Library Technical Services

February 9, 2009

New Web Based Pathfinder for Creating Metadata for Digital Legal Materials

Rob Richards an in independent law librarian and legal information consultant based in Philadelphia has pub together a Website listing resources useful in creating metadata for digital legal materials . According to Mr. Richards, “the site is intended for use by researchers studying legal information systems and by librarians building digital libraries of legal materials…” As he explains: “…I wasn’t able to find a pathfinder for people new to the study of legal information systems…, so I wrote my own, and then put it on a Website in hopes that it might be helpful to others. Suggestions and comments are welcome.” He can be contacted at richards1000@comcast.net

Here are the links to his site:

http://home.comcast.net/~richards1000/LegalInformationSystemsBibliography.htm#METADATA, and links to legal scholarly respositories, http://home.comcast.net/~richards1000/LegalInformationSystemsBibliography.htm#INSTITUTIONALREPOSITORIES (listing only stand-alone repositories of legal materials),

January 29, 2009

Brief Summary of American Library Association Midwinter MARBI Meetings

by David Badertscher

George Prager, Head of Cataloging at New York University Law School Library has sent his summary of the ALA Midwinter MARBI meetings to members of the American Association of Law Libraries Technical Services Special Interest Group. With his permission I am also posting it here along with his opening comments:

COMMENTS:

I have added a brief summary of each proposal and discussion paper presented at the American Library Association Midwinter MARBI Meetings, whhich took place January 24-25, 2009. A more detailed analysis of the papers will be available in my 2008/2009 Annual report, which will appear on the TSIS Website shortly before the AALL 2009 Annual Meeting, and later in TSLL.

January 29, 2009

Seeking a Consultant to Assess a Law School Library’s Collection and to Develop an Acquisition Strategy

by David Badertscher

Charlotte School of Law would like to assess its library collection and subsequently develop an acquisition strategy. At this initial stage, we’re seeking qualified consultants who can respond to a more detailed RFP after signing a confidentiality agreement.

Objective

Our objective is to assess the library collection and to develop a collection enhancement strategy that will be used to guide future acquisitions. More specifically, we would like to:

January 27, 2009

Results from Marshall Breeding’s 2008 Library Automation Survey

by David Badertscher

In case you missed it, the results from the 2008 version of Marshall Breeding’s Library Automation Survey are available at http://www.librarytechnology.org/perceptions2008.pl. This Survey is international in scope. There were 1,450 responses.

January 27, 2009

AALL: Technical Services Law Library Newsletter

by David Badertscher

The September 2008 issue of the Technical Services Law Library Newsletter (TSLL) Volume 4 Nol 1 is now published.and can be viewed at http://www.aallnet.org/sis/tssis/tsll/34-01/34-01.pdf

January 9, 2009

Wisconsin State Law Library Newsletter

by David Badertscher

January 2009

Happy New Year!

The January 2009 issue of WSLL @ Your Service has been published at http://wsll.state.wi.us/newsletter/0901.html In this issue:

January 9, 2009

American Libraries Direct. January 7, 2009.

by David Badertscher

The e-newsletter of the American Library Association – January 7, 2009
Selected highlights*

Judge overrules Philadelphia branch closings A Philadelphia judge has ordered Mayor Michael Nutter to halt his planned closing of 11 branches of the Free Library of Philadelphia. Court of Common Pleas Judge Idee C. Fox (right) issued the ruling December 30 in response to an emergency motion filed by three city council members who argued that the closures would violate a 1988 city ordinance requiring the mayor to obtain council approval before shutting any city-owned facility….
American Libraries Online, Jan. 5
Protect patrons’ privacy ALA Editions has released a new title, Privacy and Confidentiality Issues: A Guide for Libraries and their Lawyers, by Theresa Chmara. In this clear and concise guide, set up in an FAQ format, First Amendment attorney and litigation expert Chmara shares her decades of experience in easy-to-understand, jargon-free language. Interspersed within the questions and answers, actual court case studies lend a sense of urgency to the explanations….

Date change for Los Angeles Lawyers for Libraries ALA will present a Lawyers for Libraries training institute February 27 in Los Angeles. The previously announced date was February 20. The Lawyers for Libraries Institute is primarily intended to equip attorneys with tools they need to effectively defend the First Amendment in libraries….

Internet use grows at meetings Until recently, travelers attending conferences had simple internet needs. They would check email messages and look up information on the Web or connect to the home office. Now, meetings are likely to include streaming video and online interaction. Back in their rooms, travelers are downloading movies and logging onto peer-to-peer networks. Event organizers and hotels and conference centers are struggling to keep up and prevent internet gridlock….
New York Times, Dec. 29 Continue reading

December 23, 2008

Haworth Journal Titles Now on Informaworld

by David Badertscher

All subscribers to journal titles published by Haworth Press should have received the following e-mail. Although it is only addressed to current subscribers, others may also be interested in this information; we are therefore posting the letter here:

Dear subscriber,

I am delighted to let you know that from today all journal titles formerly published by Haworth Press are now available at www.informaworld.com. This marks the first stage in migrating the ejournals from www.haworthpress.com to www.informaworld.com. The following information will help you to prepare for a smooth platform transition for you and your users.

December 17, 2008

Libraries Taskforce to Investigate OCLC Policy Change Regarding Use and Transfer of WorldCat Records

by David Badertscher

According to libraryjournal.com, a libraries taskforce has been formed to investigate the recent OCLC policy changes regarding the use and transfer of WorldCat records.

According to libraryjournal.com:

“Taking a step likely to be welcomed by many in the cataloging community, the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) have formed an ad hoc task force to study the recently disseminated OCLC policy governing the use and transfer of WorldCat records.

December 15, 2008

Libraries with Thomson West Library Maintenance Agreements (LMAs)

by David Badertscher

QUESTION:

What are libraries with existing Thomson West Library Maintenance Agreements (LMAs) planning to do when those Agreements come up for renewal? Responses, arranged by type of library are quite varied. All names have been removed to protect privacy but we are especially grateful to the person who both submitted the question originally and compiled the responses below:

RESPONSES: