This was a busy and productive year for the ALL-SIS. My initial goals included completing a draft Strategic Plan and creating connections (following the 2002 annual convention theme) to enhance our productivity and visibility. As an organization our strength comes from our cooperation and connections both internal and external. We make critical external connections with our law schools, our sister law library organizations and other law groups such as the ABA and AALS. Section activities of the past year helped create and strengthen these connections.
Highlights of ALL-SIS activities this year include the following:
The list of highlights is by no means comprehensive. Many members worked very hard this year, and it is impossible to mention all of their contributions. Under the leadership of Mark Bernstein the Strategic Planning Committee drafted an ALL-SIS Strategic Plan for the next three years . This plan builds upon work of committees of previous years which developed a mission statement and a preamble. Committee members made an effort to further the strategic directions and outcomes identified in the AALL Strategic Plan in ways that fit the academic milieu in our own ALL-SIS plan. The plan should provide a blueprint for exciting future initiatives which will benefit all academic law librarians.
With a view toward creating and enhancing external connections, this year's Public Relations Committee under Sue Burch's leadership revised and redesigned the ALL-SIS brochure. The new brochure is a striking snapshot of the activities and history of the SIS. It provides a welcome to new and prospective members and introduces us to law faculty, deans, and other librarians. We formalized other vital external connections this year by appointing an official liaison to the ABA Section of Legal Education Law Libraries Committee and to the Association of American Law Schools Committee on Libraries and Technology.
The outstanding ALL-SIS educational program this year helped create connections both within our own SIS and with other convention attendees. The Education Committee, chaired by Tim Coggins, planned several programs for the annual meeting including one reaching outside academia: From Town to Gown: Law Librarians Connecting in a New Workplace. Strengthening our internal connections and sharing ideas about new services and products has always been a major activity. This year we welcomed new academic law librarians with a CONALL program chaired by Jim Heller which focused on law librarians' roles in teaching legal research in law school.
As SIS chair I appointed Task Forces to examine several core academic law library concerns which are regularly discussed on the listservs and beg for attention. The Task Forces were a formal vehicle to promote cooperation, share ideas and suggest solutions. These included:
Though their work is not yet complete, the Task Forces made great strides in addressing these issues, and their work products will be shared at the ALL-SIS website in the future.
The Awards Committee, chaired by Tori Trotta, selected several academic librarians to receive special recognition. Dick Danner of Duke University was awarded the Frederick Charles Hicks Award for Outstanding Contributions to Academic Law Librarianship, and Melissa Serfass and Jessie Cranford of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock were awarded the first ALL-SIS Outstanding Article Award for their article on Federal and State Court Rules Governing Publication and Citation of Opinions in 3 Journal of Appellate Practice and Process 251 (Spring 2001) The Awards Committee also suggested that the section consider initiating some new awards for other academic law library contributions.
The ALL-SIS has made great strides this year, building on work done by members in previous years. Hopefully the blueprint provided by the new strategic plan will lead to continued cooperative activity and help us make vital connections and contributions in our law schools and in our profession in the future.
Rosalie M. Sanderson
ALL-SIS Chair 2001-2002