All posts by Stacia

Fall 2024, Grants & Chapter Awards

Apply for a Grant! Nominate a colleague for an Award!

In spring 2025, CALL’s Grants & Chapter Awards Committee will seek nominations for the following awards:

• The Agnes and Harvey Reid Award for Outstanding Contribution to Law Librarianship – presented annually at the May business meeting for outstanding service to the chapter during the previous year or for contribution to law librarianship.

• Outstanding Lifetime Achievement in Law Librarianship Award – presented annually at the May business meeting for outstanding lifetime achievement in law librarianship.

• Outstanding In-House Publication Award – given to an individual or group who created in-house library materials (print or online) that are user and staff oriented, are relevant for law libraries, and are outstanding in quality.

Please start thinking about CALL colleagues whom you’d like to nominate for an award! If you have any questions, please contact the current Grants & Chapter Awards Chair, Mandy Lee, at mandylee2008@u.northwestern.edu.

Fall 2024, Uncategorized

Q & A – CALL on Discord

How can I access the CALL discord server?

Email bulletin editors for an invite link

Is Discord just a fancy chat room?

Yes, it is similar to a chat room, but with more bells and whistles.

Here’s a breakdown of how Discord is more advanced than a chat room:

  • Servers: In a traditional chat room, conversations took place in a single stream, and once you joined, that was your main experience. Discord, however, is organized into virtual communities called servers. Servers can be public (for large communities) or private (for friends, teams, or organizations).
  • Channels: Within each server, there are multiple channels dedicated to specific topics or types of communication. For example, one channel could be for general text chat, while another might be dedicated to voice communication, video calls, or file sharing.
  • Voice and Video Chat: The most striking difference between chat rooms and Discord servers is Discord’s use of voice, video, and screen-sharing capabilities, making it more than just a place for text-based conversation. Users can jump into a voice channel to chat live or host a video meeting
  • Roles and Permissions: Discord allows admins to assign different roles to members, controlling what they can see or do within a server (e.g., moderating chats, posting messages, etc.).
  • Bots and Automation: Discord supports the use of bots, which can automate tasks like moderating, playing music, hosting games, or integrating with other apps like Twitch and YouTube.

How private are Discord discussions?

Any information posted on the Discord server will be available to whoever has access to the server.

What are these events I am seeing on the Discord server?

Events create opportunities for members of a Discord server to come together and engage in real-time activities. During events, users can communicate in dedicated event channels, using voice or text chat, share media, and even collaborate on activities like gaming or brainstorming. We are working on adding more!

Why is Discord useful?

Discord to create a centralized platform where all communication happens in one place. Instead of relying on scattered emails, texts, or multiple apps, members can interact in real-time through text, voice, or video channels.

Fall 2024, CALL Executive Board

June 2024 Executive Board Minutes

Date: Tuesday, June 11, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. Central

Board members present:  Philip Johnson, Jill Meyer, Clare Willis, Emily Byrne, Lucy Robbins, Mandy Lee

Board members absent: Mike McMillan

Guests: none

Treasurer’s report (Section IV):

  1. Checking account balance as of June 11, 2024: $21,214.74
  2. Membership numbers as of June 11, 2024: 118 (3 new)

Significant Actions: 

Policies:

The Corporate Memory Committee was formally dissolved as a standing committee.  (see V. Old Business, b)

The Mentorship Committee and Placement and Recruitment Committees were combined into a single standing committee.  (See VI. New Business, b)

Fall 2024, CALL Executive Board

August 2024 Executive Board Minutes

Date: Tuesday, August 13, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. Central

Board members present:  Philip Johnson, Jill Meyer, Clare Willis, Emily Byrne, Lucy Robbins, Mandy Lee, Mike McMillan

Board members absent: None

Guests: none

Treasurer’s report (Section IV):

  1. Checking account balance as of July 31, 2024: $17,673.49
  2. Membership numbers as of July 31, 2024: 183 (8 new)

Significant Actions:  None

 

Spring 2024

CALL Trivia Night

CALL will be hosting a trivia night during the AALL Annual Meeting.

Sunday July 21st 8:30-10:30

Timothy O’Toole’s
622 N. Fairbanks Ct.
Chicago, IL 60611

There will be trivia from Quizmaster Dave and drinks.

Spring 2024

April 2024 Executive Board Meeting Minutes

Date: Tuesday, April 9, 2024 at 9:00 a.m.

Board members present: Mandy Lee, Todd Hillmer, Clare Willis, Scott Vanderlin, Jill Meyer, Lucy Robbins

Guests: none

Significant Actions:
Policy: Videos shall be saved for as long as practicable without an upgrade to our cloud file storage. Any videos that must deleted will be deleted on a first-in, first-out basis unless decided otherwise by the Continuing Education or Meetings Committee.

Spring 2024

May 2024 Business Meeting

CALL held its May 2024 Business Meeting at Wildfire, 159 W. Erie St., on Thursday, May 16, 2024.  President Mandy Lee welcomed two new members to the meeting: Ross Prolic and Ian Williams.

Mandy also gave a quick review of CALL highlights for the past year, including regular no-host lunch and happy hour meet-ups, community service events, and 2 in-person business meetings.

Thomson Reuters was our meeting sponsor, and Blythe McCoy mentioned the Thomson party this year at AALL, which will be on Monday night at the Museum of Science and Industry.

Meeting speaker

Our Business Meeting speaker was June Liebert, current AALL President. June discussed the recent and ongoing round tables held at various law school libraries regarding AI and the Future of Law Libraries, using the format of vicious and virtuous cycles.  She also discussed the idea of space, and how it can still be important even with so much of our work being done online.  June noted that people crave connections, libraries represent more than just a service, and certain populations rely on libraries for access to justice.  June also pointed out that it is not possible to digitize everything, but noted that it is not clear how libraries can fill the role of saving those things that cannot be put online.

June then discussed the changing roles of law librarians, and how increasing use of AI creates opportunities for growth of our profession.  She suggested that librarians must stay updated on what is going on with AI and technology in research and information to help people understand new technologies and learn to use AI.

June reported that AALL is hosting a (free to members) webinar series on Generative AI Foundations.  The first session already happened, and is posted on the AALL website.   She noted that attendance at this session was over 600 people, which broke a record for AALL seminar attendance.  June reminded the group that the next session is on the basics of prompt engineering, and is upcoming.

June reminded the group that the AALL Annual Meeting is coming up in July, and June said that they already have a high number of registrants.  She said that some of the hot topics will be around AI, DEI and legal tech.  She also encouraged people to check out the pre-conference workshops.  June also told the group that AALL is still looking for volunteers for the conference.  If anyone is interested, they should contact June Liebert or AALL.

Finally, June told the group the next conference location is Portland, Oregon.  She recommended Portland as a city with great food options!

Recognitions and awards

Mandy recognized the following individuals for their extra efforts in CALL this past year with a Presidential Certificate:

  • Mike McMillan and Carrie Port, Meetings co-chairs – for getting in-person meetings back in order.
  • Clare Willis – for spearheading the website revamp committee/project.

Mandy also presented the following awards:

Agnes & Harvey Reid Award for Excellence in Librarianship:  Lindsay Carpino

Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award: Pat Sayre-McCoy

Committee reports

The following committees offered reports:

Community Service:

The committee announced that they recently held a day of service at Cradles to Crayons, where they rehabilitated shoes to give them a new life for someone else.  This was also the charity for donations at the meeting, and QR codes were available at the tables for donations.

Bulletin:

The committee announced that they are producing a special summer issue to cover the AALL Annual Meeting and hope to include “hidden gems” suggested by the members.  Emily Barney will send around a survey for people to send suggestions.

Meeting closing

We had four raffle prizes this meeting!  Lexis sponsored two $25 gift cards, and they were won by Lindsey McGuire and Shari Duff.  Thomson Reuters gave a $25 gift card, won by Jim Fortsas, and a $50 gift card, won by Susan Siebert.

Before closing the business portion of the meeting, Mandy acknowledged and thanked the board members transitioning off the Executive Board: Todd Hillmer (Treasurer) and Scott Vanderlin (Past President).  Mandy welcomed the new Board members joining for the 2024-2025 CALL year: Emily Byrne (Director) and Mike McMillan (Treasurer). Mandy also thanked and acknowledged the current Board members who are moving to new positions on the Board: Philip Johnson (President), Mandy Lee (Past President), and Jill Meyer (Vice President/President-Elect).