| July 1985[1] |
FCIL Special Interest Section created. The first Chair is Claire M. Germain.[2] FCIL-SIS incorporates the AALL Special Committee on International Placements as a permanent subcommittee. |
| July 1986 |
FCIL-SIS members first sit together at the AALL meeting luncheon. |
| 1987 |
Vol.
1, No. 1 of the FCIL Newsletter (then un-numbered) is published.
The editor from this issue until October 1988 is Dan Wade.[3] |
| 1987 |
The SIS elects Maria Smolka-Day as its first Secretary-Treasurer. |
| July 1988 |
The
Latin American Law Librarians become a Working Group of the SIS.
This Working Group becomes the model for other such groups, which
become the Interest Groups. |
| 1988 |
The
SIS passes resolution on “taking necessary steps to formalize specific
recommendations to the AALL to deal with the problem of the decreasing
number of qualified candidates to fill vacancies in foreign and
international law librarians.” |
| October 1988 |
Mila
Rush takes over the editorship of the Newsletter. Dan Wade,
then-SIS Chair, expresses his hope that “our SIS will sponsor a number
of working groups to meet ... around selected topics.” He lists
law collecting from Africa and from the Soviet Union. Dan reports
that SIS membership has increased to 260, a “substantial increase” over
1987, and notes “many new foreign members, especially Canadians.” |
| 1989 |
Ellen Schaffer sends members a Foreign Law Survey to assess foreign law collections. |
| 1989 |
Dan
Wade surveys librarians on what foreign law librarians and specialists
do. His results are presented at a meeting of the National Legal
Resources Committee of AALL. |
| 1989 |
Law
Library Journal publishes the report of the AALL National Legal
Resources Committee. This report targets the training of the next
generation of civil, international, and comparative law librarians and
information specialists as one of two educational priorities for law
librarians. |
| 1989 |
The
SIS has “about 300” members. Membership Committee is
created. Working Groups include Latin American Law Librarians
(Dan Wade), African Law Working Group (Victor Essien), and Soviet Law
Working Group (Blanka Kudej). |
| 1990 |
Pre-AALL workshop: AALL Summer Institute "International Law: The Basics and Beyond." |
| 1990 |
Education Committee and Program Committee merge to become Education/Program Committee. |
| July 1991 |
Pre-AALL
meeting workshop: National Legal Resources Committee sponsors a one-day
workshop to discuss training of foreign and international law
librarians. |
| 1991 |
Ellen Schaffer’s survey on international and foreign law collections is published as Directory of Foreign Law Collections in Selected Law Libraries. |
| April 31,1991 |
Lyonette
Louis-Jacques and Mila Rush launch the INT-LAW electronic discussion
group, which is designed to provide “a way to communicate among
ourselves quickly and informally, to sound out ideas with others in the
profession, and to get immediate responses from the field.” |
| |
New working group on Teaching Foreign and International Research is established. |
| May 1992 |
The
National Legal Resources Committee, chaired by Claire Germain,
publishes a plan approved by the Executive Board in April, titled
“Training Foreign and International Law Librarians: The Next
Generation.” The plan calls for conducting a sequence of five
institutes over a three-year period, covering all areas of foreign and
international law. The 1993 Winter Institute, “Introduction to
Foreign Legal Systems,” co-directed by Richard Danner and Marie-Louise
Bernal and presented at the Library of Congress on February 3-6, 1993,
is the first course to be offered. |
| 1992 |
Chair
Mila Rush uses her column in the Newsletter to suggest extending “some
form of recognition to our colleagues who travel from foreign countries
to attend our Annual Meeting.” She and Jonathan Pratter
tentatively plan a “hospitality period” as part of the SIS business
meeting. This idea develops into the Reception for Attendees from
Abroad. |
| October 1992 |
Newsletter
contains results of survey on FCIL Members’ job titles, type of
institution, education, experience, training, and language proficiency,
compiled by David McFadden. |
| 1993 |
Electronic
Issues Group is created, with the stated goal of “get[ting] a handle on
rapid developments in electronic technology that affect the work of the
SIS. |
| July 1993 |
First
“social hour” with foreign visitors immediately after the SIS business
meeting, called Hospitality with International Colleagues. |
| 1993 |
“Adopt-a-Flag”
program is launched to distinguish the SIS AALL Exhibit table.
The project solicits members to donate money to allow the SIS to buy
country flags. |
| February 1993 |
AALL
Winter Institute on Foreign Legal Systems is held. This institute
is the first of five sponsored by AALL and Oceana. |
| February 1993 |
Newsletter
contains results of Lyonette Louis-Jacques’s survey on teaching FCIL
research. This effort is the precursor to the SIS webpage on FCIL
Legal Research teaching materials. |
| July 1993 |
AALL Summer Institute on International Organizations |
| July 1994 |
AALL Summer Institute on Transnational Legal Transactions |
| July 1994< |
FCIL-SIS Reception for Attendees from Abroad is renamed (from Hospitality with International Colleagues).< |
| 1994< |
With the assistance of Washburn University Law School, the Newsletter becomes available on the web. |
| July 1995 |
AALL Summer Institute on International Business Law: Legal Transactions in a Global Economy. |
| July 1995 |
The
SIS celebrates its tenth anniversary at Business Meeting. Claire
Germain gives a brief history of the SIS. Commemorative pens are
distributed. |
| July 1996 |
AALL Summer Institute on Public International Law |
| July 1996 |
Jonathan Franklin initiates alternative lunch for SIS members not attending the AALL lunch. |
| 1997 |
Anne Burnett creates first SIS webpage. |
| 1997 |
Newsletter moves to AALLNET. |
| 1998 |
Strategic Planning Committee, chaired by Margareta Horiba, is created. |
| Spring 1998 |
FCIL-SIS electronic discussion group debuts, moderated by Mila Rush. |
| July 1999 |
First
“private” SIS program is held, at which Ruth Bird discusses Australian
law and legal research. This program becomes the prototype for
“Executive Committee Presents…” programs. |
| July 2000 |
Term
“Interest Groups” substituted for “Working groups” to dispel perception
that attendance was open only to members actively working on specific
projects. |
| 2000 |
Interest
Group on Teaching Foreign, Comparative and International Legal Research
gets its own website, created by Christine Corcos. |
| December 2000 |
Ellen
Schaffer creates Foreign Librarian’s Grant, named the Ellen Schaffer
Foreign Librarian’s Grant by Jean Davis, then SIS chair. Tracy
Thompson chairs the first FCIL-SIS Grant Committee. |
| June 21, 2001 |
Sania Battalova of Kyrgyz Republic is announced as the first recipient of the Ellen Schaffer Foreign Librarian’s Grant.[4] |
| July 2001 |
Chair Jean Davis inaugurates the “Spirit of the SIS” award. |
| October 2001 |
The Newsletter is distributed electronically for the first time. |
| 2002 |
Interest
Groups include African Law, Asian Law, CIS and East European,
Clearinghouse for Internships and International Personnel Exchanges,
Electronic Issues, Latin American Law, and Teaching Foreign and
International Legal Research. |
| 2003 |
Tracy
Thompson organizes “Host a Foreign Law Librarian Attending AALL 2003,”
an effort to provide designated librarians to help welcome and orient
foreign attendees. |
| 2003 |
Dan
Wade, on behalf of the SIS, drafts proposal for new series of FCIL
workshops to be held in conjunction with AALL annual meetings. |
| 2003 |
SIS three-year Strategic Plan (2003-2006) is created. |
| April 2004 |
The
SIS sponsors AALL Professional Development Online Forum: Where in the
World Did You Find That? Exploring Foreign and International Law
Librarianship. |
| July 2004 |
First
of several new FCIL workshops, Shopping in the Global Marketplace:
Information Sources for International Trade, is held before the AALL
meeting. |
| 2004 |
Redesigned SIS website debuts on AALLNET, with substantial work from student member Ann T. Davey. |