The
holidays are upon us! I trust each of
you had a tasty Thanksgiving and a rejuvenating
few days with your families. It’s
so good to take time away from our work
lives to focus on those closest to us.
The holidays may induce stress if we aren’t
careful, but they also remind us how important
our loved ones are to a balanced life.
The
AALL
Scholarships Committee
asks: Do you know someone, maybe even
yourself, who would benefit from an
AALL scholarship?
In
addition to the AALL scholarships awarded
for those in accredited library or law
schools, there are several other scholarships
available, including one to promote
diversity within the profession and
another to fund continuing education
for law librarians. Last year, we awarded
11 scholarships totaling $21,000!
To
enhance the diversity within law librarianship,
AALL offers the AALL
& West George A. Strait Minority
Scholarship Endowment.
This scholarship is awarded to college
graduates with law library experience
who are members of a minority group,
as defined by current U.S. government
guidelines, and are degree candidates
in accredited library or law schools.
Recent recipients of the Strait scholarship
are Filiberto Govea, Florante Ibanez
and Debora Taylor. Applications
for the 2004 scholarships are available
on the AALLNET Web site and are
due on April 1, 2004.
Is
there a course, workshop or even a conference
that would increase your experience
in law librarianship? If your answer
is yes, consider applying for the Type
V scholarship, intended
for librarians attending continuing-education
courses. Any AALL member who is a graduate
of an accredited law school or library
school and registered in a continuing-education
course related to law librarianship
may apply for this $500 grant. Many
librarians are not aware that this scholarship
exists and consequently, there have
been years when this scholarship has
not been awarded. One or more scholarships
of $500 will be awarded during 2003-2004.
Don’t miss another opportunity
to enhance your job skills without breaking
your bank account! Applications
for the Type V scholarship are due:
Oct. 1, Feb. 1 or April 1.
AALL
members are the best advertisement for
these scholarships. If you know of a
student interested in law librarianship
or a librarian enrolled in a continuing-education
course, alert them that funding is available
through AALL. Applications
for all scholarships are available on
the AALL Web site.
There’s
also funding available from the AALL
Online Bibliographic Services/Technical
Services Joint Research
Grant. This grant provides support for
technical services law librarians to
perform research to enhance law librarianship
in service to clients. Applicants must
be members of AALL, and must show evidence
that the research will benefit technical
services law librarianship. The goal
of the Joint Research Grant Committee
is to award grants in a single year
ranging in amount of no more than $1,000.
Additional
general information about the grant
is available here
and the agreement form for grant recipients
can be viewed here.
For additional information, please contact
this year’s committee chair, Eloise
Vondruska or by phone at: 312-503-7369.
By
now you should have received your AALL
Directory and Handbook 2003-2004. If you
have not, please contact our lovely Rachel
Shaevel, Membership Coordinator, and
she will be happy to get one out to you
post haste.
The
Association
of Research Libraries announces the
formation of the MLS Graduate Student
Resume Database. The database will allow
graduate students within six months of
graduating from an MLS program, or within
six months of completing a post-MLS residency
or fellows program, to post their resume
on one of the most visited online recruitment
sites in the academic and research library
community. This is an opportunity to get
your resume in the hands of a wide range
of potential employers.
Graduates
may post
their resume at no cost. The secure
database is offered free of charge to
ARL members and nonmembers may subscribe.
For more information, contact Jerome
Offord, Jr., ARL Program Officer for
Training and Diversity.
The
Institute of Museum and Library Services
awarded $9,898,338 in 27 inaugural grants
last month under a new program, Recruiting
and Educating Librarians for the 21st
Century.
On
Jan. 9, 2002, First Lady Laura Bush announced
the president would support a new $10
million initiative within the Institute
of Museum and Library Services to recruit
new librarians and help off-set a critical
national shortage. Anticipating the loss
of as many as 58 percent of the current
cohort of professional librarians by 2019,
this program is designed to help recruit
a new generation of librarians through
scholarships, distance learning technology
and the recruitment of librarians with
diverse language skills.
The
institute received 76 grant applications
requesting more that $27 million in FY
2003. The 27 grants made will help recruit
558 individuals (493 students of library
science at the master level, 35 at the
doctoral level and 30 at the paraprofessional
level). The grants will also fund research
to establish much needed baseline data
to support and evaluate successful recruitment
and education programs. For 2004, Bush
has requested $20 million for the Recruiting
and Educating Librarians for the 21st
Century grant program.
The
Institute of Museum and Library Services
is an independent federal grant-making
agency dedicated to creating and sustaining
a nation of learners. The institute fosters
leadership, innovation, and a lifetime
of learning by supporting the nation’s
15,000 museums and 122,000 libraries.
The institute also encourages partnerships
to expand the educational benefit of libraries
and museums.
Samuel
E. Trosow, a member of the Copyright
Committee, has been awarded the Eugene
Garfield-ALISE Doctoral Dissertation Award
for 2004. ALISE is the Association
for Library and Information Science Education,
and this prestigious award will be presented
in January during its annual meeting in
San Diego. Dr. Trosow received his Ph.D.
in Library and Information Science from
UCLA in 2002. His dissertation is entitled
"Information-for-Society: Towards
a Critical Theory of Intellectual Property
Policy." He is currently an Assistant
Professor at the University of Western
Ontario in the Faculty of Law and in the
Faculty of Information and Media Studies.
Julia O’Donnell, AALL’s
Director of Publications
joined the staff just last October and
already has made a big impression. A large
part of her job is to help manage production
of AALL
Spectrum, but she is also responsible
for producing the annual AALL Directory
and Handbook, the biennial Salary
Survey, and a myriad of other publications
throughout the year.
Julia
has her sights set on running the Chicago
marathon next fall and last September
completed a half-marathon in preparation!
She relaxes by playing the flute and “waiting
for next year” for our beloved Chicago
Cubs.
