Private Law Libraries Special Interest Section
American Association of Law Libraries

CONTENTS

What's New

ACTIVITIES OF HIGHEST PRIORITY

I. Marketing the tool kit

Initiative: We recognize that the AALL Tool Kit is a valuable aid in promoting the value of law librarians. Since this has already been created, we need to find ways to get it into the hands of the membership.

Implementation:

Ongoing:

1. Distribute order forms at Association of Legal Administrators' (ALA) Meeting.
   
2. Place ads in prominent legal and library periodicals/journals.
   
3. Solicit articles on successful use of the tool kit.
   
4. Send complimentary copies of the tool kit to the heads of law and library related organizations, especially the "Management Briefing Section" of the kit.
5. Get a review of the tool kit published in Legal Information Alert, and/or Trends in Law Library Management and Technology.
   
6. Promote it in AALL Spectrum and PLL Perspectives.
   
7. Use the PLL listserve and Webpage to get the word out.

II. Consumers and publishers

Initiative: We know that our institutions are ultimately concerned with the bottom line. We would like to respond to those concerns by focusing on ways we can educate our membership to become better consumers. We would like to provide consumer information in detail - how much we spend on pocket parts and supplements for each title, % increase in price, etc., so that our members can make informed decisions. We would also like to provide product reviews and comparisons. In addition, we would like to become consumer advocates for librarian interests, partnering with information providers to ensure that librarian input is being solicited.

Implementation:

Immediate:

1. Appoint a PLL Consumer Advocacy Committee, linked to CRIV.
   
2. Establish a Consumer Alert Column in PLL Perspectives.
   1. How to be a wise consumer.
      
   2. How PLL can act as a consumer advocate.
3. Begin product reviews in PLL Perspectives.
4. Consider folding additional information into Price Index to Legal Titles:
   1. Track information in detail such as cost of pocket parts, supplements, including % increase for each title.
   2. Track information in detail about publisherís average increase in costs for these items.
   3. Track according to subject area.

Medium

1. Gather long term price change information. Use (or create, if necessary) a software package to help us document these changes.
2. Publish articles in periodicals geared toward the practicing bar and/or firm administrators to reinforce the idea that private law librarians are involved in shaping publishers' products, services and costs.

Long

1. Put the consumer information/product reviews on our webpage.
2. Encourage other organizations'; webpages to link to ours, so that they will begin to see us as the "experts" in legal information resources.

III. Research on the Value of the Law Librarian

Initiative: Research is needed on how we as librarians are being perceived in our institutions, similar to the Matarazzo study by SLA entitled, "The Value of Corporate Libraries: Findings from a 1995 Survey of Senior Management." Once we know how we are being perceived by lawyers, managing partners and by law firm administrators, we can respond with appropriate educational materials and programs. It will also allow us to measure success or failure in changing that perception in future studies of this sort.

Implementation:

Immediate

1. Find out about available monies.
   
2. Appoint a committee to draft plan and carry it out.

Medium

1. Solicit funds from other sources as back up to the project.
2. Publish article in PLL Perspectives on earlier research (including information on the Matarazzo Survey.)

Long

1. Conduct the survey.
2. Report the results.
3. Evaluate the findings and use this information in future strategic plans.

IV. Resources/Information (RIPLL)

Initiative: We recognize that our membership is varied, but that there are some reoccurring requests for practical information that would be helpful to get into our members' hands. We talked about compiling this information into a notebook, and we called this handbook, "Resources /Information in Private Law Librarianship," or "RIPLL."

Implementation:

Immediate

1. Establish a PLL committee to carry this forward.
2. Establish an Editorial Advisory Board.
3. Seek vendor support for start-up costs, but no editorial input from vendors.

Medium

1. Use the listserve to find out what is relevant to the members.
2. Generate discussion on the listserve to help identify info/resources for inclusion in RIPLL.
3. Establish a rough outline of the handbook.

Long

1. Prepare a marketing plan.
2. Implement a possible subscription plan or standing order for updates.
3. Publish RIPLL.

V. Target Employers (Lawyers and Administrators)

Initiative: We identified the need to "get the word out" on the value of professional law librarians to decision makers in our firms. Part of the challenge of this project is to "meet them where they live," to find ways to present our skills to them in a variety of formats and to establish ourselves as the experts in legal information resources.

Implementation:

Immediate

1. Pull-out section in PLL Perspectives.
   1. "Give-to-your-boss" sections addressing areas of interest to them.
   2. Should appear 1-2 times a year.
   3. First one should be on cost-control and what PLL is doing.
   4. Have extra copies available for sale/distribution.
2. Begin to develop other materials we can use to educate employers, distribute at ALA, ABA/LPM meetings, etc.
3. Support an official representative to the ABA Law Practice Management Section.

Medium

1. Work to make our website relevant to what they do, so they willl access our site and begin to see us as the information experts.
2. Publish in their journals relevant, high-quality articles.

Long

1. Develop educational programming proposals for ALA and for the ABA/LPM annual meetings.
2. Serve on committees or serve as resource personnel to these organizations.

VI. Share Best Practices

Initiative: With 1700 members, we have a great deal of collected wisdom. Wouldnít it be great if we could tap into that resource to do practical problem-solving? Sharing best practices could take place in a variety of formats on a variety of topics.

Implementation:

Immediate

1. Annual conference.
   1. Conduct face-to-face meetings in town hall setting.
   2. Present a component of PLL program, similar to "hot topic."
2. Initiate discussions on the listserve, with input from members on how they solved the problem or dealt with the situation.

Medium

1. Produce an electronic town hall meeting (with limited participation) on best practices, similar to the roundtable discussion that appeared in AALL Spectrum.
2. Create a moderated open discussion on selected topics on the listserve.