Congratulations to our Newly Elected Executive Board Members!

I am pleased to announce we had a most successful first-ever electronic election. A total of 1,985 members cast their vote (1,941 electronic, 44 paper). By way of contrast, last year we had 1760 members vote and the year before 1739.

Here are the results:

Our gratitude goes out to everyone who agreed to run for office. A number of members remarked about how difficult it was to make a choice for board and officers this year. This speaks volumes about the depth of leadership within AALL and especially about the commitment and dedication we have within the field. Thanks to all for helping to make the election - and AALL - the success that it was and is.

AALLNET and AALL Network Maintenance

AALL will be performing scheduled maintenance on AALLNET and AALL network systems on Saturday, December 18 through Sunday, December 19th. The entire AALLNET website, discussion forums, and AALL headquarters email will experience periodic downtime. All services are expected to be restored and fully functional by Sunday, December 19th at 10:00 p.m. (CST). We apologize for any inconvenience.

Electronic Voting Earns High Marks from Membership

I'm grateful also to report that the electronic voting system was a smashing success. Over 168 members commented on the process and 99% of the response was overwhelmingly positive. Here is a small sample:

"A great improvement from the paper ballot. Two thumbs up!"

"Best way to vote, ever."

"The photos and bios were easy to find and read at every step of the process. I also thought that having the photos repeated on the ballot itself was a huge enhancement from the paper ballot which did not have photos. Thanks for a great implementation of electronic balloting."

"Electronic voting is fine, as long as the system creates a paper record for the purpose of a possible recount. Thanks."

"This was an excellent experience. Thanks so much for this fabulous high tech improvement."

"Assuming everything works properly on AALL's end (receipt and counting of ballots) you got a winner here!"

"Great!!!! This electronic ballot was so easy and I loved reading bios as I went thru the process."

"Far superior to paper and hopefully, a better vehicle for getting members to take a few minutes to vote. The only tiny drawback I experienced was a little difficulty in closing windows once I was done reviewing a nominee biography. Thanks for this upgrade!"

Reggie Swanigan, Director of Information Technology and Christopher Siwa, Web Administrator earned very high marks indeed for their conception, development, design and implementation of the system.

AALL Research Committee Announces 2004 Grants

On behalf or the AALL Research Committee (Susan Tulis, Karen Beck, Eloise Vondruska, Trina Tinglum, Joel Fishman, Duncan Alford, and Michael J. Slinger, Chair), I am pleased to announce that AALL/Aspen Research Grants for 2004 totaling $5,000 have been awarded to three individuals:

Charles Cronin, Columbia University Law Library, for his project, Music Plagiarism Digital Archive at Columbia Law Library.

Karl Gruben, St. Thomas University Law Library, for his project, AmLaw 100 KM Survey.

Betsy McKenzie, Suffolk University Law Library, for her project, Effects on PCs and Databases on Legal Analysis Skills.

Competition for the Grants was particularly competitive this year with 11 submissions, all of which show great promise. This high number of quality submissions certainly reflects well on the vitality of our profession and the high interest in meaningful scholarship among our members. Please join me in congratulating our distinguished colleagues on their awards. Please also join me in thanking Aspen Publishing for their generous support of this important program.

The AALL/Aspen Publishers Grant Program was established in 1996 with a generous contribution of $50,000 from Aspen Publishers, a New York-based legal publisher. Aspen Publishers considers its contribution as an investment in research that will provide a prospective look at the role of librarians, researchers and legal information providers and will yield results to which publishers can respond. Aspen's goal is to sponsor research that will have a practical impact on the law library profession and inspire products and changes in the marketplace.

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 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.

Private Law Libraries One-Person Law Library Discussion List

Janice Leichter and Michele Mitchell, co-chairs of the Private Law Libraries SIS One-Person Law Library Subcommittee, announce the formation of a new discussion list especially for one-person law libraries. This discussion is open to all AALL members. If you are interested, please contact either Janice or Michele for more information.

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.