LLOPSCited

This year’s Marketing Committee consisted of Kate Stockert, Tania Schriwer, and Marcus Hochstetler. Marcus originated as the committee chair, which Kate took over in January of 2010.

The committee focused on assembling a display for the LLOPS table at the AALL Annual Meeting, which will be set up and staffed by generous LLOPS member volunteers, and composing articles for the LLOPSCited Blog on marketing the library and individual job skills. Contributions to the blog included:

• Hochstetler, Marcus. “Marketing Your Need to Survive and Thrive.” LLOPS Cited Blog, 2 Oct. 2009.
• Schriwer, Tania. “BigLaw Twitterters: Flying Solo or Birds of a Feather.” LLOPS Cited Blog, 15 Apr. 2010.
• Stockert, Kate. “Go Viral! Spread the Word with Social Networking.” LLOPS Cited Blog, 10 Dec. 2009.

 This August the committee will need a new Chair. Mort Brinchmann currently holds the committee’s materials bag until the next committee chair is selected. Please contact Mort if you are interested in chairing the committee.

Respectfully submitted,

Kate Stockert

by Sue Mecklem

In the past year, our firm’s librarians have had a goal of figuring out how we can assist our attorneys more effectively. There are many approaches to gleaning this information, from casual water cooler conversations to electronic surveys to educated guesses. One idea we decided to explore was  attending practice group meetings to figure out how we could assist our attorneys in their work. The experience has been a productive learning experience for me.

My approach to attending practice group meetings at first was to ask the practice group meeting organizer if I could attend an upcoming meeting to listen and learn. For my first visits I did not prepare formal presentations or ask to be included on the agenda but gave the group a quick spiel on how we librarians were looking for ways to assist them and how we were interested in learning more about their practices. I always had positive responses to my sitting in on practice group meetings. Continue reading »

Surely by now you’ve seen the iSchool’s renditon of Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.” But the coverage of this creative video goes way past local news. Mainstream blogs like The Huffington Post (which reserves judgment) and Perez Hilton (which in classic catty fashion declares the video awkward–scroll down the page to see the reference) have picked up the story. Regardless of what you think about the video, it’s turning into a great marketing tool for the program.

by Dianne George and Kristine Lloyd

Our May LLOPS meeting featured Rita Dermody, King County Law Library Interim Director, and Judge Mary Yu, President of the KCLL Board of Trustees, holding court at Davis Wright Tremaine on the future of KCLL.

Judge Yu’s remarks focused on the development of a Strategic Plan, a major effort to re-define and re-brand the library. The library remains passionate in its mission to support the pro se community, and KCLL aims to fashion itself as a hub of activity where patrons can find help using a myriad of resources. In order to succeed in this mission, the support of the law firm community is critical, and the library is reaching out to find ways to support us as well.

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Image from The Library of Congress (March 25, 1941)

by Kerry Fitz-Gerald

When people I meet first learn I’m a librarian, they often respond with “You’re so lucky, you must get to read all the time.” Depending on my mood, sometimes I’ll just quietly say “oh yes,” but other times I’ll point out that a) I work in a law library so I’m not exactly surrounded by scintillating material and b) there’s an awful lot to do in a library before I ever get to reading.

That said, a big part of our jobs as librarians is current awareness. Doing our jobs well means keeping up with new trends in both library science and the law. To that end, we all have those sources we regularly read to keep current.

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In the daily rush of responding to reference queries, it’s easy to forget about the greatness of libraries. Libraries are places that save people every day, people like Shon Hopwood, who went from robbing banks to representing a fellow inmate at the Supreme Court, after spending hours studying the law in his prison law library. Makes a LLOPS member feel proud to be donating books to our local public law libraries.

There’s a lot of movin’ and shakin’ going on at LLOPS these days. At our January Business Meeting, President Robyn Hagle officially unveiled LLOPS 2.0. In addition to our blog and website, we now have a group presence on LinkedIn and Facebook. Ever the chapter to be on the cutting (not bleeding) edge of technology, we are once again leading the way, along with other AALL chapters like NOCALL and SANDALL.

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by Kristine Lloyd

Happy New Year, LLOPS members! Are we all still nibbling on the remnants of holiday goodies? The office remains a wonderful dumping ground for all those chocolate-covered cherries and fruitcakes that you want to excorcise your home of, which, of course, makes New Year’s resolutions such a challenge. Speaking of New Year’s resolve, your own LLOPSCited Blog has made a few resolutions for 2010: 

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Please join us at the October LLOPS meeting where our presenters will discuss:

The Cancellation Conundrum

Moderator: Kara Phillips, Seattle University Law Library
Speakers:  Rita Dermody, King County Law Library; Karen Helde, Lane Powell

With budget reductions and pressure to cut costs, libraries are cancelling materials in all formats (online, print, audio-visual). Join us for a presentation by Rita Dermody, Collection Access Services Librarian at King County Law Library and Karen Helde, Director of Library and Research Services at Lane Powell on cancellations including how to select materials for cancellation, tips and procedures for dealing with vendors, and tracking budgetary impacts.

The program will be held on October 28th at Stokes Lawrence 800 Fifth Avenue – Suite 4000 from noon to 1pm.  We hope to see you there.

by Kristine Lloyd

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Charles Dickens

It’s budget time, and well, you have no money, or less money, or you’re just winging it, hoping that no one will notice you’re a penny over! By now, most of you have read this year’s AmLaw law library survey article, “No More Sacred Cows.” The big news: it’s not that bad. It’s tough to make a case for economic devastation, with numbers like these: 46% of respondents reported a decrease in their annual budgets, but 43% actually reported an increase in their budgets. The average reported library budget was down by only about 1.5%.

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