June 8, 2011                                                                                                                 Vol. 2  Issue 11
 
NELLCO E-Newsletter
Implementing Innovative Ideas
In This Issue
NELLCO Member Library Spotlight
Blog of the Month!
FREE Grant Workshops at YOUR Library!
Director's Corner
Acquisitions and Collection Development Interest Group
New Website Coming!
NELLCO Conference 2012
Mobile Apps for Law - Free to Members!
Current Trials
Men's Health Month
Tips from Theresa
NELLCO in Philly

Stay Informed!

 

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Read the blog and comment!

COLLABORATIONISTA

Library Spotlight

bclawlib

Newton, MA
 

NELLCO Full Member

Filippa Anzalone, Library Director

Blog of the Month!
rrw 

  

For the "Real" users of the web!

  

OK, this isn't a law library-centric blog, but it's one that offers tons of good stuff every day. It keeps you ahead of the curve when it comes to technology. From the site:

 

ReadWriteWeb is one of the most popular technology blogs in the world, known for offering insightful analysis about each day's Internet industry news.

 

ReadWriteWeb was founded on April 20, 2003, by Richard MacManus and is now one of the most widely read and respected blogs in the world. Our readers are smart, tech savvy, engaged, decision makers; 46% have 'significant input' or "make final information technology purchase decisions." As one advertiser put it, "The real users of the Web read ReadWriteWeb."

  
Recent blog postings include:

Check it out!

Does your staff need grantwriting skills? As a NELLCO member you can get them for free!

NELLCO member libraries that can host a 2-day grant writing or grant management workshop will receive two free seats for staff to attend. That's a value of almost $1000.00!     

gwusa

NELLCO has teamed up with Grant Writing USA to offer these workshops across the US. Host institutions only need to provide space and a local contact person. We do the rest. Interested? Let us know!
Streaming Video!
 Anne Acton
Swank Digital Campus! Take a look. View the recorded demo at your convenience. Swank offers a great service that librarians can provide to support their faculty!

Send Us Your Pictures!

We want to highlight your library and your staff on our website and in our newsletter. Please send in any images you'd like to see, along with a brief description, to [email protected] or [email protected]. All images should be jpgs of at least 620 pixels wide by 310 tall. We can work with larger images but nothing smaller. Now hit us with your best shots!

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Let your colleagues know what they're missing! Forward this newsletter by using the
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Quick Links

 

LIPA Legal Information Preservation Alliance

 

MALLCO Mid-America Law Library Conosortium

 

LLMC Law Library Microforms Consortium 

 

ICOLC International Coalition of Library Consortia

 

ACL Association for Consortium Leadership
Director's Corner
ED Pic 

 

newfyNew Year on the Horizon 

Wow, it's the end of the fiscal year! I just can't believe how quickly it has come around again. I know many of you are busy with your end year-end activities, but I hope you've had time to review a recent mailing from NELLCO. It included your dues renewal invoice for membership year 2012 (which begins on July 1, 2011), a brochure highlighting some of the many benefits of membership and a letter from me explaining all of the changes we're anticipating for the new fiscal year.

 

As you know, we implemented a dues increase for our Affiliate and International Affiliate Members for fiscal year 2012. In this economic climate, we did not arrive at this decision lightly. The Board of Directors gave careful consideration to the current situations of our member libraries, as well as the future of NELLCO. Board members led the way, absorbing an increase for Full Members in FY 2011. This follows a period of years during which no membership category saw any dues increase. With dues as our exclusive source of revenue, our income was not keeping pace with our expenses, which were rising during the same period. The financial review we undertook last year revealed that if we continued on the same path, without increasing our revenue to match our expanding operations costs, we would begin to cut into our reserves to fund our operating expenses within 5 years.

 

As I've outlined in this column previously, the financial review led us to reevaluate our financial infrastructure and explore new opportunities. Beginning in FY2012 we will be assessing a 1% administrative fee on all electronic resources invoiced by NELLCO. This, along with our initiatives like our recently launched Career Center  and a forthcoming NELLCO Buyer's Guide, will help us to diversify our revenue stream and generate funds for additional consortium-wide services, programs and opportunities (for one example, see Mobile Apps for Law below).

 

indmemIndividual Memberships 

Another new initiative for 2012 is the addition of an Individual Member category. While law librarians employed by NELLCO member institutions already enjoy the benefits of Individual Membership, the Board recognized that NELLCO offers a suite of benefits that inure to the individual and may be of interest to law librarians whose employers are not NELLCO members. These include current awareness tools, networking opportunities, interest group and community participation, webinars, etc. Individual Members do not participate in NELLCO's group purchasing and licensing activities. This category of membership, which will be launched along with our new website, is limited to law librarians currently employed by non-NELLCO academic; state, court and county; or firm law libraries.

 

bagWho are you calling an old bag???? 

Finally, we'll be seeing many of you soon in Philadelphia!  As we prepare for our first ever NELLCO Member/Vendor Meeting next Spring here in Albany we'd like to invite you to recycle all of your old bags for fun and profit! Dig out all of those old conference totes and dust them off, then bring them to the NELLCO booth at the AALL Exhibit Hall in Philly next month to RECEIVE A SPECIAL GIFT! Only those bringing totes will receive the special gift, so don't try to sweet talk Theresa! We'll reuse your old totes at our event next March.

 

And don't forget, NELLCO's Annual Meet & Greet Event. Register now if you haven't already. And please stop by our booth with any questions or comments, or just to say hi to Member Support Manager Theresa McCue. And while you cruise the Exhibit Hall don't forget to urge those information vendors to work through NELLCO to save everyone time and money!

  

Yours In Collaboration,

Tracy L. Thompson-Przylucki

Executive Director
 

Acquisitions and Collection Development Interest Group News
 
Led by Chair Merle Slyhoff (UPenn) and Vice-Chair Elisabeth Umpleby (UConn), the Acquisitions and Collection Development Interest Group held its annual meeting on May 23 at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. The agenda focused on:
  • What do we want from vendors?
  • E-Books: Your Experiences and the Future
  • Cancellations: Do Budgets Impact Your Collection, Selecting, Policy?

Each question included discussion centered on "What can we do within NELLCO?"


Vendor discussion centered on what we would like to have vendors do that would help us link in to what our fellow NELLCO members have decided about specific titles. Caroline Walters, Suffolk, showed us their internal Hein Greenslip database.
  
Tracy was asked to describe the system used to set up trials for member libraries.  Realizing the tremendous amount of time Tracy spends in setting up a trial, we suggested she poll the collection development librarians prior to setting up a trial to determine if there is adequate interest. 
  
E-books are not being collected in the libraries represented, but all are considering/investigating them. Jeff Grillo, Penn, described the difficulty in arranging for e-book demonstrations, as each vendor has their own platform. We suggested e-books be a track for next year's vendor day.  Cancellation discussions focused on creating a "union list" for categories of materials that libraries are keeping, especially in the area of state materials.  Jacob Sayward, Fordham, agreed to be the list compiler, and we will start with the five states represented at the meeting. 

A number of action items came out of the meeting, including:
  1. Tracy will pursue consortial pricing for Serials Solutions.
  2. Tracy will pursue with Hein the Suffolk model for NELLCO libraries to assist us in collection development.
  3. Tracy will consult with collection development librarians prior to setting up trials in order to assure there is interest in the product.  Five libraries will have to express interest to warrant moving forward.
  4. Following the Penn e-book demos, Jeff and the Penn collection development librarians will report back on the experience.
  5. The libraries at the meeting will create a "union list" of state materials held by their library, with the goal being expansion to all states in NELLCO.

Elisabeth Umpleby, UConn, moved into the Chair position.  Caroline Walters, Suffolk, Vice-Chair, and Merle Slyhoff, Secretary, were elected by the members.

  
webNELLCO Website Launch
 
We are very excited about the upcoming launch of the new NELLCO website! Theresa and I have been working diligently to rethink the site as we transition all of our content and process to the new platform hosted by YourMembership.com.
  
newsite
  
The new site, pictured above under construction, offers a much more user friendly and intuitive look and feel. Trials, offers and e-resource subscriptions and renewals will be handled through an e-commerce and shopping cart function to which we've all become accustomed in the online shopping environment. NELLCO members will also gain a great deal of direct interaction and opportunity for collaboration through the site using blogs, forums and wiki features. Facebook and twitter integration are supported, as well as other social networking features, like "online now" notifications so members can connect directly. You're going to see a lot of change, and we hope you will work with us to achieve a new site that serves all of us better and leads to greatly enhanced collaboration! Launch is scheduled for July 1, 2011.
confFirst Annual NELLCO Event - March 2012
 
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
  
As you may know, NELLCO is busy planning for a two-day event to be held at the Albany Law School in Albany, NY on March 12-13, 2012. Please help us plan by answering a very brief survey!
  
Day one will be content-focused. Members will have an opportunity to meet with information providers in a classroom setting for 40-45 minute Q&A sessions. This will give participants an opportunity to learn and share in a small group setting. If there are any particular vendors you'd like to hear from, please let us know so we'll be sure to invite them.
  
On the evening of day one participants will be invited to attend a reception to be held at the New York State Museum in Albany. The Museum is housed in the Cultural Education Center, which is also
NYSMcarousel
Carousel at the New York State Museum
home to the State Library and State Archives. The carousel pictured here, dating to the early 20th century, is one of only a handful being preserved by museums in the United States today.
  
Day two of the event will be librarian-focused.  The NELLCO Interest Groups will have an opportunity to meet at scheduled times throughout the day. There will also be a full day of content programming, with the overarching theme of "Content, Curation and Collaboration." We're still in the early planning stages, but this is how it's shaping up. A website and more information, including registration, will be available later in the year. I hope you'll plan to attend!
Mobile Apps for Law Now Offered FREE to Members! mobapp
Our friend Arlene Eis, provider of Informed Librarian Online (ILO) from Infosources Publishing, has partnered with us once again to offer the new Mobile Apps for Law Database to NELLCO members. Under an agreement between Infosources and NELLCO we are now able to make both of these resources, ILO and Mobile Apps, available to NELLCO members at no cost to you.
ipod  

Did you know you can get the US Code on a mobile app?  the Delaware Code?  CFR?  Federal Rules of Civil Procedure?  The IRS Code and Regulations? All of these useful utilitiesand 890 more are included in the brand-new MOBILE APPS FOR LAW database on the web.

Mobile Apps for Law is a new comprehensive database on the web covering legal research and utility apps for all types of mobile devices. Whether you use an iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, BlackBerry, Android, Palm PC, or...this is the place to find out which law apps are available for your device.

The database includes over 890 different mobile applications for law and lawyers, and is growing weekly. Each entry provides detailed information, including: title, publisher, description, subjects, price, devices, version, size, last update date, links to reviews, where available, and most importantly, a link to click on to download the app immediately to your device. Powered by dtSearch, the search function allows you to search through the entire database, or to limit by specific fields, such as title, subject, or device. You can even limit your search to apps newly updated in the past two weeks or past month. Read what the reviewers have said.  
  
Interested? Just let us know! Provide your name and email address and indicate to which of the two resources you'd like to subscribe.

NELLCO Trials 

 

Trials with detailed information are always posted on the NELLCO website! Just login as a member and click on Trials and Offers from the member dashboard. 

 

It's also very helpful to us if you include a comment so we know why you chose or declined to subscribe to a trial resource. This feedback is helpful to us when we negotiate with information providers. Just enter it in the comments field when you make your decision. Thank you! 

 

Current Trials

v  Gale Digital Collections ends 6-10-2011

Upcoming Trials

v  LoisLaw

v  CQ First Street

v  Investor State Law Guide 

Have a resource you'd like us to pursue? Contact us!

 

June is Men's Health Month!

Fittingly, as we celebrate the fathers in our lives, June is also Men's Heath Monthmenshealth

 

The purpose of Men's Health Month is to heighten the awareness of preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment of disease among men and boys. This month gives health care providers, public policy makers, the media, and individuals an opportunity to encourage men and boys to seek regular medical advice and early treatment for disease and injury. The response has been overwhelming with thousands of awareness activities in the USA and around the globe.

 

What can you do? Plan a wear blue day, hold a fundraiser, raise awareness! Check out this list of ideas.

 

(NB: June is also Goat Trauma Awareness Month

 

tftTips from Theresa!

Theresa McCue - Administrative and Member Support Manager 

 

Theresa

 

June is slipping away, so do not delay, log on today!

To www.nellco.org and place your order for new and renewing subscriptions.

 

 


 

 

phillyNELLCO Phun in Philly! All Aboard!

 

ATTENTION ALL NELLCO MEMBERS! FULL, AFFILIATE AND INTERNATIONAL AFFILIATE MEMBERS ARE INVITED! DON'T MISS IT!

 

Mark your calendars and REGISTER NOW for NELLCO's Annual Meet & Greet in Philadelphia, Sun. July 24, 2011 from 5:30-9:00pm. This year, in place of our regular drop-in style reception we're hosting a dinner cruise aboard the Spirit of Philadelphia to give you a totally different perspective on the city! See Philly's awesome skyline, up-close and personal. The evening promises  dazzling city sights and harbor lights; a summer evening of wonderful cuisine, live music and dancing. And of course, time to network with all of your NELLCO colleagues!

 

 

The event is FREE to NELLCO members. A fee will apply for guests and other non-members, including information vendors ($70.00 before 6/1: $80.00 thereafter). Please plan to join us!

 

 

NELLCO