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Access to Electronic Legal Information Committee 2000-2001
(Annual Report)
The Committee continued to work towards its primary mission of improving public access to legal materials and information posted at government websites. We have focused our efforts on finding ways to inform government website developers and their administrators about "best practices."
By email, Committee members discussed revising and enhancing the website evaluation criteria, replacing the exhibit equipment, and updating the Committee's website. We reviewed AALLNET by applying the evaluation criteria at the request of the AALLNET Advisory Committee. One member prepared a summary of the Brown University report, "Accessing E-Government: The Internet, Democracy, and Service Delivery by State and Federal Governments" (http://www.insidepolitics.org/egovtreport00.html).
Members contacted several government website managers to determine how we might better connect with them. We asked about information sources, including web-related electronic discussion groups, print publications, and professional meetings. Unfortunately, no consensus about commonly accessed sources emerged.
Delivering presentations at professional meetings has been an effective approach for reaching large numbers of our target audience. In the past year, the Committee chair has addressed judges and court administrators at the following meetings:
- 2001 Mid-Level Management Conferences sponsored by the California Center for Judicial Education and Research: Rohnert Park, April 26, 2001, and Long Beach, May 17, 2001.
- California Judicial Administration Conference: San Diego, February 1, 2001.
- Technology for Justice 2000 sponsored by the Australian Institute of Judicial Administration: Melbourne, October 9, 2000.
- National Association for Court Management, Symposium 2000, Meeting the Justice Needs of a Multi-Cultural Society in the 21st Century: Atlanta, August 14, 2000.
She also spoke to librarians about legal information on government websites at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Law Librarians' Group in Christchurch, October 20, 2000.
Additional presentations are scheduled for August 2001 at the 7th Court Technology Conference (CTC7) sponsored by the National Center for State Courts and at the National Conference of State Legislatures annual meeting. At CTC7 several law librarians from the Baltimore area will provide onsite court website reviews for interested court staff.
In December 2000, AALL Vice President/President-Elect Barbara Bintliff made a special charge to the Committee. In cooperation with the Research Instruction and Patron Services Special Interest Section, the Committee shall develop a plan to address item 1D (1) of AALL's 2000-2005 Strategic Plan to "establish standards of excellence for Internet legal information sources that are used by consumers and librarians for law-related research." Discussions with the current chair of RIPS, Kelly Brown, are underway. Our recommendations are due to be presented at the April 2002 meeting of the Executive Board. Cheryl Nyberg, Chair
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