Being a novice at something can create at least some degree of apprehension. Someone who, for example, has never piloted a plane would probably be pretty nervous about his or her first takeoff. And it goes without saying that a singer’s first concert ever likely creates at least one or two beads of sweat. In my case, apprehension hit me while preparing to attend my first American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) Annual Meeting and Conference.
As someone new to Chicago and new to law librarianship, I was somewhat surprised to find myself, a mere two months into my new job as a reference librarian, jetting back to my home state of Pennsylvania to participate in the 2015 AALL conference.
It would be my very first conference, and I had no idea what to expect—of the programs and workshops or of my fellow librarians. In library school, we had felt the effects of an ongoing tension between researchers and practitioners. We had all been frustrated by endless discussions of the true meaning of information and were tired of climbing the data-knowledge-wisdom pyramid. A classmate had gone to a conference in Vancouver and returned bearing tales of irate practitioners berating researchers over the irresponsibility of small sample sizes. I wondered if those debates were what awaited me in Philadelphia.
As a freelance reporter for the CALL Bulletin, I wanted to track down the most interesting and informative programs at the 2015 AALL Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. There were many excellent programs to choose from, and it should come as no surprise to the membership that CALL was well represented in the annual meeting programming.
Sally Holterhoff
One program in particular was a standout. Sally Holterhoff (Valparaiso University) co-coordinated the program, Using Succession Planning and Knowledge Transfer to Connect the Generations. Speakers, Deborah Rusin (Katten Muchin Rosenman, LLP), Katrina Miller (Florida State University), Steven Barkan (University of Wisconsin), and Ann Marie Dimino (Blank Rome, LLP) described their experiences in identifying challenges and opportunities as their library prepared for retirements, and loss of positions through attrition. Continue reading Using Succession Planning and Knowledge Transfer to Connect the Generations→
As a recipient of CALL’s grant to the annual conference, I attended the 2015 AALL Annual Meeting & Conference in Philadelphia. Although I am not a complete conference novice, having previously attended Special Libraries Association (SLA) conferences in 2012 and 2013, this was my first time at AALL.
This year at the 2015 Annual Meeting, I attended the AALL Hackathon: Connecting Legal Information workshop. This second annual event was held on Saturday, July 18 from 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at Peirce College in Philadelphia. According to the organizers, the purpose was to “bring together those with knowledge of available resources and needs, like law librarians, with those who have the technological know-how to build mobile and web applications to use those resources and meet those needs.”Continue reading 2015 AALL Hackathon→
Were you unable to attend this year’s AALL Annual Meeting & Conference in Philadelphia? No need to worry! Not only did the CALL Bulletin cover the conference through our AALLSummer Supplement, AALL has also placed session recordings on AALL2go. Best of all, these are free! You can access these here.
It’s never too early to start planning for the next AALL conference. In case you haven’t heard (but of course you have), it’s in Chicago in 2016. We’re very excited to host the meeting in our home town! “Make it New, Create the Future” is the title: a rallying cry of Chicago leaders following the great fire of 1871 and early modernist artists (represented by the Chicago Picasso sculpture logo).
Got ideas for programs you’d like to see? A call for proposals will go out in September, which will be due sometime in October. You’ll see more information on the CALL listserv and blog.
Is there something in Chicago that visiting law librarians shouldn’t miss? Our Local Arrangements Committee, chaired by Maribel Nash and Megan Butman, are busy planning great activities for the conference and you can contact them with ideas.
CALL members enjoyed food, drink, music, and more at the Reading Market
There’s nothing like relaxing at the end of a long day of committee meetings and educational programs. CALL members took full advantage of the many after hours activities at AALL, from receptions to tours to parties of all kinds. Continue reading After Hours at AALL→
You can still catch the great programs put on at the 2015 AALL Annual Meeting by CALL members and other speakers. AALL2Go is a great resource if you weren’t able to attend (or if you were here in Philly but too busy to get to an interesting session).
Handouts and recordings are now available for most sessions. The recordings were sponsored by Thomson Reuters.
Newsletter of the Chicago Association of Law Libraries
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