Attendees: Mort Brinchmann (President), Crystal Norton ((Vice-President/President Elect), Judy Davis (Secretary), Christy Leith (Treasurer), and, remotely via phone, Robyn Hagle (Past President)
Location: Riddell Williams, Seattle, WA
Time: The meeting was called order by President Mort Brinchmann on August 25, 2010 at 11 a.m.
- Committee Budgets:
President Mort Brinchmann reviewed amounts budgeted to various committees. As in the past the amounts serve as guidelines for the following committees. The following amounts were approved by the Board:
- Program committee: $500.00
- Social committee: $500.00
- Grants committee: $1500.00
- Professional development committee: $3000.00 Continue reading 'LLOPS Executive Board Meeting Minutes 8/25/2010'»
by Philippe Cloutier
When we hear that an organization has gone paperless (or is considering it), we often think of cancelled book, newspaper, magazine, and other print subscriptions. More often though, it means an end to paper records, constant printouts and a focus on improved electronic archiving, storage, and access. More importantly, the move to a paper-free existence is a commitment to a new way of life.
It takes more than a fancy statement and the voicing of environmental concerns to enact change in institutions and individuals. A friend of mine works at a bankruptcy trustee office in Nevada, and their organization is mostly paperless. The paper records they generate are mainly for the court and case files. Typically, one case file is not very large and fits within a manila folder. Print also become necessary when attorneys review documents, making mark-ups and notes. In general, work is done digitally and stays digital.
Continue reading 'Truly Paperless'»
by Philippe Cloutier
The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) database offers a range of lessons catering to law students’ learning needs. As a librarian resource, CALI is considered a good method for getting us up to speed on a new practice group, legal field or concept, etc. And with AALL membership you receive free access to CALI lessons. It’s a powerful resource that is regularly updated and simple to use.
CALI deserves even greater consideration as a go-to tool for planning instruction sessions in your own library. CALI can supplement your planned session topic and offer further knowledge to ensure that you are covering areas pertinent to your topic. It can also function as a launching pad for finding a topic and developing new sessions. Furthermore, each lesson contains a “teacher’s guide,” breaking down the lesson and its questions and answers. A Virgil in your pocket so to speak. Continue reading 'Teaching Toolbox: CALI'»
by Kerry Fitz-Gerald
A recent article, “Google Scholar’s Dramatic Coverage Improvement Five Years After Debut,” by Xiaotian Chen in Serials Review reports on the results of an empirical study comparing Google Scholar’s coverage of scholarly journals with the coverage of commercial services. Though I don’t agree with Chen’s conclusion that the dramatic improvements in Google Scholar’s coverage means libraries can drop subscriptions to commercial database providers, I do think that his work emphasizes how valuable Google Scholar can be as a cost-effective research tool.
In short, Chen explored how well Google Scholar performed at retrieving scholarly journal article records. He first identified 8 commercial databases that Google Scholar partners with and then chose 400 articles at random that appeared in those databases. He then checked to see what percentage of those articles Google Scholar could find. His findings indicated that Scholar has a 98 to 100% success rate. He concludes that “Google Scholar is able to retrieve all scholarly publications from databases and Web sites that are open to Google Scholar.” (p. 226) Continue reading 'Google Scholar as an Alternative to Scholarly Databases'»
There’s a new kid on the public records research block, although on closer examination, it’s actually a familiar face. TLO was founded by Hank Asher, the man behind Accurint and AutoTrack. Another founder is John Walsh, who you might recognize as the Host of America’s Most Wanted. Their pricing is reminiscent of Accurint in the early days. The style and tone of their website may work against them in the law firm and law librarian community, but some competition in this arena is always welcome.
The current economic downturn is challenging law firms in unprecedented ways, and knowledge management (KM) is being implemented at firms to provide a competitive advantage. Join KM experts Julie Bozzell and Toby Brown for the February 17 webinar, Moving Beyond the Library Walls to Support Strategic Knowledge Management, from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. Central Time, and hear how KM is being applied to support the practice and business of law. Learn about the role law librarians can play to support strategic KM and contribute to a leaner and more strategic model of law firm practice.
Webinar objectives:
• define knowledge management
• describe how KM solves law firm challenges
• examine ideas to leverage expertise to support strategic KM to solve challenges
• discuss specific law librarian-led KM projects
Register by February 10.
Yes, for all you librarian parents out there who want your children to follow in your footsteps, here is the library equivalent of the Playskool kitchen, the Little Librarian Kit. That’s right, these labels, book pockets and check out cards should keep your kid busy for hours while you catch up on your online shopping. Fellow nerds, let’s start ’em young.
by Karen Helde
Every library-oriented conference I’ve attended seems to include a session with a title that’s some variation on “Dealing with Difficult People.” Although I know it’s because the topic is always relevant, part of me wonders . . . are we not quite getting the hang of it? The sessions are often good, but I tend to leave feeling that to put the suggestions into practice I’ll need either (1) a PhD in psychology or (2) a laminated flow chart which the “difficult person” and I will work through together, step by step.
That’s why I liked this article which was recently referenced by a LinkedIn contact. Entitled “Empathic attitude can score points with customers,” it outlines a simple, three-step approach for dealing with a potentially negative client interaction. The article is almost a decade old, but this stuff doesn’t change much, right? Continue reading 'VIP Treatment'»
by Kristine Lloyd
Even though it’s a little like taking exams after the holidays, I must admit that I like the January start dates for our new associates. It makes the long, resolute month a bit more ceremonious. It’s like a houseful of new guests to whom you get to show your wares and tell your stories.
As part of our first-year associate orientation, I teach Cost-Effective Strategies for Using Lexis and Westlaw. While I have met many a rep who can conduct a mean training class, we decided a couple of years ago that it might be an interesting experiment to teach our own cost-effective research class. After smoothing out the process in Seattle, we were able to offer the training firmwide this year, with local librarians available to answer follow-up questions. I thought I’d mention a few of the reasons why I enjoy teaching this class and why you might consider incorporating such a class into your first-year orientation program. Continue reading 'Taking the Reins: Teaching Lexis and Westlaw the Librarian Way'»
by Lori Fossum
The Washington House Judiciary Committee considered HB 1479, Revising the publication requirements of the statute law committee, at its public hearing this morning. Several librarians attended the hearing and reported that nothing unexpected occurred. The Code Reviser spoke in support of the bill and answered only a few questions from the committee members; no one spoke in opposition. HB 1479 is still on the Committee’s Executive agenda for 2/3/11.
TVW provided a live webcast. The video and audio are now available in the TVW archives. Please click here to watch video or paste this url into your browser address bar: http://www.tvw.org/media/mediaplayer.cfm?EvId=2011021026
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