The O’Reilly Gov 2.0 technologies group is offering a free 2 hour conference on March 11 that may be of interest to some CS-SIS members.  The conference is called “Gov 2.0 International: Global Innovation Meeting Local Challenges – The O’Reilly Gov 2.0 Online Conference”. According to the conference blurb, “Gov 2.0 is a worldwide revolution—from the United States to Australia and everywhere in between. Members of government are interacting with citizens via social media and open data efforts are spreading from city to city. At this Gov 2.0 Online Conference, you’ll hear about open government efforts in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Israel. The speakers will share stories and lessons learned, and answer your questions. Learn about some of the Gov 2.0 best practices that have helped effect important change in other countries, and discuss effective ways to use specific tools and processes in other settings.”

The free 2 hour online conference will be held on Thursday March 11 at 9 am Pacific time, 11 Central, 12 Eastern. Information and registration links are at http://en.oreilly.com/gov2-international.

This Friday, February 19 at 3:00 pm Eastern, 2:00 PM Central, Richard Leiter and his gang  will discuss WestlawNext and other hot topics in the world of law libraries….  You can join the discussion  live at http://blogtalkradio.com/thelawlibrarian, where you can listen live, call in with questions or comments or join us in the chat room. If you miss the show, you can always download them as a podcast on iTunes. Join the show’s Facebook page here: http://tinyurl.com/nouem4.

Rich says that they will  also have some exciting news about the future of the podcast, and they  welcome  suggestions for topics to consider, or guests that you’d like them to interview.

The CS-SIS Awards Committee invites nominations for the Kenneth J. Hirsh Distinguished Service Award.

This award honors a CS-SIS member who has made outstanding contributions to the SIS, to AALL, and who is well regarded for his or her service to the
profession. The inaugural award recipient was Ken Hirsh, in whose honor the award is named.

Criteria:

* Outstanding leadership through committee work, service on the executive board, involvement in special projects or other activities

* Participation in professional development activities in furtherance of the section and its interests, including educational program planning and presentations

* Involvement with mentoring activities to foster interest and participation in the section and its activities

* Evidenced commitment to the section, its purpose, and its role within the association in furtherance of the law library profession

To be eligible for the award, a nominee must be an active or retired member of the section.

Section officers are not eligible for this award during their term of office.

Submission Procedure:

Nominations must include:

* A letter of nomination, including the candidate’s full name, title, and institution name and address. If the candidate is retired, include name, home address, and most recent former employer;

* A narrative supporting the nomination, to include a discussion of the candidate’s contributions to the section and to law librarianship; and

* The name, e-mail address, and phone number of the nominating party.

Nominations must be received electronically or in paper by April 16, 2010. Nominations should be submitted to:

Monica Sharum
CS-SIS Awards Committee Chair
University of the Pacific
McGeorge School of Law
3282 Fifth Ave.
Sacramento, CA 95817
msharum@pacific.edu

Interested in attending the AALL Annual Meeting, July 10-13, 2010 or one of the workshops affiliated with the conference in Denver, CO?  Consider applying for an AALL Grant to cover your registration costs. There are two categories – Experienced Members and Student/New Members. The deadline is April 1, 2010.
Please note that prior recipients may still apply as long as they have not received a grant within the past three years.
AALL Grants
Purpose:
The AALL Grants Program provides financial assistance to experienced law librarians who are actively involved in AALL or its chapters and to newer law librarians or graduate students who hold promise of future involvement in AALL and the law library profession. Funds are provided by AALL, AALL individual members, and vendors.
Grants cover registration costs at either the Annual Meeting or workshops associated with the Annual Meeting. Individuals eligible for the Experienced Member Grant are active members with five or more years of AALL or AALL chapter membership. Individuals eligible for the Student/New Member Grant are active members with less than five years of AALL or AALL chapter membership or student members of AALL or an AALL chapter.
Qualifications:
An applicant must meet all of the following criteria to be considered for the award:
*   be a member or student member of AALL or an AALL chapter;
*   not have received a grant in the past three years.; and
*   submit a timely and complete application.
*If circumstances prevent a recipient from using the grant, it reverts to the Committee; however, the recipient remains eligible to apply another year.

Instructions:
Submit one application package with the following items:
*   a complete, legible application form;
*   two letters of recommendation that comment on your potential to contribute to AALL and the field of law librarianship and address your need for the grant; and
*   a current resume is strongly suggested.
Note: Applications and letters of recommendation must be on 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper.
Deadline:
The complete application package must be received by April 1 at this address :
Grants Committee Chair
American Association of Law Libraries
105 W. Adams Street, Suite 3300
Chicago, Illinois 60603

Application for Experienced Members
http://www.aallnet.org/services/grant_application_experienced.pdf
Application for Student/New Members
http://www.aallnet.org/services/grant_application_new.pdf

Host Richard Leiter has announced that this week’s edition of Blog Talk Radio: The Law Librarian will be broadcast on Thursday, Feb. 4th at 11 am Eastern (10 am Central) time.  The discussion will focus on The Durham Statement on Open Access to Legal Scholarship (which will be one year old on Feb. 11, 2010) and will feature guests Dick Danner (Duke) and John Palfrey (Harvard), two of  the authors of the Durham Statement.
You can join the show live at at http://blogtalkradio.com/thelawlibrarian Thursday Feb. 4 . Note that it is on Thursday morning, not the usual Friday afternoon.