Adriana Younskevicius, Special Assistant to the Director, U.S. Department of Justice Libraries, shares information about the AALL Federal Law Librarians Caucus.
Professional development is not just about taking classes and attending conferences. While these are important aspects of it, professional development can--and, I believe, should--involve working with the federal law library community beyond our respective agencies.
To that end, in July 2006, I invited my fellow Federal Law Library colleagues to an informal meet and greet at the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) Annual Conference. I am pleased to say that approximately 40 librarians took me up on my invitation! As a result, an AALL Federal Law Librarians Caucus has been formed! You can see our listing at: http://www.aallnet.org/caucus/.
When you click on the Caucus link, you will see that the Caucus web page is an attempt to create a multi-agency network of federal law libraries and to develop joint collection development policies, research services, disaster recovery plans, training programs, etc. The idea is to help us learn more from each other and perhaps actually save some money and effort in the process. It is so important for us to look proactive in these days of declining resources rather than waiting until the "Closed" signs appear on our doors.
In addition to the Caucus web page, a listserv was formed to address issues, ideas, and projects for us to undertake as Federal Law Librarians. I believe that this listserv has the potential to be a great communication vehicle for librarians scattered around the country and I would encourage everyone to join! This is an opportunity to share ideas and exchange opinions with your colleagues in what are certainly challenging times. To sign up for the listserv you can either go to http://share.aallnet.org/read/ and subscribe via the web or you can send an email to the list manager at owner-fllc@aallnet.org. Once you are a member you can post to the listserv by sending an email to fllc@aallnet.org. Please know that you do not have to be a member of AALL to join the caucus or the listserv.
A number of interesting topics have already been introduced on the listserv. The concept of the embedded librarian generated a great deal of discussion. The subject of federal law library closures is naturally a concern to us all and postings with updates have appeared on the listserv. Perhaps the most provocative thread dealt with developing collaborative relationships for the purposes of research services, collection development, and training. Other ideas that have been put forward are a bibliographic project such as a shared online catalog and a collaborative electronic reference service.
There is still a great deal that we could discuss, however. Marketing methods used by various libraries, training for staff transitioning from LexisNexis and Westlaw software to the .com versions, inter-agency ILL possibilities, resource sharing, and creating a federal law library directory are all issues worth exploring.
Right now at the Department of Justice, we have several things that we are beginning to put our thoughts together about. We are spending time talking about the next couple of decades in our library and what the future may hold long term. We have also been addressing the issue of the future of our online catalog and how to make it even more robust and useful to our clients. Also, we are beginning to look at our need to prepare our younger staff for assuming leadership positions.
The issues above are suitable for a consortium of federal law libraries to explore. It is clear that strategic planning needs to become a priority if we are to continue to flourish in these times of downsizing. How can we use each other's expertise to supplement our own research services? How can we better acquire and share materials? How can we collaborate to develop and expand our training services to other federal law libraries?
We can use vehicles such as the AALL Federal Law Librarians Caucus to start to find the answers to these issues, get to know our fellow federal law librarians better, and gain valuable professional development experiences!
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