CS-SIS Blog

On Friday, September 14, there was a brief webinar giving tips for this program proposal cycle.  A summary of what was covered follows.

The AMPC is looking for dynamic programs designed with high-level content and practical takeaways.  The most important thing in the mind of the AMPC is that programs should cover material that attendees can apply to their jobs and help them solve problems back at their own libraries.

The speakers emphasized that when designing programs it is important to keep the audience engaged.  Toward this end, interactive programs are more what the AMPC wants to see rather than the typical lecture.  Breakout groups, interactive polling, and debate format were identified as good alternatives to the lecture format.  The AMPC wants the takeaways from a program to be observable and measurable.

Further information for proposing programs is available at http://www.aallnet.org/conference/education/future-meetings/program-proposers.aspx

The CS-SIS Executive Board recommends that CS member proposers should work with the CS-SIS Education Committee when designing a program.  The Education Committee can review your proposal and offer suggestions before submission and has a long history of submitting programs that have been accepted by the AMPC.

Legal publisher Fastcase, has published their list of rainmakers for 2012, dubbing them, “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries, and leaders.”  Included in the list are four CS-SIS members: Tom Boone, Jason Eiseman, Sabrina Pacifici, and Roger Skalbeck.

Tom Boone, a reference librarian at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, is described as “part librarian, part designer, part pop-culture tastemaker. He is the vanguard of a new generation of law librarians who aren’t afraid to get their hands on the code.”  Tom isn’t stingy with this knowledge. Aside from recreating CS-SIS’ web page, he regularly shows other librarians how to do just what he does, such as in the E-book creation presentation he gave at AALL 2012 with fellow award winner, Jason Eiseman.

Jason, Emerging Technology Librarian at Yale Law Library and the incoming chair of CS-SIS, is honored for, “think(ing) about what lies ahead and how we can use it intelligently to make our legal lives easier – then he teaches others.”  Besides being incredibly technically capable and willing to share what he has learned, he is also generous with his time and attention for librarians in need of mentorship.

Sabrini Pacifici is practically a household name where legal technology is concerned.  Her blog, beSpacific, and webpage LLRX, have been groundbreaking and award-winning since …well since blogs and web pages could break ground and win awards.  Daily, she continues to put in the time to create an invaluable resource for the rest of us.   

CS-SIS is accustomed to seeing Roger Skalbeck at the podium at AALL and other conferences.  We see his name on sessions like Battledecks, Guerrilla Usability Testing, and as the co-author of the annual review of law library web pages. Who can forget “girls under trees?”   He brings a light-hearted banter to all his projects which make learning so much more fun.  No doubt the students in his ‘Iron Tech Lawyer Competition’ felt the same.

It is not hard to see why CS-SIS members Tom Boone, Jason Eiseman, Sabrina Pacifici, and Roger Skalbeck have made the Fastcase 50 rolls for 2012. CS-SIS is lucky to have you on our list as well.

Deborah Ginsberg led a lively discussion about what librarians and ed tech people hope to accomplish by using technology and how they are accomplishing it.  Participants said they wish to engage law students, not entertain.  They hope to use technology to reach various types of learners.  One librarian said she creates online learning materials on LibGuides for students in multiple formats, so they can pick what works best for them.  Her formats include a Prezi overview, video, text, lecture, images and powerpoint. These teaching LibGuides stresssed 5 to 10 resources - very much stripped down from a regular LibGuide for research. This librarian acknowledged that she spent lots of time generating the multiple formats, but she built the materials over the years, so it was doable.

Another issue raised was technology as a distraction.  Many librarians teach in labs, or students have laptops.  Instructors wonder whether students are on Facebook, or are indeed paying attention to the class.   Several participants said you can monitor your students using a product call Insight,.  Insight allows you to see the students' computer screen and show the students' screens on a screen at the front of the classroom.  Another participant felt that using Insight as a way to expose students goofing off created an oppressive dynamic.  Instead, she uses Insight so students can volunteer to show their search screens when they have good results, or to get help from the teacher when a search did not work. Another idea to keep students off Facebook was to use computers for short, ungraded quizzes, which go into student participation scores.  

Along the self-assessment vein, it was pointed out that Walters Kluwers ebooks have self assessment tests.  They can be used to see if students need additional help.  Law School faculty are currently being pushed to do more assessment.  Thus, they have a motivation to adopt new technologies for assessment purposes, presenting an opportunity for librarians to step in and offer some possibilities. 

Technology for assessment or other purposes can be as low tech as a paper and pencil.  Scratch offs were brought up as one example of a powerful low tech tool.  The scratch off looks like a lottery scratch off ticket.  The students are divided into groups, which attempt to answer a question and scratch off the answer.  

Hand on activities were noted as an important way to use technology to engage students.   While legal research, writing and other skills classes lend themselves to hands on activities, it may take more creativity to use hands on activities in substantive law classes.

Participants discussed ways to inform faculty about new educational technology, such as brown bags and speaking at faculty meetings.  While attendance may be low at brown bags, the enthusiastic faculty who attend will pass the information on to colleagues.  One school awards faculty with certificates for learning new technologies and the Dean recognizes them at faculty meetings. 

One librarian said faculty attendance was very high for iPad training.  Someone suggested the Educreations App to show the iPad on a screen and use it like a whiteboard.  You can even use this app to save a video of the lecture.  Dosari is another product to facilitate iPads as wireless presenters. One law school is using their digital sign to show 5 minute presentations about apps that students can watch between classes.  On the downside, one librarian said that students don't want to spend money on iPads and there is a negative stigma attached to them by the students.  She advises telling students about apps usable on Androids and other platforms, as well as usable on iPads/iPhones.  

So, does educational technology help law students learn law?  The answer appears to be "maybe".  The only way to know for sure is to try it yourself or to collaborate with others and find out what worked for them. 

A few weeks ago I received an email message bearing the sad news that Liz Glankler, longtime member of the CS-SIS and a good friend, had died.  Liz, who was a librarian at St. Louis University School of Law, had been diagnosed with cancer a few years ago.

I met Liz in the mid-1990's, when she was at the University of Memphis School of Law Library. She was already an active member of the section.  Liz was instrumental in building the section's presence at CONELL and in the exhibit hall.  She would buy unusual swag - I think we called them tchotchkes - to give to new attendees.  These included toys and phone cards; the latter were popular giveaways before nearly everyone owned a smartphone.  Liz was willing to schlep the prizes from home to the annual meeting and back again.  Liz served several years as editor of the section newsletter, and served on the board as secretary and chair.

I remember dining with Liz at the Three Happiness Chinese restaurant in Chicago at the close of the 1995 CALI Conference.  Liz related stories about her sons that made it very clear how important they and the rest of her family were to her. As devoted as she was to our section, her family was the real light that shined in her eyes.

I was very honored that Liz was the next recipient of the "Ken" award from the section in 2006 - she was the second awardee, and I cannot imagine anyone else whom I would have rather seen selected.  She was a bright light in our profession, a great friend, and I will miss her tremendously.  I hope we can all raise a glass in her memory at the CS-SIS breakfast meeting in Boston.