Three years ago this month, I went to my first day of work as a law librarian, then headed the next day to my first AALL.

I've always appreciated that my anniversary in the profession coincides with the annual meeting; it's a nice chance to reflect on my career so far. Not going to navel gaze here, but suffice to say I am satisfied, and looking forward to many more years of gentle law librating.

There are a few things, however, that stand out.

Before I became a librarian, I had an absolute dread of networking. The thought of it made my skin crawl. So I was surprised to find that it wasn't actually so bad when law librarians were involved. In fact, I didn't really mind it at all, and it's only gotten better from there. I think it helped a lot that the CONELL committee does such a great job of helping newbies get started.

The other thing that helped early on was walking into my first (the first, in fact) meeting of the Gen X / Gen Y Caucus. It feels incredibly corny to say, but it was a thrill to walk into a room with about a hundred people my age who were just as excited to be law librarians as I was. (I suspect part of the excitement was that I didn't really know anyone in library school let alone anyone younger who was also interested in law librarianship.) The first thing we did was re-arrange all the chairs in the room into an enormous circle. It was great. That was a highlight, but my whole first annual meeting made me feel like I'd found my people.

Fast forward three years to my fourth annual meeting. I got to work the CS-SIS booth at CONELL's exhibit hall this time. It was worth getting up for the early flight. I met a lot of the cool new people and began to feel more like an old conference pro. Someone handed me a slip with the URL to sign up for the mentoring program, and I think suggested I do so as a mentor. I guess I'm really not a newbie anymore.

Meanwhile, I've been on the Gen X / Gen Y social planning committee for three years, and this year's event was mind-blowing. We made a reservation for 20; I counted at least 53 people at one point. Yeah. It's just one indication of the group's success. We're taking all necessary steps toward becoming an SIS. Our members represent on SIS and chapter boards, and on national committees; and present multiple times at conferences. They're also behind creative new things like the first annual Lawberry Camp. (Got ideas for next year? Help with the proposal.) I have a lot of loyalties within the association, but ask me which group I'm most proud of, and it's the Caucus.

In addition all that, I've made some really amazing friends in the profession, especially over the past year or so. People I like to think I'd be friends with if we met outside of the law library sphere. I've found not only my people, but my pack.

Two other mentionable-but-not-really-related highlights:

• This year's opening even in the halls of the Library of Congress was phenomenal. The mild thunder and lightning storm added a little locked-in-the-library magic to the evening. As I commented elsewhere, it's a shame the place isn't more portable, because it sure beats convention halls and hotel ballrooms.
• CS-SIS karaoke outing. Last year when I went for the first time, there were fewer than a dozen people and it was fun, but low key. This year? I'm not sure what happened (nor which year was more unusual), but there were over 70 people. And since Connie Crosby has video anyway, I'm just going to say it: looking out into a room full of law librarians and realizing that everyone else was also belting "Don't Stop Believin'" is something I'll never forget. Though perhaps I should. :)

And with this post, I hope to get blogging here a little more often. I've been waiting till I get around to switching to WordPress, then Tom Boone and Jason Eiseman convinced me at CALIcon that I too can handle Drupal--but I'm unlikely to make any kind of platform switch until I get a new computer this fall.

Welcome to my blog!

A little about me: I'm a new law librarian, on my first gig as a reference librarian at the Nova Southeastern University Law Library in south Florida. I studied Medieval and modern European history for my undergrad degree in the Midwest, where I was born and raised. In a previous life, I was assistant to an auction house executive in New York City. It was as cool as it sounds. Once I realized that living in NYC for the rest of my life was unsustainable, it finally occurred to me to fulfill my destiny and go to library school. I credit Librarian Avenger's Worship essay giving me the necessary nudge to the path.

I knew at the start of library school that I wanted to be a special librarian, and was led down the path to law librarianship through various experiences in my coursework. It's a wonderful career: challenging, interesting, and far more fun that it may sound to anyone who is not a law librarian.

A little about me and blogging: I've had the blogging itch for quite awhile, but lack one of the things I think of as a necessary prerequisite to a good blog, namely an idea for a specific subject on which to blog. Yet I kept coming across links and having experiences that I knew I'd be blogging about if I blogged. It was frustrating.

Most of all, I wanted in on the social side of blogging, getting to know other bloggers, participating in the memes that float around, attending blogger gatherings at conferences, etc. Those all seem like the most fun part. And I've been missing out.

A little about this blog: While I await enlightenment of the specific subject for the ideal blog-by-me, I've decided to dive in with this, an all-purpose biblioblawg. If you're looking for a blog that strictly sticks to matters of law, librarianship, or legal research, you're in the wrong place. I can't promise that any of the following items will never be mentioned:

• Rufus and Emma (the first felines in my life--pictures linked ARE on topic for legal research)
• The woes of second-sock syndrome
• Politics
• Why I love Battlestar Galactica, and what a huge contrast it is with Star Trek: The Next Generation, which I'm reviewing now and also love
  
• Shameless Mac enthusiasm
  
• Video links, library-related or not
  
• Other totally random things that I find amusing and/or enlightening

On the other hand, there will definitely be librarianship and legal research content. I expect to share some of my observations and experiences as one new to the profession, though the totally new experiences are becoming fewer and further between as I approach the end of my first year. I have a lot to say about Second Life, since I'm working on our library's building there. The biggest unexpected bonus to this career is the fun of getting paid to play with/learn about new geeky stuff. There will be conference blogging. As well as mentions of cool new books and other resources I come across. Anyone interested in a history of ticket scalping since 1850?

Two quick aesthetic notes: (1) The first time I saw blawg used to refer to a law-related blog, it made me cringe. Too clever for its own good. Yet it seems I've come around to it. Also: biblioblog was taken on Blogger, and I was out of cleverness myself. (2) This generic Blogger template is dull, dull, dull. I fully intend to customize the CSS and gussy it up with a few graphics, but if I wait to launch until I've got everything just right, another blogless six months will float by.

So that, in short, is this blog. Or will be. Most posts will be a lot shorter than this. Just like the flour you can use for muffins, cookies, bread, or cake, it has a lot of uses. Versatile. All-purpose.

Welcome.