The ALL-SIS Student Services Committee was initiated by the 2007 - 2008 ALL-SIS Chair, Michelle Wu. She appointed James G. Durham as the first Committee Chair. The ALL-SIS Board Liaison was Filippa Marullo Anzalone. Initial members of the committee included Hays Butler, Gary Hill, Karen Storin Linitz, Paul Moorman, Tawnya Plumb, Michael Roffer, Etheldra Scoggin, and Monica Sharum.
The Committee web site was established by Diane Murley, ALL-SIS Web Administrator at www.aallnet.org/sis/allsis/committees/students/. The first web site posting was the record of minutes for the first Committee meeting on Monday, July 16, in the Hilton New Orleans Riverside during the 2007 Annual Conference. The minutes included plans for the year and a tentative timeline for projects.
A new ALL-SIS Student Services Committee Handbook was created in the fall of 2008 and was added to the Committee’s web site. The Handbook, which is intended to be expanded and updated annually, contains a history of the committee, charges and goals, an annual calendar, web page information, and a provision for handbook maintenance.
The major undertaking of the Committee was creation and dissemination of a “Student Services in Academic Law Libraries Survey.” The initial draft was authored by James Durham, with subsequent critiques and additions from the Committee members and Board Liaison. These comments were incorporated into the final version of the survey, which was loaded on Zoomerang by Paul Moorman. After several test runs by members, the survey was distributed in March on the LAW-LIB and ALL-SIS discussion lists, and also was posted on the Committee web site. The survey received 289 visits, ending in 178 completed responses. The detailed results of this survey are available on the Committee web site and in an ALL-SIS Newsletter article that accompanies this report.
In conjunction with the tallying of survey results, the Committee collected sample student services documents and publicity materials for an online bank, which will be loaded by Diane Murley on the Committee’s web site by early June. This initial bank, which will be expanded annually, is intended to serve as a source of inspiration for academic law librarians.
In addition to any charges recommended by the ALL-SIS Board, the Committee recommends attention in the upcoming year to several issues and projects suggested by respondents to the “Student Services in Academic Law Libraries Survey.” These projects include expanding the online bank of documents, drafting sample policies for librarian collaboration with law journals, and creating a survey of law student research habits and needs.