This detailed and informative program featured presentations by Joseph A. Custer, University of Kansas Wheat Law Library; Joan Shear, Boston College Law Library; and Robert Mead, University of Kansas Wheat Law Library. Program handouts for this session are available via the AALL Handout Materials Collection website.
Mr. Custer introduced the program and described the Wheat Law Library's Advanced Legal Research (ALR) courses. He began by describing the law school's traditional ALR course, then explained how the library staff came up with the idea for additional ALR courses in specific subject areas. Among the reasons given for adding these additional courses were the inherent limitations of traditional first-year courses, the increasing complexities of legal research, and the heightened expectations of legal employers. He explained how the library chose which particular subject-specific research courses to offer based on librarian expertise in a subject, the law school's emphasis on a subject area, and the expressed desire of students to gain research expertise in potential practice areas.
He went on to describe the basic features of the courses themselves, including such details as assignments and syllabi, and then spent some time discussing the curriculum approval process at the University of Kansas. This section of the presentation was especially intriguing and gave some practical advice to librarians seeking to implement similar ALR courses in their own libraries. To illustrate this process, the program materials included a copy of a memo sent to law faculty requesting approval of the new courses. Finally, Mr. Custer described the reaction of law students and faculty to the new courses as “tempered enthusiasm” and reported that the courses have generally received positive feedback.
Ms. Shear focused on several of the same things as Mr. Custer, describing the traditional ALR classes at Boston College and explaining how the Boston College Law Library went about developing several specialized courses. She then focused on some of the issues involved in putting together a new ALR course, such as what the course should try to accomplish and what sort of materials and information should be included. Her tips included reinforcing basic legal research concepts, demonstrating tools and techniques not covered in first-year legal research, and drawing examples and research problems from the subject area covered by the course. She also stressed that instructors should be aware of time limitations and take care to introduce students to the most useful resources.
Ms. Shear also gave advice on successfully getting a new course approved. In particular, she suggested finding a faculty champion who wants the new course as much as you do. A professor who teaches or writes in the subject area you want to create a course for would be an ideal sponsor.
Mr. Mead rounded out the program by giving a general overview of the reasons why specialized ALR courses are becoming increasingly popular. He described the differences between traditional and specialized ALR classes and emphasized the MacCrate Report's finding that lawyers must be able to design and implement research strategies.
Mr. Mead then detailed the benefits to students of having an opportunity to integrate research strategies with the substantive law they are learning, then followed this analysis with a description of the less visible benefits to faculty, who are presented with students who are better researchers and thus produce higher quality work and may have potential as research assistants. Finally, Mr. Mead examined the benefits of specialized ALR to librarians, who gain additional opportunities to teach and publish as well as the chance to become experts in a particular subject area.
This interesting session provided valuable advice to those considering or developing specialized ALR courses. The experiences of all three presenters illustrated the challenges and rewards involved in offering these classes and gave a personal touch to the information offered.