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Our colleagues at the American Library Association asked me to spend some time with their Divisional Leadership this morning in order to talk with them about association governance and the qualities of effective leadership.
In preparing for this meeting I am relying on a seminal text, The Will to Govern Well, by Glenn Tecker, Jean Frankel, and Paul Meyer. We've gotten into the habit of providing this book to each new AALL board member and officer because it does such a good job of articulating key concepts and skill sets necessary for effective governance of voluntary associations.
Given that we are embarking on a new set of strategic directions for AALL, I thought I would share with you Tecker's articulation of what it means to be a nimble association, four concepts to consider as you discuss the trends and challenges that lie ahead for law librarianship and this Association.
What does it mean to be nimble?
- Nimbleness gives us the ability to seize opportunities.
- Nimbleness insures that we accomplish our work in the right amount of time and in the right way. In other words, nimbleness does not mean always accomplishing work quickly. (An important point.)
- Nimbleness enables efficient and effective responses to increasingly complex environments.
- Nimbleness means organizations are able to reengineer planning cycles for maximum effectiveness and efficiency.
I hope you will make it a point to participate in one of the three opportunities we have created for you to voice your opinion and perspective on the changing environment for law librarians. With your help, we will be able to position AALL to best support law librarians and your voice will help us succeed in the face of future challenges and trends.
Our partners at CCH Incorporated have recently notified us that the 2004-2005 AALL Directory and Handbook will be complete the second week of November. This production date is later than we planned, and we apologize the delay. CCH Inc. has graciously subsidized production costs of the directory since 1940. You can also find the most up-to-date member information in the Members Only Section of AALLNET.
A new free Web resource can help you with researching, teaching, and increasing your knowledge in the field of international law. More than just a finding guide, the Electronic Information System for International Law (EISIL) can be used in classroom, law firm, and non-legal environments as an educational or instructional tool.
EISIL includes more than 1,500 selected sources, organized into 13 subject groups in a fully searchable database that provides access to the highest quality primary materials, authoritative Web sites, and helpful research guides. For each source, EISIL also offers helpful background information for researchers, such as citations and references, dates when laws or treaties were concluded, and links to related resources.
For more information and a one-page classroom handout, visit the About EISIL page or read the article on LLRX.com.
EISIL is managed by the Washington D.C.-based American Society of International Law (ASIL). Founded in 1906, ASIL is the leading non-profit membership organization dedicated to advancing the study and use of international law. Additional information on ASIL is available online or by calling 202/939-6000.
The Research Committee of the American Association of Law Libraries is accepting applications through Oct. 28, 2004 for research grants from the AALL/Aspen Publishers Grants Program, totaling up to $5,000.
The committee will award one or more grants to library professionals who wish to conduct research that supports the research/scholarly agenda of the profession of librarianship. The grants program funds small or large research projects that create, disseminate, or otherwise use legal and law-related information as its focus. Projects may range from the historical (indexes, legislative histories, bibliographies, biographies, directories) to the theoretical (trends in cataloging, publishing or new service models in libraries) to the practical (implementation models for collection, personnel or infrastructure management).
The AALL Research Agenda offers suggestions for possible research projects that cover a wide segment of professional interest including: the profession of law librarianship, law librarianship, law library patrons, law library services, legal research and bibliography, legal information resources, and law library facilities. However, projects are not limited to those described in the agenda, and the committee will consider all applications and research projects.
For more information on the AALL/Aspen Publishers Grants Program, please click here.
Sincerely,
Susan
E. Fox, CAE
Executive Director
American Association of Law Libraries
53 West Jackson Blvd., Suite 940
Chicago, IL
60604
312-939-4764, ext. 11
Fax 312-431-1097
AALL: Maximizing the Power of the Law Library Community Since 1906.
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