Thank you very much for an amazing year as your President. It has been an honor and a joy. I mean that sincerely. For my final letter, I’d like to share with all of you the remarks that I gave at the last Business Meeting on May 10, 2018:
Not many of you know that we have a strategic planning committee mapping the future of CALL. Jean Wenger, chair of the committee, will tell you later how you can be a part of mapping that future. As part of that process, the committee wrote a new mission statement for CALL. It is: “CALL supports legal information professionals through advocacy, education, and engagement.” As we look back on this year, we can see how we have lived up to this mission statement and done amazing things. Continue reading President’s Letter→
I recently attended the ABA Techshow in Chicago. Not only was this my first Techshow, it was my first non-library specific conference as a librarian, and it provided me with a view from the other side of the legal profession, i.e. practicing as opposed to academia. Fortunately, this was also the first year the show had an official Academic Track, which consisted of five sessions over two days. During this time, I not only attended all five (and the keynote by Professor Daniel Katz from Chicago-Kent), but also several other sessions on data security, as well as spoke with many of the vendors. Continue reading ABA Techshow Review→
I attended the augural AALL Competitive Intelligence Foundations program in October 2017 which was made possible by a CALL grant. Zena Applebaum, Director of Professional Firm Customer Segments with Thomson Reuters in Canada, was the instructor for the program. The program was a day-long event held at Sidley Austin in Chicago.
The CI Foundations program was designed to help attendees establish and maintain a competitive intelligence (“CI”) function in a law firm. It was a valuable learning experience for both law firm librarians with established CI groups and for those just beginning to put together formal programs. Continue reading AALL Competitive Intelligence Foundations→
CALL Bulletin: Where did you grow up, and where else have you lived before coming to Chicago? Do you have a favorite among those places?
Sarah Sherman: I grew up in Mechanicsburg, PA, and then moved to Grand Rapids, MI for college. Grand Rapids felt like the big city after growing up in central Pennsylvania! I love West Michigan and go back frequently.
What led you to become a law librarian?
It really wasn’t part of my plan–I focused on public libraries while getting my MLIS. But my first library job was at the Illinois Supreme Court and I had great experiences there and at Northwestern’s Law Library. I guess a lot of it was timing and encouragement from the law librarians I’ve worked with, and I’m enjoying and learning a lot where I am now. Continue reading New Member Profile: Sarah Sherman→
As has become tradition with the CALL Community Service Committee, this February we collected donations to benefit the Greater Chicago Food Depository. At the February Business Meeting, we collected several grocery bags of food donations and $203 in cash donations. Combined with the generous donations made through our virtual food drive, CALL members gave a total of $576.58. Why such an usual total? The food bank’s Virtual Food Drive provided an opportunity for donors to purchase fresh fruits, vegetables, protein, and dairy for the food depository to distribute through its large network of agency partners throughout the city. Donors were able to purchase items such as a case of canned tuna ($23.48), a case of 9 gallons of milk ($13.64), or 50 lbs. of carrots ($26.50). Continue reading CALL Community Service Committee Benefits the Greater Chicago Food Depository→
When I became Vice President, I understood that I’d have to write my first President’s Letter eventually, but I didn’t realize that “eventually” would happen so soon! In any case, congratulations to Clare, and please join me in wishing her and her family all the best. Continue reading President’s Letter→
When I give professional presentations, I choose either a subject I know a lot about and talk about what I’ve learned, or I’ll pick a topic I know almost nothing about so I can research something new. When planning my presentation for CALICon 2017, I decided to go with option two.Continue reading Who Needs Blockchain Anyway?→
New CALL member Anne Danberg was gracious enough to answer some questions for this profile. Please enjoy!
CALLBulletin:Where did you grow up, and where else have you lived before coming to Chicago? Do you have a favorite among those places?
Anne Danberg: I grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. I went to college in Philadelphia and lived in NYC before coming back to the Midwest and to Chicago. I’ve always liked Chicago, in part because it has everything I like about a big city but with a Midwest feel to it. Continue reading New Member Profile: Anne Danberg→
Here is your slate of candidates for the next executive board election. Polls will close at the end of Wednesday, March 14, 2018. To access candidates’ backgrounds and personal statements, please visit this page, which is password protected.
We presented on the topic of current awareness at the MAALL, LLAW, MichALL, MALL, and CALL Joint Annual Meeting on October 19, 2017. We thought it was important to offer the perspective of a firm, academic, and government librarian to reflect the needs of an audience with diverse constituencies. With the buzz around “fake news,” now more than ever it is important for librarians to discuss the best ways to disseminate information. During our presentation, we discussed the current awareness tools we use to stay current, how we stay organized with the current awareness and prevent becoming overwhelmed with information, and finally how we can collaborate and tap into our professional network to expand information possibilities. Continue reading Staying Current Together at the MAALL, LLAW, MichALL, MALL, and CALL Joint Annual Meeting→
Newsletter of the Chicago Association of Law Libraries
