LLNE Meeting – Law Librarians of New England

Interview with LLNE Spring Meeting Panelist Nicholas Mignanelli

We are so excited for the LLNE/SNELLA Spring 2022 Meeting! In anticipation of our day at Yale Law School discussing Critical Law Librarianship, we hope you enjoy this interview with one of the panelists.

Picture of Rufus looking like a good boy!

Tell us a fun fact about yourself! I have always loved folklore (not the Taylor Swift album). I am especially fond of urban legends, ghost stories, and local cryptids. New England, being America’s creepy attic, is full of them.
What is your favorite New England spot and why? There are so many to choose from, so I’ll highlight two spots found in our host city of New Haven. First, Center Church on the Green – The First Church of Christ in New Haven, a church completed in 1814 that serves as the meetinghouse for a congregation that was organized in 1639. It contains a Tiffany window depicting Puritan minister John Davenport preaching his first sermon in New Haven, a Fisk organ, box pews, a crypt with 137 well-preserved headstones dating from 1687, and a friendly and welcoming congregation. Second, Lighthouse Point Park, a city park that features the iconic Five Mile Point Light, a turn-of-the-century carousel, a beach, nature trails, and magnificent views of the Long Island Sound and the New Haven skyline.
Do you have any pets? No, but my parents have a German Shepard named Rufus who I adore. He is intelligent, funny, and a good boy (although I still haven’t forgiven him for the time he ate my HeinOnline facemask).
What is your favorite hobby? I collect rare law books. I recently acquired a first edition of Tapping Reeve’s The Law of Baron and Femme, an early American legal treatise on “domestic relations” (family law) published here in New Haven in 1816.
What do you enjoy most about being a law librarian? As Alfred, Lord Tennyson put it, “[m]astering the lawless science of our law, / That codeless myriad of precedent, / That wilderness of single instances, / Thro’ which a few, by wit or fortune led, / May beat a pathway out to wealth and fame.” I have a romantic view of legal information, and this is what brings me joy as a law librarian and legal research professor.
How did you end up where you are, doing what you’re doing? How did you end up in your specialty? I fell in love with legal research instruction as a student at UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law, where I worked as a teaching assistant in legal research. I had wonderful mentors who encouraged me to go to the University of Arizona Law Library Fellows Program, the first law library program to offer an entire graduate seminar on teaching legal research. After Arizona, I served as the reference & instructional services librarian and a lecturer in law at the University of Miami School of Law, where I first discovered Critical Legal Research and began to think about how I could integrate critical perspectives on legal information into the legal research classroom. About a year and a half ago, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to return to New England as the research & instructional services librarian and a lecturer in legal research at Yale Law School.
What do you think is one of the most important aspects of critical law librarianship? I think the heart of critical law librarianship is the theory that power structures in our society shape the organization of legal information and embed biases in legal research tools. Accordingly, we need to find ways to contend with this phenomenon, whether through the methods and strategies of Critical Legal Research or the pedagogical techniques of critical legal information literacy.

LLNE Scholarship Application is EXTENDED to May 20th!

Greetings LLNE Members!

The members of the LLNE Scholarship Committee would like to invite you to apply for our open scholarships. We encourage you to apply for any (or all) of the scholarships listed below. LLNE Scholarships are available to attend or access the annual AALL or biannual LLNE meetings; for participation in continuing education/training opportunities; and for those seeking a degree in librarianship. Descriptions of our scholarship opportunities are listed below and on the LLNE website.

Basic Scholarship information:

Meeting Scholarship: Help with registration fees or travel expenses, for LLNE members who wish to attend the Spring LLNE Meeting being held this June at Yale Law School, or the AALL meeting being held this July in Denver, CO.
Academic Scholarship: LLNE members who are enrolled in an accredited degree program in Library Science or in an ABA-accredited law school are eligible for one of our academic scholarships.
Continuing Education Scholarship: LLNE members who wish to access continuing education and training opportunities beyond the programming offered at our biannual LLNE meetings and the annual AALL meetings may apply for one of our continuing education scholarships.

The application criteria and the application form can be found here, (LLNE scholarship guidelines and application process), and the application deadline has been extended to next Friday, May 20th. Please contact Dawn Smith at dawn.smith@yale.edu if you need more information.

Again, we encourage you to apply!

Posted on behalf of the Scholarship Committee

LLNE Scholarship Application is open!

Greetings LLNE Members!

Basic Scholarship information:

Meeting Scholarship: Help with registration fees or travel expenses, for LLNE members who wish to attend the Spring LLNE Meeting being held this June at Yale Law School, or the AALL meeting being held this July in Denver, CO.
Academic Scholarship: LLNE members who are enrolled in an accredited degree program in Library Science or in an ABA-accredited law school are eligible for one of our academic scholarships.
Continuing Education Scholarship: LLNE members who wish to access continuing education and training opportunities beyond the programming offered at our biannual LLNE meetings and the annual AALL meetings may apply for one of our continuing education scholarships.

The application criteria and the application form can be found here, (LLNE scholarship guidelines and application process), and all applications are due on May 13^th, 2022. Please contact Dawn Smith at dawn.smith@yale.edu if you need more information.

Again, we encourage you to apply!

Sincerely,

The LLNE Scholarship Committee

Dawn Smith, Chair

Ana Delgado Valentin

Jocelyn Kennedy

Reflections from an LLNE Education Committee Co-Director

I am serving my second consecutive term as one of the Education Directors for LLNE. A large part of the position is requesting Law Libraries to host the semi-annual LLNE Meeting and Conference.

My first LLNE meeting was after moving from New York to Maine in 1994. I agreed to drive to a meeting in Boston. I was arrogant and thought driving in Boston would not be an issue. That is when I first found out that Boston is not organized in a grid. I decided to stop for coffee on the way back to the parking garage at the end of the day. Everywhere I went people said, ‘You’re welcome, Maureen’, ‘Have a nice day, Maureen’. A person held the door and said, ‘have a good evening, Maureen’. I was busy thinking of how to easily get north and it would be on the drive that I realized I was still wearing my name tag. I have an appreciation now for the bus and train. I have since learned that Boston is a very nice city to walk around and I still prefer walking to driving.

LLNE meetings are a place to spend some time meeting other Law Librarians. When I attend a meeting, I always learn something new, talk to someone I did not know and, thoroughly enjoy myself. When Maine Law hosts the meetings, I enjoy being able to share my fondness for Maine and our little city, Portland. New England is a large geographic space. I suggest talking yourself into traveling and seeing more of New England’s wonderful cities and neighborhoods. How often are you getting the opportunity to visit a part of New England you do not live in? There is a good chance that an old friend will also be in attendance. Meet some new Librarians and see a Law Library you have not visited before.

LLNE offers scholarships for those attending an LLNE Conference and Meeting https://llne.org/committees/scholarships/scholarshipinfo/

Thank you to all the Law Libraries who have hosted meetings. We know there are many hours of work and planning that go into each meeting. The Education Directors and everyone at LLNE are aware that it is no easy task to host a meeting.

Fall 2021 Meeting – [In]accessible Justice: Innovation, Technology and Solutions

There is still time to register for the Fall 2021 meeting next Friday!

If you’ve registered, a Zoom link to attend will be sent soon!

More details and a schedule can be found on the meeting website.

See you soon!

Fall 2021 Meeting Planning Committee

LLNE Trivia Night 2021!

Join us on Wednesday, November 17th at 7PM (EST) for LLNE Trivia Night 2021! The event will once again be hosted by Ttodd and prizes provided by Lexis. We will be raising money for SouthCoast Fair Housing, a nonprofit fair housing organization dedicated to eliminating housing discrimination, ensuring equal housing opportunities, and developing inclusive communities throughout Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. Remember to register for the event and donate any amount! Once registered, the Zoom link will be sent to you prior to the event. This event is open to all, so feel free to invite family, friends, and colleagues.

Can’t make it to trivia? You can still donate to this great cause!

Questions? Contact Jessica at jessica.almeida@umassd.edu.

The LLNE Service Committee

Update From the Access to Justice Committee

Hello LLNE Members,

I am Anne Rajotte, the chair of the Access to Justice Committee. I am joined this year by three members: Dana Lucisano, Misty Peltz-Steele, and Sara McMahon. The Committee is actively seeking opportunities for outreach to public libraries and the community generally. Some possible initiatives this year include creating additional informational resources through Legal Link and submitting proposals to present at regional library conferences on topics related to assisting public library patrons with locating reliable legal information.

This fall’s virtual meeting, which focuses on technology and access to justice, should provide some inspiration and ideas for how law librarians can use their skills and resources to begin to bridge the justice gap. As our profession combines information seeking, legal knowledge, and technological innovation, we are natural participants in the movement to increase access to justice.

The Access to Justice Committee welcomes new members! Please contact me at anne.rajotte@uconn.edu if you are interested in joining us.

Save the Date!

Logo in blue and yellow for LLNE’s virtual fall conference, [In]accessible Justice: Innovation, Technology and Solutions with a yellow figure climbing the words

We are excited to announce, the LLNE Fall Conference, will be held November 12^th online.

Entitled, [In}accessible Justice: Innovation, Technology, and Solutions, it will focus on the intersection of technology and access to justice and explore ways that technology can help to bridge the justice gap. The day will begin with speakers from the National Center for State Courts defining the justice gap and discussing existing approaches to address it. The following panels will explore ways technology can improve access to legal assistance, information, and institutions. Speakers from technology firms, nonprofits, law firms, law schools, courts, and bar associations will discuss their initiatives and how they have used technology to address an identified need.

A lot of research and location scouting was done to find a COVID safe location for the Fall 2021 meeting. Sadly, after monitoring health recommendations and local and regional COVID-19 developments, it was decided to not hold an in person meeting.

Many more details and registration are coming soon on the conference website!

We look forward to seeing you there!!! -Nicole Dyszlewski, Jessica Almeida, Kaitlin Connolly, Danielle Lamontagne, Joshua LaPorte, Jessica Panella, Anne Rajotte, and Michael VanderHeijden

Coded Bias Screening and Discussion

We have another event coming your way this week! After the 2021 LLNE Virtual Spring Meeting, join us THIS Friday June 11 at 7pm EST for a screening and discussion of the documentary Coded Bias. See below for more information and to register.

Coded Bias Screening and Discussion
Friday, June 11th at 7pm ET/ 6pm CT/ 5pm MT/ 4pm PT

CODED BIAS explores the fallout of MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini’s discovery that facial recognition does not see dark-skinned faces accurately, and her journey to push for the first-ever legislation in the U.S. to govern against bias in the algorithms that impact us all. Join us for a screening of this acclaimed documentary followed by a discussion featuring:

Nicole Dyszlewski (moderator), Head of Reference, Instruction, & Engagement, Roger Williams University School of Law
Sarah Lamdan, Professor of Law, CUNY School of Law
Susan Nevelow Mart, Professor and Director of the Law Library, University of Colorado Law School

To register visit: tinyurl.com/xr5dm9wf

Sponsored by the Legal Information Services to the Public Special Interest Section, the Law Librarians of New England, and the Research Crits Caucus.

From the Education Committee

As my 2019-2021 term, as one of the Educational Directors draws nearer to the end I wanted to reflect on this time. Like everyone else I thought this commitment would be the usual experiences of some in-person conferences and some telephone meetings.

LLNE has two Educational Directors. Each serves two years with the terms ending on different years. My term started in July 2019. I did not attend the annual AALL meeting in 2019 in Washington, D.C. as I was at a family reunion. I was without a care and thought I would attend the meeting in July of 2020 in Cincinnati.

One strange thing about being one of the co-Educational Directors is attending meetings and thanking hosts for work done by previous Educational Directors. My first LLNE Conference as Educational Director was hosted by the Harvard Law Library and was on Artificial Intelligence and Algorithms in Law Libraries and Legal Practice. Little did we know this was the last in-person conference that would be planned for a long time.

One of the many wonderful experiences working with LLNE has been meeting so many dynamic and creative law librarians. There was a resilience and a commitment to moving forward during challenging times. LLNE leadership stepped up as COVID-19 protocols were put in place and planned a virtual spring 2020 conference. Summer gave way to fall and COVID-19 would not allow an in person conference. So, the University of Connecticut Law Library planned a virtual Fall Conference. Suffolk will host a virtual conference in the late spring of this year.

We will meet virtually for the AALL Annual Meeting this summer. When the new academic year starts and the leaves fall again LLNE will again plan and host the meeting. The traditions will continue.

– Maureen