While I was in D.C., a library director whom I'd just met wondered why there weren't more younger people at the Academic Law Library of 2015 workshop. I didn't have a ready answer, and I've been thinking about it ever since. There were actually a number of reasons.

First, I confess that my (possibly superficial) impression of the pre-workshop listserv discussion was that many of the issues on it were things that had been hashed and rehashed for years with little action. No thanks. (I have subsequently heard good things about the workshop, so I'm happy my impression was incorrect or that the listserv didn't otherwise accurately preview the workshop.)

My other personal issue with getting to the workshop was working with a shortened travel schedule, because I also went to CALI. The best I could do with that was get to D.C. in time for the late morning CONELL exhibit hall.

Finally, and perhaps most important, I've only now noticed in the workshop description that the target audience is listed as "academic law library senior managers." This does not describe me, nor many of my most talented peers--future directors and AALL presidents certainly among them. Granted, 2015 is not far in the future and there are some young-ish librarians that fit that description, but if one is really interested in the future of libraries, one should make sure that ALL the librarians who will be making and living it are invited.

...

I'm aware there was also some to-do about where the young law librarians were at the business meeting and member forum during the conference. (I'd been planning to go but didn't, because I ended up working the Gen X / Gen Y Caucus booth. Oh, irony.) I do think it takes a few years to figure out the association and gain a level of interest to support attending the business meeting. I went to part of one my first year (and haven't been back since), and it wasn't really clear to me that I was supposed to be there, to be honest. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in having had that experience.

Meanwhile, what I'd like to know is, where are the older law librarians showing an interest in the younger generation? Yes, quite a number support CONELL, but that's for newer librarians, not necessarily younger ones. Bob Oakley was a marvelous supporter of the Gen X / Gen Y Caucus from its first meeting, and I think of him fondly every year during our meeting. Jim Milles attended last year. This year, board member Chris Graesser attended our meeting (and witnessed our first election), and president Catherine Lemann joined her for our social. I may be missing some stealth boomers, but that's not very many.

Like the business meeting, Caucus meetings and socials are open to all law librarians. The former is now a must on my agenda for next year. I sincerely hope there will be some more generational cross-over in the other direction too.

Someone forwarded me the link to the posting for Harvard's Associate Dean for Library & Information Resources [pdf link]. Neither the MLS nor the JD is necessarily required:

The ideal candidate will possess, in addition to an undergraduate degree:

• An advanced degree in Library or Information Science or a similar field, or equivalent experience in the organization and management of information. A Juris Doctor degree is strongly preferred.

Diane Murley, formerly of Southern Illinois University Law and the Law Dawg Blawg, has settled into her new position as web services coordinator and reference librarian at the Arizona State University Ross-Blakley Law Library.

She recently started the Ross-Blakley Law Library Blog. Beyond the beautiful design, there is great content covering "news, views, tips, and tools to help you succeed in law school"--though you don't have to be a law student to enjoy and learn from it. Diane will also again be posting a "law animal of the week"--a weekly picture of a dog, cat, or horse(!) submitted by members of the ASU Law School community.

Diane has also launched the Ross-Blakley Law Library Podcast channel for another way of keeping up with research tips and news from the law library.

A poem, in honor of the last day of National Poetry Month:

Adjudicated quarrels of mankind,
Brown row on row!--how well these lawyers bind
Their records of dead sin,--as if they feared
The hate might spill and their long shelves be smeared
With slime of human souls,--brown row on row
Span on Philistine span, a greasy show
Of lust and lies and cruelty, dried grime
Streaked from the finger of the beggar,
Time.

--Archibald MacLeish,
"A Library of Law" from Tower of Ivory 46 (1917)
(found in The Oxford Dictionary of American Legal Quotations)

Hey, I never promised it would be uplifting!

Diane Murley at Law Dawg Blawg has compiled a wonderful collection of resources and suggestions for students heading out to summer associateships and clerkships. Not just text and not just legal research, the suggestions include podcasts and videos as well as materials on working with one's boss and accepting assignments.

I know a certain new librarian who got tongue-tied and artistically impaired the first time she tried to explain Boolean searching to a Lawyering Skills & Values class. She'll be taking a look at the Ziefbrief materials on Boolean research skills.

We law librarians are used to seeing the books we work with displayed inappropriately as props in TV shows from Star Trek to The West Wing. Whether dumped in indiscriminate piles or shelved a mere half-dozen volumes at a time, the presentation is usually utterly wrong.

Law book sets, particularly case reporters, come in many hundreds, sometimes thousands of volumes. They go on for dozens and dozens of shelves, intimidating many who would approach with their sheer, well, volume. I guarantee you that no one does legal research with just their favorite six volumes of U.S. Reports. Not successful legal research, anyway. So you can imagine my excitement at seeing a whole wall of reporters in this video.

I have no idea who Cascada is, and I don’t expect ever to hear of her again, but whomever arranged the sets in this video got it right.

Source: The Other Librarian, who says the video depicts how he met his wife.