponsored convention programs include: “Outsourcing: Boon or Bane for Law Libraries” (1995); “Easing into the Next Generation Library System” (1995); “Net Gain: Learning to Bank on the Internet” (1995); “The Internet as a Library-Wide Resource: Tools for Acquisitions, Serials, Cataloging, ILL and Reference, and Related Legal and Technical Problems: (1994); “Technical Services/Public Services: New Wine in Old Bottles -- the Organizational Structure of Libraries in the Electronic Age” (1994); Workshop--”Moving Forward: Reconceptualizing Resources and Services in Recessionary Times” (1993).

The quarterly newsletter Technical Services Law Librarian presents Section news, convention program previews, technical discussions and current awareness reports. TSLL is jointly published by the Technical Services SIS and OBS/SIS, provided free to Section members. Subscriptions are also available ($10.00/year) from: Lorraine Lorne, TSLL Business Manager, University of Arkansas Law Library, Waterman Hall Rm. 202-C, Fayetteville, AR 72701-1201

Chairs of the Section:

Christian M. Boissonas 1977/78

Cherylyn Briggs 1978/79

Diane Hillmann 1979/80

Catherine Chenu

Gregory Koster 1980/82

Ermina Hahn 1982/83

Suzanne Thorpe 1983/84

Evelyn L. Smith 1984/85

Suzanne Harvey 1985/86

Patricia Callahan 1986/87

Margaret Maes Axtmann1987/88

Janice Snyder Anderson1988/89

Carol Avery Nicholson 1989/90

Susan Roach 1990/91

Alva T. Stone 1991/92

Elaine Sciolino 1992/93

Phyllis Post 1993/94

Mary Chapman 1994/95

Anne Myers 1995/96

Sally Wambold 1996/97

Jacqueline Paul 1997/98

John P. Bissett 1998/99

Brian D. Striman 1999/00

American Association of Law Libraries

ONLINE BIBLIOGRAPHIC SERVICES

SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION

BYLAWS

(As Amended July 19, 1997)

Article I: NAME

The name of this special interest section of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) shall be the Online Bibliographic Services Special Interest Section (OBS/SIS).

Article II: OBJECT

The object of the Online Bibliographic Services SIS shall be:

1. To provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and information on the use and capabilities of various interactive online bibliographic services, including (but not limited to) OCLC, RLIN and local systems; and

2. To communicate the concerns of its members to the governing bodies of those systems; and

3. To concern itself with all technical services, public services, and administrative aspects of such bibliographic systems as they affect users; and

4. To represent its members’ interests and concerns within the AALL.

The Section shall conduct its affairs in conformity with the Constitution and Bylaws of the American Association of Law Libraries.

Article III: MEMBERSHIP

Membership shall be open to any AALL member requesting affiliation with the Online Bibliographic Services SIS as provided in the AALL Bylaws. Membership shall be renewable each year.

Article IV: MEETINGS

Section 1. There shall be an annual meeting of the Online Bibliographic Services Special Interest Section held in conjunction with, or during, the annual meeting of AALL. The scheduling of the annual meeting during the annual meeting of AALL shall be cleared with the Convention Program Chairperson, or as otherwise provided in the AALL Bylaws. Meetings shall be open to all members of the Association (AALL), but no person may vote in any meeting who is not a Section member in good standing.

Section 2. A quorum shall consist of the members present at the meeting.

Article V: OFFICERS

Section 1. Officers.

The officers shall consist of a Chair, a Vice-Chair/Chair-elect, a Secretary/ Treasurer, and two (2) Members-at-Large.

Section 2. Duties of Officers.

The Chair and the Vice-Chair/Chair-elect shall each serve for a term of one year. The Secretary/ Treasurer and Members-at-Large shall serve for two-year terms, with the terms of the Members-at-Large being staggered so that one new Member-at-Large assumes office each year. Officers shall serve until the adjournment of the annual business meeting. They shall perform the duties usually pertaining to their respective offices, and other such duties as may be assigned by the Executive Committee or the membership. The Vice-Chair/Chair-elect shall also serve as Chair of the Education Committee.

Section 3. Executive Committee.

There shall be an Executive Committee consisting of the officers named above and the immediate past-Chair. The Executive Committee shall conduct the business of the Section during the period between annual meetings, provided that no actions are taken in conflict with the AALL bylaws. The Executive Committee may meet during the AALL annual meeting.

Article VI: NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Section 1. The Officers and Members-at-Large shall be elected annually. The Nominating Committee shall set dates each year for each part of the nominating/election procedure to ensure that adequate time is allowed for each procedure and that the election process is complete at least two months prior to the annual AALL meeting.

Section 2. The Chair shall appoint a Nominating Committee which will consist of three (3) section members, none of whom may be a member of the Executive Committee, and none of whom may be a current officer, nor a candidate for office at the succeeding election. The members of the Nominating Committee shall serve for a term of one year. The Chair will designate one of the three members to serve as chairperson of the committee.

Section 3. The Nominating Committee shall choose a slate of at least two (2) nominees for each position. Only those OBS members holding individual or designated institutional membership in AALL are eligible to hold office. The names of candidates, together with their written acceptances, shall be presented by the Nominating Committee to the Chair in sufficient time to enable the Chair to inform Section members of the nominations, no later than February 28.

Further nominations may be made upon the written petition of five (5) Section members. Such petitions, with the written consent of the nominees, should be filed with the Secretary/Treasurer no later than March 23.

Section 4. The Secretary/Treasurer shall prepare an official ballot, and no later than April 1, mail a copy of the official ballot to each member of the Section. Ballots shall be marked, sealed in envelopes stamped to identify them as containing ballots, and returned to the Secretary/Treasurer no later than May 1 or 65 days prior to the annual meeting, in covering envelopes. The candidates receiving the largest number of votes shall be elected and shall be so reported at the annual meeting by the Secretary/Treasurer, and all candidates shall be notified of the results of the election at the earliest possible time. In case of a tie vote, a run-off election shall be by secret ballot at the annual meeting. The ballots shall be immediately counted and the candidate with the largest number of votes declared elected.

Section 5. The occurrence of a vacancy in the position of Chair shall be filled by the succession of the present Vice-Chair/Chair-elect to serve as Chair until the next scheduled election of Section officers.

In the event of an unexpected vacancy in the office of Vice-Chair/Chair-elect, Secretary/Treasurer, or Member-at-Large, the Section Chair shall appoint a replacement with the approval of the Executive Committee.

Article VII: COMMITTEES

Section 1. Standing Committees.

In keeping with the goals of the Section as stated in Article II, standing committees are created to provide a forum for discussion of issues relating to online bibliographic services and a vehicle for the dissemination of information about such services. Committees may be authorized by the Section at the annual business meeting by a majority vote of the members present at the meeting. Committee membership is open to any member of the Section. The Vice-Chair/Chair -elect appoints members to the standing committees for a one-year term which shall correspond to the year in which the Vice-Chair/Chair-elect is to serve as Chair of the Section. Committee Chairs are elected for two-year terms by the committee members, except in the Education Committee. Each year the Vice-Chair/Chair-elect of the Section shall serve as Chair of the Education Committee.

Committee chairs are responsible for regular communication with the representatives of their respective utilities or systems, reporting to such representatives any concerns of the membership and reporting back to the membership. The Chair of the Education Committee is responsible for organizing and coordinating the planning of educational programs, workshops and institutes, which support the interests of Section members, for the subsequent AALL annual meeting. Standing committees formed jointly with another AALL section shall have responsibilities assigned, members appointed and chairs selected in a manner approved by the Executive Committees of both of the sections. Committee chairs shall contribute to the Section’s newsletter and shall participate in program planning when appropriate. Each committee will hold a meeting in connection with the annual business meeting.

The occurrence of a vacancy in the position of committee chair shall be filled by appointment of the Section Chair with the approval of the Executive Committee. A standing committee may be discontinued by a majority vote of the members present and voting at the annual business meeting.

Authorized committees are as follows:

1a. OCLC Committee

1b. RLIN Committee

1c. Local Systems Committee

1d. Education Committee

1e. OBS/TS Joint Research Grant Committee

1f. Web Advisory Committee

Section 2. Special Committees.

Special committees, for the performance of particular assignments, may be appointed at any time by the Chair after consultation with the other members of the Executive Committee. Committee progress shall be reviewed on a regular basis and the need for continuing the work of such committees should be evaluated by the income Section Chair.

Section 3. Discussion Groups.

Informal discussion groups, to meet under the auspices of the Section, may be formed by any five (5) or more members of the Section, with the approval of the Chair.

Article VIII: AMENDMENTS

Section 1. These bylaws may be amended at the annual meeting of the Section, by a two-thirds vote of the members present and voting. Any amendment shall take effect after it has been approved by the AALL Executive Board.

Section 2. Notice of proposed amendments shall be mailed to the Section’s members 30 days in advance of the meeting.

Article IX: PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY

Sturgis’ Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure, in the latest edition, shall govern all deliberations of the section.

Private Law Libraries SIS

The private law libraries of AALL were first officially organized at the 1959 Annual Meeting after a round table discussion entitled “The Problems of the Private Law Librarian.” AALL set up the private Law Libraries Committee, which was the immediate predecessor of the PLL/SIS. The PLL/SIS itself came into existence after the reorganization of the AALL committee system in 1976-77. It was one of the eight original special interest sections approved at the annual meeting in Toronto, Ontario and held its first meeting as an SIS on June 26, 1977.

The PLL/SIS is now AALL’s largest, with a membership of over 1600 firm, corporate and independent law librarians. It comprises more than 1/3 of the membership of AALL. As the section grew larger, librarians with more specific concerns came into contact. Through meetings and collaborations, some of these groups have evolved into PLL subsections. Presently, the PLL/SIS sponsors seven groups under its auspices: Corporate, Independent, Records Management, Technical Services, Intellectual Property, Multilocation Libraries and Solo Librarians. Each of these groups gathers sometime during the annual meeting. Funds for special projects of these groups come from the SIS and must be approved by the PLL/SIS Executive Committee.

§ The Corporate Law Librarians generally work for either a corporation’s legal department or the corporate department of a law firm library. They deal with specific problems of running a law library in a corporation, such as managing both the records center and the library or dealing with SEC regulations.

§ The Independent Law Librarians are free lancers, consultants, filing services, information specialists and others who work with law libraries and legal materials, but have some type of employment other than a single, permanent full-time position.

§ The Records Management Law Librarians are librarians who are responsible for managing records and conflicts of interest departments in their firms and corporations.

§ The Technical Services Law Librarians have as their objective the improvement of standards of bibliographic control in law firm libraries and introduction of automation and technology into the working environment of law firms, where the small size of the collection often does not warrant the sophisticated systems developed for larger collections.

§ The Intellectual Property Librarians have specialized knowledge and interest in the practice area of trademarks, patents, copyright and other intellectual property.

§ The Multilocation Libraries group is focused on management of branch or regional offices as well as the main location. The group discusses staffing, technical processing, centralized versus decentralized functions and other concerns dealing with this structure.

§ The Solo Librarians group looks at the special concerns where librarians are the sole information professionals in their firms or corporations.

Activities of the PLL/SIS include:

§ Sponsoring a substantial number of programs and workshops a the AALL annual meeting

§ Working closely with AALL to promote law librarianship using materials such as the AALL Tool Kit and AALL Resource Guides

§ Sponsoring educational programming for and exhibiting at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Legal Administrators

§ Underwriting the costs associated with the AALL Representative to the American Bar Association Law Practice Management Section

§ Creating a New Members Packet to welcome newcomers to the Section

§ Funding scholarships and grants to assist members in need

In addition to these projects, the Section created a Strategic Plan in the Fall of 1996 that will guide its activities until the year 2000. This plan identified six initiatives targeted to addressing the needs of the private law librarian, both within AALL and within the larger legal and librarian communities. During 1998, one of these initiatives, the Consumer Advocacy Committee for PLL (CAPLL), actively issued publisher alerts to the entire law library community. It is hoped that the PLL Strategic Plan will be regularly compared and contrasted to the Strategic Challenge that is developed by AALL to make certain that the Section’s activities flow from, and inspire, our parent organization’s planning.

Standing Committees include: Bylaws, Education, Grants, Mentoring, Newsletter Advisory, Nominations, Public Relations, Standards and Guidelines, Technology, Consumer Advocacy and Research/Information in Private Law Libraries, with additional Task Forces and Ad Hoc Committees as needed.

The Section issued its own newsletter from 1978 to 1982, from 1986 to 1988 and from 1989 to the present. The current publication, PLL Perspectives, is quarterly and is available to all section members as part of their membership. Non-member subscriptions are available from AALL for $35.00 per year.

Chairs of the Section:

Ellen Mahar 1977/78

Ellen Mahar 1978/79

Marie Wallace 1979/80

Diane Witkowski 1980/81

Vicki Ward 1981/82

Margaret Shediac 1982/83

Austin Doherty 1983/84

Mary Ann Roman 1984/85

Cathy Pennington 1985/86

Nuchine Nobari 1986/87

Elizabeth MacMorris 1987/88

Susanne Gehringer 1988/89

Patricia G. Strougal 1989/90

Mark E. Estes 1990/91

Janet Zagorin 1991/92

Victoria K. Trotta 1992/93

Johanna C. Bizub 1993/94

Alvin Podboy 1994/95

Mary Smith Forman 1995/96

Michael Saint-Onge 1996/97

Anne Ellis 1997/98

Glen Gustafson 1998/99

Kathie J. Sullivan 1999/00

American Association of Law Libraries

PRIVATE LAW LIBRARIES

SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION

BYLAWS

(Revised February, 1995)

Article I: NAME

The name of this special interest section of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) shall be the Private Law Libraries/Special Interest Section. It may also be known as the PLL/SIS.

Article II: OBJECT

Section 1. The objects of the Private Law Libraries Special Interest Section shall be to improve the quality and service of private law libraries by emphasizing their goals, needs and special interests and to represent its members' interests and concerns within the AALL.

Section 2. The Section shall conduct its affairs in conformity with the Constitution and Bylaws of the American Association of Law Libraries.

Article III: MEMBERSHIP

Section 1. There shall be an annual meeting of the Private Law Libraries/Special Interest Section held in connection with, or during, the annual meeting of the AALL.

Section 2. Special meetings may be held at such time as the PLL/SIS Executive Committee may determine.

Section 3. A quorum for a business meeting of the Private Law Libraries/Special Interest Section shall consist of fifty (50) PLL/SIS members.

Section 4. Written notification of all meetings shall be sent to each member at least 30 days before each meeting.

Article IV: OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES

Section 1. Officers

The officers shall consist of a Chair, a Vice

Section 2. Duties of Officers

The Chair, Vice

Section 3. Executive Committee

There shall be an Executive Committee consisting of the officers named above, the immediate past

Section 4. Committees

There shall be the following established groups of the PLL/SIS: Corporate Law Librarians, Independent Law Librarians, Records Management Law Librarians and Technical Services Law Librarians. Each group shall send a representative to the annual meetings of the PLL/SIS Executive Committee. There shall be additional standing or special committees as the Executive Committee shall create, or shall be created by a majority vote of those present and voting on a written resolution of the Section. Such resolutions must be presented to the Secretary prior to the meeting.

Section 5. Appointments

The Chair shall appoint all committee members except the Nominating Committee, unless the Section shall otherwise direct.

Section 6. Vacancies

The occurrence of a vacancy in the position of Chair shall be filled by the succession of the present Vice

Article V: NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS

Section 1. There shall be a Nominating Committee appointed by the Executive Committee, to consist of three (3) members, none of whom shall be a member of the Executive Committee, and none of whom shall be a candidate for office at the succeeding election. Each member of the committee shall serve for a term of one year. The Chair of the committee shall be designated by the Executive Committee. The Committee shall nominate two (2) candidates for each of the offices of Vice

In the event that the Vice

Section 2. Further nominations, except for the office of Chair, may be made upon written petition of five percent (5%) voting PLL/SIS members in good standing. Such petitions, accompanied by written acceptance of the nominees, must be filed with the Chair at least three and one

Section 3. The Chair shall appoint an Election Committee, chaired by the Secretary, which shall have charge of the conduct of the annual election, and the counting and tabulation of all votes cast. The Secretary shall oversee the mailing of the ballots to each member of the Section at least three months in advance of the first day of the AALL Annual Meeting. Ballots shall be marked, sealed in plain envelopes in covering envelopes bearing on the outside the name and address of the member voting, and returned to the Secretary no later than two months in advance of the first day of the AALL Annual Meeting. The candidates receiving the largest number of votes shall be elected and shall be so reported at the PLL/SIS Annual Meeting by the Secretary, and all candidates shall be notified of the results of the election by the Secretary at the earliest possible time. In case of a tie vote, a run

Article VI: AMENDMENTS

Section 1. Amendments to these bylaws may be proposed by the Executive Committee, or by a petition signed by ten percent (10%) of the PLL/SIS members. Proposed amendments shall become effective when approved by two

Section 2. Notice of the proposed amendments shall be mailed to the Section's members, or be published in the Section's newsletter thirty (30) days in advance of the mail ballot.

Article VII: PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY

Robert's Rules of Order, in the latest edition, shall govern all deliberations of the PLL/SIS.

Research Instruction and Patron Services SIS

The Research Instruction and Patron Services SIS was originally organized at the 1979 San Francisco AALL Annual Meeting as the Reader Services SIS. The section changed its name at the 1996 Indianapolis AALL Annual Meeting to reflect the desire to have a name that more accurately described the activities of the SIS and the Research Instruction Caucus that was integrated into the SIS in 1995.

This Section address various substantive issues relating to public and reader services, including reference, research instruction, circulation, interlibrary loan, and the impact of automation and electronic resources on patron services in all types of law libraries.

Committees within the SIS provide a forum for the exchange of ideas in particular areas of interest. SIS committees include: Web Page, Public Relations and Recruitment, Patron Services, Program, Research Instruction, and Nominations.

Each year RIPS holds a business meeting at the AALL Annual meeting in addition to informal Committee and Roundtable meetings. The SIS has a strong tradition of proposing and sponsoring numerous programs and workshops for the Annual Meeting. Programs sponsored and presented by SIS members in recent years include “The Management Message: Teams and TQM,” “Copyright in the Electronic Environment: Will It Be Just?” “Benchmarks in Court Automation: Issues and Innovations in Technology in the Courts,” “Preparing New Law Librarians for the Information Age,” “Meeting ‘Them’ at the Crossroads: How to Motivate and Nuture Student Workers,” and “Electronic Reserves: At the Crossroads of Document Access and Technology.”

The Disintermediation Task Force established by the SIS in 1999 has a charge to work on various initiatives including defining technology competencies for law school graduates, developing online CLE training classes, and developing training tools for the Internet and for technology literacy. This Task Force will be completing work on these initiatives during 1999-2000.

The SIS created its first Web page in 1998. Links to all SIS official documents, elected officers, membership lists, program information, and the electronic pathfinder clearinghouse sponsored by the SIS are on the home page at: www.aallnet.org/sis/ripssis/index.htm. The SIS series, Briefs In Law Librarianship, is in its fourth year of publication and provides useful information on law library policies and procedures for front-line staff. Earlier SIS projects include the development of tools for bibliographic access to legal materials for the visually impaired and a circulation policy survey.

The SIS publishes a quarterly newsletter, Research Instruction and Patron Services Law Librarian that is distributed free of charge to all members of the Section.

Chairs of the Section:

Carol Allred 1980/81

Nick Triffin 1981/82

Chester Bunnell 1982/83

Bobbie Snow 1983/84

Shelley Dowling 1984/85

Kristine Kreilick 1985/86

Martha Rush 1986/87

Carol Bredemeyer 1987/88

Pat Court 1988/89

Patricia Cervenka 1989/90

Patricia Cervenka 1990/91

Joan Shear 1991/92

Betsy McKenzie 1992/93

Tim Watts 1993/94

Roberta (Bobbie) Studwell 1994/95

Darcy Kirk 1995/96

Duane Strojny 1996/97

Kory Staheli 1997/98

Celeste Feather 1998/99

Kristen Gerdy 1999/00

American Association of Law Libraries

RESEARCH INSTRUCTION AND PATRON SERVICES

SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION

BYLAWS

(AS ADOPTED JULY 1, 1979

AMENDED JULY 21, 1996; AMENDED FEBRUARY 7, 2000)

Article I: NAME

The name of this special interest section of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) shall be the Research Instruction and Patron Services (RIPS) Special Interest Section.

Article II: OBJECT

The object of the Research Instruction and Patron Services Special Interest Section shall be: to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and information on the topics of research instruction, circulation services, interlibrary loan and document delivery, reference, and technology as they affect patrons in all law library public services areas; to promote the communication of ideas, interests and activities of the members of the Section among Section members and within AALL; to further the continuing education of law librarians in the areas of research instruction and patron services; to represent its members’ interests and concerns within AALL; and to work in cooperation with similar special interests groups in other associations or organizations. The Section shall conduct its affairs in conformity with the Bylaws of the American Association of Law Libraries.

Article III: MEMBERSHIP

a. Membership shall be open to any AALL member requesting affiliation with the Research Instruction and Patron Services Section as provided in the AALL bylaws. Membership shall be renewable each year.

b. Members shall have the right to hold office, to vote, and to serve on committees, and shall receive the Section newsletter.

Article IV: MEETINGS

a. There shall be an annual meeting of the Research Instruction and Patron Services Special Interest Section held in connection with or during the annual meeting of AALL. The scheduling of the Section annual meeting during the annual meeting of AALL shall be cleared with the appropriate AALL offices. Meetings shall be open to all members of AALL, but no person who is not a Section member in good standing may vote in any Section meeting.

b. A quorum shall consist of the members present at the Section annual meeting.

Article V: OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES

Section 1. Officers.

The officers shall consist of a Chairperson, Vice Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect, a Secretary/Treasurer, and a Newsletter Editor. Officers shall be members in good standing in the SIS.

Section 2. Duties of officers.

a. Chairperson. It shall be the duty of the Chairperson to: coordinate all business and projects of the Section through the Executive Committee of this SIS; appoint members to the committees of the Section; prepare a column for each issue of the SIS newsletter; act as a liaison to the AALL Executive Board through the SIS Council (composed of all SIS Chairpersons); and prepare required reports for and correspondence with the AALL Executive Director as appropriate.

b. Vice Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect. It shall be the duty of the Vice Chairperson/ Chairperson-Elect to: set up and conduct the business of a Program Committee; solicit and develop program ideas; work with the Executive Committee; and perform any other duties delegated to him/her by the Chairperson.

c. Secretary/Treasurer. It shall be the duty of the Secretary/Treasurer to maintain all written and financial records of the Section. This includes taking and reporting of minutes of business meetings; managing the budget and preparing reports, as required; preparing and mailing ballots for annual elections, and tabulating results; and handling correspondence, as required. Other duties may include mailing new member packets, as required, and overseeing advertising for the newsletter.

d. Newsletter Editor. It shall be the duty of the Newsletter Editor to edit, produce, and oversee distribution of the SIS newsletter. The editor may delegate some work to a volunteer newsletter publisher or committee.

Section 3. Executive Committee.

There shall be an Executive Committee consisting of the officers named above, the immediate past Chairperson, and two section Members-at-Large. The Members-at-Large shall be elected for staggered, two-year terms, and shall perform duties comparable to those usually assigned to such members in similar associations.

Section 4. Committees.

a. There shall be such standing or special committees as the Executive Committee or the membership of the Section shall create.

b. There shall be a standing Nominating Committee, appointed by the Executive Committee, to consist of three members, no one of whom shall be a member of the Executive Committee, and no one of whom shall be a candidate for office at the succeeding election. Each member of the Nominating Committee shall serve for a term of one year; the chair of the Nominating Committee shall be designated by the Executive Committee.

Section 5. Terms of Office.

The Vice Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect shall serve a two-year term, the first year as Vice Chairperson and the second year as Chairperson. A new Vice Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect shall be elected each year. The Secretary/Treasurer and the Newsletter Editor shall each serve a two-year term. Officers and Executive Committee Members-at-Large shall serve in office until the adjournment of the RIPS annual business meeting.

Section 6. Vacancies.

A vacancy in the position of Chairperson shall be filled by the present Vice Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect, who shall serve until the end of the Vice Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect’s own elected term.

If a vacancy occurs in the office of Vice Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect, Secretary/Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, or Member-at-Large, the position shall be filled by appointment of the Executive Committee. The person appointed shall serve until the next regularly scheduled election, at which time all offices shall be filled for their ordinary terms.

Article VI: NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND MEMBERS-AT-LARGE

Section 1. Nominations.

The Nominating Committee shall submit the names of two candidates each for the offices of Vice Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect, Secretary/Treasurer, and Newsletter Editor, and two candidates for the Member-at-Large position, together with their written acceptances, to the Chairperson in sufficient time to enable the Chairperson to inform the members of the Section of the nominations prior to February 1, either by publication in the AALL newsletter, the SIS newsletter, or by mail. The Committee shall seek potential candidates representative of the diverse employment and background of the membership, submitting at least one nominee from a non-academic law library (private, special, court, etc.) in every candidate pool, insofar as possible.

Section 2. Chairperson.

In the event that the Vice Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect cannot assume the duties of Chairperson and such fact is known prior to January 1, the Nominating Committee shall also submit to the current Chairperson the names of candidates for the office of Chairperson for the term of one year, to appear on the ballot with the candidates for Vice Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect, Secretary/Treasurer, and Newsletter Editor and Member-at-Large. If the Vice Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect cannot assume the duties of Chairperson and it becomes known after January 1, the Executive Committee shall appoint a member to serve for one year as Chairperson.

Section 3. Nomination by petition.

Further nominations may be made upon written petition of 5 members of the Section. Such petitions, accompanied by written acceptance of the nominee, must be filed with the Chairperson not later than February 15.

Section 4. Ballots.

The secretary shall prepare an official ballot, including nominations by petition. The professional position of each nominee shall appear on the ballot. The Secretary/Treasurer shall mail a copy of the ballot to each member of the Section; ballots may be mailed as part of the Section newsletter. Marked ballots shall be returned to the Secretary/Treasurer by a specified deadline. The candidates receiving the largest number of votes shall be elected and shall be so reported at the Section’s annual meeting. All candidates shall be notified of the results of the election at the earliest possible time.

Section 5. Tie votes.

In case of a tie vote, a run-off election shall be held by special mailing.

Section 6. Destruction of ballots.

If there are no challenges to the results of the election, the ballots may be destroyed by the Secretary after the annual meeting.

Section 7. Timing of Elections.

Elections must be completed 2 months prior to the date of the annual AALL convention.

Article VII: AMENDMENTS

Section 1. Bylaws of the Section may be adopted, amended, or suspended at the annual meeting of the Section by a majority vote of the members present and voting. In the alternative, bylaws may be adopted, amended, or suspended through a mail ballot.

Whenever the bylaws are to be changed by mail vote, the Secretary/Treasurer shall mail ballots to every member in good standing of the Section. Ballots may be mailed as part of the Section newsletter. Such ballots shall state the text of the proposed change, the purpose of the change, and the date by which ballots must be returned to the Secretary/Treasurer. A majority of the mail ballots returned must be in favor of the bylaws change in order for it to pass. Tie votes shall be considered failure to pass.

Section 2. All Section members shall receive notice of proposed amendments to the bylaws. Notice of proposed amendments to the bylaws may be mailed to the Section’s members, distributed via listserv or other electronic means, or published in the Section’s newsletter at least 30 days in advance of the Section’s annual meeting or the mailing of the ballots.

Section 3. Following passage by the Section, any amendment shall take effect only after it has been presented to the AALL Bylaws Committee for review and approved by the AALL Executive Board.

Article VIII: PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY

Robert's Rules of Order, in the latest edition, shall govern all deliberations of the Section when not in conflict with the bylaws of the Section.

Social Responsibilities SIS

The Social Responsibilities SIS was one of the original seven special interest sections approved by the AALL Executive Board in 1977 (under the name Contemporary Social Problems SIS). Its roots, however, can be traced back to the 1971 formation of the Conference of Concerned Law Librarians, which developed into the Committee on Contemporary Social Problems (CSP) in 1973. In 1981, Law Library Service to Institution Residents SIS merged with CSP, and its functions were transferred to the CSP Standing Committee on Law Library Service to Institution Residents. Another very active committee within the SIS is the Standing Committee on Lesbian and Gay Issues. Other standing and ad hoc committees are created as needed. The SIS's name was changed to Social Responsibilities SIS in 1993, reflecting AALL's social responsibilities within the profession and society.

From its earliest days, SR-SIS has addressed the social issues that affect us as members of the law librarian profession and as members of the human family. Topics of concern have included censorship, law library service to the lay public, and all forms of discrimination against disadvantaged groups. These concerns have found expression through resolutions introduced and passed by the general membership of AALL (e.g., support for ERA and for affirmative action (71st Annual Meeting, 1978); against sexual harassment (77th Annual Meeting, 1984); Sexual Orientation Resolution (80th Annual Meeting, 1987), as well as the presentation of timely and provocative programs such as "Representing the Unpopular Client " (73rd Annual Meeting, 1980); "Public and Private Responses to South Africa Policy of Apartheid" (79th Annual Meeting, 1986); "Animal Rights and the Law" (82nd Annual Meeting, 1989); and "AIDS: The Continuing Challenge" (84th Annual Meeting, 1991). Recent educational programs have included "Domestic Partner Benefits: Narratives, Overview, Status Report from the Front" (88th Annual Meeting, 1995), and "Human Rights Worldwide: When the Message is Hard to Deliver - Sexual Minorities" (89th Annual Meeting, 1996).

SR-SIS publishes Law Libraries Which Offer Service to Prisoners and Recommended Collections for Prison and Other Institutional Law Libraries. The latter title is widely recognized as the most authoritative standard for institution libraries (and has been so cited by several courts). The Section's Standing Committee on Lesbian and Gay Issues published Sexual Orientation and the Law: A Selective Bibliography on Homosexuality and the Law, 1969-1993 in 86 LAW LIBRARY JOURNAL 1-103 (1994). SR-SIS publishes a newsletter three times per year, maintains a web page on AALLNET, and regularly contributes to the "SIS News" column in AALL NEWSLETTER.

Chairs of the Section:

Frank Liu 1977/78

Marvin Anderson 1978/79

David S. Yen 1979/80

Peter S. Schanck 1980/81

Diane C. Reynolds 1981/82

David L. Bridgman 1982/83

Susan M. Wood 1983/84

Ann Puckett 1984/85

Joel Fishman 1985/86

Scott Pagel 1986/87

Pam Gregory 1987/88

Arturo Torres 1988/89

Carol Alpert 1989/90

Charlie Colokathis 1990/91

Rebecca Trammell 1991/92

Camille Broussard 1992/93

Karen J. Edwards 1993/94

James Milles 1994/95

James E. Duggan 1995/96

Prano Amjadi 1996/97

Bruce Kleinschmidt 1997/98

Karen Westwood 1998/99

John H. Davey 1999/00

American Association of Law Libraries

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION

BYLAWS

(Approved: July 1992)

Article I: NAME

The name of this Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) shall be the Social Responsibilities SIS.

Article II: OBJECT

The object of the Social Responsibilities SIS shall be to act as a stimulus to the Association and its members by focusing attention on, providing a forum for discussion of, exchange information about, and proposing resolutions on critical social issues that affect library workers as members of the profession and as members of the human family. It shall conduct its affairs in conformity with the constitution and Bylaws of the American Association of Law Libraries.

Article III: MEMBERSHIP

Membership shall be open to any AALL member requesting affiliation with the Social Responsibilities SIS, as provided in the AALL Bylaws. Vendors may be members, but may not vote or hold office. The SIS welcomes and encourages diversity among its members.

Article IV: MEETINGS

There shall be an annual meeting of the SIS held during the annual meeting of AALL. Other meetings may be held at such times and places as the Executive Committee may elect, or the Special Interest Section membership direct.

Article V: OFFICERS AND STANDING COMMITTEES

Section 1. Officers.

The officers shall consist of a Chair, a Vice-Chair/Chair-elect and a Secretary/Treasurer. The Vice-Chair/Chair-elect shall be elected annually by the SIS. The Vice-Chair/Chair-elect shall automatically become Chair after one year, and shall so serve during the second year following his or her election. The Secretary/Treasurer shall be elected biennially by the SIS.

Section 2. Duties of Officers.

The Chair, Vice-Chair/Chair-elect, and Secretary/Treasurer shall perform the duties usually pertaining to their respective offices, and such other duties as may be assigned by the SIS Executive Committee or the membership.

Section 3. Executive Committee.

There shall be an Executive Committee consisting of the officers named above, and the immediate past Chair.

Section 4. Standing Committees.

There shall be a Standing Committee on Law Library Service to Institutional Residents and a Standing Committee on Lesbian and Gay Issues. There shall be such other Standing or Special Committees as the SIS Executive Committee shall create, or shall be created by a majority vote of those present and voting at any annual meeting of this SIS. Unless otherwise provided, committee Chairs shall be designated by the Chair of the SIS.

Article VI: NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS

The Immediate Past Chair shall serve as Chair of the Nominating Committee and shall appoint two others to serve until the next annual meeting.

Two candidates shall be presented for each office to be voted on, the Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect every year and the Secretary/Treasurer every other year. Further nominations may be made upon written petition of five voting members. Such petitions, with the written consent of the nominees, shall be filed with the Secretary/Treasurer not later than April 1st.

The Secretary/Treasurer shall prepare the ballot, including nominations by petition, and mail a copy of the ballot to each member of the Section. Ballots shall be marked, sealed in plain envelopes, and returned to the Secretary/Treasurer for a tabulation by the first week in May or two months prior to the AALL Annual Meeting, whichever is earlier. The candidates receiving the largest number of votes shall be elected and this shall be reported to AALL Headquarters, in the CSP Newsletter, and at the Annual Meeting by the Chair of the SIS. All candidates shall be notified of the results of the election by the Chair of the SIS at the earliest possible time. In case of a tie-vote, the successful candidates shall be determined by lot conducted by the Nominating Committee.

The Secretary/Treasurer shall mail a copy of the ballots to each member of the Section. Ballots shall be marked, sealed in plain envelopes, and returned to the Secretary/Treasurer for a tabulation. The candidate receiving the largest number of votes shall be elected, and shall be so reported at the annual meeting by the Committee on Election, or Chair of the SIS. All candidates shall be notified of the results of the election by the Committee on elections, or Chair of the SIS, at the earliest possible time. In case of a tie vote, the successful candidates shall be determined by lot conducted by the Committee on Elections.

State, Court, and County Law Libraries SIS

In 1973, four years before AALL formally recognized the concept of Special Interest Sections, state, court, county and bar librarians began meeting together to share common concerns. Ever since, SCCLL has explored ways to improve services in its members' libraries, facilitate the ability of its members to accomplish their mission, and represent our members' interests within the profession. Through standing and special committees, programs, and projects, SCCLL has focused upon such areas as library funding, trustee relations, interlibrary communications, computer

Among the SIS's major accomplishments have been the drafting and publication of standards for county and appellate court libraries in 88 Law Lib. J. 627

In recent years SCCLL has placed increasing emphasis upon developing political and public relations skills. Facilitating regular communications and contact between law librarians and several organizations for attorneys, judges and court administrators is of primary importance to our members. Our goal is to achieve clear recognition of law librarians as significant members of the court management team.

In 1988 and 1992, officers of the Section represented AALL at the 2nd and 3rd Annual Conferences on Court Technology. In 1993, members made a presentation at the Conference of Chief Justices. In 1994, the Sourcebook for Law Library Governing Boards and Committees, AALL Publications Series No. 45, was published by Rothman. Authored by the SIS’s Trustee Development Committee, the publication was created to assist members in effectively managing their libraries and communicating with their governing bodies.

At the AALL Annual Meeting in Seattle, July 9, 1994, the SCCLL celebrated twenty years of growth and success through a special event

The three SCCLL awards include the “Bethany Ochal Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession,” the “Connie Bolden Award” recognizing scholarly publication and the “O. James Werner Award” recognizing service by librarians with disabilities, as well as service for persons with disabilities. The Awards Committee has worked each year to clarify the specific criteria for each of the three awards.

In May 1997, AALL co-sponsored the “Lawyers Conference Spring Meeting” with the ABA Judicial Division, the ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services, and the American Judicature Society. Entitled "Understanding the Voices in Our Courts," the meeting featured a four-day dialogue among judges, court clerks, court administrators, bar officials, law librarians and attorneys about issues and solutions related to the delivery of legal services to a growing population of self

As part of the Section's ongoing mission of providing educational opportunities for members, SCCLL routinely sponsors several programs at each AALL Annual Meeting; in 1991 and 1996, the Section sponsored an AALL Winter Institute. In 1997, the State, Court and County SIS approved the creation of a Grants Committee, charged with developing criteria for and awarding grants to SCCLL members, and promoting attendance at a variety of educational programs. In addition, in July of 1997 the SIS formally approved its first roundtable group, the “Attorney General Law Librarians Roundtable”.

In 1998 and 1999, the SCCLL Executive Board and Strategic Planning Committee worked to complete tasks identified during the committee's initial workgroup meeting in the summer of 1998. With the assistance of a facilitator, the committee refined the mission statement and performance objectives, developed and conducted an environmental scan of the membership, and wrote a draft strategic plan. The two-year plan will be implemented and monitored from 1999 through 2001.

Section members assisted with the administration of a grant from the State Justice Institute to bring fifteen judges and leaders from the fields of judicial education and judicial administration to the 1999 Annual Meeting. In May 1999, Section members participated as Reporters for the discussion groups at the National Conference on Public Trust and Confidence in the Justice System sponsored by the ABA and the National Conference of Chief Justices. At the SIS's annual educational program, the members received a briefing on the action plans proposed by the conference and worked in small groups to discuss specific law library activities that would enhance the national action plan.

SCCLL convenes annually at the AALL Annual Meeting, holding a business meeting and offering a two

The Section publishes a quarterly newsletter, the State, Court and County Law Libraries News, which is distributed to all SCCLL SIS members. Articles on developments affecting the profession and our libraries, and SIS news are included in each issue. Members also communicate with each other via the STATECOURTCOUNTYLAWLIB

Chairs of the Section:

Raymond Taylor 1973/74

Margaret Setliff 1974/75

William Powers 1975/76

Bethany Ochal 1976/77

Paul Fu 1977/78

Marcia Koslov 1978/79

John Sigel 1979/80

Judith Foust 1980/81

O. James Werner 1981/82

Edgar Bellefontaine 1982/83

Carol Meyer 1983/84

Anne Grande 1984/85

Duncan Webb 1985/86

Kai

Carol Billings 1987/88

Frederic Baum 1988/89

David Badertscher 1989/90

Joel Fishman 1990/91

Judy Meadows 1991/92

Pamela Gregory 1992/93

Anita K. Shew 1993/94

Marvin Anderson 1994/95

Deborah Norwood 1995/96

Frank Alan Herch 1996/97

Gail Warren 1997/98

Jean M. Holcomb 1998/99

Shirley H. David 1999/00

American Association of Law Libraries

STATE, COURT AND COUNTY LAW LIBRARIES SECTION

BYLAWS

Adopted June 25, 1977 at Toronto, Ontario

Amended July 2, 1979 at San Francisco, California

Amended June 24, 1980 at St. Louis, Missouri

Amended June 26, 1988 at Atlanta, Georgia

Amended June 18, 1989 Reno, Nevada

Amended July 19, 1992 at San Francisco, California

Article I: NAME

The name of this group shall be the State, Court and County Law Libraries Section (SCCLL) of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL).

Article II: PURPOSE

The purpose of the State, Court and County Law Libraries Section shall be:

1. To improve the quality and services of the libraries represented in its membership, and

2. To represent its member's interests and concerns within AALL.

Article III: MEMBERSHIP

Membership shall be open to any AALL member requesting affiliation with the State, Court and County Law Libraries Section as provided in the AALL bylaws.

Article IV: DUES

Section 1. Dues will be established, collected and disbursed by the treasurer of AALL in accordance with AALL bylaws, Article VII.

Section 2. The fiscal year will be the same as that of the AALL, October 1 through September 30.

Article V: MEETINGS

Section 1. There shall be an annual meeting of the section held in connection with or during the annual meeting of AALL.

Section 2. Special meetings may be called by the Chairperson or the Executive Committee.

Section 3. Meetings shall be open to non-members, but only members shall cast votes.

Section 4. The quorum for all voting shall be thirty (30) members present and voting.

Section 5. Voting at meetings will generally be by voice unless a ballot is requested. A majority vote of those present and voting will prevail on all business matters and election, except that bylaws amendments shall require a two-thirds vote.

Article VI: OFFICERS

Section 1. The officers shall perform the duties usually pertaining to their respective offices and such other duties as may be assigned by the Executive Committee.

Section 2. All vacancies in offices shall be filled by the Executive Committee for an interim term until the next regular election of officers, at which time said vacancies shall be filled by election, except that the vice chairperson-chairperson-elect automatically will become chairperson upon a vacancy in such office.

Section 3. The officers shall be:

A. Chairperson. Shall service for one year and automatically become past Chairperson and as such serve one year on the Executive Committee.

B. Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-elect. Shall service for one year and become Chairperson for the following year at the closed of the current annual meeting.

C. Secretary/Treasurer. Shall service for three years and shall record the minutes of the meeting, keep the records of the organization, including the financial record, give a written account of the funds of the Section when requested to do so by the Executive Committee of the Section and prepare such documents as directed by the Chairperson.

D. Newsletter Editor. Shall serve for two years and shall issue at least three newsletters to the members per year, consisting of a Fall newsletter, a Winter newsletter to be mailed prior to January 28, and a Spring newsletter to be mailed prior to April 1.

Section 4. There shall be an Executive Committee to conduct the affairs of the section between membership meetings. It shall be made up of:

A. The officers of the section, named in Article VI above.

B. Three members at large serving for three-year terms, one member at large being elected each year. At the first election one person shall be elected to serve one year, one person to serve two years, and one person to serve three years.

Article VII: ELECTIONS

Section 1. There shall be a Nominating Committee appointed by the Executive Committee, to consist of three (3) members, none of whom shall be a member of the Executive Committee, and none of whom shall be a candidate for office at the succeeding election. Each member of the Committee shall serve for a term of one year. The Chairperson of the Committee shall be designated by the Executive Committee. The Committee shall nominate at least one candidate for each office.

Section 2. Names of candidates, together with their written acceptances, shall be presented by the Nominating Committee to the Chairperson insufficient time to enable the Chairperson to inform the members of the nominations, by mail, in the winter newsletter.

Section 3. Further nominations may be made upon written petition of ten voting members in good standing. Such petitions, accompanied by written acceptance of the nominees, must be filed with the Secretary/Treasurer no later than March 15. The Secretary/Treasurer shall prepare an official ballot, including nominations by petition.

Section 4.

A. The Secretary-Treasurer shall forward the official ballot to the Newsletter Editor, and the official ballot shall be included with the Spring Newsletter which shall be sent to each member of the section.

B. Ballots shall be marked, sealed in plain envelopes and returned to the Secretary/Treasurer before April 20 in covering envelopes bearing on the outside the name and address of the member voting.

C. The Secretary/Treasurer shall check, on a list of members, whose votes are received. The candidates receiving the largest number of votes shall be elected and shall be so reported at the annual meeting by the Nominating Committee, and all candidates shall be notified of the results of the election by the Nominating Committee at the earliest possible time.

In case of a tie vote, a run-off election shall be held at the annual business meeting. Run-off elections shall be by secret ballot. The ballots immediately shall be counted and the candidate with the largest number of votes declared elected.

Article VIII: COMMITTEES

There shall be such standing or special committees as the Executive Committee or the membership of the section shall create.

Article IX: AMENDMENTS

Any bylaw may be amended, adopted, repealed, or suspended at the annual meeting of the section, by a two-thirds, vote of the members present and voting. Notice of proposed bylaw changes before the vote is to be taken on the amendment change. Any amendment shall take effect after it has been approved by the Executive Board of AALL.

Article X: PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY

Robert's Rules of Order, in the latest edition, shall govern all deliberations of the section.

Article XI: DISSOLUTION OR MERGER

The membership has the authority to dissolve this section or merge it with another section or organization by a majority vote at a regular meeting provided a notice of said dissolution or merger is given to the entire membership of the section in writing at least thirty days prior to said meeting. Said dissolution or merger does not become effective until after it has been approved by both the Executive Committee of the section and the Executive Board of AALL.

TECHNICAL SERVICES SIS

The predecessor of the Technical Services SIS was the former AALL Cataloging and Classification Committee. In 1977, an organizational meeting was held, with the Section fully approved in 1979.

The object of the Technical Services SIS is to promote the communication of ideas, interests, and research of its members who are concerned with: acquisitions, collection development, cataloging and classification, preservation, and serials control. Committees have been organized to provide opportunities for in-depth study in these areas. The responsibilities of the original AALL Cataloging and Classification Committee are continued by the Technical Services SIS Standing Committee on Cataloging and Classification. A Subcommittee on Subject Headings that existed under the former AALL Committee also carries on its work within this SIS Standing Committee. Other Standing Committees include: Acquisitions, Exchange of Duplicates, Preservation, and Serials. Three additional committees are appointed annually: Nominating, Awards, and Education. TS-SIS also has informal discussion groups for the heads of acquisitions, cataloging and technical services departments.

The newsletter for the section was originally the Law Cataloger, the official newsletter of the AALL Cataloging and Classification Committee. The name was changed in 1979 to Technical Services Law Librarian (TSLL). TSLL is jointly sponsored by the Technical Services SIS and the Online Bibliographic Services SIS, and is published quarterly.

TS-SIS also conducts an annual membership survey. The survey provides members with the opportunity to recommend programs and projects and to volunteer for offices, programs, and committee appointments.

In 1996, TS-SIS developed its own Web page on the Internet with information for section members, as well as links to TSLL, AALLNET, and other sites of interest to technical services librarians.

Chairs of the Section:

James Mullens 1977/78

Phyllis Marion 1978/80

Collen Raker 1980/81

Margaret Maes Axtmann1981/82

Gayle S. Edelman 1982/83

Melody Lembke 1983/84

Jacqueline Paul 1984/85

Marilyn Nicely 1985/86

Merle Slyhoff 1986/87

Michele M. Finerty 1987/88

Renee D. Chapman 1988/89

Cynthia A. Larter 1989/90

Mary Lu Linnane 1990/91

Janis Johnston 1991/92

Caitlin Robinson 1992/93

Hope Breeze 1993/94

Katharine Tooley 1994/95

Michael J. Petit 1995/96

James Mumm 1996/97

Leonette Williams 1997/98

Joseph Thomas 1998/99

Janet McKinney 1999/00

American Association of Law Libraries

TECHNICAL SERVICES

SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION

BYLAWS

Amended July 1991

ARTICLE I: NAME

The name of this section of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) shall be the Technical Services Special Interest Section (TS/SIS).

ARTICLE II: OBJECT

The object of the Technical Services Special Interest Section shall be:

1. To promote the communication of ideas, interests, and research which concern acquisitions, cataloging and classification, preservation of library materials, serials control, exchange of duplicates and other traditional areas of technical services;

2. And, which lead to the development and coordination of the country's law library resources, in all types and sizes of libraries.

ARTICLE III: MEMBERSHIP

Membership shall be open to any AALL individual member requesting affiliation with the section as provided in the AALL bylaws. Membership is renewable each year.

ARTICLE IV: MEETINGS

Section 1. Annual Meetings.

There shall be an annual meeting of the Technical Services Special Interest Section held in conjunction with or during the annual meeting of the AALL.

Section 2. Quorum.

Twenty (20) percent of the members shall constitute a quorum for any meeting of the Section.

ARTICLE V: OFFICERS

Section 1. Officers and Duties.

The officers shall consist of a Chair, a Vice-Chair/Chair

Section 2. Terms.

Officers other than the two elected as Section members-at-large shall serve for a term of one year, with the Vice-Chair/Chair

Section 3. Vacancies.

In the event of a vacancy in the office of Chair, the Vice-Chair/ Chair

If a vacancy occurs in the position of Vice-Chair/Chair-elect prior to the regular election of officers, a special election to fill this vacancy will be conducted as part of the regular election. If a vacancy occurs after the regular election, but prior to the annual meeting, a special election will be held if time permits. If there is not time to hold an election, the recently elected Vice-Chair/Chair-elect shall assume the office as Chair at the annual meeting. An election shall be held as soon as possible to fill the vacant Vice-Chair/Chair-elect office.

In the event of an unexpected vacancy in other offices, candidates for the office shall be elected by a majority vote of the members of the Executive Board.

ARTICLE VI: EXECUTIVE BOARD

Section 1. Composition.

The Executive Board shall consist of the Section officers, the immediate past-Chair, and the Chairs of standing committees.

Section 2. Duties.

The Executive Board shall conduct the business of the Section during the period between annual Section meetings provided that none of its acts conflict with the AALL bylaws.

Section 3. Meetings.

The Executive Board shall meet during the annual convention of the Association.

Section 4. Quorum.

A majority of members constitutes a quorum at any meeting of the Executive Board.

ARTICLE VII: NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS

Section 1. Nominating Committee.

The Executive Board shall appoint a Nominating Committee of at least three (3) members of the Section, designating one (1) member as Committee Chair. No member of the Nominating

Committee shall be a member of the Executive Board. Members of the Nominating Committee may be nominated for office by written petition as described in Section 3 below. Nominating Committee members shall serve for a term of one year.

Section 2. Candidates.

The Nominating Committee shall choose a slate of at least two (2) nominees for each of the offices (a) Vice-Chair/Chair

Section 3. Nominations.

Further nominations may be made upon written petition of at least five (5) members of the Section. Such petitions, accompanied by written acceptances of the nominees, must be filed with the Chair not later than March 15. The Secretary/Treasurer shall prepare an official ballot, including nominations by petition. The professional position of each nominee shall appear on the ballot.

Section 4. Elections.

The officers of the Section may be elected by mail ballot or by secret ballot at the business meeting of the Section during the AALL annual meeting. The Executive Board shall decide, not later than February 1 of each year, whether that year's election shall be by mail ballot or by vote at the annual business meeting. The membership of the Section should be notified of this decision in the same manner as provided in Section 2 above.

For the first election in which staggered term Section members-at-large are to be elected, two shall be elected from a candidate list of at least four. The individual receiving the greatest number of votes shall be elected to a two-year term, and the individual receiving the next greatest number shall be elected to a one-year term. This paragraph shall be eliminated from the bylaws after the officers elected under its provisions shall have taken office.

Section 5. Mail Ballot.

If the election of officers is to be conducted by mail, the Secretary/Treasurer shall mail ballots to each member of the Section prior to April 1. Ballots shall be marked and returned to the Secretary prior to May 1. For each office, the candidate receiving a plurality of votes cast shall be elected. Candidates elected shall be reported at the annual meeting of the Section by the Secretary/Treasurer. All candidates shall be notified of the results of the election at the earliest possible time.

Section 6. Secret Ballot at Annual Meeting.

If the election of officers is to be conducted at the annual business meeting during the AALL convention, the election will be conducted in the same manner as for run

Section 7. Run-off Elections.

In the event of a tie, a run

ARTICLE VIII: PUBLICATIONS

The Section shall publish an official newsletter and such other publications as the Board may authorize. Copies of all publications should be submitted to the AALL Secretary for archival purposes.

ARTICLE IX: COMMITTEES

Section 1. Standing Committees.

Standing Committees to consider matters of concern to the Section, that require continuity of attention may be authorized by the Section at the annual Section Meeting. Such authorization requires that a proposal stating the name and purpose of the standing committee be presented at the annual Section Meeting for a majority vote of the members present.

On application to the Chair of the Section any Section member may become a member of any standing committee. The Chair of the Section shall appoint a committee Chair for each standing committee. The Committee Chair shall then appoint a cabinet of three (3) members for the committee with the approval of the Section Chair. The cabinet members and the Committee Chair shall be appointed for terms of two years, and may be re-appointed at the expiration of a term. During this term, the Committee Chair shall also serve as a member of the Section Executive Board. No officer of this Section may serve as a Chair of a standing committee.

An unexpected vacancy in the office of standing Committee Chair shall be filled by a special appointment made by the Section Chair. A standing committee may be discontinued by a majority vote of the members present and voting at the annual Section meeting.

Section 1a. The Cataloging and Classification Standing Committee's responsibility is to address problems concerning descriptive and subject cataloging and the classification of book and non

Section 1b. The Acquisitions Standing Committee serves as the research and discussion group on areas of acquisitions, including collection development; acquisitions policies; encumbrancing systems; accounting and record keeping; internal acquisitions procedures; approval plans related to collection development and acquisitions policies; duplicate order control; and other topics within the scope of the preceding list.

Section 1c. The Serials Standing Committee provides a forum for addressing problems unique to serial publications including, but not limited to, check

Section 1d. The Preservation Standing Committee's purposes are to explore short

Section 1e. The Exchange of Duplicates Standing Committee encourages the exchange of duplicate materials among law libraries by issuing periodic lists of exchange materials available from member libraries.

Section 2. Special (Ad Hoc) Committees.

Special committees for the performance of particular assignments may be appointed at any time by the Chair after consultation with the other members of the Executive Board.

Section 3. Subcommittees.

Standing Committees and Special Committees may establish subcommittees to assist in their work.

Section 4. Discussion Groups.

Informal discussion groups, to meet under the auspices of the Section, may be formed by any five (5) or more members of the Section, with the approval of the Chair.

Section 5. Renee D. Chapman Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions in Technical Services

The Renee D. Chapman Award is established to recognize and publicize individuals or groups whose efforts have resulted in significant and sustained support in technical services law librarianship. The Executive Board shall appoint a committee of at least three (3) members, designating one (1) member as Committee Chair, to consider nominations for the award. Award Committee members shall serve for a term of one year.

The award shall be presented at the annual meeting of the Association, at the time and place approved by the Executive Board. The award need not be given each year, but shall be given at least every other year.

The first committee named shall determine procedures, which shall be subject to approval by the Executive Board. These shall include, but not be limited to, nominating procedures, selection of recipient, and production of the physical award. This paragraph shall be eliminated from the bylaws after the work of the first committee named has been completed.

ARTICLE X: AMENDMENTS

These bylaws may be amended at the annual meeting of the Section by a majority of the members present and voting. Notice of proposed amendments shall be mailed to the Section's voting members or be published in the Section's newsletter 30 days in advance of the meeting. Any amendment shall take effect after it has been approved by the AALL Executive Board.

ARTICLE XI: CONDUCT OF AFFAIRS AND PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY

The Technical Services Special Interest Section shall conduct its affairs in conformity with the Constitution and Bylaws of the American Association of Law Libraries. The rules of parliamentary procedure as contained in the most recent edition of Robert's Rules of Order shall govern all meetings of the Section.