I am pleased to introduce this report on the 101st year of the American Association of Law Libraries. The activities and accomplishments of AALL during the past year—and the 100 before that—have continued to demonstrate the knowledge, creativity, and strong voice that we share when working together as members of our professional association. As you will see in the various sections of the report, AALL launched its second century by "rising to the challenge" and taking decisive steps in our Strategic Directions of advocacy, education, and leadership. While I will highlight a few initiatives here, more details about those and many other accomplishments are found throughout the report.
Advocacy: AALL and its members are vocal, visible, and effective advocates in the development of federal, state, and international legal information policy in the digital age.
This year AALL assumed a national leadership role on digital authentication issues by publishing the State-by-State Report on Authentication of Online Legal Resources and by hosting a groundbreaking National Summit on Authentic Legal Information in the Digital Age. The report represents the work of AALL's Access to Electronic Legal Information Committee (AELIC) and many individual state authors. While direct involvement in the summit was limited to a small number of AALL members, the significance of the issue affects every one of us. Future progress will be greatly helped by grassroots efforts of our members working to educate government officials in their own states about the importance of authenticating their online legal resources.
Education: With the profession changing as rapidly as the rate of technology, AALL and its members are more dedicated than ever to providing and supporting meaningful professional education opportunities-in a variety of formats and throughout the year.
Based on recommendations from the 2005 Education Summit, AALL has embarked on a new, member-driven approach to educational programming beyond the Annual Meeting. The centerpiece of that new approach is the AALL/BNA Continuing Education Grants Program.
For the 2007 Annual Meeting, we were able to fit a full complement of educational programming into a new streamlined Annual Meeting format while still allowing time for the meetings and networking that make this annual experience so valuable.
Leadership: AALL and its members are leaders in shaping the future of our profession—by promoting the value of law librarians, by networking with each other, by fostering the next generation of leaders for our profession, and by forming partnerships with outside organizations.
This year a special committee focused on the value of law librarians as partners in pro bono legal work. Revamping of the Association's committee structure was begun this year, and we also updated our program of representation to outside organizations. With a photo contest, an essay contest, and a website featuring articles by law librarians in publications outside the law library profession, AALL members found numerous venues for spreading the word about the Association and the profession.
For these reasons and many more, AALL is a law librarian's best career investment—an excellent source of communication and camaraderie, a resource for contacts and information, and a partner in professional growth. The Association offers all law librarians an opportunity to direct their careers and influence their world in powerful ways.
I am proud of the accomplishments of 2006-2007, which distinguish AALL as the association for all law librarians. We have a great future ahead of us, as law librarians in the digital age, even as technology changes our role in the legal community and the world at large. Working together through AALL, we are better-equipped to adapt to these changes, embrace new opportunities, and rise to the challenge!
Sarah G. Holterhoff
AALL President 2006-2007