FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HEADLINE: Report on Law Librarianship in the Information Age Debuts
Courtesy of West Information Publishing Group
Contact: Roger H. Parent, Executive Director, 312/939-4764
January 9, 1997. The American Association of Law Libraries' (AALL) Special
Committee on the Renaissance of Law Librarianship in the Information Age
has produced a comprehensive look at the future of the profession in Toward
A Renaissance in Law Librarianship: The Report, Recommendations and
Materials of the American Association of Law Libraries Special Committee on
the Renaissance of Law Librarianship in the Information Age. This
groundbreaking report edited by AALL member Richard Danner (Associate Dean
for Library and Computing Services, Duke University School of Law Library,
Durham, North Carolina) has been printed and distributed to all AALL
members through the generous support of West Information Publishing Group.
The main body of the Report covers three timely issues faced by AALL
members-Fundamental Changes Challenging Law Libraries, the New Law
Librarian in the Information Age, and a list of AALL Recommendations for
the Executive Board. The Report is accompanied by a transcript of a
discussion held at the 89th AALL Annual Meeting last summer in Indianapolis
entitled Redefining The Law Librarian's Profession: A Town Meeting on the
Future of Law Librarianship and by Divergent Views: Individual Statements
on the Future of the Profession, in which members of the Special Committee
offer their own forecasts for the years to come.
The Report is the result of three years of discussions, debates and
definition conducted by the Special Committee under the charge of AALL's
1994-95 President Carol Billings (Director of the Law Library, Law Library
of Louisiana, New Orleans, Louisiana). Billings created the Special
Committee in direct response to a major direction specified in the
Strategic Challenge, the Association's plan for 1994-1998. The direction
was to "provide leadership to shape the legal information environment in a
time of rapid technological and public policy changes."
In her preface to the Report, Special Committee Chair Kathleen M. Carrick
(Law Librarian and Associate Professor, Case Western Reserve University Law
School) said, "I am proud of this Report's bold and honest definition of an
exciting and evolving profession that must take stock of its present to
prepare for its future... the Recommendations are firm challenges that, if
openly and honestly discussed and followed, will advance our profession in
realizing our future potential."
The Report is being mailed to AALL members courtesy of West. Additional
copies are available at no charge from the AALL Executive Staff Office,
312/939-4764.
Founded in 1876, West Information Publishing Group is one of the world's
largest publishers of legal information. West develops products and
services using state-of-the-art technologies that adapt to the specific
needs of attorneys and other legal professionals and has been a leader in
electronic publishing since the introduction of its online legal
information service, WESTLAW, in 1975.
The American Association of Law Libraries was founded in 1906 to promote
and enhance the value of law libraries to the legal and public communities,
to foster the profession of law librarianship, and to provide leadership in
the field of legal information. Today, with almost 4,700 members, the
Association represents law librarians and related professionals who are
affiliated with a wide range of institutions: law firms; law schools;
corporate legal departments; courts; and local, state and federal
government agencies.
-30-
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Nov 14 2007 - 20:49:29 PST