Tag Archives: Valparaiso Law School

Spring 2016

The Evolution of Government Information Librarianship

During the fall semester, while working as a Reference Associate at Northwestern Law School, I encountered several challenging reference questions related to government documents and statistics. Based on those questions, I decided to take a class called “Government Information” this semester through the University of Illinois GSLIS LEEP program. The course is designed to provide an overview of government information, and to examine the historical and current publication patterns.

I quickly realized that access to government information has changed significantly in recent years as many government documents have become available electronically, which raises new issues, such as those related to preservation. Additionally, the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) is undergoing many changes as a result of the transition to a digital environment.

Given the recent changes, I started thinking about the future of government documents librarianship. I thought it would be interesting to interview an experienced government information librarian to gain some perspective on recent changes, and the perceived future of government information librarianship.

Continue reading The Evolution of Government Information Librarianship →

Summer 2015, Member Profiles

AALL Honors CALL’s Sally Holterhoff with 2015 Gallagher Award

Congratulations, Sally!  I am proud to announce that The American Association of Law Libraries will be awarding Sarah (Sally) G. Holterhoff the Marian Gould Gallagher Distinguished Service Award — AALL’s highest honor. Sally is associate professor of law librarianship and government information/reference librarian at the Valparaiso University Law School Library.  The Gallagher Award acknowledges those individuals who have sustained service to law librarianship, exemplary association support, and outstanding professional literature contributions. Continue reading AALL Honors CALL’s Sally Holterhoff with 2015 Gallagher Award →

Winter 2014

A Summer of Law and Technology

Last fall, my Library Director and fellow CALL member, Emily Janoski-Haehlen, stopped by my office and asked if I would be interested in co-teaching a course in law practice technology. She had taught a similar course in her previous position and thought that I might be interested, given my role as Digital Services Librarian.

Intrigued by the idea and believing that Emily was looking out for my best interests, it took me less than 48 hours to respond with a confident “Yes!”  Less than a year later, I have not only survived my first summer of co-teaching the course but also truly enjoyed the process of doing so.

In this brief column, I will provide a few thoughts and observations about my experience, including how our course proposal was received by the curriculum committee, how I learned a great deal about the topic in a short amount of time, and what class topics the students seemed to particularly enjoy. Continue reading A Summer of Law and Technology →

Winter 2014, Member Profiles

Memories of Gail Hartzell

CALL and the law library community have experienced a great loss with the death of Gail Hartzell on October 21, 2013. Gail joined CALL in 2002 when she was hired as Acquisitions Librarian at the Valparaiso University Law School, and immediately became active on committees, continuing to volunteer after she retired in 2012.  To quote one committee chair, “Gail has been the first to volunteer. When she was handling the task, there is no need to follow up with her.  You know it will be handled.” Continue reading Memories of Gail Hartzell →