CONGRATULATIONS TO MARIYA BADEVA-BRIGHT, RECIPIENT OF THE 2019 FCIL-SIS SCHAFFER GRANT FOR FOREIGN LAW LIBRARIANS!
Ms. Mariya Badeva-Bright is the 2019 FCIL-SIS Schaffer Grant for Foreign Law Librarians recipient. Congratulations, Mariya! Mariya lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa. She is a technology lawyer with an LL.M in Law and Information Technology from Stockholm University, Sweden. The FCIL-SIS Schaffer Grant Selection Committee chose Ms. Badeva-Bright in part because of her work with legal information outside of traditional librarianship. Mariya leads the AfricanLII project at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She is a veteran open access activist, having worked on free access to law in Africa since 2004. She was also involved in the creation and development of the South African Legal Information Institute (SAFLII). Since 2010, Mariya has helped build free access law portals in 13 African countries and co-founded the AfricanLII as a resource and a community hub promoting free access to law in Africa. Most recently, she co-founded Laws.Africa (a legislation commons) built and supported by a dedicated community, that aims to make African legislation freely available to everyone, at no cost.
ANTICIPATING AALL AND RETURNING TO SOUTH AFRICA
A first-time attendee at the AALL Annual Meeting and Conference, Ms. Badeva-Bright is looking forward to meeting law librarians from the United States and other countries. On her return to South Africa, she plans to “present to the law librarians at the University of Cape Town and University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.” She also plans to blog about her experience at AALL and publish in the Organization of South African Law Libraries quarterly newsletter, on the AfricanLII website, and in newsletters for other LIIs in Africa.
PRESENTATION
The FCIL-SIS welcomes all AALL attendees to Ms. Badeva-Bright’s presentation titled “African Law for Everyone: African LII and Laws.Africa,” which will focus on “the AfricanLII collections, and more important[ly], [the] Laws.Africa project, which proposes a new approach to sustainable revision and consolidation of legislation in Africa.” As part of her presentation, she will describe the “volunteer model, incentives, community, editorial processes, [and] quality assurance steps,” and will invite AALL attendees to participate in this important new endeavor.
Ms. Badeva-Bright’s presentation will take place on Monday, July 15, 2019, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. in the Marriott Marquis Ballroom Salon 4.
Please join us in welcoming Ms. Badeva-Bright to Washington, DC in July!
FCIL-SIS gratefully acknowledges the generous contributions of many Donors.
Despite valuable support from AALL, FCIL, vendors, and individual AALL members, the FCIL Schaffer Grant for Foreign Law Librarians Fund at this time does not fully cover the recipient’s transportation, lodging, and food costs. Your tax-deductible donation will enhance the Grant’s impact and ensure the continued presence of foreign law librarians at AALL. Make a Contribution.