Posted on behalf of LLNE Continuing Education Scholarship recipient Jason Eiseman:

Thanks to a generous Continuing Education Scholarship from LLNE I attended my first 2017 Digital Library Federation Forum (DLF Forum) and National Digital Stewardship Alliance’s Digital Preservation Conferences this October.

The Digital Library Foundation is “a robust and ever more diverse and inclusive community of practitioners who advance research, learning, social justice, and the public good through the creative design and wise application of digital library technologies.” Their main event every year is the Digital Library Forum.

The forum includes a wide variety of practitioners who work throughout academia. This included, and I had the opportunity to meet, a number of librarians, IT professionals, faculty, and researchers all interested in the “wise application of digital library technologies.”

Before getting to the actual content of the sessions I think it’s worth noting the unique structure of the conference. Each time block had multiple sessions. Each session had an overarching topic associated with it, and three or more curated presentations related to that topic. In other words the sessions might not be a coordinated and cohesive presentation but rather multiple curated presentations on a topic.

In addition to more traditional panels, there were also workshops which were dedicated to specific topics that often lasted more than one session block as well as working breakfasts and lunches organized by particular DLF groups that served to educate people about the work of those groups, plan for the coming year, and generally discuss a particular topic.

I should also note, one of the great things about DLF was shared community notetaking and material posted to the Open Science Framework . This will make it very easy to review my notes and share relevant material with others. Audience members at every session were encouraged to take notes in the community documents. This also made it much easier to pay attention to the presentation without feeling that I had to take copious notes.

Content-wise the first thing that struck me was how dedicated this professional conference was to the cause of social justice. However, this was often not simply some high-minded ideal discussed abstractly but how this might, would, could or should work in practice was often addressed, even if we didn’t arrive at a definitive answer.

For example, the first session I attended discussed ‘labor’ in digital libraries. I was impressed by how this session, particularly the first presentation, tackled issues of gender and culture head on, but also in such a practical way including discussions about ways to make employee labor on digital scholarship initiatives more visible. Similar themes would appear often throughout the conference – the following links provide two of a number of examples: https://osf.io/x972e/, m5d.

The conference, however, did also include it’s share of practical and techie sessions – many of which were of great relevance. The outreach session included a number of practical approaches one could take. One group discussed their use of Zooniverse to help use a volunteer community to classify old real estate documents. Other libraries are using it to transcribe historical documents like banking records and U.S. Civil War messages.

Finally, there were a number of hot topics which seemed to generate a lot of interest. These hot topic areas are discussed in DLF Groups that appear to be very active and involved in a number of important projects. I attended a number of sessions with the DLF Pedagogy Group and Assessment Group. Just sitting in on their sessions discussing what they’ve been working on proved incredibly valuable. The Assessment group has also created a Digitization Cost Calculator, which is a great resource for digitization projects. We also discussed analytics, and even how to assess the reach of digitized collections and repository items.

The NDSA Digital Preservation conference was a separate conference that began after the DLF Forum. The highlights of the Digital Preservation conference, for me, was the chance to catch up with Legal Information Preservation Alliance (LIPA) Executive Director Margie Maes and attend a great session that included Sharon Bradley from the Library at the University of Georgia School of Law. She was discussing legal issues around digital preservation.

I would highly recommend DLF to other librarians. While law librarians were few and far between the content was still relevant. Discussions of digital humanities, data, digital libraries, institutional repositories, and similar issues cut across all different types of libraries. Law librarians would do well to explore DLF and similar conferences to get different perspectives on how we might approach some of our work. I certainly valued my time there and appreciate LLNE for affording me the opportunity to make it happen.

From LLNE Scholarship Winner, Jessica Almeida

My AALL Conference Journey

I had the great fortune of receiving a scholarship through LLNE to attend the AALL conference in Austin.  As I write this, I am flying home from Austin filled with new ideas and new opportunities for further collaboration.  As a first-time attendee, I had no idea what to expect.  So, I asked every law librarian I knew for advice.  I joined the AALL Host Program, so I could ask the librarian I was paired with for advice.  I scoured over the schedule and planned my time down to the minute.  I got new business cards and packed comfortable shoes.  After four amazing and exhausting days in Austin, I know that these takeaways will contribute to my development as a professional.

At every program I attended, I took away something meaningful.  Working in public services, I gravitated toward programs where I learned how to put together successful DYI marketing materials and curate interesting social media content.  I also learned about how to better serve our transgender patrons and how to make the library more accessible after hours.  Throughout the conference, I tried to fully participate, whether through discussion, tweeting during presentations and events, or engaging passerbys during poster sessions.

I found attending the roundtables gave me a greater perspective on how our little library stacks up in the larger world of law libraries.  I was also able to gain insight into innovative programs that other libraries are adopting as well as shared my own experiences.

One of my unexpected favorite sessions of the conference was a discussion den where a small group of women discussed raising families, working full time, and making time for professional development.  Being six months pregnant with my second child, this discussion really resonated with me.

For me, the greatest part of the conference was all the wonderful law librarians I met and spoke to.  In all honesty, I am a bit shy.  Four days of attempting to initiate conversations can be a little overwhelming.  But I want to thank all the wonderful librarians who took the time to speak with me.  From the law librarians on the plane and the shuttle bus to all the RIPS and LISP members who I only knew through email as well as all the LLNE members who introduced themselves or remembered me from previous meetings.  Thank you.  Your kindness and generosity helped make my first AALL conference a success.

 

LLNE scholarship news

The LLNE Scholarship Committee is inviting applications for the following awards:

  • LLNE Spring Meeting scholarships are available to support members’ attendance at the fascinating meeting planned for April 24, 2015.  Scholarship forms must be submitted by April 10, 2015.
  •  LLNE is accepting scholarship applications for members seeking financial assistance in attending the 2015 AALL annual meeting in Philadelphia.  Scholarship application forms must be submitted by Friday, May 1, 2015.
  •  LLNE is now offering scholarships to support its members’ continuing education opportunities. Check the LLNE website for more details.

Also, AALL has reached out to LLNE to encourage members to apply for the Koslov Scholarship, the Continuing Education Scholarship, and the George A. Strait Minority Scholarship.

  •  The Marcia J. Koslov Scholarship provides funding for state, court, and county law librarians to attend conferences, seminars, and other live continuing education opportunities beyond the usual law library-related conferences.    The application deadline is April 1, 2015.
  •  AALL also offers a Scholarship for Continuing Education Classes, available for all law librarians (not limited to state, court, and county law librarians) who wish to register for continuing education courses related to their fields. See the application form for details. The application deadline is April 1, 2015.
  •  The George A. Strait Minority Scholarship is offered to degree candidates in law school or library school who belong to minority groups and who intend to have a career in law librarianship.

Fall LLNE/ABLL Meeting Survey

Thank you to everyone who attended  the LLNE/ABLL 2014 Fall Meeting!  I hope you found the meeting to be useful and enjoyable.

If you were at the meeting, please consider taking 5-10 minutes to complete a survey about your experience.  Your answers will help LLNE and ABLL to plan future meetings and other events.

You can access the survey at http://goo.gl/forms/zeVMO7VF6t.

Best,
Susan Vaughn

 

Fall LLNE Meeting – Registration Now Open

LLNE ABLL 2014 Fall Banner SmallRegister for the conference online now.

In an environment characterized by dramatic and ongoing change, law librarians are transforming their libraries and services to meet ever-evolving challenges and demands.  Please join the Law Librarians of New England and the Association of Boston Law Librarians for a fall meeting exploring the present and future of law libraries, and learn how your colleagues are surviving and thriving, surmounting new challenges and seizing emerging opportunities.

The LLNE Fall 2014 Meeting will be hosted by Boston College Law Library and ABLL at Boston College’s Connors Center in Dover, MA on October 24, 2014. Stay tuned to the LLNE website, as more detailed information on programming is coming soon.

 

LLNE scholarship awards for AALL conference

Brian Flaherty and Lusiella Fazzino will be attending the AALL conference in San Antonio this July as the LLNE scholarship recipients.  Brian is a reference librarian at New England Law | Boston; he is also an instructor in the LLNE Introduction to Legal Research course. Lusiella (Lucy) is a long-time law librarian who has relocated to Connecticut; she is a member of the LLNE Communications and Technology Committee.  Congratulations to Brian and Lucy!

—LLNE Scholarship Committee (Mary Ann Neary, Melanie Cornell, Jennifer Finch)