Legal Reference Services

At this AALL Professional Development workshop, you will learn the two essential skills to becoming a great legal reference librarian: clairvoyance (to understand what is actually being asked by the patron) and omniscience (to be able to answer the questions). Legal Reference Services is appropriate for librarians from all types of libraries who want to develop a better understanding of the boundaries of legal reference and practice techniques, learn to identify and use various types of legal authority, and gain experience in performing basic legal research. 

The Legal Reference Services Workshop was designed to meet section 3 of the draft AALL Core Competencies of Law Librarianship.

Participants will learn to:

• Develop a better understanding of the role of legal research in the practice of law;
• Learn the boundaries of legal reference and practice techniques that will enable them to provide useful assistance to legal researchers;
• Identify and use various types of legal authority and the various print and electronic formats and methods of publication in which they appear;
• Assist others in identifying the actual issues that need to be researched;
• Gain experience in performing basic legal research and learn how to analyze and provide assistance in the development of research strategies;
• Be able to make informed decisions and advise others regarding choice of format for specific legal materials in particular circumstances; and
• Explore policies and procedures that help create an efficient organization for providing reference services and balancing the many tasks required of the legal reference librarian.

Who Should Attend the Program?

Librarians from all types of libraries who are new to legal reference.

Instructors

Joan Shear is a Legal Reference Librarian at Boston College Law School Library where she teaches basic legal research to first-year students in the required Legal Reasoning, Research and Writing Program and presents guest lectures on legal research in upper level law courses.  Prior to joining the staff at Boston College in 1986, Shear spent four years as a reference librarian at Harvard Law School Library.  While in library school, Shear served a practicum at the Law Library of Congress.  Shear also developed the Law Librarians of New England (LLNE) Legal Research Class. 

John Nann is the Educational Technology Specialist/Legal Reference Librarian at the Boston College Law Library.  Previously, Nann was Computer Services/Reference Librarian at both Brooklyn Law School and Suffolk Law School. Nann teaches basic legal research to first year students in the required Legal Reasoning, Research and Writing program.  As the Internet expert at the Boston College Law Library, Nann presents to both students and practicing librarians.

If you are interested in scheduling this program, please fill out and submit a scheduling form.

Registration

Registration for programs will begin approximately 3 months prior to scheduled dates. On-line registration forms will be available at that time. Please check again later!

This professional development opportunity is brought to you by the American Association of Law Libraries. For additional information, please contact Mary Jawgiel, AALL Education Manager, at 312-939-4764 or mjawgiel@aall.org.

AALL recognizes major support from BNA, Inc. for the Professional Development Program.

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