The Tenth Annual National Legal Research Teach-In will soon be upon us and we need YOUR contribution to make our Tenth Anniversary a special one. It is amazing, and nearly overwhelming, to see how dramatically legal research has changed over the past ten years. Yet our profession has remained at the forefront despite the confusion, often leading others along the path to innovation and change. If you are one of those "pathway guides" -- even if only for one small part -- consider sharing your solutions with law librarians around the country by contributing to the Teach-in Kit.

Sponsored by RIPS-SIS, the Teach-In gives law librarians the opportunity to share materials and ideas for legal research instruction. Each year the Teach-In committee creates a set of materials that can be used to design and advertise programs and events for our institutions. These materials are distributed several weeks prior to National Library Week (April 14-20, 2002) to anyone interested in legal research instruction. Over the past ten years Teach-In materials have been distributed to an increasing number of interested people in diverse institutions all over the world. In 1993, for the first Teach-In, resource kits were distributed to 315 locations and promotional items (posters & bookmarks) went to about 200 people. A new record has been set each year, culminating in 2001 when resource kits were sent to over 700 people and over 20,000 notepads were used for promotional purposes! From these brief figures it is easy to see that the Teach-In has become an integral part of the law librarian landscape.

Teach-in 2002 will focus on integrated legal research, as opposed to media-centered training (i.e. electronic v. print). It is time to revisit classic areas of legal research, this time using an integrated approach. If you have created instructional resources that have taken a new or unusual approach to the complex issues involved in choosing appropriate information sources, your colleagues would be eager to see what you have done and how you have done it! For suggestions of classic legal topics that could be revisited, see the RIPS Teach-In web page at http://www.aallnet.org/sis/ripssis/teach_in.htm.

It is never too early to plan for success! Now is the time for YOU to become involved in the creation of these materials! Please take a few minutes to consider if you have research instruction materials (including teaching techniques, training scripts, lecture notes, outlines, handouts, exercises, lesson plans, user guides, pathfinders, research guides, or descriptions of past training events) that you could contribute. If you do, or if you have comments or suggestions, please contact Kristin Gerdy (gerdyk@lawgate.byu.edu or (801) 378-9022) or Gail Partin (gap6@psu.edu or (717) 240-5294) as soon as possible (no later than December 31, 2001). Thanks for making our 10th anniversary Teach-In the best one yet!