Lauren Michelle Collins is a dynamic academic Law Librarian as well as an
excellent writer. She currently works as a Public Service Librarian/Instruction
Services Librarian at Wayne State University - Arthur Neef Law Library. Lauren
also creates summaries of legal cases as a Lead Case Law Editor for LexisNexis
Group. Before going to Wayne State Lauren was a Faculty Services Reference
Librarian at the University of Miami School of Law Library in Coral Gables,
Florida.
Lauren earned a Bachelor of Arts in Human Communication Studies from Howard University and a Juris Doctor from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Lauren decided during her second year of law school that she would eventually become a law librarian. Her interest was sparked while working with librarians Marguerite Most and Martha Barefoot at UNC as a teaching assistant for the research and writing program. She earned her Master of Science in Information in 2003 from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Since earning that degree she has developed into a dynamic academic law librarian.
Lauren is an excellent writer: she has written an article for AALL Spectrum: Brown’s Legacy Then and Now: Race and Law School Admission Debates Continue After Nearly 70 Years, Vol. 8, No. 6 (April 2004). She is also a CALI Fellow with their Legal Research Community Authoring Project and is completing a lesson on Cost Effective Legal Research. Lauren even wrote two articles for the daily newspaper at the AALL annual meeting in San Antonio; where she found the time is a mystery. She is currently doing wonderful things at Wayne State: she recently started the Law Library’s newsletter which has both a faculty and a student edition. She serves on the Board of MichALL and is the newsletter editor. Lauren is also a current member of AALL Diversity Committee.
Heather
Waltman is a Catalog & Reference
Librarian at the Fred Parks Law Library, South Texas College of Law in Houston.
Heather received her BA in Sociology with a concentration in Women’s
Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. She then earned her MLS in
2004 from the University of North Texas while working as a library assistant
at the Clayton Center for Genealogical Research, a branch of Houston Public
Library. She enjoyed this position researching family histories, but found
her niche at the South Texas College of Law working two-years as a serials
assistant. After graduating from library school, Heather took advantage of
an opportunity to stay at STCL in a professional position.
Heather has been the Catalog & Reference Librarian for one year now. In this position she has assisted the Senior Catalog Librarian in cataloging two recent microfiche purchases, the Making of Modern Law Legal Treatises 1800-1926 and AALS Law Books Recommended. Aside from cataloging, Heather spends a limited number of hours each week helping patrons at the reference desk. She feels fortunate to be able to work in both the technical and public services arenas, an opportunity she thinks is rather unique. Heather also comments that her colleagues at STCL have been immensely helpful and willing to share their knowledge and advice. She views their dedicated years of experience as law librarians and their commitment to the profession as truly impressive. She’s grateful for the opportunity to work with such an exceptional group.
Speaking of exceptional groups, Heather is a member of the Southwestern Association of Law Libraries (SWALL), the Houston Area Law Librarians (HALL), and the Texas Library Association (TLA). She attended the AALL conference for the first time in San Antonio last summer and found the opportunities for learning and meeting new people very rewarding.
Outside of work, Heather enjoys reading nonfiction, watching documentaries, and learning about film in general. She has been a vegetarian for 15 years and would desperately like to learn organic gardening. She’ll be attending AALL in St. Louis, so say hello if you see her.
Molly Mackey is a May 2006 of the University of Texas at Austin School of Information. Molly received her Juris Doctor cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2004, and a bachelor of arts with honors from Duke University in 2001. Molly became interested in pursuing law librarianship during her third year of law school at the University of Minnesota and was very fortunate to receive guidance from Professor Joan S. Howland, Law Library Director, at the University of Minnesota. Following graduation from law school, Professor Howland recommended Molly to the University of Texas at Austin School of Information. Consequently, Molly began her studies for the Master of Science in Information Studies in the fall of 2004. That same fall, Molly was admitted to the Illinois State Bar.
Molly was the recipient of a Tarlton Fellowship, and she worked part-time as a reference librarian at the Tarlton Law Library of the University of Texas at Austin School of Law while completing her library degree. Through the fellowship, Molly had the opportunity to participate in a wide range of public services activities such as providing reference assistance, interacting with faculty members on research projects, developing finding aids and other resources to assist patrons. Furthermore, Molly has found her undergraduate majors in French and Comparative Areas Studies to be tangible assets when performing research assignments involving the French legal system.
After Molly’s wedding in July, she will join the Rutgers School of Law - Newark Law Library as a reference librarian in August. Molly is enthusiastic about her future and is excited at the prospect of entering the law librarian profession on a full-time basis.
