From
the Desk Of went on an inadvertent hiatus
this past month due in part to the latest
round of worms and viruses. Our ISP
suddenly decided that it would no longer
support broadcast e-mails and put an
immediate end to our distribution efforts.
Fortunately, we had recently signed
a contract with a new ISP and were well
positioned to transition to a more professional
outfit. With a Web site as deep and
complex as AALLNET, the transition took
a few weeks to accomplish. We are now
back in business, and not a moment too
soon. We do appreciate your patience
and understanding.
On
May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme
Court changed the course of American history
by unanimously agreeing to outlaw racial
segregation in national public schools.
That decision ignited the civil rights
movement and engaged our country in debates
about rights and race that continue today.
To
celebrate this historic decision, the
Committee
on Diversity has planned a variety
of events to take place now until the
Symposium at the AALL
Annual Meeting in Boston. The April
issue of AALL
Spectrum will be dedicated to Brown;
articles will highlight the legacy of
Brown, the impact of the decision on American
education, and recent changes to affirmative
action and higher education. Be on the
look out for updates and announcements
on the Committee on Diversity’s
webpage.
And the June issue of AALL Spectrum
will carry highlights of the Symposium
and outline the fun activities scheduled
for the Committee on Diversity’s
information table. Come celebrate with
us!
The
February
issue of AALL Spectrum contains
more information about Brown anniversary
celebrations.
As
a pre-conference to the AALL
Annual Meeting, LexisNexis, in conjunction
with AALL, will offer Teaching Research
in Academic Law Libraries (TRIALL) Conference
on July 8-9 in Boston. TRIALL provides
an excellent professional development
opportunity for law librarians who want
to learn more about instruction in academic
settings. There is no registration fee
to attend the TRIALL Conference, and more
information can be found here.
The
AALL Research Committee is accepting applications
through April 12 for grants from the AALL
Research Fund. The committee will award
one or more grants totaling up to $5,000
to library professionals who want to conduct
research that affects librarianship. More
information is available here.
The
TS-SIS Awards Committee seeks
nominations for the
Renee
D. Chapman Memorial Award. This
award recognizes outstanding contributions
in technical services law librarianship
and will be presented in Boston at AALL's
2004
Annual
Meeting.
The
award is presented to an individual or
group in recognition of achievement in
an area of technical services, for service
to the Association, or for outstanding
contributions to the professional literature.
Factors considered in selecting recipients
include the publishing, presenting, or
sharing of innovative techniques or research,
analysis, or commentary; the development
of software, hardware, or other mechanisms
that significantly enhance access to collections;
and the contribution of service to the
Technical Services SIS as a whole. Achievements
may be in the areas of acquisitions, cataloging,
and classification; materials processing;
preservation; automation; or technical
services administration. More information
can be found here.
This
is the fourth in a series of 10 e-mails
explaining and discussing The
AALL Guide to Fair Business Practices
for Legal Publishers.
The
guide was designed with the purpose of
fostering good business practices on the
part of publishers by encouraging five
basic principles.
The
second of these principles, disclosure,
states that "Publishers should provide
full disclosure about their products,
service, prices, and transactions."
There are four elements to this principle:
- All
information about products, services,
prices, and transactions provided by
publishers—whether on invoices,
Web sites, or advertising—to customers
should be clear, accurate, and easy
to find.
- The
content information on both print and
non-print promotional materials should
be consistent.
- Publishers
should provide all information necessary
for customers to make informed decisions
prior to purchase.
- The
terms of a transaction should be clearly
stated.
For
more information about Principle 2, read
either your paper copy or the online
version of the guide.
In
our next e-mail we will discuss Principle
3: Fair Dealing.
The
AALL Fair Business Implementation Task
Force
Kay
Todd, chair
Michael
Beaird
Kamla
Hedges
Judy
Lauer
Linda
McLane
James
Mumm
For
each new member you recruit to join AALL
through April 15, your
name will be entered into the drawing
for free AALL dues for one year. (Note:
A new member cannot be employed by the
same employer as the recruiting AALL member.)
Three names will be drawn and winners
will be announced no later than May 15.
Encourage
others to join AALL so they can enjoy
the benefits of membership. Benefits include:
- A
connection with a national network of
law library professionals
- AALL
Spectrum and Law Library Journal,
trade publications about current trends
and research topics
-
Discounts on Annual Meeting registration
and other educational programs
- Access
to special benefits in the AALLNET Members
Only section
Please
send the name, phone number, and e-mail
address of both the nominating member
and the nominees for prospective new members
to Steven
Oberhoffer, AALL membership coordinator.
We
have added a new feature to the Price
Index for Legal Publications located
in the members only section of AALLNET.
The feature permits members to query the
Price Index database for 1998-2002
by vendor, category, subject, and state.
Results can be viewed in both html and
Microsoft Excel. You can also download
the results to your computer to perform
calculations on the data set.
The
Southeastern
Chapter of AALL cordially invites
you to experience Virginia with your law
librarian colleagues. SEALL will hold
its 2004 Annual
Meeting, "Virginia is for Law
Librarians," March 25-27 in Richmond.
Program
highlights include a diverse selection
of education programs, such as negotiating,
managing staff, site licenses, cataloging,
academic freedom, research in bankruptcy
and securities law, and First Amendment
issues. Richmond attorney David Baugh
will deliver the keynote address.
You
may register for the meeting by mail or
e-mail until March 12.
For more information, contact Timothy
Coggins at 804-289-8218 or tcoggins@richmond.edu.
The
Canadian Association of Law Libraries
Salary Survey for 2003 is now available
online.
Congratulations
to Karl T. Gruben who,
beginning Monday, became the new director
at the St. Thomas University School of
Law in Miami, Florida. Karl says, “STU
is a small Catholic university that started
in the mid-1980’s as the Biscayne
University by one of our honored, deceased
AALL members, Bardie Wolfe.
Bardie set out to create the electronic
law library so the school is a little
different from the traditional law school
libraries.”
