Spectrum PR Column
June 1998
Creative Marketing - External Efforts Can Provide Internal Results
Hazel L. Johnson, Law Library Services Consultant (Richmond, VA).
AALL Spectrum, Volume 2 No. 9 June 1998, p. 18.
For most of us, marketing translates into internal efforts focused on our workplace. We create pathfinders and library brochures. We plan and publicize training sessions or special library events. We supervise library tours all for our library’s patron groups.
There are also a wide variety of external groups to whom law librarians are marketing. Our colleagues and professional organizations have undertaken a number of projects aimed at promoting the skills and expertise of law librarians. For many of our colleagues, these activities for the greater audience have also resulted in positive internal consequences. I’d like for you to think about each of these events or activities as a catalyst for your own efforts.
There are a number of ways that AALL is approaching the marketing of law librarianship to other members of the legal services team. The 1995 National Conference on Legal Information Issues which was held in conjunction with the AALL annual meeting in Pittsburgh is a great example of marketing law librarianship to outside groups. You’ll recall that AALL chapters sponsored delegates to the conference and exposed a wide variety of legal and library professionals (law school deans, library partners, state library executives, library school deans, judges, court administrators, etc.) to the interests and expertise of law librarians. On the state and national scene, those are the individuals we want to know about us and our abilities. By encouraging and participating in such activities we foster the view that law librarians can, will and do make contributions to the wider world of the justice system. Many chapters report that the relationship established with their delegates continues today and has lead to an increased level of cooperation among the representative groups.
AALL has also established several representations to legal and library organizations, including the American Bar Association, the Library of Congress and a variety of library organizations. Representatives attend the meetings of their target organization and seek ways to promote law librarians to the wider community of legal and library professionals. I represent AALL to the Law Practice Management section. Most recently, my efforts have included arranging for AALL to serve as a 1998 TechShow co-sponsor and making the necessary arrangements for a group of law librarians from the Chicago chapter to assist with the internet lab at TechShow, thus exposing the TechShow attendees who are primarily solo and small firm practioners to the skills of law librarians.
The Information Technology and Infrastructure Working Group was created to explore the possibility of AALL becoming involved in assisting state courts, legislatures and governments in making their electronic legal information more accessible. This charge evolved into an evaluation of state internet sites and the creation of a web page providing guidance on the best practices for the creation of state web sites. The working group exhibited at the annual conferences of the National Association of State Information Executives, the National Conference of State Legislatures and at the Fifth Court Technology Conference. At each conference a new group of law library employers and law library patrons was enlightened about the capabilities of law librarians. The Working Groups’s continuing relationship with Justice George Nicholson of the California Court of Appeal following the his participation as a delegate to the 1995 National Conference has led to their preparation of a white paper for the National Center for Automated Information Research that discusses ways in which courts could utilize the internet to improve the administration of justice.
SIS’s & Chapters have undertaken a number of efforts that generate positive law librarian publicity. PLL has a long standing relationship with the Association of Legal Administrators dating back to 1990. The SIS has exhibited during the ALA annual meetings and presented two programs during the 1998 annual meeting in Boston. Members of CALL (the Chicago Association of Law Libraries) prepares a monthly column for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin discussing current issues affecting law libraries and legal information. The Virginia Poverty Law Center asked VALL (the Virginia Association of Law Libraries) to present a seminar on using the internet for legal research. A single session during VPLC’s annual meeting has led to a series of seminars across the state which have qualified for CLE credit. For the past two years, ALLA (the Atlanta Law Libraries Association) has participated in the programming for a Law & Technology Expo sponsored by the Atlanta Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators and the Atlanta Bar Association. A group of North Carolina law librarians regularly exhibits at the North Carolina State Bar Association’s annual meeting.
I can hear you saying - "that’s all well and fine, I can see how this would help the profession, but I don’t have time to do anything else. Anyway, how can it possibly help me at work to participate in any of these activities?" Working with other legal professionals on a national level brings a heightened level of recognition within your organization (of course, you do have to publicize your activities). It can provide additional insight into the practices and procedures of other law firms, courts and law schools across the country. It provides increased awareness of what "the other side" does. Even better, if you’ve participated in an activity initiated by another professional at your organization, you gain valuable respect from your own co-workers for your profession, your colleagues and yourself. The Atlanta chapter’s opportunity to work with with Law & Technology Expo grew from a law librarian’s conversation with her administrator who was organizing the first expo. Finally, it helps to "play in the other guy’s ball park" occasionally.
Last Updated: January 28, 2003
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