• Description
• Previous Winners

The AALL Spectrum Article of the Year Award honors outstanding achievement in writing an article that contributes to topics relating to librarianship, law librarianship, and practical applications for library work or to an understanding of legal materials, legal systems legal information, or to professional and staff training and development. The winner is selected on the basis of quality of writing and effectiveness of the communication technique.

At the April 8, 2000 meeting, the AALL Executive Board accepted a pledge for an annual cash award of $500 from Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.


Description:

Purpose:

The purpose of the award is twofold: (1) to honor outstanding achievement in writing as represented by a work published in the AALL Spectrum; and (2) to encourage the submission of such works of high quality to the AALL Spectrum.

Criteria:

The following are factors that may be considered in determining the recipient of the award:

Articles that contribute to topics relating to librarianship, law librarianship, and practical applications for library work or to an understanding of legal materials, legal systems legal information, or to professional and staff training and development.

Quality of writing and effectiveness of the communication technique utilized for the information sought to be conveyed.


Eligibility:

All articles published in AALL Spectrum during the previous year of publication will be eligible to be considered for the award. The previous year of publication is considered to be January through December. Length and format of the article will not affect eligibility.

Articles originally published elsewhere will not be eligible for the award.

However, revisions of previously published works or pieces originally presented in another form or media (e.g. paper presented at a conference) will be eligible for consideration.


Procedure:

Subject to and in conjunction with procedures adopted by the AALL Awards Committee, the AALL Spectrum Article of the Year Award is determined under the following procedure:

1. The editor of the AALL Spectrum shall prepare a list of all eligible articles no later than three weeks after publication of the last issue under consideration.
   
   
2. A subcommittee of the LLJ/AALL Spectrum Editorial Board, in consultation with the editor of AALL Spectrum, shall review the list of articles and select a minimum of four, but no more than eight, for final consideration by the AALL Awards Committee.
   
   
3. The final list will be delivered to the AALL Awards Committee no later than two months after publication of the last issue of the AALL Spectrum under consideration.
   
   
4. The AALL Awards Committee will select one article from the final list to receive the AALL Spectrum Article of the Year Award for the calendar year under consideration.
   
   
5. The AALL Awards Committee will obtain the commemorative to be presented to the recipient of this award.
   
   

The award will be announced and presented at the Annual Meeting next following the selection of the recipient by the AALL Awards Committee.

Previous Winners

• 2009
  Carl A. Yirka
  Professor and Library Director, Julien & Virginia Cornell Library, Vermont Law School, South Royalton, Vermont
  Perspective: The Yirka Question and Yirka's Answer: What Should Law Libraries Stop Doing in Order to Address Higher Priority Initiatives?
  AALL Spectrum, July 2008



• 2008
  Mark P. Bernstein
  Omer Poos Law Library, Saint Louis University School of Law
  One Size Fits All No More: The Impact of Law Specialization on Library Services
  AALL Spectrum, March 2007



• 2007
  Barbara A. Bintliff and Georgia Briscoe
  University of Colorado at Boulder Law Library
  The Ethics of Electronic Record Sharing
  AALL Spectrum, June 2006



• 2006
  Leah Sandwell-Weiss
  Reference Librarian & Adjunct Assistant Professor of Legal Research, Univeristy of Arizona College of Law, Tucson, AZ
  Putting Ideals into Action: AALL Washington Affairs Office is the Hub of Law Librarianship
  AALL Spectrum, April 2005



• 2005
  Leah Sandwell-Weiss
  Reference Librarian and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Legal Research, University of Arizona College of Law, Tucson, AZ
  A Look at the USA PATRIOT Act Today
  AALL Spectrum, July 2004



• 2004
  Jean M. Holcomb, Law Librarian and Director, King County Law Library, Seattle Washington.
  The Annual Report: An Overlooked Opportunity to Tell the Library's Story
  AALL Spectrum, June 2003, p.10.
  
  
• 2003
  Mary Rumsey, Foreign, Comparative, and International Law Librarian, University of Minnesota Law Library.
  Libraries Confront the Challenges of Accommodating Disabled Users, AALL Spectrum, April 2002, p.6.
  
  
• 2002
  James S. Heller
  Director of the Law Library and Professor of Law College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia
  Collection Development and Weeding a la Versace:Fashioning a Policy for Your Library
  AALL Spectrum, February 2002, p. 12.
  
  
• 2001
  Ann Walsh Long
  Get Your Library Ready for Distance Education
  AALL Spectrum, May 2000, p12.
  
  
• 2000
  Joanne Dugan
  True Confessions of a Copyright Wimp
  AALL Spectrum, February 2000, p.4