Bloggers' Get Together

Thanks to Barbara Fullerton, who got us organized and found a spot (Gordon Biersch Brew Pub), around thirty of us got together for the second annual Bloggers' Get Together. With various beers, sodas, and other beverages before us, we had a chance to meet each other, share some experiences, and talk about this new medium we have either tried or would like to try.

A special guest was Ernie Svenson, the thoughtful and witty New Orleans lawyer who founded and writes Ernie the Attorney.

Blogs represented included:

• Blogs @ Widener Law Library (sorry, I missed the names of the authors who were there, one from Harrisburg and one from Delaware -- let me know and I can fill in)
• Law Professor Blogs (Joe Hodnicki and others)
• Biblioblawg and Novalawcity (Meg Kribble,
• Bloggy Notion (Julie Horst, UC Hastings)
• Lex Scripta (the Dallas Ass'n of Law Libraries' blog, by Barbara Fullerton and others)
• Library Boy (personal blog)(Michel-Adrien Sheppard, Supreme Court of Canada)
• Trial Ad Notes and AALL Second Line Blog (Mary Whisner, University of Washington)
• WisBlawg (Bonnie Shucha, University of Wisconsin)
• ZiefBrief (Lee Ryan and Amy Wright, University of San Francisco Law Library)

This group was just a fraction of law librarians who blog. Bonnie Shucha maintains a list of Law Library Blogs and Blogs by Law Librarians or Law Library Associations, now up to 117.

A few notes:

Karen Schneiderman (Drexel University School of Law) analogized legal blogs to something she witnessed as a child. She sometimes tagged along when he and other lawyers and judges in Akron got together, as they did every week, to have lunch at a round table and talk about their cases. Blogging can be a way to share information and ideas -- a new round table.

A few people from different remarked that they began their libraries' blogs because they were tired of formatting their print newsletters.

Lee Ryan added that she thought nobody was reading the newsletter. One test was that they started inserting the word "panda" in the middle of articles and no one noticed. Ernie Svenson had had a similar experience -- he and others put a lot of work into the firm's newsletter. And then at some point they discovered that the staff person who was supposed to mail it out hadn't done so. For two years. And no one had noticed.

Many people had found their audiences were different than originally expected. For instance, Lee and Amy at USF were writing for their own law school community but got hits from all over. They have also responded to search patterns: they'd had a few posts about how to survive the first year of law school that got lots of hits, so they intentionally created more content so those searchers would get a lot more when they reached the site.

People in our communities have different preferences about how they get information. Some like blogs, some would rather still see a print newsletter, some want email announcements, some only want to get information when they go out to search for it.

Many bloggers have found that blogging changes the way we read or take in information. It can help us focus. Several people said they blog partly to help themselves keep track of interesting material they have come across but would otherwise forget.

For more about law librarians and blogging, see Bonnie Shucha, The State of the Law Library Blogosphere, LLRX, Nov. 3, 2006 (winner of the ALL-SIS Outstanding Article award for 2007, by the way).

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Gadgethead Drama

This meeting has a lot of technological firsts for me:

1. This is my first annual meeting with a cell phone (I got a prepaid phone in January and just last week upgraded to a regular plan).
   
2. It's my first annual meeting with a laptop (I bought one in May).
3. And it's my first annual meeting in a hotel with high-speed Internet -- at least, I think it is, but I wouldn't have noticed because I didn't have a laptop (see #2).
   
4. And it's the first time I've written blog posts during an annual meeting -- made possible by #2 and #3, as well as a visit to the Internet room in the Activities Area.
5. It's also the first annual meeting when I lost my PDA.

What? Lost my PDA?

Yep, that's right. When I saw Jocelyn before a program, I reached for it to check for when I was going to a reception so we could set up a time to meet for dinner. Uh-oh! It wasn't there!! I double-checked all my pockets -- jacket, bag, jacket, bag, pants. Not there, not there, not there.

OK, think, think, think ... where did I last see it? At lunch with James? Yes, I think so. OK, go back to the Riverside Internet Cafe in the Riverwalk. Too bad the staff person hadn't noticed it. I left her my name and cell number (see #1), just in case.

Now what? Maybe I didn't really have it at lunch -- maybe I last saw it when I was at the Legal Research Instruction Roundtable. OK, go back to the Hilton. The room was being set up for something else. The man arranging the tables said I should look for someone in Security. I did, and she got on her walkie-talkie to the office. No Palm had been turned in, but she took my name and number (see #1). You never know.

OK, back to the Convention Center. No one had turned it in to Hospitality or Registration. I left a pathetic sign on the message board, then went upstairs to catch the end of the program I'd started to go to. Finally, I went to the AALL staff office. Nope, no one had turned in a PDA. Someone there also took my name and number (see #1).

I really was doing a pretty good job keeping a grip on my emotions. This was just a physical object. I was fine, my loved ones were fine, no one was in danger. Everything was backed up on my laptop (#2), as well as my work PC and our home PC. It would be disappointing if I never found it, but life goes on.

And then Mary said I should check my bag one more time. I humored her and took out every scrap -- the bag of nuts (in case I get hungry), the napkins (in case I spill), the biography of Sandra Day O'Connor (because I so enjoyed Joan Biscupic's talk), the umbrella (wasn't that an amazing rain storm?), the baseball hat (in case it rains enough to want to keep the rain off my glasses but not enough to bother with the umbrella), the final program (to keep track of what's happening where and when), the squeezeball I'd picked up in the Exhibit Hall. Not there... Oh! Look! It was there! Right at the bottom of everything! Wow. Good news. And wasn't it great that I got in that nice brisk walk from the Convention Center to the Hilton and back? And I can share my dramatic adventure in blog post (see #4).

Gadgets help us (setting up my lunch date with James was much easier than in past years when we just exchanged notes on the message board!), but they also present new challenges -- like keeping track of them!

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Mentoring Program

The Mentoring Program is working!

This afternoon, I had nice conversations with new law librarians (one is finishing up her MLIS in December; the other just graduated and starts work at the end of the summer), each walking with her mentor.

I wouldn't have met Jennifer outside the Hilton if she hadn't been with Blair, and I wouldn't have met Alison in the Riverwalk if she hadn't been with Simon. but clearly each newcomer to the profession was getting to know a more senior law librarian and, along the way, getting to meet whoever they ran into. We are such a networky lot that meeting people here and there, in hallways and food courts, is a wonderful introduction to the profession.

Thanks to everyone who is serving as a mentor. To all of you newer law librarians, welcome to the profession, and enjoy the annual meeting!

And now, I've got a reunion to go to, speaking of networking! I'm looking forward to it!

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Posting to the Blog

If you want to post to the blog during the conference, please email me (vicenc.feliu@law.lsu.edu) by COB on Thursday, 12 July, and I will send you an invite.

Thanks;

Vicenç

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New and Improved LAC!!!

We finally have a picture with everyone in it, well almost...

Isn't Photoshop the greatest???

Front row: Michael Whipple, Charlene Cain, Miriam Childs, Etheldra Scoggin, Carol Billings


Middle row: Francis Xavier Norton, Mary Johns, Georgia Chadwick, Jennifer Dabbs, Cathy Wagar, Cynthia Hill-Jones, Ajaye Bloomstone


Back row: Brian Huddleston, Vicenç Feliú, Joachim Bermudez, Amy Hale-Janeke, Blythe McCoy, Liz Schafer

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Reminder for Volunteers

There's still time to send in a volunteer form for the AALL Annual Meeting in New Orleans if you haven't yet done so. The Annual Meeting needs volunteers to help everything run smoothly, so please consider donating your time if you can. You may access the volunteer form on the AALL website at http://www.aallnet.org/events/07_volunteers.asp or on the Local Advisory Committee website at http://www.lb5.uscourts.gov/AALL/volunteerform.html. All forms must be sent by email, fax, or U.S. Mail by June 8 to:

Miriam Childs,Volunteer Chair
Law Library of Louisiana
Louisiana Supreme Court
400 Royal St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
Phone: 504-310-2403
Fax: 504-310-2419
email: mchilds@lasc.org

Many, many thanks for your help!

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New Orleans AALL Convention Newspaper, The Second Line, Deadlines

The Second Line, the AALL Convention Newspaper, will be published this year on Saturday through Tuesday (July 14-17) during the conference. Deadlines for submitting an article for consideration for publication in a particular issue are:

Saturday, July 14th issue deadline: Thursday, June 15 (that's right, June 15)
Sunday, July 15th issue deadline: 1:30 p.m. Saturday, July 14
Monday, July 16th issue deadline: 1:30 p.m. Sunday, July 15
Tuesday, July 17th issue deadline: 1:30 p.m. Monday, July 16

How do you submit an article, news, program/event review, photograph, etc.? A number of ways, including:

1. Send an electronic copy (Word or WordPerfect preferred for text; jpg preferred for photographs) through e-mail to the editor: mary.johns@law.lsu.edu

2. Bring your electronic copy to The Second Line newspaper office in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center (room location details coming soon)

Note: You can also post your articles here on the AALL Second Line Blog.

To post on the blog, request a blogger invitation by e-mail from: Vicenç Feliú at vicenc.feliu@law.lsu.edu and agree to the blogger guidelines, which will be sent to you in a separate e-mail.

If you want your blog submission considered for publication in the newspaper, please send it to Mary Johns at mary.johns@law.lsu.edu as well, by the posted deadlines above. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you very much!

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Legislative Advocacy Training in New Orleans

Please join the Washington Affairs Office and the Government Relations Committee on Saturday, July 14, 2007 in New Orleans to learn how to become an effective advocate for libraries and librarianship. Advocacy is one of the three pillars of the AALL Strategic Directions, and this is the year to learn how to become an effective advocate. There are so many great things about this training we can’t list them all!

*Learn excellent communications skills...
*Get energized by the Washington Affairs Office contagious enthusiasm for information policy
*Meet smart and interesting colleagues
*Create a better world
*Use these skills on your stake holders, your boss and your colleagues to ask for what you really want!

There is no cost for this important training session, but please register by June 15 by contacting Elizabeth LeDoux, ebl22@law.georgetown.com. Space is limited, so register today! We have two exciting sessions, a morning session, from 8:30 to Noon, and an afternoon session for NEWER LAW LIBRARIANS (5 years or less in law librarianship), from 2:00 – 4:30.

All politics are local, and this is a great opportunity to learn more about AALL’s legislative agenda and how YOU can help us promote our positions in crucial policy and legislative matters. It is also a great opportunity to network with other librarians, learn effective advocacy skills and make a real impact on the future of our profession.

Join us in July for a day that will change your life!

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“AALL Afternoon at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas”

Please join us on Saturday, 14 July, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm for the “AALL Afternoon at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas”. AALL members and their children will be hosted on a self-guided tour of the amazing creatures at this facility. Come see the new animal collection, along with old favorites like the sea otters - Buck and Emma. The penguin colony at the Aquarium features African black-footed penguins and Rockhopper penguins. They are looking forward to seeing YOU!

Due to staffing and operation limitation at the Aquarium following Hurricane Katrina, the time for our family adventure...
will go from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Please walk with your families over to the front of the Aquarium. So that we may start our adventure on time, please plan to arrive no later than 1:45 p.m. The Aquarium is located at 1 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA 70130. Look for AALL members carrying posters saying “AALL Families”.

Should you want further information on the location or details about the Aquarium and its exhibits, please go to their website.

http://www.auduboninstitute.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Facility_Aquarium

To join us for this event, just complete the attached form and return no later than June 1, 2007. We look forward to hosting everyone for a fun and educational “AALL Afternoon at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas”!

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Thanks, and getting good to go!

Just a post to shout out 'mil gracias' to Vicenc for getting this blog started. That's a nice set of photos you've posted up here, V, and I'm sure that we'll have plenty more to add by the time this summer's meeting has come and gone. I, for one, am looking forward a nuestro reunion!


dkp

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