no. llam newsarchives.library.illinois.edu/erec/aall_archives/8501628a/news/llamjun... · a $100...
TRANSCRIPT
A Chapter of the Amer ican Assoc iat ion of Law L ibrar ies
Continued on page 17
President’s Message
La w L i br ary Ass o c iat i on o f M ary la nd
BY JANET CAMILLO Librarian Montgomery County Circuit Court Law Library
The year has flown by for me. It began with a Re‐view of the Conventions Program and the North East Regional Conference in To‐ronto. In other fall activities, we hosted Lio Louis‐Jacques from AALL, presented a program on medical research, and held our annual Holiday Party and auction to benefit charity. We began 2008 with Maryland Legislative Day and a program on long term care, and continued our spring activities with the Legal Research Institute, our LLAM Reads program, and a program on marketing with newsletters. LLAM members attended and pre‐sented programs at the SEAALL Conference in Alexandria, Virginia, during which Maryland was officially welcomed into that chapterʹs region. We ended our year of programs with our final meeting at the Spring Fling. At that meeting the newly elected members of the board were an‐nounced and the lamb was passed. Congratula‐tions to Vice President Joanne Dugan, Secretary Susan Herrick, Treasurer Bijal Shah and new board member Thea Warner. They join President Jean Hessenauer, Board Member Glen Spangler, and me as Past President, on the Board. Special thanks go out to our departing board member, Past President Pat Behles and Catherine McGuire,
ANOTHER TEACHING SUCCESS Susan Herrick reports from this year’s Legal Research Institute…… 3
AND IT’S FREE? Trevor Rosen gives us a prelimi‐nary assessment of the new Public Library of Law... 12
HELLO, THERE! Meet three new librarians at Maryland law libraries...…………………………….. 14
EASTERN SHORE, REVISITED Joanne Dugan reviews Song Yet Sung, James McBride’s latest novel set in Maryland………………………………....……... 16
. . . AND MORE
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
June 2008, Vol. 27 No. 4
L L A M N e w s departing Public Relations Committee Chair. Both Pat and Catherine have been wonderful col‐leagues and of course we know where they live, so LLAM will be calling! During this year we also put our directory online and decided to allow open access to all of our newsletters. Thanks to Pat Behles, the 25th Anni‐versary celebration was completed with a display in the Pratt Library window and a proclamation from the Governor. Our zoo mascot, Lambert, will continue to receive LLAM sponsorship. We joined
in the statewide Library Organiza‐tion Council to represent librarian interests throughout the state and managed to discourage legislation that would have harmed circuit court libraries and other library interests. The Board voted to include a grant for expenses in addition to the
AALL Registration Award. Sara Witman was the
Membership
form
page 21
I leave with … an organization that is
imbued with a spirit of fun and seriousness of purpose, ready to face another 25 years.
Archives Committee ‐ Joe Bennett Government/Vendor Relations ‐ Joan Bellestri Membership Committee ‐ Trevor Rosen Newsletter Committee ‐ Sara Witman Placement Committee ‐ Tonya Baroudi Program Committee ‐ Jean Hessenauer Public Relations Committee ‐ Catherine McGuire & Anne Morrison Publications Committee ‐ Maxine Grosshans Technology Committee/Webmaster ‐ Kurt Meyer
Page 2
Standing Committee Chairs 2007—2008
June 2008
President ‐ Janet Camillo Vice‐President/President Elect ‐ Jean Hessenauer Secretary ‐ Susan Herrick Treasurer ‐ Bijal Shah Immediate Past President ‐ Pat Behles Elected Board Member ‐ Joanne Dugan Elected Board Member ‐ Glen Spangler
Board of Trustees 2007—2008
LLAM News | Vol. 27, No. 4
We would like to announce LLAM’s officers for the 2008‐2009 year:
Election Results
President : Jean Hessenauer
Vice‐President/President‐Elect : Joanne Dugan*
Treasurer : Bijal Shah
Secretary : Susan Herrick
Board Members : Glen Spangler (1 year) &
Thea Warner (2 years)* Past President : Janet Camillo
*Newly Elected
Page 3 LLAM News | Vol. 27, No. 4
June 2008
On March 19, LLAM and the University of Balti‐more Law Library presented the Legal Research Institute (LRI). The LRI provides legal research in‐struction primarily for non‐law librarians, parale‐gals, and other legal support personnel. The 2008 version of this biennial program focused on general legal research, unlike the 2006 LRI, which focused on specialized topics in legal research. Chilly and drizzly weather did not dissuade the more than fifty registrants, who turned out early for a breakfast buffet before the program began. The half‐day program started with John Cannan, Assis‐tant Law Librarian of the Montgomery County Cir‐cuit Court Law Library, who presented “Lifecycle of a Case,” based on a hypothetical lawsuit brought by the aggrieved Harvey Homeowner, against a librar‐ian who provided him with substandard informa‐tion related to the building of a rooftop deck on his row home. This segment provided an entertaining foundation for understanding the various legal in‐formation resources that would be covered in the later presentations. After a short break, Steve Anderson, Director of the Maryland State Law Library, spoke about primary legal materials. After a brief “civics lesson” that de‐scribed the branches of government and their law‐
making powers, Steve thoroughly covered the sources of federal, as well as Maryland state and local, pri‐mary legal materials. He a lso descr ibed various free and reli‐able internet alterna‐
Successful Legal Research Institute draws crowd BY SUSAN HERRICK Research Librarian Thurgood Marshall Law Library
tives to the fee‐based published sources. Joanne Dugan, Assistant Director for Public Services at University of Baltimore Law Library, then took the lectern to describe secondary source materials. Joanne discussed when and how to use secondary sources, as well as the major categories of these sources and how to find them. The formal presentations were followed by a series of brief hands‐on sessions, giving participants a
The LRI again turned out to be a popular and well‐received
contribution to the local legal community.
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June 2008
LLAM News | Vol. 27, No. 4
LRI participants receive hands‐on training at research stations
chance to see the legal materials in action and to use them. Participants rotated through four library sta‐tions focusing on secondary sources, court rules, statutes, and cases. These sessions were conducted by Pat Behles, Janet Camillo, Anna Cole, and Susan Herrick. In addition to the fine speakers, kudos are also due to the planning committee for the LRI: Joanne Dugan, who chaired the committee; Maxine
Grosshans, who arranged for collecting and dupli‐cating the handout materials; Catherine McGuire and Anne Morrison, who handled the publicity and registration; and Pat Behles and Bijal Shah, who handled the local arrangements at University of Bal‐timore. The LRI again turned out to be a popular and well‐received contribution to the local legal com‐munity.
Janet Camillo guides two researchers through statutes. Anna Cole provides assistance with encyclopedias.
Pat Behles walks participants through computer research. Susan Herrick and researchers hit the books.
Enoch Pratt Library window celebrates LLAM The Enoch Pratt Free Library Central Branch unveiled a window display last month celebrating the 25th anni‐versary of LLAM. The display reads: For 25 years, the Law Library Assoc i a t i on o f Mary l and (LLAM) mission has been to provide and enhance the role of libraries in the legal and public communities, to promote the profession of law librarianship, and to provide leadership in the field of legal information. To learn more, please visit: http://www.aallnet.org/chapter/llam/ Hats off to Past President Pat Behles for her work with the Enoch Pratt designers and for her initiative with this project.
Governor honors 25th anni‐versary with proclamation On April 15, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed a proclamation recognizing the contributions LLAM has made to the state in the last 25 years. The proclamation also honors LLAM on its 25th Anniver‐sary. Pat Behles presented the proclamation at the an‐nual Spring Fling in May and mentioned that April 15 is also National Library Work‐ers Day. For a closer look at the proclamation, see page 20.
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June 2008
LLAM News | Vol. 27, No. 4
Chapter News
Procedure manual now available online Current and future LLAM officers, committee chairs and committee members can now re‐view responsibilities, procedures and commit‐tee functions on the LLAM website at aallnet.org/chapter/llam/procedures.htm. Three documents available there are Commit‐tee Functions, Executive Board Functions, and Procedure Manual.
Board votes to support Maryland Zoo The LLAM Board recently agreed to contribute
a $100 donation to Lambert, a sheep at the Maryland Zoo at Baltimore, for another year. LLAM adopted Lambert last year to commemorate our 25th anniversary. Lambert is a member of the Jacob Sheep family and resides at the children’s zoo with another Jacob sheep named Droopy. For more information about adopting animals at the Maryland Zoo, see
www.marylandzoo.org/membership/adopt‐an‐animal.aspx
Secretary and Treasurer to serve two‐year terms The Board also recently voted to make the Sec‐retary and Treasurer positions two‐year elected appointments, rather than one‐year terms. The term change will be effective with the 2009 election.
LLAM recognizes outstanding service
BY JANET CAMILLO Librarian Montgomery County Circuit Court Law Library
In recognition of her valuable contributions to the Law Library Association of Maryland, Beverly Rubenstein was presented with the first Service to LLAM Award at the Spring Fling. The citation read at the presentation stated: Beverly Rubenstein, you have been President, Board Member, Committee Chair, Archivist and founding member of LLAM.
Since 1985 you have been willing to plan, organize and take a leadership role in our Association. For all of your work, we would like to express the ap‐preciation of our Board and the entire membership of LLAM by bestowing on you the 2008 Service to LLAM Award.
Thank You.
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June 2008
LLAM News | Vol. 27, No. 4
Chapter News
Beverly wanted to let the members of LLAM know that she thanks them for the award and is appreciative of this honor. She said that she could think of many other members who would be more worthy of it, but she was thrilled at the recogni‐tion by the members of her other family.
MD Judiciary creates new advisory group on legal information
BY SARA WITMAN Research Librarian Gordon, Feinblatt, Rothman, Hoffberger & Hollander
On April 24, Chief Judge Robert M. Bell of the Maryland Court of Appeals announced the crea‐tion of the Conference of Maryland Court Law Library Directors. The group will advise the Judici‐ary on issues of legal information. The Conference will also focus on issues such as library manage‐ment, collection development, and available public services. Joan Bellistri, director of the Anne Arundel County Public Law Library, will serve as the Conference’s first chair. Janet Camillo, director of the Montgom‐
ery County Circuit Court Law Library and presi‐dent of LLAM will serve as vice‐chair. In a Court Information Office press release, available at www.courts.state.md.us/press/2008/pr042408.html, Joan Bellistri said, “We are honored that the Con‐ference of Maryland Court Law Library Directors has been added to those organiza‐tions created to support the Judici‐ary. It is our goal that through this organization we make it known that the court library’s role in providing access to information is an essential element in the court’s ability to pro‐vide access to justice.”
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June 2008
LLAM News | Vol. 27, No. 4
Member News
Professional Updates Congratulations to all of our recent award winners: John Cannan, of the Montgomery Circuit Court Law Library, received an award from the State, Court, & Counties Law Library SIS to attend the AALL Annual Meeting in Port‐land this July. Sara Witman of Gordon, Feinblatt, Rothman, Hoffberger & Hollander received the 2008 AALL Annual Meeting Registration Award from LLAM, which includes both registration and a $500 travel grant. Additionally, the Maryland State Law Library Annual Report is the recipient of the 2008 AALL Law Library Publication Award in the
print division, thanks in large part to the hard work and skill of Catherine McGuire. The Award will be presented at the AALL Mem‐ber Services area in the Exhibit Hall on Mon‐day, July 14 from 1 pm ‐ 2 pm at the Annual Meeting.
Lots of happenings at the Maryland State Law Library:
Mary Jo Lazun is the new Head of Electronic Services at the Maryland State Law Library. Mary Jo had been a research/state publications librarian before her promotion. Donna Wi‐esinger, the former Head of Electronic Ser‐vices, moved to Florida. Also at the Maryland State Law Library, Katherine Baer, formerly a contractual re‐search librarian, is now a full‐time permanent research/state publications librarian. Maryland State Law Library Director Steve Anderson will be speaking to the National Association of Unemployment Insurance Ap‐pellate Boards in Scottsdale, AZ in early June about the People’s Law Library. Jackie Curro reported on recent changes at the Maryland Department of Legislative Services Library: We have had major changes in our staff at the Maryland Department of Legislative Services Library in the past year with three important members retiring and new librarians join‐ing our team. The Head of Technical Processing, Lynda Cunningham, retired in June after 30
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June 2008
LLAM News | Vol. 27, No. 4
Member News
Personal Tidbits Aerenne Mairead, daughter of John Cannan, was born on April 23. Aerenne weighed 6 lb. and 15 oz. Best wishes to mother, father, and baby, who are all doing fine!
2005‐2006 President Scott Steven’s son Henry celebrated his first birthday in April. Scott re‐ports that Henry is “walking, running, dancing (LOVES dance music!) and trying to talk. I look at him and think, ’What energy crisis?’ He keeps his family exercising. “ Aww. Scott also noted, “He’s been taking up most of my time lately, so sorry I haven’t been able to attend many LLAM functions.” Understandable, Scott. Thanks for the update! Do you have news you’d like to share with your LLAM colleagues? Please send any professional or personal news you’d like to share to Sara Witman at [email protected]
years with the library, Senior Cataloger Carol Carman retired in December after 28 years, and Senior Reference Librarian Marilyn McManus retired in October after 21 years; all together making quite a dent in the institutional memory of the Library. Senior Reference Librarian Cynthia Stiver‐son took over many of Lynda’s responsi‐bilities, and Annette Kaltenbaugh and Sandra Mueller joined the reference staff. Kimberley Edwards, Karen Lehmkuhl and Kimberly Waidelich all helped out in cataloging before moving on to other op‐portunities but the cataloging position has not been filled yet. Annette began working with us in August, just a month before our special Legislative Session began. Sandy had an even harsher initiation by fire; starting to work just as our regular 90 Day Legislative Session began in January! Both worked at the Severna Park Branch of the Anne Arundel County Public Library System before com‐ing to the DLS Library and they are out‐standing reference librarians, who quickly became familiar with our unique collection and mix of patrons. For more information about some of new librarians at Maryland law libraries, see page 14.
Page 10 LLAM News | Vol. 27, No. 4
June 2008
Spring Fling 2008
The lamb is passed to the new president.
T his year’s Spring Fling, held at the offices of Tydings & Rosenberg on May 9, featured an extensive wine tasting from Woodhall Winery and catered food. Although the rainy weather only allowed brief session on
the 26th floor terrace, the view of the Inner Harbor was spectacular. Pat Behles presented a proclamation from Governor O’Malley recognizing LLAM on its 25th anniversary. Secretary Susan Herrick announced next year’s officers: Vice‐President Joanne Dugan, Treasurer Bijal Shah and Secretary Susan Herrick. Janet Camillo passed the lamb to newly elected president Jean Hessenauer. Jim Gernert announced the AALL Convention Grant recipient as Sara Witman, and Janet Camillo awarded Beverly Rubenstein the 2008 Service to LLAM Award.
Presenting the Proclamation from the Governor on LLAM’s 25th anniversary.
View from the terrace
Page 11 LLAM News | Vol. 27, No. 4
June 2008
Report from the 2008 LLSDC/SEAALL Joint Conference — IP for the IP BY JANET CAMILLO Librarian Montgomery County Circuit Court Law Library
I was fortunate to be able to attend the LLSDC/SEAALL Joint Conference in Alexandria, Virginia this past March. As you know, SEAALL just voted to welcome Maryland into their chapter, joining the states in the southeast along with Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. As LLAMʹs representative, I was recognized at the business meeting and wel‐c omed by many membe r s throughout the conference. The theme of the meeting was IP for the IP: Intellectual Property for the Information Professional. The conference opened on Thurs‐day, March 27 with an Institute titled Clearing Up Confusion with IP. It was designed to help infor‐mation professionals understand the intricacies of trademark, patent, and copyright law. LLAMʹs Joanne Dugan presented Basic Patent Law Search Strategies at the Institute. The judge from the Zacarias Moussaoui trial and former librarian, Judge Leonie Brinkema (U.S. District Court, East‐ern District of Virginia) spoke at lunch. The conference featured programs on various topics including food law, disaster planning, fash‐ion fakes and forgeries, copyright, interpreting ʺgeek speak,” time management, and managing bosses. One of my favorite programs was Preserva‐tion: A Game Show by Pat Turpening, who pre‐sented preservation concepts in a game show for‐mat. I was one of the winners thanks to my life‐lines in the audience. LLAM’s John Cannan made difficult concepts understandable and interesting in his program titled Terms of Use Contracting to Control Websites and Resources Through Click Wrap and Browsewrap. He says he should get a prize for the longest program title.
On the social front, the opening reception was at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in historic Old Town Alexandria. Attendees took advantage of the dine‐arounds and took tours of D.C. and en‐joyed the cherry blossoms. The chapters secured great speakers for the con‐ference. On Friday, Keynote Speaker, journalist and author Helen Thomas, gave a talk that was both amusing and serious. She discussed topics from her latest book Watchdogs of Democracy? The
Waning Washington Press Corps and How It has Failed the Public. She discussed the press and its failings and the loss of Constitutional rights since 9/11, but she also had amusing anecdotes and pithy comments about all of the presidents and first la‐dies she covered starting
with President Kennedy through the present ad‐ministration. The Plenary Speaker on Saturday was Dr. Michael Kurtz, Assistant Archivist for Records Services at the National Archives and Records Administration. His fascinating presenta‐tion covered the tale of the restitution and preser‐vation of cultural property looted by the Nazis. The issues raised continue today in the art and archive world. I am looking forward to joining SEAALL and at‐tending the 2009 Conference in Athens, Georgia next spring. I hope you can join me.
Speakers’ materials from the LLSDC/SEAALL will be online at www.llsdc.org/en/cms/?1011 as they become available. For information on joining SEAALL and an application form, visit www.aallnet.org/chapter/seaall/join.htm.
Page 12 LLAM News | Vol. 27, No. 4
June 2008
A couple of years ago, a new legal research data‐base vendor arrived on the scene: FastCase. Bill‐ing itself as a low cost alternative to Lexis and Westlaw, FastCase quickly formed partnerships with local bar associations (including the MSBA) around the country to provide bar members with an affordable (i.e., free) case law database. Al‐though rather dated (written in 2006), you can read a review of FastCase at marylandlaw.blogspot.com/search?q=fastcase. Recently, the folks at FastCase have decided to democratize access to the law even further by creating a free legal search engine called The Pub‐lic Library of the Law (www.plol.org). Touting itself as “the world’s largest free law library,” the site may indeed be just that. The site includes ac‐cess to case law (Supreme Court, all federal cir‐cuits, and all state appeals cases), statutes, regula‐tions, court rules, constitutions, and legal forms. To more effectively analyze PLOL’s (not to be confused with PLO, the Palestinian Liberation Organization!) strengths and weaknesses, let’s compare it to another well‐known source for free legal content: Findlaw. Like PLOL, Findlaw also offers access to cases, statutes, regs, court rules, and constitutions. So, what are the benefits of PLOL? I can think of at least four: 1. Better Interface
Let’s be honest, the interface for Findlaw is, well, dated. Put in Valley Girl‐ese, we might say the interface “Is, like, so 1990s.” To arrive at the cases and codes section of the site, one must first select the “Legal Professionals” tab and then flip through a number of screens until you arrive at what you’re looking for. In addition, the Findlaw interface is filled with ads. In contrast, PLOL seems tailor‐made for the Google‐generation web searcher. Like many other post‐Google sites, the PLOL inter‐
face is clearly modeled off of Google. The resemblance becomes even stronger when one notices that the PLOL logo shares the same colors as Google. Although Findlaw and PLOL share much of the same content, in Findlaw one must flip from one page to another to search for content for different jurisdictions. In PLOL, on the other hand, all searches are handled from the homepage. For most users living in a Web 2.0 world, the ability to search from one unified interface is much more attractive. 2. Better Case Searching Functionality
Findlaw generally works well if you’re searching for a specific case in a specific jurisdiction. (Although, surprisingly, in one instance Findlaw failed to locate a specific 7th Circuit case). Short of running a “search this site” on www.findlaw.com, though, there’s no way to search across jurisdic‐tions. In PLOL, it’s easy to search across jurisdic‐tions. To limit to a specific jurisdiction, simply select a state from the drop down menu under “Advanced Search.” In addition, you can limit your search to a date range. In Findlaw, you can only limit to a specific year. Finally, although both sites support full‐text searching using Boolean operators, PLOL presents the results of those searches in a more user‐friendly way. It is infinitely easier to assess the relative rele‐vance of your search results in PLOL over Find‐law. In fact, for this reason alone, the full‐text search in Findlaw is almost useless. Like Google or commercial services like Westlaw, the PLOL ranks your search results based on relevance (PLOL assigns a percentage for how closely the case matches your search terms). In addition, PLOL also includes in the results‐list a brief snip‐pet of the text which surrounds your search terms. In Findlaw, one is simply presented with a list of
BY TREVOR ROSEN Librarian Shapiro Sher Guinot & Sandler
Public Library of Law : a preliminary assessment
Page 13 LLAM News | Vol. 27, No. 4
June 2008
case names; the user much then use either time, or a crystal ball, to figure out which cases are more on‐point than others. 3. Deeper Content
Put simply, PLOL has more content than Findlaw. In Findlaw, most of the Federal Appeals Court cases go back to around 1996. In contrast, in PLOL almost all of the Federal Appeals Courts—barring the 11th Circuit and the Federal Circuit which go back to 1981 and 1982 respectively—go back to 1950. In fact, U.S. Supreme Court cases go back to 1754! Note, however, that PLOL, like Findlaw, does not include U.S. District Court cases. When it comes to state appeals court cases, PLOL appears to have slightly less depth than the official state court websites. In Maryland, for example, the Maryland Judiciary website provides access to appeals court cases from 1995. In PLOL, however, Maryland appeals court cases go back only to 1997. In any event, it is still useful to have the benefits of PLOL’s search functionality to search state appeals court cases directly from the PLOL site. Findlaw itself does not provide access to state appeals court cases. Rather, it provides external links to other places on the web where that con‐tent may be found. For the non‐case content, PLOL does the same thing. In other words, the content for the statutes, court rules, regs, and con‐stitutions are not housed on PLOL; instead, PLOL provides a link to where that content can be found on the web. The difference between Findlaw and
PLOL in this regard is simply a matter of ap‐proach: in Findlaw, when users link to content not available on Findlaw, they leave the Findlaw site entirely; in PLOL, although users are linked‐out to an external site, they remain within the PLOL interface. 4. Links To Other Cases
A final advantage of PLOL over Findlaw is the option to link to case citations. In Wexis, when one encounters a case citation of interest, instead of needing to perform a separate search to locate that case, the system provides a link that forwards you directly to that case. It works the same way in PLOL. This feature is tremendously helpful to researchers. Having said this, I did come across case citations which, although they fall within PLOL’s coverage were not, for whatever reason, linked. Overall, though, this feature provides a significant enhancement over Findlaw. This fea‐ture is also one other way in which PLOL simu‐lates the experience of searching within a com‐mercial database. These four reasons give PLOL a distinct advan‐tage over comparable sites like Findlaw. Still, like any good thing, there’s always room for enhance‐ment. One sticky point involves PLOL’s require‐ment for new users to register with the site. Al‐though registration is free and although many other sites (including Findlaw, I believe) require registration, the question becomes, from a user perspective, “Why do I need to do this?” Al‐though PLOL may have very legitimate reasons for this requirement (track statistics, etc), this ex‐tra step becomes a hindrance. Consider the fact that if one wishes to email a link to a case from PLOL, the recipient must also register to view the case. Another enhancement PLOL may wish to consider is to bold the user’s search terms as they appear in the document. PLOL already bolds search terms as they appear in the search results (as we mentioned), but adding bolded search terms in the document itself would be an addi‐tional help. These are simply a couple of sugges‐tions for PLOL to enhance an already quality product. This one definitely deserves a place on your list of “Favorites.” PLOL advanced search interface
Page 14 LLAM News | Vol. 27, No. 4
June 2008
Annette Kaltenbaugh is a new reference librarian at the Maryland Department of Legislative Services (DLS) Library. A three year resident of Maryland, Annette was a
reference librarian in an Anne Arundel County Public Library before joining the DLS Library staff. She enjoys long walks, sports and, of course, reading in her spare time. Newly engaged, she still finds time to play on the kickball team North Avenue Brawlers and the DLS soft‐ball team in Anne Arundel County Bar Association soft‐ball league. The 2004 Information Ethics Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Information Sciences, Annette is the author of “Plagiarism: the Technological, Intellec‐tual, and Personal Facets of the Principles of Attribu‐tion, Use, and Acknowledgement,” Journal of Information Ethics, Fall 2005, Vol. 14, No.2.
—Jacqueline F. Curro, Legislative Librarian, Maryland Dept. of Legislative Services Library
Annette Kaltenbaugh Reference Librarian Maryland Department of Legislative Services Library
Dave Matchen Electronic Resources Librarian University of Baltimore Law Library
Dave Matchen comes to Baltimore (where he is the Electronic Resources Librarian at UB Law) from Chicago. He has degrees from the University of Chi‐cago in history, Tulane Law School and a Masters of Library and Information
Science from Dominican University in Illinois. He prac‐ticed in Illinois for ten years before deciding to go to
library school. He was drawn to an academic law li‐brary as he would like to teach one day. He loves Balti‐more, specifically its museums, its baseball team (while remaining a staunch Cubs fan) and the greenery and hills of the area around Baltimore (in contrast to the flat, relatively tree‐less plains of Illinois). He looks forward to exploring it all and taking advantage of the prox‐imity to Washington D.C. for additional sightseeing opportunities.
—Pat Behles, Government Documents Librarian, University of Baltimore Law Library
Mary Elizabeth Priebe Serials Management Librarian University of Baltimore Law Library
Mary Elizabeth Priebe is the new Serials Management Librarian at the University of Baltimore Law Library. She received her MLIS degree from the University of Pittsburgh in their online pro‐gram. When asked about online education, Mary Eliza‐beth said that she felt that it motivates one more and that you come to rely on yourself more than in a tradi‐tional setting. Before going to library school, she worked with emotionally disturbed children. When she decided to switch careers, Mary Elizabeth worked at Harford Community College in the library while she studied for her degree. While at HCC, she worked in all departments but enjoys working in technical services. In her spare time, Mary Elizabeth enjoys working out at the gym, playing the violin and spending time with her husband and three cats.
—Pat Behles, Government Documents Librarian, University of Baltimore Law Library
Welcome Annette, Dave, and Mary Elizabeth! Meet three new librarians at Maryland law libraries
Research Corner Piecing together the legislative history of a Maryland bill
tention policy. The files are eventually microfilmed and copies of the microfilm are sent to the State Law Library, the Attorney Generalʹs Library, the Thurgood Marshall Law Library, the University of Baltimore Law Li‐brary, the Baltimore County Circuit Court Library, and, beginning with the upcoming shipment of the of the 1997 files, the Montgomery County Circuit Court Library. The Maryland State Law Library also has great re‐sources online, including Ghosthunting: Searching for Maryland Legislative History. This guide has been updated and contains many links to great legis‐lative sources, so be sure to add it to your book‐marks. Searching case law relating to this section also turned up a few related documents, including a National League of Cities study that was incorporated into the 1986 bill by reference, which I found in the DLS’s Library Catalog. In addition, there’s an entire section devoted to legislative history resources on the DLS’s website. Some older Maryland‐based law reviews were helpful in providing commentary, as well. If you have found other sources helpful for Mary‐land legislative histories, I’d appreciate hearing your suggestions at [email protected]. Many thanks to Jacqueline F. Curro, Senior Legislative Librarian from the Maryland Department of Legislative Services for her contributions.
Page 15 LLAM News | Vol. 27, No. 4
June 2008
Recently, I was asked to construct a legislative his‐tory of a provision of the Maryland Code relating to damage awards. Since the section was enacted in 1986, prior to the General Assembly’s web coverage, I had to seek other sources to obtain information on the history of this provision. The General Assembly webpage provides access to the bill itself and the fiscal and policy note. The com‐mittee’s bill file may hold more information such as all amendments that were considered, any written testimony that was presented, any letters of support of opposition that were received, and any letter from the Attorney General. These files are retained by the committee for a year or so (it varies by committee)and then sent to the Department of Legislative Ser‐vices Library. The Maryland Department of Legisla‐tive Services or DLS Library will provide copies of bill files for a small fee if it’s past the committee re‐
BY DAWN ADAIR JOHNSON Research Analyst Hogan & Hartson
Maryland General Assembly mlis.state.md.us Maryland Department of Legislative Services Library dls.state.md.us/side_pgs/library_info/library_info.html Maryland Department of Legislative Services Library’s Legislative History Resources dls.state.md.us/side_pgs/library_info/ library_legislative_history.html Maryland State Law Library www.lawlib.state.md.us Ghostunting: Searching for Maryland Legislative History www.lawlib.state.md.us/Legislativehistory.html
Links
Did you know? Scott Stevens would like to remind LLAM members that Bal‐timore County Circuit Court Law Library has one of the most complete collections of legislative history in the state outside of Annapolis. Aside from the laws going back to the 1700s, they have all published bill files in microfilm.
much richer and more influential than it is today. Cambridge is a major commercial cen‐ter , and plantation owners dominate soci‐ety. (This confirms my own impressions after researching Maryland Constitutional law recently. Maryland has had four Constitutions during its his‐tory, adopted in 1776, 1851, 1864, and 1867. Each new Constitution was motivated at least in part to address inequities in representation in the General Assembly. Until the Civil War, the General Assem‐bly was strongly dominated by the slave‐holding Eastern Shore and southern counties.) Song Yet Sung is the second novel by author James McBride. You may remember McBride as the author of The Color of Water, the 1996 memoir that became a huge bestseller. The Color of Water is McBride’s trib‐ute to his mother, a white Southern Jew who moved to New York, married a black man, and raised twelve children. Ironically, the huge success of The Color of Money has hampered McBride’s later work as a novelist. He spoke recently at a book signing at the Politics & Prose bookstore in D.C. He noted that his first novel, Miracle at St. Anna, disappeared from bookstores shortly after its release — a huge disap‐pointment after the success of his memoir. He speculates that the reading public had identified him strictly as a non‐fiction writer, as a memoirist, and they were unprepared to accept a book that was so different from his first book. (Miracle at St. Anna will get a second chance at public acceptance: Spike Lee has optioned the book and is making a feature film using a screenplay written by McBride.) Song Yet Sung should convince any doubters that Mr. McBride writes fiction as strong and compelling as the memoir that first brought him to our atten‐tion.
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June 2008
For those of us who live west of the Chesapeake Bay, it’s easy to see Maryland’s Eastern Shore as a collection of sleepy towns most notable as rest stops on the way to the beach resorts. I guarantee that you will never view the Eastern Shore the same way after reading James McBride’s new novel, Song Yet Sung. The book is set on the Eastern Shore in 1850 and tells the story of Liz Spocott, a slave trying to escape to freedom. The setting is no accident: James McBride started to formulate the plot while driving on the Eastern Shore. He happened upon a plaque in Dor‐chester County noting Harriet Tubman’s birthplace. This of course led to thoughts of the Underground Railroad and the complex role of slavery in Mary‐land’s history. Both are prominently featured in the
novel. Liz’s escape depends on her use of “The Code,” which was the means by which members of the Underground Railroad communi‐cated with each other. For instance, in one scene a member of the Rail‐road indicates the safest route by hanging a quilt so that the quilt’s
design pointed in a particular direction. The geography of the Eastern Shore also plays an important role in the book. Maryland’s proximity to free states led to a brisk trade for “slave‐catchers,” independent and often lawless gangs that hunted escaping slaves. A major character in the book is based on a historical figure from the Eastern Shore: a female slave‐catcher named Patty Cannan. The wa‐ter and swampland of the region is also pivotal to the plot, as is the culture of the watermen of the Bay. Finally, the book shows an Eastern Shore that was
What LLAM is Reading:
BY JOANNE DUGAN Assistant Director for Public Services University of Baltimore Law Library
Song Yet Sung by James McBride
I guarantee that you will never view the Eastern Shore the same way...
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June 2008
LLAM member photos entertain, place well in contest
recipient of these grants. The Board also approved the first Service to LLAM Award, something that we hope to repeat in the future when one of our members performs service to the Association over and above the norm. I am sure you will agree Bev‐erly Rubenstein was the very deserving recipient. My feeling is that a number of LLAM members de‐serve awards for taking their valuable time to do work for our association. A significant percentage of our membership volunteered for a variety of activi‐ties including marketing, presenting programs at the chapter, regional, and national level, working on the
Message from President Janet Camillo Legal Research Institute and Maryland Legislative Day, volunteering on committees, serving on the Board, writing articles for newsletters, and helping to plan social events. Without the muscle and time supplied by these people our small organization would not be able to function. Thank you to all who have helped throughout the year. I also want to thank my long suffering staff, who have covered for me throughout the year so I could attend LLAM functions and work on LLAM projects. I leave this position with a strong treasury, increased membership and, I hope, an organization that is im‐bued with a spirit of fun and seriousness of purpose, ready to face another 25 years.
Continued from page 1
M ontgomery County Circuit Court Law Library submitted two photos to the “Most Humorous” category of the AALL Day in a Life contest. “Unexpected Juxtaposition” (below, left) won third place and “You Call This a Bedtime Story?” (below, right) came in second. Although, as John Can‐
nan points out, “We were beaten out of first by a cat!,” picking up second and third place is quite an honor. And they are great shots! Congratulations.
Title: You Call This a Bedtime Story!? Description: Our family members patiently bear our love of our profession and information re‐sources … even when we let those passions go overboard sometimes.
Title: Unexpected Juxtaposition Description: Two patrons immersed in research: the learned veteran is using our new wireless service and the tech‐savvy beginner our extensive print collection.
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June 2008
LLAM to co‐host stitching silent auction at AALL
As every veteran of the AALL Annual Meeting knows, the days and nights are filled with pro‐grams, meetings, and receptions. And if the offi‐cial goings‐on aren’t enough, several unofficial “special interest sections” have sprung up as well. The Dancing SIS goes club‐hopping, and the Base‐ball SIS makes a trip to the local ballpark and hosts a cut‐throat trivia contest. For the past few years, attendees have also had the option to join the Stitching SIS. The group started when I noticed a lot of attendees doing needlework while attending programs. I sent a message to the law‐lib listserv suggesting that all of the stitchers get together informally for a “stitch‐n‐bitch” session during the meeting. Word of mouth spread, and there is now a core group of dedicated stitchers who meet every year and share our love of needlework. Last year Stitching SIS member Carolyn Tanen suggested that we host a silent auction to benefit
the Katrina recovery effort. The response from both stitchers and shoppers was overwhelming! We ended up raising $1000 for the New Orleans Public Library, and many AALL members re‐turned home with beautiful hand‐crafted items. The response to last year’s silent auction was so positive that we’ve decided to do it again this year — and thanks to LLAM, we will have twice the room to spread out! Last year the State, Court, and County Law Library SIS offered us the use of their table in the Exhibit Hall. We filled that space and more. This year, the LLAM Board voted to offer space at the LLAM table as well. Between LLAM and SCCLL, we should have plenty of space to spread out and display the donations to their best advantage. So if you’re going to be in Portland, please drop by the LLAM table in the Exhibit Hall. You’re sure to find some great bargains and meet up with some really fun colleagues.
BY JOANNE DUGAN Assistant Director for Public Services University of Baltimore Law Library
Shoot ’em up!
If you’re attending the AALL Annual Meeting, SLA convention, or any other professional activity this summer, don’t forget your camera. We’d love to include your pictures in the next issue of LLAM News. Contact Sara Witman at [email protected].
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June 2008
PreCYdent
Steven Robert Miller reviews PreCYdent, the new legal search engine, in the Summer 2008 issue [PDF] of the ALL‐SIS Newsletter. Miller gives an in‐depth history of the site and compares its algo‐rithm positively to that of Google, Westlaw, and Lexis.
Open Source Catalogs
In the Spring 2008 issue of the CoALL Scuttle Newsletter, John Moss, a technical services librar‐ian at Holme Roberts & Owen in Denver, starts off a series on open source integrated library systems [PDF] with a long list of what’s currently avail‐able. And there is a lot out there. Moss plans on installing each ILS to determine the relative ease of installation, value of the available documenta‐tion, and number of features, such as MARC com‐pliance and Web 2.0 capabilities. I’m looking for‐ward to reading about his findings in future is‐sues.
SCALL Institute Programs
The March/April 2008 issue [PDF] of the SCALL Newsletter features two infor‐mative reviews of programs at the 2008 SCALL Institute in Ventura Beach. “Think Risk! Assessing and Navigating Legal Risk in Libraries,” cov‐ers the three‐hour workshop on tricky situations for librar‐ies, such as copyright compli‐ance, malpractice, and unau‐thorized practice of law. “White Collar Crime: Options May Mean Jail” gives a quick overview of business fraud basics.
Highlights from the AALL chapter newsletters BY SARA WITMAN Research Librarian Gordon, Feinblatt, Rothman, Hoffberger & Hollander
Pumped For Portland Want to get excited about the AALL Annual Con‐vention? Start with “Over the River, Through the Woods, Around the Block — Portland for Begin‐ners,” in the Summer 2008 issue of PLL Perspec‐tives [PDF]. LaJean Humphries of Schwabe Wil‐liamson & Wyatt and Dorene Smith of Ater Wynne provide an insightful background to some of the city’s landmarks, such as Pioneer Court‐house Square, City Hall, and Merchant Block. As if reading my mind, the writers also singled out the top doughnut shop and microbreweries in town. Yum.
Before You Sign...
While not as tempting as bakery items and beer, Douglas Lind’s article “What to Consider When Interpreting License Agreements for Electronic Products” [PDF] is certainly more useful. The arti‐cle, which appears in the April 2008 issue of MAALL Markings, is a must‐read for academic librarians that deal with electronic products. In addition to pointing readers to online starting points for understanding license agreements, Lind covers a number of clauses that affect law libraries and the law school or university at large.
Real World Research
The same issue of MAALL Markings also includes a great overview of empirical legal scholarship (ELS) in Darla Jackson’s “Empirical Legal Re‐search: The Next Big Thing for Law Librarian‐ship?” [PDF]. Jackson offers a clear starting point for understanding what ELS is, where it may be headed, and how it affects law librarians.
2008 AALL Annual Convention
Dine-Around Portland, Oregon Saturday, July 12
Contact Pat Behles if you are interested in joining the group [email protected].
June 2008
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INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS: Any law library may become an Institutional Member upon payment of annual dues. Persons designated under an Institutional Membership shall be in all respects the equivalent of Active Individual Members. The Membership Committee is empowered to determine whether the institution applying for membership is a law library. The denial of membership applications by the Membership Committee may be appealed to the Board of Trustees. (Institutional Membership allows the transfer of membership to replacement personnel. The incoming personnel would receive the remainder of the departing person’s membership upon notifying LLAM of the change.) PLEASE FILL OUT AN APPLICATION FOR EACH MEMBER. CHECK HERE:_________________ Any law library wishing to become an institutional member MUST fill out the following additional information (circling the correct responses when necessary): INTERLIBRARY LOAN: YES NO FLOOR FOR ILL PICKUP:____________ ADMISSION POLICY: OPEN TO PUBLIC / SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT / OTHER:_____ HOURS:__________________________ *********************************************************************************************** DUES: Student & Retired members’ dues are $10.00 per year. All others are $20.00. In the case of Institutional Members, dues are $20.00 times each staff member wishing to join: $20.00 x ______ Number of Staff Members = $________________ Total Dues. (FID 52-1623172). PLEASE SEND THIS MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION/RENEWAL AND A CHECK MADE PAYABLE TO "LLAM" TO: Trevor Rosen, Librarian, Shapiro Sher Guinot & Sandler, 36 South Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201; Phone: 410-385-4250; Fax: 410-539-7611; E-Mail: [email protected] REMINDER: YOU MUST RETURN YOUR APPLICATION/RENEWAL WITH DUES BY OCTOBER 1 IN ORDER TO BE INCLUDED IN THE MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY. THANKS!
LLAM is online. www.aallnet.org/chapter/llam/
Law Library Association of Maryland c/o Sara Witman 233 East Redwood Street Baltimore, MD 21202
your experiences and your insights into our profession. The editor will be glad to assist with the process of bringing your ideas to print. Send articles, letters to the editor, news updates, advertising inquiries, photo‐graphs, comments, and suggestions to the Newsletter Committee, preferably via e‐mail. Photographs and print‐only materials are also welcome by post mail. Newsletter Committee Chair: Sara Witman [email protected], 410‐576‐4010 Gordon Feinblatt Rothman Hoffberger & Hollander 233 E. Redwood St., Baltimore, MD 21202
The LLAM Newsletter Committee wel‐comes submissions from LLAM mem‐bers on a variety of engaging topics, including but not limited to legal re‐search tips, member news, and local events. Submit your contribution by August 15 for inclusion in the Septem‐ber 2008 issue! LLAM News is a quarterly publication of the Law Library Association of Mary‐land, a chapter of the American Associa‐tion of Law Libraries. LLAM members are the most important part of this news‐letter. The articles appearing herein are by us and for us. We encourage all members to submit articles to LLAM News. Please share
Electronic archives of LLAM News are available on the LLAM web site at www.aallnet.org/chapter/llam/publications.htm For membership inquiries, please visit the LLAM Membership page at www.aallnet.org/chapter/llam/membership.htm or contact Membership Committee Chair Trevor Rosen by e‐mail at [email protected]
Requesting Submissions for LLAM News