by Kenneth Rudolf
Yale Law School Library
Vienna is a city where history meets the modern world. Formerly the capital of an empire that stretched eastward to the Balkans, now it looks westward to Brussels as one of the newest members of the European Union. Once the site of an international congress to reverse the results of the Napoleonic wars, now it is the home of international organizations that work to build new regimes of international cooperation. The varied program of the International Association of Law Libraries' fourteenth annual course on international law librarianship reflected these aspects of the host city.
"Current Trends in International Law: A Challenge for Law Librarians" was the theme that occupied about seventy law librarians from Sept. 18 to 21, 1995. Two days of programs were held in the penthouse assembly room of the Juridicum, home of the law faculty of the University of Vienna. The glass walls of this modern structure provided stunning panoramas of the baroque splendors of central Vienna. The program included presentations on Austria's accession to the European Union, the unification of Germany, changes in Eastern European law, various international organizations with headquarters in Vienna, and recent developments in electronic access to legal information. In addition to academicians and librarians, representatives of the International Atomic Energy Association, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme addressed the sessions.
Excursions play a major role in IALL courses, and Vienna was no exception. On Tuesday, the group boarded buses for a short ride to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, where sessions on developments in Eastern Europe were held in a conference room of the Slovakian National Assembly. One of the highlights of the day was a talk by Paul Zendzian, the ABA's CEELI program representative to Slovakia, who described how the ABA provided resources for newly democratic governments in Eastern Europe. The Americans' role in Eastern Europe provided some of the sharpest questioning of a speaker and prolonged discussion between Europeans and Americans regarding the appropriateness of the ABA's initiative.
The second excursion was a trip to the Danube valley, including stops at the Benedictine monastery at Melk, where the group was met by the monastery librarian. The final lecture was by Prof. Werner Ogris, whose topic was "Hostage Taking in International Law." Since the excursion passed the ruins of the historic Schloß Dürnstein, where Richard the Lionhearted was held briefly, Prof. Ogris provided a fascinating description of the legal basis for the taking and the ransoming of Richard.
Besides the excursions, there were many opportunities for the group of mostly European and American librarians to interact. The opening reception in the elegant Hall of Capital Cities in Vienna's Rathaus was attended by a representative of the mayor, who graciously welcomed the group to the city. The course dinner, sponsored by Manz Buchhandlung, was a traditional evening at a Viennese Heurigen, with Viennese wine, peasant food, and traditional Schrammel music. The excursion to Melk ended with a wine tasting at one of the area's oldest wineries, and the excursion to Bratislava featured a hearty Slovakian meal at the National Assembly. Finally, there were visits to two libraries in Vienna—the baroque hall of the Austrian National (formerly Court) Library and the modern library at the new Vienna International Centre, home of UN agencies that have headquarters in Vienna.
FCIL SIS members were prominent in the sessions. Program chair was Bridget Reischer, formerly UN librarian in Vienna and now at Harvard Law Library. Her knowledge of the city and of personnel in the various agencies resulted in a rewarding course that took advantage of local culture and expertise. Three FCIL members were speakers: Claire Germain from Cornell Law Library (Vienna Convention on the International Sale of Goods); Blanka Kudej, formerly of New York University Law Library (Czech and Slovak legal history), and Marylin Raisch of Columbia Law Library (Internet sources for legal documentation). In addition, Malo Bernal (Law Library of Congress) and Kenneth Rudolf (Yale Law Library) were session moderators.
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