CS-SIS

What data should federal agencies publish?

Susanna Leers — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:17:07 +0000

Emily Feldman, AALL Advocacy Communications Assistant who is working with the White House’s Open Government working group, is asking AALL members to contact her with specific types of information and datasets that you’d like to see Federal government agencies publish. The working group is also very interested in any cross-agency datasets you’d like to see added to Data.gov (e.g., crime data from DOJ/DHS, health data from EPA/HHS).
Some of the suggestions received so far include:

All historic content that agencies have digitized (presuming that agencies followed the Paperwork Reduction Act and didn’t make exclusive deals)
All the legislative histories that have been digitized by the Department of Justice Library
Dataset on “charges of discrimination” filed from the EEOC

Are there other information holdings or datasets that you’d like to see added? Please email Emily (efeldman@aall.org) the title and name of the publishing agency by close of business today, Wednesday, March 17.

Law Librarian of Congress on next Law Librarian Conversations

Susanna Leers — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:41:18 +0000

On Friday March 19th at 3 pm Eastern (2 pm Central, 1 pm Mountain, noon Pacific) time Law Librarian Conversations will be hosting a conversation with Roberta Shaffer, Law Librarian of Congress. You need to register here to reserve your virtual seat at the live broadcast.
If you haven’t heard the latest episode, you can find it archived on the Law Librarian Conversations blog and on iTunes as a podcast.
Jason Eiseman’s Google Wave demo, showing the teaching and collaboration potential of Google Wave for law schools is also available.

AALL Annual Meeting Review

Susanna Leers — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:14:17 +0000

AALL is asking for feedback on specific issues related to the AALL annual meeting. The AALL Annual Meeting Review Special Committee is taking a comprehensive look at the AALL Annual Meeting and is soliciting comments from AALL members on an online form that it has developed. The committee values everyone’s viewpoints and needs input as it works to develop recommendations for Annual Meeting. The comment form will be available through Weds. March 17.

Comments due for AALL Draft Strategic Directions

Susanna Leers — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:07:30 +0000

If you have any comments for AALL’s “Draft Strategic Directions,” the deadline is today, March 5. The draft is available at: http://www.aallnet.org/strategic/draft_strategic_direction-2010-2013.pdf .
Submit your suggestions to the Comments page: http://www.aallnet.org/strategic/comments2010-2013.asp or to any member of the Executive Board. You may submit comments as an individual member or as a member of a special interest section, committee, caucus or chapter. Multiple submissions are welcome.

Law Lib Radio moves to CALI

Susanna Leers — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:35:00 +0000

Richard Leiter, host of “The Law Librarian” on BlogTalkRadio, recently announced that the radio show has changed its name to “Law Librarian Conversations” and will be hosted by CALI from now on. The show will continue to provide stimulating conversation and discussion of key issues facing law librarians and the world of legal bibliography.
This Friday, March 5, the inaugural episode of “Law Librarian Conversations” will be broadcast on CALI’s classcaster at http://lawlibcon.classcaster.net. As always, listeners have the opportunity to listen live and participate in the discussion in the live chat room; past episodes will be available on iTunes. Guests include Margie Maes who will be sharing developments in the world of preservation. You can register online and automatically add a reminder to your calendar by clicking here.

Gov 2.0 International O’Reilly Online Conference

Susanna Leers — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:08:47 +0000

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.

Friday: New Episode of The Law Librarian on blogtalk radio

Susanna Leers — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:50:01 +0000

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.

Call for Nominations: Kenneth J. Hirsh Distinguished Service Award

jeiseman — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:53:15 +0000

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

AALL Grants to attend annual meeting or workshops

Susanna Leers — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:00:15 +0000

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

Durham Statement to be topic of this week’s Law Librarian Radio

Susanna Leers — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:52:03 +0000

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.