VOLUME 22
ISSUE 2
Spring 2003

Inside this issue:

• 2003 AALL Annual Meeting/Workshop Grants
• ALL-SIS BNA Task Force Report
  • BNA Law School Program Survey
• Danner Honored with ALL-SIS Hicks Award
• Join Us in Seattle
• Seattle Library Tours
• Serfass and Cranford Get Inaugural ALL-SIS Outstanding Article Award
• Trials and Tribulations of a New Law Librarian

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

Merle Slyhoff
Document Delivery and Auxiliary Services Librarian
University of Pennsylvania Law School
Biddle Law Library
3460 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-3406
mslyhoff@law.upenn.edu

As I write this, the Membership Committee, chaired by Arturo Torres, is putting the finishing touches on an important document. Written by Victoria Williamson, with input from the Committee, a new membership brochure will appear (or may have already appeared) in the AALL Spectrum and on the ALL-SIS web page. Victoria did a great job highlighting the benefits of ALL-SIS membership for those AALL members who are not yet members of our SIS.

But it never hurts to remind our ALL-SIS members of these benefits. All too often we fall into habit, and merely check off ALL-SIS on the AALL membership renewal and include our $12.00. Consider this a Cliff’s Notes or a Sum & Substance on the ALL-SIS.

Benefits of Membership in ALL-SIS

1. Newsletter:  Produced 3 times a year, the ALL-SIS Newsletter “serves as a viable tool to voice our concerns, share ideas, as well as recount experiences that benefit section members.”
2. Listserv:  If you’re not signed on, consider subscribing. In addition to ALL-SIS news, the list serves as a tool for members to communicate, raise issues, and have discussions.
3. Activities:  The programs, workshops, meetings and opportunities for socializing are plentiful at the annual meeting. Whether you’re a director, a cataloger, a reference librarian, a computer specialist, an acquisitions/serials librarian, an interlibrary loan librarian… ALL-SIS has something for everyone.
4. Awards:  The ALL-SIS honors its members through the Frederick Charles Hicks Award for Outstanding Contributions to Academic Law Librarianship and the ALL-SIS Outstanding Article Award.
5. ALL-SIS website:  www.aallnet.org/sis/allsis/. The website provides a wealth of information about the SIS and academic law librarianship. If you haven’t already bookmarked it, you should. The work of many of this year’s committees and task forces will be appearing on the web page throughout the year.
6. Volunteering:  The work of the committees is what pushes and motivates this SIS. Whether it’s the Newsletter, Legal Research, or Statistics Committee, there’s a place for everyone to volunteer.
7. Networking:  I saved this benefit for last. To me it’s one of the most powerful benefits. We all know the value of networking, and ALL-SIS offers many opportunities through committee work and meetings, programs, and receptions. At this year’s AALL Annual Meeting, in addition to the SIS’s programs, ALL-SIS will provide networking opportunities at the following events:
• Sunday, July 13, 7:00 – 9:00 am:  ALL-SIS Breakfast and Business Meeting, sponsored by BNA;
• Tuesday, July 15, 7:00 – 8:45 am:  ALL-SIS Director’s Breakfast & Program, Penny Hazelton; sponsored by West;
• Tuesday, July 15, 7:00 – 8:45 am:  ALL-SIS Middle Manager’s Breakfast & Program, Joyce Manna Janto; sponsored by West;
• Tuesday, July 15, 7:00 – 9:00 pm:  ALL-SIS Reception and Awards, Seattle University, Hosted by Seattle University, Kristin Cheney; Sponsored by Lexis-Nexis.