In-Site TECHNOLOGY IN THE LAW LIBRARY

Transcription

1 In-Site New Jersey Law Librarians Association A Chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries Volume No. 1, Issue No. 4 Summer 2003 TECHNOLOGY IN THE LAW LIBRARY Is tec hnolog y in la w lib ra ries changing us a nd wha t we do? Yes, of c ourse. There c an b e no d oubt that the end less evolution of tec hnology in our libra ries c ontinues to impac t all of us eac h d ay. This p henom enon w ill likely never end. As tec hnological a dva nc es in researc h a nd information c ontent continues to evolve, so will our profession. Is tec hnology a?friend? or a?foe? to the la w librarian? Most likely, it depends on the circ umstance. There is no d isp ute tha t tec hnology adva nc es have expand ed a c c ess to the libra ry?s resourc es to inc lud e vast a mounts of sourc es tha t our print libraries c ould not ha ve contained and, thereby, benefit our libraries? patrons. However, for many of us, it a lso resulted in the downsizing of our p rint c ollec tions and the physic al sp ac e that our libraries onc e enc omp assed. It?s a paradox --- provide more inform ation, but with less resources. Tec hnolog y is a?friend? w hen it provid es instant a c c ess to urgently need ed informa tion, a nd when it works! It is a?friend? w hen it exp a nd s our libraries? inform ation resourc es beyond the b ound a ries of four wa lls. It ena bles us to a ssist our patrons with grea ter amounts of information than they might otherwise ha ve ha d ac c ess to. Tec hnology a lso makes it easier for our p atrons to reac h out to us and for us to reach out to them. Tec hnolog y is a?foe? w hen it d oesn?t work or results in the perception by our patrons that libraries a nd libraria ns a re not needed. The rea lity is tha t tec hnolog y advances in law libraries are requiring our skills m ore tha n ever before. For exa mple, not only d o

2 2 ma ny of us p erform c omp uterassisted resea rc h a s a d a ily routine but ma ny of us maintain online c ard c atalogs, firm web sites, library intranets and porta ls, e-books, a nd other va rious library tec h p rod uc ts. We also support our patrons with training and ed uc ation on these prod uc ts. We c ommunic ate with p a trons elec tronic ally, often accepting researc h requests and p roviding results via electronic devices such as and fax. As a result, we are busier than ever. The impac t of tec hnological adva nc es in our libraries has been swift and a t times staggering, but we have already proven tha t we a re up to the challenge EXECUTIVE BOARD PRESIDENT Stephanie Fox Pierson Thomas West Librarian Relations Phone: stephanie.pierson@thomson.com VICE-PRESIDENT/PRESIDENT-ELECT Beth Petruska Lowenstein Sandler PC Phone: ext bpetruska@lowensteinc.om PAST PRESIDENT Emma J. Williams New Jersey Boa rd of Public Utilities Phone: williamse@bpu.state.nj.us TREASURER Johanna Icasiano Seton Hall Law Library Phone: E-Ma il: ic a siajo@shu.ed u CAN'T FIND A SERIAL? LOOK TO YOUR COLLEAGUES FOR HELP! Compiled b y the NJLLA Union List Committee, the NJLLA Union List, 2001 ed ition, p rovid es, in one convenient loc a tion, a list of the legal and non-lega l serials maintained b y p a rticipating member libra ries. It is available in both print a nd elec tronic forma ts. To subsc ribe, please c ontac t the Union List Com m ittee Cha ir, Julie L. von Shra d er, Pitney Ha rd in Kip p & Szuc h a t o r jvonschrader@pitneyhardin.c om. To a c c ess the w eb version of the Union List, g o to SECRETARY Caren Bib erman McCarter & English Phone: ext c biberman@mc c arter.c om

3 3 MEMBER-AT-LARGE Mary Ellen Kaas McElroy Deutsch & Mulvaney, LLP Phone: m kaas@mdmlaw.com MEMBER-AT-LARGE Susa n Lyons Rutgers Law Library Phone: E-Ma il: slyons@kinoy.rutg ers.ed u STANDING COMMITTEE CHAIRS ARCHIVE Susana Camargo-Pohl Phone: sc a m a rg o-p ohl@kinoy.rutgers.edu BYLAWS Beth Petruska Phone: b p etruska@low enstein.com GOVERNMENT & LEGAL AFFAIRS Paul Axel-Lute Phone: a xellute@a nd romeda.rutgers.edu GRANTS & AWARDS Mary Ellen Kaas Phone: mkaas@mdm law.com GUIDELINES Leigh DeProspo Phone: ldeprospo@greenbaumlaw.c o m MEMBERSHIP Johanna N. Ic asiano Phone: ica siajo@shu.ed u NJLLA In-Site is published four times per yea r (Fall, Winter, Spring a nd Summer) by the New Jersey La w Libraria ns Associa tion, a chapter of the America n Association of Law Libraries. It is sent to members as a benefit of membership. Opinions of contributors a re not necessa rily the opinions of the newsletter sta ff or the New Jersey Law Librarians Association. Contributions to NJLLA In-Site a re welcome. Plea se direct questions, a rticles or other items of interest to Scott L. Fisher, Wilentz Goldma n & Spitzer, 90 Woodbridge Center Drive, Woodbridge, NJ 07095, , (fa x) , (e-ma il) sfisher@wilentz.com. Contributions submitted for publica tion are subject to editoria l review. Plea se submit copy in Word, WordPerfect for Windows or ASCII forma t. Submissions will be a ccepted on disk or via . CALENDAR OF EVENTS Submitted by the Program Committee To be announced. NEWSLETTER

4 EDITOR?S CORNER Scott L. Fisher 4 Scott L. Fisher Phone: sfisher@wilentz.c om NOMINATING Dorothy Cordo Phone: dorothy_cordo@ca3.uscourts.gov OUTREACH EDUCATION Beth Petruska Phone: bpetruska@lowenstein.com PLACEMENT Daniel Campbell Phone: d a niel_campb ell@ca2.uscourts.gov PROGRAM Karen B. Brunner (Co-Chair) Phone: kbrunner@riker.com Beth Petruska (Co-Chair) Phone: ext bpetruska@lowenstein.com PUBLIC RELATIONS Johanna N. Ic asiano Phone: ica siajo@shu.ed u TECHNOLOGY Daniel R. Campb ell Phone: d a niel_campb ell@ca2.uscourts.gov UNION LIST Julie von Schrader Phone: jvonschrader@phks.com The them e for this issue of the newsletter is?tec hnolog y in the La w Lib ra ry.? This is such a n expansive top ic, a nd there is so muc h tha t c an and should be addressed, that this will be a topic that the newsletter will revisit from tim e to tim e. With this issue, the Newsletter Committee has tried to cover the highlig hts w ith a rtic les and spec ial c olumns. It is our hop e tha t you w ill find the inform ation p rovided interesting and useful. I w ould a lso like to ta ke this opportunity to c om m end the m em b ers of the Newsletter Com m ittee a nd thank them for all the efforts they made in revamping the new sletter into its new format. Their ongoing help and support is evident by the positive resp onse from the membership to the new newsletter. I w ould a lso like to tha nk the many members who have a g reed to w rite for the newsletter d uring the p a st yea r. Artic les written for our m em b ers, by our members, provid e a unique p erspec tive to what is contained in In-Site. I hope this trend will c ontinue. Finally, I want to welc ome the m em b ers of the Newsletter Com m ittee. Several memb ers from the previous yea r ha ve elec ted to sta y on the committee, I a m ha ppy to report, and a few new members ha ve joined us. The enthusia sm of this c ommittee is already a pparent. I expec t that we will be bringing you a series of w orthwhile a nd tim ely issues of NJLLA In-Site in the future.

5 5 SPOTLIGHT ON?THE EXECUTIVE BOARD Compiled by Johanna Icasiano PRESIDENT Stephanie Fox Pierson, Esq. rec eived her J.D. from Rutgers-Camden Sc hool of La w in She wa s a medic al ma lprac tic e attorney for almost 7 years prior to entering the la w libraria n profession. Before joining West, Stephanie was a Regional Ma nager of Legal Information Resourc es for the Newark, NJ offic e of LeBoeuf, La mb, Greene & Mac Rae. She tea c hes "Medic al Ma lprac tic e La w" and "Disc overy & Depositions in Civil Litiga tion" a t Seton Ha ll Law Sc hool and c urrently is the Presid ent of the NJ La w Librarians Assoc iation. Step hanie ha s pub lished several a rtic les that have a ppeared in NJLLA In-Site, PLL Perspec tives, Legal Informa tion Alert and the NJ Law Journa l. She is a frequent spea ker on law librarian and med ic al ma lpra c tic e issues. Most rec ently she ta ught administrative law as a fa c ulty member for NJLLA's "Bridge the Gap" program and was a presenter at the ATLA-NJ Boardwalk Seminar where she discussed tips and techniques for performing medical research on the internet. VICE-PRESIDENT / PRESIDENT-ELECT Beth Petruska has b een the Direc tor of Library Servic es at the Rosela nd firm of Lowenstein Sand ler PC sinc e Beth has been ac tively involved in NJLLA sinc e She has served a s Treasurer from a nd a ga in from In a d dition, she ha s served on va rious Assoc iation c ommittees, inc luding Gra nts & Awards, Membership, Nominating and OutRea c h Ed uc a tion. Most rec ently, she had the opportunity to c o-c ha ir the Program Committee. Beth rec eived a B.A. from Widener University in 1992 and antic ipates c ompleting a Masters of Library and Information Sciences degree in the next few years. PAST PRESIDENT Emma J. Williams ha s worked a t the Boa rd of Public Utilities (BPU) in various c apac ities dealing with p ublic utility law for 26 yea rs. Emma ma na ges the law library, and provid es the sta ff attorneys with c ase, sta tute, a nd regula tory resea rc h. Emma a lso teac hes la w c lerks a nd c ollege interns who have d ec id ed to pursue public utility law. Over the yea rs, and most invaluable, Emma relishes her work b ehind the sc enes as lega l support staff. Coupled with 26 yea rs, she has a B.A. in Public Ad ministra tion from the Kea n College of New Jersey (la ter renamed Kean University), a nd further MLS studies from the Rutgers Sc hool of Communic ation, Informa tion a nd Libra ry Studies. While c omprised of a myriad of law libraries, her affiliation with NJLLA helped tremend ously towa rd Emma?s suc c ess in reva mping the BPU La w Libra ry from its la rge number of print volumes to the use of tec hnology media, inc luding Westlaw and Lexis. A member sinc e 1994, Emma c red its the leaders of NJLLA, its professiona l outrea c h, a nd AALL a ffiliated progra ms for memb ers. More rec ently, however,

6 6 as NJLLA Presid ent she c redits a list of ac c omplishments to the arduous work of NJLLA committees. TREASURER Johanna Icasiano, formerly known a s Joha nna Nola n, is emp loyed a t Seton Hall Law Library in Newark, NJ. She catalogues all kinds of materials for the library, as well as performs the updates and bac kups for the library?s Innovative Interfac es automation system. Joha nna ea rned her MLS from Rutgers University in Ja nua ry Prior to her position at Seton Ha ll, Johanna spent all of her p rofessional life in public libra ries, working prima rily in a ll a sp ec ts of Children?s Servic es. She ma d e a professional c hange into ac a d emic libra rianship a nd a c c ep ted her c urrent p osition at Seton Ha ll Law in February Six months la ter she bega n the evening JD program a t Seton Hall La w Sc hool. She will gra duate in Soon after joining Seton Ha ll Johanna bec ame ac tively involved with NJLLA. She began as a member of the Membership Committee, taking over as Chair in May She then took on the position of Pub lic Rela tions Chair in Ma y 2002, and bec ame a n a c tive memb er on the Tec hnology Committee and Newsletter Committee at the sa me time. She attend ed the 2002 AALL Annual Conferenc e in Orlando, FL. There she met with her c ataloging mentor a nd bec a me more familia r with the parent organiza tion. Johanna looks forward to serving on the Executive Board and handling the finances of the organization. SECRETARY Caren Biberman bec ame the Direc tor of Libra ry Servic es at Mc Carter & English, LLP in July Prior to tha t Caren was Administrative Law Libra rian at AT&T where she worked for almost 9 yea rs overseeing the law library for the AT&T La w & Government Affa irs Division. Before bec oming a la w libra ria n Ca ren pra c tic ed law in Florid a c onc entra ting on the area s of taxa tion, esta te pla nning and benefits law. Ca ren ha s a n MLS from Rutgers University, a n LLM in Ta xa tion from the University of Miami La w Sc hool, a JD from Brooklyn La w Sc hool and a BA from Hofstra University. Caren served on the NJLLA membership c ommittee for the year and is a member of AALL. MEMBER-AT-LARGE Mary Ellen Kaas is the Direc tor of Library Servic es a t Mc Elroy, Deutsc h & Mulva ney in Morristown, NJ. Prior to joining Mc Elroy, she was Referenc e Libraria n and Library Direc tor a t Mc Carter and English in Newa rk for a tota l of sixteen years. She ea rned her BA in Frenc h from Montc lair State College and her MLS from Rutgers University. Ma ry Ellen ha s been an a c tive member of NJLLA sinc e 1986, serving on the Exec utive Boa rd as Sec retary a nd a s Member-At-Large, ac ting as NJLLA registered agent, c hairing va rious c ommittees inc lud ing Arc hives, Gra nts & Awa rd s, Membership, Nominating, and Public Relations, a nd partic ipating in these and other c ommittees. She has taught segments of the NJLLA Bridge the Gap and Basic Legal Researc h c ourses, a nd served on the

7 7 West Group Advisory Board from She is also a member of AALL a nd LLAGNY. Mary Ellen looks forward to working with the other members of the board this year to advance the goals of the association. MEMBER-AT-LARGE Susan Lyons is a referenc e librarian a nd hea d of the government d oc uments d epartment at the libra ry of Rutgers La w Sc hool in Newa rk. Sue rec eived her M.L.S. d egree from Queens College of the City University of New York a nd is c urrently enrolled in the JD progra m at Rutgers Law Sc hool. She is a n a djunct instruc tor at New York University where she teac hes a c ourse on Internet Legal Researc h for the NYU paralega l p rogram. She is a member of the Americ an Association of Law Libraries, the New Jersey Law Libraria ns Assoc iation, the Americ an Libra ry Assoc iation a nd the Documents Assoc iation of New Jersey. She served as President of the Documents Association of New Jersey in 2002 and is c urrently the c hair of the Government Documents SIS of AALL. Before c oming to Rutg ers, Sue served a s a referenc e libraria n a t the lib ra ry of the New York County Lawyers Association.

8 8 FROM THE PRESIDENT Stephanie Fox Pierson Well, it's that time of year a gain - the lull between the summer assoc ia tes, c lerks and interns pac king up a nd hea ding bac k to sc hool a nd the new fall rec ruits flooding the libra ry with their multitud e of resea rc h requests. It is that sort of limbo period when you are trying to c a tc h your breath from the whirlwind weeks before and, a t the sa me time, getting prepared for the long, hard work a hea d. August is a month tha t epitomizes the phrase "out with the old a nd in with the new". Thus, August is the perfec t month for an issue of NJLLA In-Site foc using on technology. Whenever libra rians disc uss tec hnology, a nd its impac t on their c hosen profession, the c onversation inevitably c omes a round to tha t timeless d ebate of print public ation versus elec tronic resourc es or, in other word s, old versus new. Is it better to throw awa y the books a nd buy shiny new c omputers or have the print ma terials earned their rightful plac e on our libra ry shelves? Is the internet the "be all and end a ll" of mod ern lega l (and non-lega l) researc h or is there still something left to be lea rned from hard c over reporters and paperbac k sec ond ary sourc es? Is tec hnology forever c ha nging the roles a nd responsibilities of the lib raria ns within the legal community? This issue of In- Site will address the c omp lic ated issues surrounding the use of tec hnology in today's la w library from both sides of the fence. I hop e you've all had a relaxing a nd enjoyable summer! I'm looking forward to all that NJLLA has in store for the m em b ership d uring It should be a very exc iting year! So, sit bac k, put your feet up a nd rea d this issue of In-Site from c over to c over before those new attorneys c ome knoc king at your door. TTFN! TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENTS & LAW LIBRARIANS: ARE WE COMMUNICATING? [Editor?s Note: The problems of la w lib raria ns working with their tec hnology d epartments has b een an ongoing d ilemma for yea rs. The Newsletter Committee rec ently a sked the memb ership about their experienc es in working with their tec hnology departments. Generally, the d iffic ulties seemed to have imp roved to some d egree. The b iggest frustration c ontinues to be the tec hnology department staff?s la c k of understa nd ing of the libraria ns? need s

9 9 with regard s to elec tronic resea rc h prod uc ts a nd spec ial lib ra ry progra ms. Following are excerpts from the responses that were sent in.] Working with my tec hnology d epartment is a mixed bag. They p rovid e us with the basic s but when it gets to library-sp ec ific tec hnology, they don?t seem to understand the library? s needs. It?s been generally positive. However, they are tec h people, not libra rians or lawyers, a nd often have no c onc ept of why we need something or what we do with it. Mostly positive. My first MIS direc tor a nd I had a wond erful rela tionship. All d ec isions were d isc ussed. She worked c razy hours so everything was d one quic kly. My c urrent MIS d irec tor tries hard but works more norma l hours so things c an take a little longer to get done. Unlike my first direc tor, he d oesn?t take the time to learn the libra ry progra ms, so he d oesn?t q uite?get it? with what I need or why. I spend a lot of time exp la ining my needs before they get taken care of. For the most part, it?s been nega tive, unfortunately. I think the princ iple reason is loc ation; this is a bra nc h libra ry while the tec h d epartment is loc ated at the ma in offic e. Out of sight (or site - pard on the p un); out of mind. Generally, I?ve had very good experienc es with our tec h p eop le, prob ably bec ause I love tec h stuff and tec h toys. I try, a s muc h as I c a n, to keep up with new developments, and I think that helps me relate to the IT folks. It?s been both positive a nd nega tive. I find that projec ts alwa ys go more smoothly the b etter my und ersta nding of the tec hnology. Unfortunately, I can?t keep up on everything and often find that though IT and I may both be speaking English, we don?t understand a word the other says. It?s been mostly positive, but I do have to keep pushing to get what I need. It?s b een extremely nega tive. The IT d epartment ha s total c ontrol over wha t our desktops have available on them. The library is the last to get a ny updated p rograms. The response time to req uests and questions is very slow, and frustrating. Mostly positive. They really have helped to make my job easier for the most part by writing several programs for me suc h as a library c atalog, libra ry expense a nd update programs. They d o try to work with me, although, sometimes they don?t understand quite how a law library functions.

10 10 NEGATIVE! It is unfortuna te tha t most IT d epartments ha ve no interest in understand ing the libra ry?s or libra rian?s mission or func tion with the institution. This freq uently results in either librarians p erform ing IT-rela ted func tions? to ma ke sure the job is c omp leted in a timely fashion? or ha ving a library staff completely reliant on IT staff. It?s been positive. Our IT guys are smart and savvy. Mostly positive. They usually aim to please. Request rejections are alwa ys generated by financia l constraints. It?s been both positive a nd negative. They d o try to be ac c ommodating b ut often fail to see tha t wha t you request is not for you or your d epartment only but for the sa me group of attorneys tha t they are working for. Response time is very slow and c a n be frustrating when you are trying to meet an attorneyimposed dea d line. Often, I must get my library director involved to get a response in a timely fashion. Positive. They work with us, not against us. CHECK-IT-OUT Rec ently reported in the NJ La wyer Da ily Briefing (July 29, 2003), an annual world-wide survey of officia l judicia l web sites sited New Jersey?s jud ic ia ry w eb site, a s the fourth-best in the world. It was noted for it?s many fea tures including b ut not limited to?e-filing, sta tewid e traffic ind ex and online p ayment, statewid e c ivil c a lend ar index, online opinions, and a mass tort information center.? BOOKS STILL HAVE VALUE! Andrea Battel A few summers ago one of my c olleagues offered to assist a n intern who was in obvious distress a s he attempted to loc a te U.S.C.A sec tions online.?ma ybe it would be easier if you just used the books,? she suggested. With a look of stunned amazement he asked,?you can do that?!? While the onc e ubiquitous adage?everything?s online? ha s yielded to a more realistic view, apparently unc ertainty still lingers a mong resea rc hers when fac ed

11 11 with the d ec ision between print or elec tronic sourc es. As a c ourt libra rian fielding myriad researc h q ueries d a ily, I sometimes find myself in a simila r qua nd ary. At suc h times I rely on a trio of what I c a ll?c? indic ators to help select the most effective method of obtaining requested materials. The first?c? sta nds for c urrentness. No p rint public ation c an supply the almost immediate a c c ess to c ourt opinions in the sa me way elec tronic resourc es c a n. I?ve b een a la w lib rarian long enough to remember the d a ys when we would impatiently wa it for the ma il to a rrive so we c ould grab the la test filing for CCH?s U.S. Sup reme Court Bulletin. That loose-leaf servic e has sinc e gone out of print, supplanted by numerous free a nd fee-b ased d a tabases. Tod ay, in a ddition to c ourt d ec isions, any numb er of web sites provid es easy ac c ess to c urrent statutes and codes, not to mention court rules, regulations and legal periodicals. And, of c ourse, no effic ient lega l researc her would c hoose manua l updating over online shepardizing or key c iting. Wha t used to ta ke hours or even d ays can now be done in minutes, often without leaving your chair. Yet time c a n still present problems when d oing elec tronic resea rc h, pa rtic ula rly when trying to loc ate historic a l or superseded materials. Ever tried to find the text of Moore?s Federa l Prac tic e, SECOND edition, online? Or a c opy of a U.S. Code sec tion from the 1980?s? Or (my personal fa vorite) repea led c hapters of the New Jersey Administrative Cod e? One of the biggest d rawbac ks of elec tronic researc h, whether you?re using the Internet or proprietary data bases, is a notable la c k of retrosp ec tive data, even a s rec ent a s a dec ade ago. How often have you disc overed that the material you need is not a vailable online, most likely b ec a use that d atabase d oesn?t extend bac k far enough in time? This is wha t gives tra ditiona l print sourc es an adva nta ge over elec tronic ; onc e shelved in the libra ry, books c an remain there unc ha nged and at ha nd for as long as you have the space to keep them. The sec ond?c? indic a tor I c onsid er is c onvenienc e. Elec tronic sourc es c an provid e informa tion tha t isn?t availa ble in print form either bec a use your lib rary d oesn?t subsc ribe to tha t public ation or bec a use the materia l has been c hec ked out to a patron. Elec tronic informa tion is litera lly always at your fingertips. Unlike books, elec tronic sourc es are never?not on the shelf.? And they can sometimes be easier to use than print, as anyone who ha s ever tried to loc ate a CFR sec tion using the p aper ind ex c an attest. Another ma jor c onvenienc e c omputers offer is the c a pability of sprea ding your searc h for informa tion over multiple volumes of print pub lic ations simultaneously, thus saving you time and avoiding duplication of effort. On the other hand, as the anec dote at the beginning illustra tes, there are some oc c asions when using books has d efinite a dvanta ges. For example, I prefer d oing sta tutory resea rc h in print forma t over elec tronic in part bec a use print

12 12 forma t enables you to b rowse through text easily a nd a llows for the possib ility of serendipitously stumb ling on an a nswer. Also, print format is often better a t reprod uc ing c ertain gra phic s or c harts that c an a c c ompany la w review articles or c a se la w. And then there?s the huma n element to c onsider; people c a n recognize synonyms, c onc epts, and shades of mea ning where a mac hine cannot, a nd c om p uters a re notoriously litera l to the p oint of stupidity. For example, if you w ere seeking inform a tion a b out c onversions in tort la w a nd c a m e up on text d ealing w ith c onversions in the relig ious sense, you w ould instantly comprehend the difference. A computer would not be so discerning. The final?c? indic a tor is c ost; whether you use print or elec tronic sources, legal researc h c osts money. Ma nua l resea rc h c a n be expensive bec ause it?s timeconsuming, and in our p rofession, time is often money. Sometimes print sourc es d on?t allow you to be a s prec ise or as fast a s electronic resea rc h does, and dealing with them bec omes a labor-intensive undertaking. On the other hand, the c om p onents of elec tronic sea rching, fro m eq uip m ent to c onnec tion charges, a re p ric ey. When sea rc hing a t c ommercial b illing ra tes, even experienc ed researc hers c an inc ur c onsiderable c harges. Knowing how to selec t the more c ost-effec tive method is a skill that experienc e and professional intuition help develop. In the id eal library, there would be no dic hotomy between print and elec tronic searc hing; instea d they would work in tand em c omplementing the overall lega l resea rc h proc ess. Experienced legal resea rc hers know the best, most effic ient resea rc h is ac c omplished by making use of both print and elec tronic sourc es. But sinc e most of us work in imp erfec t institutions, it?s nec essary alwa ys to weigh the adva ntages a nd disadvantages of eac h method for our sp ec ific c irc umsta nc es when meeting the c ha llenge of providing c ost-effec tive research. JOIN THE NJLLA DISCUSSION LIST To Subscribe or Unsubscribe; Change Your Subscriber Options/ Get Your Pa ssword; View Current NJLLA Subscribers: Go to: - subscribe To Post a Message: Send messag e to: njlla@aallnet.org Use a brief descriptive title in the subject line. Type your message in the body. Send messag e. To Visit the NJLLA Archives: Go to: rivate/njlla/ Please send all questions or comments regarding NJLLA to the list owner at: njlla-admin@aallnet.org.

13 13 MOST INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR LAW LIBRARIANS: OUR MEMBERS RESPOND The internet? I d on?t know how I ever got a long without it before! I must go on it at lea st five times a d ay, if not more. There?s just so muc h available that was hard to obtain previously. Windows, of c ourse. E-ma il is a mixed blessing. Law-Lib and other favorites suc h a s the a utomated opinion ord ering from the NJ Lawyer, West RPM on the Web, automated serial c hec k-in and routing. Life is easier but busier than ever with a ll the multi-tasking nec essary to juggle the inc rea sed number of tasks that await each day. The internet?information at your fingertips. Web-based flat-rate CALR has absolutely transformed my job. As a result, my fac ility is sla ted for physic al downsizing sinc e ma ny hard c opy public ations are marked for removal.?google? is my most valuable tool. The internet a nd e-ma il. Information that used to take days to trac k down to the c orrec t a genc y in DC c a n now often be loc ated in minutes using a simple searc h engine. Contac ting vend ors a nd patrons with is muc h easier than playing telephone tag. There?s no one produc t? Wind ows OS, va rious b rowsers availa bility of online d atabases, e-ma il? all of these d evelopments ma ke it possible to find, provide, manage and distribute information resources in more efficient, faster ways, all to the benefit of our information seekers. The internet in general. It may not all be on the internet just yet, but it is a 24/ 7 tool to find just about a nything. It makes life both easier a nd more diffic ult. Ea sier bec a use I c a n find just a bout anything. More diffic ult because the attorneys now expect even more rapid delivery of information. Online capability as a whole is the most innovative. It?s diffic ult to selec t just one. With regard s to my a dministra tive work, I?ve been in the field long enough to rememb er not ha ving a c omputer on my d esk so tha t wa s a very signific a nt c ha nge. I also remember end lessly typing

14 14 c a ta log c a rd s when I first started out a s a solo libraria n. When our lib rary up gra ded to a n online c ard c atalog system, it was like c oming out of the d ark ages. Exc el also tra nsformed my life for administrative resp onsibilities. With regard to researc h, I would ha ve to say the internet ha s ultimately had the greatest impac t. It links the resea rc her to governmental, educ ational and library web sites, and fee-based information sites all through one tool. . We get them from a ll over the world. We c a n c ommunic a te in a ma tter of sec ond s, for the most part. Our va lue to the law firm is more visible and essentia l given our expertise is sea rc hing elec tronic d a ta bases and being able to respond to requests quickly. A new integrated libra ry system has a utoma ted proc ed ures tha t ha d previously been handled manually. There is an enormous learning curve. Partic ipa ting in the c reation a nd maintena nc e of a n intra net. Design, c ontent selec tion, monitoring for c urrenc y is diffic ult and time-c onsuming tasks that can not be put off until later. IS THE INTERNET STILL THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE? Elizabeth A. Greenfield Asked to c onsid er this question, I sa y it is not; the Internet is the wave of tod a y, of now. Now nearly mid d leaged, the Internet has been around for nea rly 35 years, sinc e its inc eption a s DARPANET, a lthough most people paid no a ttention until the efforts of Tim Berners-Lee a nd his c ollea gues led to the d evelopment of the graphic al browser in the ea rly to mid -1990s. And that d evelopment has, in turn, led to c ommerc ia l use a nd exploita tion of the Web for all types of services and endeavors. (For a brief yet c omprehensive history of the Internet, go to brief.shtml.) The Internet itself may not be the wave of the future, but its c urrent and developing und erlying tec hnologies are a nd will c a rry us forwa rd. As informa tion p rofessiona ls, we need to find, organize, mana ge a nd distrib ute informa tion a nd inform a tion resourc es, a nd Internetbased systems are the most effective means of d oing so. (Obviously, this applies only to information a vailable elec tronic ally; we all know that ma ny materials will remain in print only.) Tod a y, we c a n sea rc h and generate d ynamic Web pages with prec isely the d ata we wa nt we c an d ownload c ourt doc uments, and we c an even find vid eos of our favorite

15 15 performers. How w ill this c hange? What will we do differently? Resea rc h projec ts a round the world a re looking tow a rd the next w a ve (or w a ves) of the future; the World Wide Web Consortium d oc uments some fasc inating work c urrently und erwa y. Among these: increased mobility d emand s the ability to obtain information from anywhere, not just from the office. So, just as the information sought has no physic al basis, now neither d oes the information seeker, and researc h seeks to find ways to meet suc h realities. Another is the Doc ument Objec t Mod el, whic h allows c ontent to be updated d ynamic a lly, no longer depend ent on human input. With DOM, you?d never aga in hear from a d atabase vendor tha t a partic ular file needed to be updated -- it would update itself. Also, w ork on the Sem a ntic Web is especially exc iting, with its potential for struc tured, m ea ningful, c ontextbased interaction between humans and c omputers. How would that affec t us? We would use agents that would attribute mea ning to our input and then go out, get us wha t we need, and then ta ke the step further that brings our work home, suc h as expanding sea rc hes without our d irection, or d ow nloa d ing found d oc uments automatically, based on experienc e with find ing a nd downloading records. Whatever the future may bring, it will inc lude networked resourc es a nd capabilities, inc rea sing ly a b le to define and meet research criteria, all to our a dvanta ge and our c lients? advantage. TIPS FOR EVALUATING WEB SITES FOR VALUE, CONTENT & CURRENCY Compare it to simila r web sites. Check the?last updated? section of the web site. Is it updated regularly? Ignore the?flashiness? of the web site and review content for substance. Evaluate the accuracy of the content. Determine how?user-friendly? the web site is. Investig a te the sponsoring entity? review the?about this site? page, if available. Solicit feedback from your colleagues. If possib le, ask questions of the site?s webmaster.

16 16 COMMITTEE NEWS ARCHIVES Nothing to report. BYLAWS Nothing to report. GOVERNMENTAL & LEGAL AFFAIRS The Government a nd Legal Affairs Committee c ontinues to monitor a wide ra nge of d evelop ments regarding the availability and quality of legal informa tion resourc es in New Jersey, a s well as legal matters affec ting the prac tic e of law libraria nship in our state. The Committee notes with sa tisfac tion the rec ent d ec ision of the National Conferenc e of Commissioners on Uniform State La ws to disc ontinue its ac tive promotion of UCITA. Among the agend a items a t the Committee's next meeting (Oc t.1, 2003) will be c onsidera tion of the AALL Permanent Public Ac c ess Projec t, with respec t to New Jersey government informa tion in elec tronic form. A ma jor goal of the Committee, yet to be a c hieved, is free Internet a c c ess to the New Jersey Ad ministrative Code. GRANTS & AWARDS Nothing to report. GUIDELINES The Committee c ontinues to meet one to two times per month. The c ha rge of this Sp ec ia l Committee is to update a nd 'fine tune' the NJLLA Manual of Polic y & Proc ed ure. The Ma nual c overs every aspec t of Assoc iation business a nd serves as a guid e for Exec utive Board memb ers a nd Committee Chairs. Although advanc es in tec hnology ha ve affec ted almost every fa c et of Assoc ia tion operation, only minor c hanges have been inc orpora ted into the Manual sinc e its c reation in After we c rea te p reliminary drafts for two remaining c ommittees, we will go bac k a nd review the entire ma nua l before p resenting it to the Exec utive Board for approva l. Our goal is to have the Manua l c ompleted for the c ommenc ement of the term. MEMBERSHIP The Committee has been working towa rd s the c ompletion of the Direc tory & Hand book. The Direc tory will be sent to the entire membership in the beginning of Oc tober. Anyone interested in working on this c ommittee is asked to c ontac t the Cha ir, Joha nna Icasiano. NEWSLETTER The Committee is in the p roc ess of id entifying the themes for the 4 issues for the up c oming year, a nd exploring id eas for additiona l c olumns. Members who have suggestions for newsletter themes,

17 17 id ea s for a rtic les and authors, and new c olumns a re enc ouraged to c ontac t any member of the Newsletter Committee. NOMINATING Nothing to report. OUTREACH EDUCATION Nothing to report. PLACEMENT Nothing to report. PROGRAMS The Progra m Committee met on August 8th to begin the proc ess of planning a c alend ar of events for the year. Our first progra m will be held d uring the week of Sep tember 22nd. Watc h for news of this p rogra m in the coming weeks. PUBLIC RELATIONS The Committee wa s suc c essful in having p ublished a pic ture of the Executive Board in the July 28, 2003 issue of the New Jersey Law Journal. The pic ture is loc a ted on the Legal Pro Pa ge, p. 47. Anyone interested in working on this c ommittee is a sked to c onta c t the Chair, Johanna Icasiano. TECHNOLOGY Nothing to report. UNION LIST Nothing to report.?what ABOUT CD-ROMS?? [Editor?s Note: A rec ent newsletter survey of the membership asked this question. Following are responses from your colleagues.] They may serve some mid -ra nge a rc hival purpose but otherwise, I see webbased resources essentially eliminating CD-ROM technology. CD-ROMs still ha ve a p lac e in the libra ry (I still have 5, down from a bout 30+), but probably they will be phased out in the next 10 years or so. CD-ROMs will disa ppea r, but at a slower ra te than expec ted. Premise is a c a se in p oint. The a ttorneys love it and ma nagement loves the payment mod el tha t lets it be treated like a book a nd not rolled into a flat-fee contract. I do not think they will be around in the future.

18 18 I think the forma t will eventua lly be phased out for?web site? ac c ess to most everything. We ha ve just a sma ll c ollec tion of CD-ROMs a nd the CD-ROMs that ac c ompany print ma teria ls a re removed from the p rint ma terials b y our staff. CD-ROMs are an?intermedia te tec hnology? whic h are being disp lac ed by web-based publications. There is no future for them in law libraries. I see no future for CD-ROMs. We no longer use any. I think that the CD-ROMs a re on their way out. I a lways believed tha t they were a?temp ora ry? tec hnology solution, and I think I will be proven c orrec t. In most c a ses, the information is alrea d y out-of-d ate the d ay you rec eive the CD-ROM in the mail. If it were up to me, they would alrea d y be off our network and out of our libra ry. My dilemma is tha t my attorneys love them. Why? Well, bec ause they perc eive the CD-ROMs to be?free? CALR. We d on?t bill c lients for the c harges inc urred by using CD-ROMs even though we pay an a nnual subsc ription fee for the CDs. We do bill c lients for Lexis and Westla w c harges. I think if we were to c harge c lients for ac c essing the networked CD-ROMs, a ttorney usage would d rop, a nd I c ould pull them out. Using Premise as a n example, if you have the print version, the CD-ROM version, a nd a c c ess to Westla w? well, a ren?t you p aying for the sa me resourc e 3 times? And rea lly, the books you?buy and own?, but the CD- ROMs and Westlaw, you are only?renting? the information. I believe that CD-ROMs play a signific ant role in a ll libra ries but CD-ROMs also need to be more user-friendly. I think they?re an interim medium, whic h will eventually d isa ppear from our libraries. I took a gamble about 5 yea rs ago when everyone was pushing CD-ROM prod uc ts. I d ec id ed to wait. I thought that CD-ROMs were a transitiona l tec hnology a nd that I should wait. I think I have been proven c orrec t. I believe the CD-ROMs will only remain around as a rep la c ement for forms (discs) in books. For heavy-duty storage, everything will be web-based. CD-ROMs are old-hat! No future, except for archival resources. The pub lishers/ c ontent p rovid ers/ aggregators are trying their hardest to do awa y with them, simila r to what ha ppened with loose-leaf books a while

19 19 ago. It d oesn?t matter wha t forma t works for you or wha t you p refer the delivery media is forced on you by the publishers. They are still here at the moment, but they will be history. CD-ROMs were an interim technology. I think CD-ROMs have had it. I think the vend ors wa nt them out, and as with switc hing to internet over proprieta ry software they are just going to c ontinue pushing things the wa y they want. I loved our CD-ROMs, and until Premise bec a me a problem with our Wind ows 2000 network, they were the b est. Now I ha ve a flat-ra te c ontrac t, a nd a lthough the c ost is great, the webbased software is terrible. I believe the value of CD-ROMs will be determined on a case-by-case basis. CD-ROMs will be obsolete in the near future. TIPS FOR NEGOTIATING AN ELECTRONIC SUBSCRIPTION CONTRACT Make a checklist to refer to during the negotiation process. Be spec ific about what your orga nization?s need s are d uring the negotia tion process. Ask for what you want? all the vendor can do is say No! Ca refully review the vendor?s lic ensing/ c opyright polic ies. Make sure that your organization is not liable for copyright infringement by?third? parties. Ask every question you c an think of regard ing how the subsc ription will work in order to avoid problems or additional costs later. Review the written c ontrac t/ a greement line-by-line. Be watc hful for any?hidden? c osts. Also, make c ertain that there is a c anc ellation polic y (norma lly, a stand ard item in most subsc ription c ontra c ts) written into the contract in the event of a significant change in your library or organization. Keep all c orrespond enc e (inc luding s), a nd make notes following every meeting (and telephone c onversa tion) in order to avoid misc ommunic ations between the vend or, yourself, a nd your employer. Keep this file d uring the length of the c ontrac t? it may also c ome in ha ndy during the next contract negotiation. If you don?t keep sta tistic s yourself, d emand to see the vend or?s usa ge reports, if possible, to make c erta in that the prod uc t is still of va lue to your organization. Keep a?one firm? library lic ense vision d espite the number of bra nc h or satellite offices. Consider an?enterprise-wide? site (or seat) license.

20 20 If negotia ting for a new prod uc t, ask for a d emonstration of the prod uc t and make certain that the potential users are in attendance to evaluate it. If renegotia ting a c ontra c t for a produc t you alrea dy subsc ribe to, a sk for a?refresher? demonstration and have your users attend to open up a dialogue between the users a nd the vend or. It c an be an interesting learning experience and may provide fresh ideas for the negotiation process. Review the p rod uc t yourself, by yourself, and c ompare it to similar produc ts. Don?t be a fraid to?d emo? other vendor prod uc ts d uring the negotiation proc ess. You may find a b etter p roduc t and / or sa ve your organization money by checking out the vendor?s competitors. Try to negotiate a?free? administra tive site lic ense (or seat) for the librarian. You ma y not be a?regular? user of every data base your organization subsc ribes to but you may need to have ac c ess for training, troub le-shooting or aiding a frequent user. It?s part of your job and the vend ors should recognize this issue for librarians and provide that ability. Don?t be held to the vend or?s offer d eadline. Try to keep the c ontrac t d eadline op en-end ed bec ause the vend or will want a quic k resolution while your employers will move at their own pac e? partic ularly, if you are not the one making the final decision. Never divulge the spec ific s of your c ontrac t with a nyone outsid e of your orga niza tion. Respec t the vend or?s request for c onfid entia lity, but d on?t b e afraid to solicit?general? information from your colleagues about the vendor, the vendor?s representatives, and, most importantly, the product itself. Prior to signing a c ontra c t (if you d o), request a trusted c o-worker in your organization (i.e. a nother libra rian, an a ttorney, or another ma nager) to?read? the contract to get a new perspective. TECHNOLOGY IN LAW LIBRARIES?THE WISH LIST? [Editor?s Note: Members were asked to finish the following sentence.]?i wish someone would create?? A c omp uter that is up a nd running (like a TV) the instant your turn it on, instead of having to wait while it boots up. A universal, interoperable database. A searc h response that when nothing is found would not sa y, for example,?no results were found? but ra ther would sta te c onc lusively?there is no

21 21 answer to your query?, or?no rec ords exist a nywhere in the entire universe that answer your query.? A universa l, web-based Z39.50 online c a ta log searc h mec ha nism to ena ble me to sea rc h multiple online c atalogs simultaneously (without having to subscribe to a service such as OCLC, RLIN, etc.). After more tha n a d ec a d e of wishing (a nd b egging), my wish wa s granted? RPM on the Web for Westlaw password s. Now if only LexisNexis would c rea te a similar product for adding and deleting Lexis passwords! An index for the internet! Wouldn?t it be a perfect library world? Elec tronic a c c ess to NJ State legislative histories, in both Lexis a nd Westla w, as a researc h c omp onent linked to a file of d oc uments (sponsor a nd c ommittee statements, Governor?s message a t signing, a ll versions of the Sena te or Assemb ly bills, rela ted news a rtic les, etc.) availa ble to provid e the intent behind the statute section you are researching. A simp le wa y to c a talog libra ry resourc es, whether the resourc es a re p art of the collection or out in cyberspace. I like to hold and read a book. I like the feel of it, but I would also like to have the tec hnology to d o researc h. My drea m would be the ability to hold a book in my hand, like a volume of NJ Super, a nd be a ble to rea d the c a se. Then, b e a ble to point with my finger on a hea d note (or other options like in Westlaw), and have the material appear in the book as I was holding it. An inexpensive KM d atabase for lib raria ns where our institutional memory can be collected and shared openly. A technology service that has no glitches in it. Jet pac ks! I was promised a jetp ac k for my c ommute to work by the turn of the century. I want my jetpack! An elec tronic arm that would pull b ac k the book from the a ttorney who wa lked off with it without signing it out, and p ut it bac k on the shelf where it belongs!?

22 22 MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD Compiled by Anne Shulman, Secretary Date: May 7, 2003 Location of Meeting: Newark Public Library, Newark, NJ Executive Board Members Present: Emma Williams, President Stephanie Fox Pierson, Vice-President/President-Elect Dan Campbell, Past President Anne Shulman, Secretary Beth Petruska, Treasurer Elizabeth Greenfield, Member at Large Not Present: Fay Austin, Member at Large 1. Call to Order: Meeting called to order at 12:30 p.m. II. Sally Holterhoff, our visitor from AALL, spoke first. She is an Exec utive Board Member of AALL and Head of the Stra tegic Pla nning Committee. She expressed admiration for the qua lity of NJLLA a nd ga ve a n update on AALL a c tivities. She a nnounc es tha t in 2006 it will be the Centennial of AALL a nd the sloga n will be?aall , A Century of Leadership?. She enc ourages people to look at the new website at whic h has a new look and is now published in house rather than through the Wa shburn server. AALL provid es many servic es for the Chapters, inc luding awa rds for leadership and NJLLA should apply. III. The minutes from May 8, 2002 were approved. IV. Trea surer?s Report: This report c onsisted of 3 p ages; the white page was the original Trea surer?s Report sub mitted at the Annual Meeting on 5/ 8/ 2002, the yellow page was the c orrec ted Report, and the purple p age was the c urrent Report for this yea r. As of 4/ 22/ 2003 our Sovereign Bank c hec king ac c ount bala nc e is $18,490. The Treasurer?s Report wa s approved. (The only new thing this year was the technology contract.) V. Committee Reports: a ) Arc hives: Da n Ca mpbell reports that the NJLLA Arc hive is housed a t Rutgers Law Libra ry; the c ontents are available for review and c an be borrowed through interlibra ry loa n. Dan enc ourages the Committee Chairs to submit materials to the Archives.

23 23 b) Bylaws: Nothing to report. c ) Government a nd Legal Affairs: Sue Lyons reports that U.C.I.T.A. wa s not passed, but that the Committee is keeping an eye on it. They are also working to put the Ad ministrative Code on the web and hop e to ha ve a meeting with the Counsel of the Offic e of Administrative La w. Pa ul Axel-Lute will be the Chair for the upcoming year. d ) Gra nts and Award s: Ma ry Ellen Kaas a nnounc ed that the rec ipient of the AALL Meeting Awa rd ha s been c hosen. All 3 applic a nts were well-q ua lified and she encourages people to apply for next year. e) Guid elines: Leigh DeProspo reports that they are still forging ahead. Due to advanc es in tec hnology and new c ommittees, there ha ve been a lot of revisions, but they will be submitting the new draft to the Board very soon. e) Membership: Johanna Ic asiano reports tha t they met the goal of sending the direc tory out by the first week in Oc tob er. All other goa ls of the c ommittee were a lso met. These were: to disc uss the tra nsition to a n elec tronic format; to propose the c hange to the Tec hnology Committee, the Exec utive Board a nd the Membership; and to revamp the renewal form. It is now bright yellow so that people will rea d them. The new goa ls of the Committee a re: to publish a new print direc tory, to transition to an elec tronic direc tory and to enc ourage new members. Johanna will sta y on for a nother yea r for the transition of the directory to an electronic format. f) Newsletter: Sc ott Fisher thanks the Committee members a nd the Exec utive Boa rd whic h supported the move to the elec tronic format. Thanks to the ma ny writers, the newsletter has c hanged for the b etter. The themes have been a big benefit, sinc e people have something to foc us on. There ha s b een a strong positive resp onse, exc ept for a c omp laint that it wa s too long. The goal of having all original artic les by NJLLA memb ers has been met. Sc ott has a greed to stay on as Chair. g) Nomina ting Committee: Gayle Lynn-Nelson reports that they used tec hnology this yea r to a c c omplish their goals (telephone and ema il), a nd they recommend having 3 members instead of 5 on this Committee. h) Outreac h Ed uc a tion: Stephanie Pierson rea d La ura Vinc i?s report. She tha nks a ll the Committee memb ers for their efforts. They had monthly meetings and c lasses throughout the year inc luding the Camd en County Libra ry Progra m which was well-received. On April 5 th, they held a?bridge the Gap? program for law students, which made money and they changed the format of that class by

24 24 adding a sec tion of sma ll groups. There will b e a nother progra m for para lega ls on May 13 th at Rutgers-Newark, and she encourages members to send people. i) Plac ement: Dan Camp bell reports that the Committee posts jobs on websites and the listserv. Sue Lyons ha s taken over posting of ma terials. They were approac hed with the id ea of putting resumes on the website but have d ec id ed to limit it to job opportunities. j) Progra mming: Ka ren Brunner thanks the Committee members. They had two goals whic h were ac c omp lished : To offer high quality progra ms and to make use of vendor support. These goa ls will be the same next year. Over the c ourse of the year, we ha d a brown-b ag vid eotape of 9/ 11, a c elebra tion of the Chapter anniversary, Yvonne Chandler, Sue Lyons on legislative history, a brownbag on finding esoteric ma terials, Ross Tod d on?evid enc e-ba sed Pra c tic e?, a nd a workshop by Westlaw on?life in the Fast Lane? and today?s meeting. k) Public Relations: Johanna Ic asiano tha nks the Committee members. They ha d 3 goals for la st year; to disseminate informa tion through press releases; get NJLLA into the hands of other libraria ns; and to enhanc e the law libra ria n image in the legal profession. There is a folder available with what has been done. She has one regret, tha t she did n?t make use of a ll the Committee memb ers, but just she, Emma Williams, and Stephanie Fox Pierson were involved. Next year the goa ls a re: to use all members of the Committee; to d evelop proc ed ures to follow; to enlist the aid of photogra phers to d oc ument all events; a nd to ma ke use of the connection with Kate Coscarelli to keep exposure in the Star Ledger. l) Union List: Nothing to report. VI. Old Business: Sc ott Fisher had proposed a n a mendment to the Byla ws in 2002 regarding the Nomina ting Committee to be more op en to the genera l memb ership. The Exec utive Board d ec id ed to amend the Guid elines instead of the Bylaws to address Scott?s concerns. VII. Grant Award : Mary Ellen Kaas announc es that the $1000 grant for the AALL Meeting goes to Lucy Rieger. VIII. Elec tion of New Offic ers: Ga yle Lynn-Nelson, on behalf of the Nominating Committee announces the nominations: President: Stephanie Fox-Pierson Vice President: Beth Petruska Past President: Emma Williams Treasurer: Johanna Icasiano Secretary: Caren Biberman Members at Large: Mary Ellen Kaas and Sue Lyons.

25 25 A motion to accept the slate of candidates was carried. Gayle tha nks the other members of the tea m; Sc ott Fisher, Leigh DeProspo, Kathleen McCarthy and Dorothy Cordo. IX. Outgoing President?s Message: Emma Williams thanks her fellow Board members. She tried to follow the protoc ol in the guid elines to sha re the work. She a lso tha nks the Program Co- Chairs. She is grateful to the Newa rk Public Lib rary Staff and c omments on the grea t public ity due to Joha nna Ic a sia no?s efforts. Eac h Committee Chair a lso did their sha re. She enc ourages more intera c tion among a ge group s, and entitles her message?don?t Write Us Off?. She notes the missing audienc e of young people not involved in our organiza tion a nd makes a motion to submit the issue of diversity to the next Executive Board. This motion was approved. X. Incoming President?s Message: Stepha nie Fox Pierson thanks the memb ers and requests their help. She hopes tha t a ll the grea t work will c ontinue next yea r. She notes the need to improve our image to the lega l c ommunity at large and hopes to arrange joint ac tivities with attorneys. She states tha t we need to attra c t new members to the profession and that we a lso need to review, revise a nd implement a new strategic plan. XI. The meeting was adjourned a t 2:00 p.m. NEW NJLLA HOMEPAGE: COMING SOON! Daniel R. Campbell, Chair Technology Committee Ma ny of you have probably hea rd that a new NJLLA web site will be introduc ed in the c oming year. While it a little too early to sha re with you a n exac t relea se d ate, a nd more imp ortantly, the URL, I would like to ta ke this op portunity to provid e a brief glimpse into what you c an exp ec t onc e it is unveiled and what you c a n expec t in the more distant future. New Address The first thing you will notic e about the new site is its new URL. This new address will provide NJLLA with more design and marketing flexibility a nd will allow us to provid e func tionality tha t was previously unavaila ble to us. I'll get into more details about this later.

26 26 New Look The new NJLLA web site it will feature uniform left and bottom navigation bars tha t will provide you with a c onsistent navigation d esign on a ll p ages and will enable you to move from a ny p age within the site to a ny other p age within the site. Also, while the look and feel of the page will c hange, the basic NJLLA c olor scheme will remain the same. New Content The new site was mod eled after the existing NJLLA homepage and will feature all of the c ontent that was ava ilable on the existing site. In a d dition to the informa tion we are all c omfortable with, new c ontent will be made availa ble. This will inc lud e a News & Announc ements sec tion, a Newsletter page, where you will b e a ble to view the c urrent a nd past issues of the newsletter, and a Public ations and Doc uments page tha t will ac t a s a dep ository of NJLLA rela ted d oc uments suc h as the Byla ws, the Polic ies and Proc edures Manua l a nd others documents as they are developed. New Features One of the more notic ea ble c hanges will b e related to the numerous new features that will be available to you (immediately and in the future). For starters, the ta sk of up dating the va rious pages within the web p a ge will be d elegated to Tec hnology Committee, Exec utive Boa rd a nd Standing Committee members to ensure that the most up to d ate information is availa ble to you. This will be accomplished through the user-friendly Affiniscape interface. To summarize, some of the new and future features will include:? An interactive Job Bank that will allow members to post and view employment opportunities;? An interac tive Calendar of Events that allows members to post NJLLA a nd other events;? A Newsletter Page that will provid e a c c ess to past editions of NJLLA In-Site a s well a s password protec ted version of the most c urrent newsletter; a nd? A Site Sea rc h feature that will ena ble you to loc a te materials c onta ined on any of the web site pages.

27 27 Although the Affinisc a pe alrea d y provid es the c a pability to perform these functions, in the near future, you can expect to see:? A Members-only online direc tory that c an be modified or updated by the member. The database will allow members to provide (or not) as much directory informa tion as the members d eem a ppropriate. The Direc tory will also be searchable;? A Member Porta l that will allow you to ga ther and organize links to your favorite Internet sites;? A Member Ma ll area tha t will provid e links to va rious member-disc ounted services for members only;? Online new member registra tion and memb er renewal a nd online progra m registration;? The ability to send blast ; and? An NJLLA photo gallery. Overa ll, the new NJLLA web page should prove to b e very exc iting and helpful to all NJLLA members (and potential members). Stay tuned for more news as the launc h date nears. If you ha ve a ny questions or suggestions, please c ontac t Dan Campbell at daniel_campbell@ca2.uscourts.gov. MEMBERSHIP NEWS Compiled by Johanna Icasiano All c urrent members will be listed in the NJLLA Direc tory & Handbook, d ue out the first week of October. Members who have joined or renewed a fter the summer c utoff d ate will have their informa tion listed in In-Site beginning with the Fa ll 2003 issue.

28 28 AALL CORNER Inspired b y the Spac e Needle in Seattle, WA, and the theme?ma ximize today, envision tomorrow? of the 2003 AALL Annua l Meeting, below is a photograph of the NJLLA Pub lic Relations ta ble whic h was loc ated at the Ac tivities Area in the Exhibit Ha ll at the AALL Annual Meeting in Sea ttle, WA. Our theme was?njlla m a xim izes tod a y a nd? envisions the future.? Foc using on our Assoc iation?s adva nc es of c ond uc ting assoc iation business with greater use of tec hnology, eac h star represented a tec hnology produc t of NJLLA? the elec tronic union list, the listserv, the elec tronic new sletter, a nd the future reva m p ed w eb site. The photograph was provided c ourtesy of John Pedini, Direc tor of Media Servic es of the Soc ial Law Library, Boston, MA. He is also the Co-Cha ir of the AALL Public ity Committee for the 2004 AALL Annual Meeting. IN THE NEXT ISSUE of IN-SITE? To be announced.