Please join us for the LLNE luncheon and business meeting at the AALL annual conference in Philly on Tuesday, July 21st, 2015 from 12:30pm – 2:00pm.
For more details and to register, go here: http://llne.org/meetings/2015-annual-luncheon/
We’ll look forward to seeing many of you in Philly!!
Melinda Kent, LLNE’s president, recently testified in the recent June 15th public hearing before the Trial Court Public Access to Court Records Committee to provide comment concerning the public’s access to publicly available court case records. You may read her written comments submitted to the committee here. She was also quoted in Boston Globe article about the proposed changes. Mindy argued that allowing greater access would help librarians as we aid various users of the court system. You can read the whole article here:
Mass. courts hear pleas for Web access: Data is available on federal system http://bit.ly/1Lfpnal
Bob DeFabrizio, LLNE member and Co-Director of Education also testified in his capacity as President of the Association of Boston Law Librarians (ABLL). AALL also submitted testimony which is available on the AALL website. A list of people registered to speak at the hearing and a list of the members of the Trial Court Public Access to Court Records Committee also appear on our website.
By Michelle Pearse
LLNE Government Relations Member and Communications & Technology Committee Co-Chair
A recent issue of Mass. Lawyers Weekly has an article about potential closure of various Massachusetts trial courts. http://masslawyersweekly.com/2015/06/04/mba-head-30-courthouses-on-chopping-block/ On the right hand side, there is a poll asking how often you visit your local law library. If you are interested in participating, please fill it out (and encourage your patrons to fill it out) soon as it will probably close in a couple of days.
Thanks to Bob DeFabrizio for bringing the article and poll to the attention of the LLNE Executive Board!
By Carli Spina
No matter what your exact job title is, you probably find yourself working on design projects from time-to-time. Whether you are creating posters for an upcoming event, adding content to your library’s website or blog, or creating internal documentation for processes and workflows, graphic design is a feature of a huge array of different library projects. While a client’s job gets done with a Graphic Design Service Subscription, a designer has a series of works to do. If you work on these sorts of projects every day, you probably have your favorite (and likely expensive) graphic design software installed on your computer. But, if you only work on these sorts of projects occasionally, you may find the steep costs and learning curves of this software daunting. Canva is a great tool for anyone in this situation. This web-based graphic design tool is free and quite easy to use and offers you the option to keep costs down by finding your own media to add to your project or to use premium Canva images and templates for a reasonable cost (usually $1 per item).
When you first log onto Canva, you are given the option to create a design either based on your own custom dimensions or by using one of the available project types. These run the gamut from the dimensions needed for common types of social media posts to the dimensions needed to create slides for a presentation, so you will frequently find an option that meets your needs. Even if you don’t find the size you need, you can easily specify your own dimensions.
Once you select your dimensions, your new project will automatically open and prompt you to select a layout. You can instead opt to create your own custom layout, but it is nice to have the option to use one of the included layouts as a starting point. Though not all of the available layouts are free, any that are not free are marked, as is true of all premium content in Canva. One of the nicest features offered by Canva is its integrated image search. This tool allows you to search for images from within Canva when you need them for your project. Some of the images that are returned will be premium images (most, if not all, of which cost $1 each), but generally you will also find free images this way. If you can’t find the right image for your project, you can also upload your own images, which allows you to maintain complete control over the final product. Canva also offers a number of fonts and logos that can help to give your project a professionally designed appearance.
Your project will automatically save as you work on it. Drafts or completed projects can be shared using the unique URL given to each project and you can specify whether you want the shared project to be editable or not. By default, only you are able to edit the project. Canva also has an integrated option to share projects directly to Facebook, Twitter, or email if you want to solicit feedback on your design. You can also download your project as a PDF or PNG file, at which point you will be asked to pay for any of the premium content that you used.
If you are new to graphic design (or have patrons who are), Canva also offers a number of resources to help you get started. Canva users can opt to make their projects public and those projects all end up in the “Design Stream,” which is part gallery and part social network. This can be a great place to look to see what others have done with the tool and to get inspiration. Canva also offers tutorials that are designed to walk even someone who has no design experience through many of the basic principles of graphic design. If you are interested in offering classes to teach your patrons about graphic design, Canva also offers lesson plans that make it easy to integrate Canva into this type of programming. All of this content is free, which makes it a great perk for Canva users. I’ve been using Canva off and on for months and I think it is a great tool for library design projects.
The Massachusetts trial courts have issued a press release regarding public access to court records. You can read the press release here. The public meeting will bee June 15, 2015 from 4-6 pm at the Suffolk Superior courthouse.
The LLNE Nominating Committee has presented the final slate of nominees for the LLNE Board. Elections will be held at the LLNE Luncheon and Business Meeting at the AALL Annual Meeting.
VP/President-Elect: Elaine Apostola
Education Director: Ellen Frentzen
Treasurer: Rick Buckingham
The nominating committee includes Jocelyn Kennedy, Marnie Warner, and Kyle Courtney.
By Anne McDonald and Emilie Benoit, Co-Chairs, LLNE Government Relations Committee
LLNE Government Relations Committee would like to share this news from the Vermont State Department of Libraries with our membership.
Unfortunately, the state legislature did not allot enough money to keep the state law library open and Vermont Law School will take on legal reference services to the public.
Vermont State Librarian Martha Reid comments: “The only good news came in the final days when the Legislature returned to our budget $67,000 that had been slated to be cut, the result of advocacy from the Board of Libraries and others. This $67,000 will be used as a pass-through grant to the Vermont Law School so that their library can take on legal reference services for the public. I am grateful to leaders in the House and Senate who recognized the essential need for public access to legal information and a trained law librarian — and to the Law School for stepping up to the plate; it will help ease the pain of pending cuts to be made in services now provided at the State Library here in Montpelier.” Here is a link to the full text of the Department of Libraries newsletter.
We thank Emily Feltren, Director of AALL’s Government Relations Office, for her constant vigilance on the Vermont law library situation and for keeping us informed.
Emily has spoken with Vermont Law School’s Library director who has stated that while the law school is rural, she is willing to take on the commitment of serving the public.
State Law Librarian Paul Donovan was honored with the Vermont Department of Libraries Staff appreciation award. Congratulations, Paul!
By Anne McDonald, Co-Chair, LLNE Government Relations Committee, and Emilie Benoit, Co-Chair, LLNE Government Relations Committee
The Vermont legislature passed H 490, the state budget bill on May 16, 2015 without restoring cuts to the Vermont Department of Libraries’ budget. Vermont State Law Librarian Paul Donovan thanked LLNE for its support, saying “LLNE’s done all it can, and we’re very, very grateful.” We have no definite word yet as to what will happen next, far as the state law library is concerned, but we will keep LLNE members posted. LLNE’s letter to Vermont legislators is posted on the Vermont Library Association’s website.
A recent article in Library Journal discussed the impact of the proposed budget cuts on Vermont and Connecticut libraries, stating that the common problem in both states is that policymakers have a different view of the modern day role of libraries and that it is important for library supporters to speak out.
The AALL Government Relations Office sponsored a very informative Online Advocacy Training session on May 13th entitled: Progress Report: UELMA Advocacy in 2015 and Beyond. The webinar highlighted the most common challenges advocates face in trying to move UELMA in their respective state legislatures and lays out a roadmap towards overcoming these challenges. A link to the recorded program is here.
The Massachusetts UELMA bill H 43 is currently in the Senate Judiciary Committee. A hearing is scheduled for May 27th at 1 pm in room A-2.
Here is an update from the group’s Chair, Barbara Morgan.
“The UELMA subgroup is continuing to reach out to our legislators re: H43.
We anticipate requesting LLNE members in specific districts to help us move this bill forward in the near future.
Stay tuned to hear about ways you can ensure that legal material deemed official will be preserved and will be permanently available to the public in unaltered form.”
The LLNE Government Relations Committee is providing this information to you to further its committee charge to keep you apprised of legislation which may be of interest to you as an informed law librarian.
By the Service Committee
Whether you’ve already mapped out your Annual Meeting schedule, or you plan to pick sessions on the plane, consider blocking off some time to volunteer in Philly. This year’s meeting needs lots of helpers to make sure everything runs smoothly in the following areas:
Sign up today or ask questions at aallvolunteers2015@gmail.com.
This year’s meeting has an additional volunteer opportunity for Annual Meeting Pros: the First-Time Annual Meeting Host Program. Volunteers will be given the names and contact information for one or more first-time conference attendees. As a host, you would be expected to contact your newbies before travelling to Philly to give them an idea of what to expect, and answer any questions they have. Once you’re at the conference, spend some time with them and introduce them to all of the cool people you know. Want to make a difference in the life of a new law librarian? Email your name, contact information, and the number of first-time attendees you are willing to host (one, two, or three) to annualmeetinghost@aall.org.
Karen Quinn received the Edgar Award at the Spring 2015 LLNE meeting. LLNE is pleased to provide her remarks below.
“I am deeply touched and honored to accept the Edgar Bellefontaine Award today. It is truly fitting as today, April 24th, is the fifth anniversary of Edgar’s death.
“I know many of you here remember Mr. B personally. How could you forget him? He was larger than life in every sense of the phrase. He was the commander of the Social Law Library ship for 35 years and during those many years, he not only witnessed many innovations, he masterminded them.
“A technological guru before the phrase was coined – he was high tech and embraced automation with open arms. With his can-do attitude, he encouraged his creative staff to follow his lead and implement cutting edge projects. He foresaw the advent of computerization of legal materials as early as the 60’s, set up the Social Law Library as an internet service provider in the 90’s, and in 1989 created a searchable databases of Massachusetts primary and administrative law. Anyone old enough will remember how law librarians would shudder at the prospect of research in administrative law and are grateful to Edgar and the Social Law Library for this contribution to legal research.
“Oh, and did I mention that he worked tirelessly on committees, mentored new librarians and, as Regina Smith noted, put the Social in Social Law Library. Highly regarded as a preservationist, he gave new life to thousands of pages of court records which were found in the musty court house basement and brought them into the light for generations to come.
“I must say that I was a bit awestruck by Mr. B. and his many accomplishments. To receive this award and to have my name associated with Mr. B. is an honor indeed. But when you think about it, I don’t think we are that different. Whether it be technology, digitization, reference or preservation, I believe throughout our careers as librarians, we shared many of the same goals, with the main goal providing service to our users and greater access to justice. That is Service with a capital S — Service to our patrons, whether large law firms, other librarians, solo practitioners or Joe Q Public. Each constituency was to be treated equally and each was to be provided with the absolute best legal materials our individual budgets could buy. By providing this service, the playing field would be levelled and access to justice would be enhanced. Short and sweet, that is what we do, day in and day out and that is why law libraries remain and hopefully will remain, a cornerstone of democracy.
“Thank you to Raquel and Nicole for those lovely remarks, to the committee for this honor, to my staff at the Rhode island State Law Library, most especially Colleen Hanna, who was always there for me, and to all my friends at LLNE.
“It certainly has been a wonderful ride.”
Congratulations to Karen and thank you for all your work.
