I am pleased to report on PLL's participation at the annual Association of
Legal Administrators' conference held in Seattle on May 19 - 21, 1997.
Seattle law librarians, headed by Barbara Holt, set up and staffed a
AALL booth in the exhibit hall for three days during the conference. PLL
brochures, the Tool Kit and other AALL information was available to the
meeting attendees. Prior to the conference, Seattle law librarians mailed
a postcard to the 1400 ALA registrants informing them about our booth
and our program. The postcard was generously underwritten by
Lexis/Nexis.
Since we were considered "vendors" at this meeting, we had the
perfect opportunity to meet and inform administrators about the value of
law librarians in their firms or corporations. Those who stopped by our
booth included administrators of both large and small firms or
corporations. The majority of the ALA membership is from smaller firms.
The Seattle librarians effectively communicated the many good reasons
why this group should hire law librarians
Another great opportunity was for us to see and speak with the other
types of vendors who do not normally exhibit at AALL. These included
companies which specialize in outsourcing, accounting systems, office
machines and computers. Naturally, Microsoft had the largest booth and
presentation of all! Bill Gates was even the keynote speaker, giving a
demonstration of Windows 97 and its alliance with Lexis' new product
LEXIS 7.0.
On Wednesday, May 21st, I presented a program with Penny Hazelton
and Jean Holcomb on " Maximizing Information Resources - Does Your
Firm Value Its Law Library?" I cannot describe how gratifying it was to
have a group of administrators taking notes and asking good questions
about the value of law librarians. I presented a practical overview of
what a law librarian can do for a firm - research, budgeting, marketing,
business development, training, negotiating online contracts,
implementing technology and assuming other responsibilities in a firm.
Penny and Jean brought to the group an understanding of how lawyers
research, what resources are available from varied sources and
relations with vendors. Needless to say, an hour and fifteen minutes
was hardly enough time to cover everything an administrator should
know. Thanks go to the West Group for providing refreshments at our
program.
I feel very positive about PLL's participation at ALA each year. The
contacts that I and the Seattle librarians made are invaluable. I am very
impressed with PLL members' leadership and marketing skills. We
should take every advantage to participate and present programs at
other non-library and community meetings. Next year, ALA will meet in
Boston. Jane Huston will be chairing the committee to organize the
booth and local arrangements. Joan Axelroth has submitted several
program proposals to ALA.
I would like to thank the Seattle librarians and Penny and Jean for their
time, expertise and excellence in representing private law librarians at
ALA. Congratulations on a job that was very well done!
Anne V. EllisVice-Chair, Chair-Elect, PLL
Holme Roberts & Owen
303-866-0212
ellisa@hro.com
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