May 2016
No. 5:

Check out the 2016 PLLIP Summit Afternoon Programming!
As the 2016 PLLIP Summit draws nearer, we are excited to provide additional information about our afternoon sessions.

As we have done in years past, we will be offering three unique sessions in the afternoon, each to be repeated twice, so attendees can select two of these three programs:
 
High-quality, focused content including input from professional speakers and industry leaders, prime networking opportunities, and a targeted wrap-up session that will help you apply your learning are all reasons that you won't want to miss this event!

For more information on the 2016 PLLIP Summit: Strategic Impact, click on the links above or visit our website here.  

In This Issue
Member News
From the Chair
Around the Blogosphere
Welcome New Members!
Congratulations to our new 2016-2017 PLLIP Officers! 
Vice Chair/Chair-Elect: Elaine Egan
Secretary: Mary Ann Wacker
Member-at-Large: Michelle Tolley 
Member News
Kudos to our PLLIP-SIS members receiving AALL Awards
AALL Hall of Fame Award -- Mark E. Estes,Law Library Director, Alameda Count Law Library, Oakland, CA
AALL Emerging Leader Award - Sarah Morris Lin, Library Systems Librarian, Reed Smith LLP, San Francisco
Please send us your news and ideas!
 
Thank you!

Kurt R. Mattson, JD, LLM
Private Law Librarians & Information Professionals
Quick Links


Congratulations to our 2016 PLLIP-SIS Award Recipients!

Distinguished Librarian: Elaine Knecht, Director of Information Services, Barclay Damon, LLP, Buffalo, NY

Hall of Fame: Janet Accordo (Ret.) and Bess Reynolds (Ret.)
 
Rookie of the Year:
Corrine Vogel, Research Librarian, Baker Botts  
 
Service to PLLIP:
Lucy Curci-Gonzalez, Executive Director, New York Law Institute, New York, NY
 
Vendor/Outside Champion:
Ed Walters, CEO, Fastcase

Seeking reviewers for 2016 AALL Annual Meeting Programs

Do you like to write? Want to be published?
The response has been good, but additional reviewers are needed to review the remaining 2016 AALL Annual Meeting programs listed below. The reviews will be published in a PLLIP e-Newsletter issue or as blog posts for On Firmer Ground following the July annual meeting in Chicago.
Please email Cheryl Niemeier [email protected] indicating which program you'd like to review. Once the list of reviewers has been compiled, a follow-up with each individual will be sent to confirm the program(s) to be reviewed.
In order for the program to be fresh in the reviewers mind the deadline to submit all reviews will be close of business Friday, August 19, 2015. Feel free to select more than one program to review. Here is the list of remaining programs up for grabs:

Crowdsourcing a Skill Set to Manage the Legal Information of the Future - Sunday July 17, 11:30 am-12:30 pm 

Promoting the Value of Technical Services at Budget Time: Practical Advice for Directors and Managers - Sunday, July 17th 2:30-3:30pm 

Hooking the CI White Whale: Advanced Analytics in a CI Report  Sunday, July 17th 2:30-5pm

Enterprise Search Initiatives: New Opportunities for Your Organization - Sunday, July 17th 4-5pm

CRM/DMS/EDD/KM - What Are They and Why Should I Care? - Monday, July 18th at 9:45am

Attorney Research Skills: Continuing the Conversation Between Law Firm and Academic Law Librarians - Monday, July 18th at 2-3pm 

Understanding the Creation and Use of the Law Firm's Internal Data - Monday, July 18th 2pm - 3pm 

Taking the Lead on Teaching Legal Technology: Opportunities and Challenges - Tuesday, July 19th 8:30am - 9:30am 

"Disruptunity": The Legal Research Revolution Is Now! - Tuesday, July 19th 11am - 12pm

Thank you,
Cheryl Niemeier, PLLIP e-Newsletter co-editor
Private Law Librarians & Information Professionals Newsletter
From the Chair
Scott Bailey
 
Outsourcing: Charting a New Course, but Who Draws the Map?
 
Lately I've been jogging (slowly) past this little crumbling park on Meridian Hill in downtown Washington, DC. The park is located on what used to be the northern border of the city. At the time of Pierre L'Enfant's 1791 plan for the Federal City, this boundary was intended to be the limit of the land that was needed for the city for the foreseeable future; the outer limits. In this overgrown park with dysfunctional fountains, there are a few statues that represent a variety of aspirations and honorary symbols (Dante, Serenity, Joan of Arc, James Buchanan) but there is one idea buried in the history of this park that really stands out to me. According to one of the historical plaques, Meridian Hill is so named because the founders wanted a line through that northernmost part of the city to be a new American Meridian for a new world. People like Thomas Jefferson were audacious enough to believe that they could compete with other globally established lines of demarcation and navigation; they literally wanted to move the center of the world. Meridians have been of great significance throughout history as a navigational and commercial center for civilization; an axis of achievement and productivity and measurement. It seemed natural to these founders to try to establish an entirely new way of navigating and measuring coordinates based on their dawning, optimistic infant national capital. A new yardstick for a new nation. New metrics. Sound familiar?

We have spoken for years of the need for reinvention of our profession. Recognizing the strong roots and principles established in our industry, we feel the pull and push of technological and competitive forces that have compelled us to ask core definitional questions of ourselves and our colleagues. What is a law librarian in 2016 and what course should we plot for the future? Which direction should we go, how should we invest our resources and how should we measure our success? Yesterday's article from the American Lawyer that focused on an unusual outsourcing case has prompted a new discussion around an old topic. How do we measure our value and better yet, how do we express it effectively to our stakeholders so that our value is amplified and recognized and expanded? Will we define it ourselves or will an outsourcing company define it for us?

AALL and PLLIP need to create a new meridian that acknowledges that we are navigating new commercial frontiers with higher level skills and technology. We need to re-center ourselves and define a new standard that promotes the expansion of our capabilities and creates a culture of buy-in among our external leadership where they know what we are doing and want to get involved and promote the profitable work we do in our law firms across the world. In the coming months, we will be establishing strategies and advancing our communications to get the word out. The line has shifted and the metrics are out there; we are the best at what we do and there is no comparison between our best in class colleagues and a generic solution from the outside. We can recognize that there is a new starting place, a new meridian, for us to measure our distance closer to a smarter, more insightful industry. It will be up to us to design it, or to have it designed for us.
Important Reminders
   
PLLIP-SIS Executive Board Meeting  
This will be at the AALL Annual Meeting in Chicago and is open to all members. Please feel free to attend on July 17th  in the Hyatt Skyway Room 282 and will begin at 6:15pm.
 
Want to get involved with PLLIP-SIS?  
Plan to attend one of several PLLIP committee meetings in Chicago: 
 
Membership Committee Meeting, Monday, July 18, 7:30-8:30am, Hyatt- Skyway Room 281
 
Communications Committee Meeting , Monday, July 18, 5-6pm, Hyatt Skyway Room 284
 
Education Committee Meeting, Monday, July 18, 5-6pm, Hyatt Skyway Room 283

Cameron Gowan, PLLIP incoming Chair is presenting at the Diversity Symposium: Exploring Resources and Library Services to Better Serve the LGBT Community, Sponsored by LexisNexis, on Sunday July 17 at 4:00 pm, in the Hyatt- Columbus IJ Room. 
 
  Around the Blogosphere


Recap: AALL Leadership Academy details the top five leadership lessons learned from an attendee at the March AALL Leadership Academy.
In Why Our World Would End if Legal Librarians Disappeared delves into the age old question of the value of law librarians and the highlight of the post is in sharing an AALL Study respondents comment when asked how to best assess the law library's value: "Send all the library staff home for a day. Lawyers' dissatisfactions with service do not remain unnoticed for long" which should force us all to consider our own confidence that we'd be wanted back the next day.
The Once and Future Library explores the many facets of what libraries are and concludes that as in ancient times libraries of today and into the future will endure as places "for scholars to collaborate, to eat, to read, and to think" in spite of the significant changes in how we preserve, discover and share information in the digital age.
Member Spotlight
 
Member Interviews of Marcia Burris and Denise Pagh, co-recipients of the 2015-2016 PLLIP-SIS Innovative Professional of the Year Award.
Interview of Marcia Burris, Outgoing PLLIP Board Member-at-Large
What was your path to law librarianship?
My first exposure to law libraries was through a college job working for a looseleaf filing service, which allowed me to gain experience in a variety of law firm, corporate legal departments and government law libraries. I enjoyed the work so much that I changed my career plans and a few months before graduation started my own library filing and staffing company. Shortly after getting the business off the ground I went back to school for my MLIS and added library management to my service offerings.    
Did you have a mentor or librarian who helped you and/or influenced your work style/ethic?
I've learned from many people along the way, and I'm still learning.   One of the things I enjoy about AALL & PLLIP is the opportunity to work with phenomenal people on committees and special projects. I am continually amazed at how awesome (and diverse) law librarians are. 
How has your job evolved from the time you first began your career?
When I started out, print was the starting point for most research and Westlaw & Lexis were accessed from a special station in the library - I don't think many lawyers had computers at their desks yet! I learned a lot just from seeing how the print collections were organized (such as, that securities and secured transactions are totally different animals!) The evolution from print to online has been the most obvious change. Early online sources tried to be "like the books" to ease attorneys into that transition, and now there are new online tools that deliver information in completely different ways. From Analytics to AI, it's a brave new world! But the fundamentals are still the same: we provide attorneys with access to information, while making sure that resource dollars are spent wisely.
What is your biggest challenge at work?
The biggest challenge these days is working with finite budgets and still finding ways to add new cutting-edge resources that add value (and are attractive to early-adopter types), while maintaining access to more familiar resources which attorneys feel they still need, whether print or earlier generation online tools.  
What part of your job do you enjoy the most? [What part drives you crazy?]
I love finding ways to contribute to strong financial results, especially through negotiating competitive online contracts, and also through realignment of resources and providing strategic information to support business objectives.   It's great to be able to point to concrete examples showing how we help our firms succeed.
With so much to do, I am amazed that some publishers routinely call on the phone to ask if we plan to renew a particular subscription, rather than just sending the renewal invoice.   Are they trying to save postage? I just don't see how this practice is helpful to anyone, and yes, it drives me a little crazy.
How do you keep up with news and trends in law libraries?
Conferences, informal network groups, blogs and other social media.   Even Twitter!
What job would you have if you had not become a law librarian?
I was on my way to becoming a high school teacher (double majoring in English and PE) when I switched gears to pursue law librarianship. At this stage of the game, if I was to do something completely different it might be in elder care or possibly residential construction or renovations.   Or maybe I could be a personal trainer...
Any advice for new librarians who are just starting out?
Join AALL & PLLIP and volunteer for committees. Help colleagues whenever possible. You will gain exponentially more than you give. 
 
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Interview of Denise Pagh, Current co-Chair of the 2016 PLLIP Summit and Research & Information Services Operations Manager at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP
What was your path to law librarianship?
My path to law librarianship was equal parts destiny and serendipity. My husband says he knows that I was destined to be a librarian when he first saw my childhood set of Little House on the Prairie books with homemade spine labels that I had made when I was in elementary school. In graduate school I specialized in organization of materials, and it just happened that my first technical services position was in a Portland law firm, and I have worked in law firms ever since.
Did you have a mentor or librarian who helped you and/or influenced your work style/ethic?
This profession is so full of talented, inspiring colleagues who are happy to help, share, and impart their wisdom that I have been influenced by too many to name. But at the beginning of my career, when I was most impressionable, I was blessed to have an outstanding librarian, mentor and guide in my first boss, LaJean Humphries. Without a doubt she has had the single-most influence on my career, work style, and ethic. She invested in me and taught me to invest in others through her example. She retired last year, and I am honored to express this tribute to her. 
How has your job evolved from the time you first began your career?
Over the years I have been privileged to grow into positions with successively more responsibility. From a staff position in a mid-sized regional firm, I moved to a management position with a lot more responsibility but in a much smaller firm, and from there to a mid-level management position in a much, much larger firm. Each position has stretched me beyond my previous limits with just the right amount challenge and opportunity. From being more task-based with a smaller scope of responsibility early in my career, my current position requires more project and people management. There are a lot more balls to juggle!
What is your biggest challenge at work?
My biggest challenge is keeping up with the work load. I'm a hard worker and I put in a lot of extra hours, but it never seems enough. It can be frustrating when it feels like you're always slipping a little further behind in your workload. But I am also committed to a healthy work-life balance and so I continually remind myself that I have exceptionally high standards and I try to cut myself some slack.
What part of your job do you enjoy the most? [What part drives you crazy?]
I am achievement-oriented and I thrive on the sense of accomplishment when a project or task is completed regardless of its scale. The other thing that I really enjoy is developing and empowering other people, whether it is equipping my staff to grow in their careers or providing and equipping attorneys with the resources they need to perform their work in a more efficient manner. And of course, like every other librarian I know, I really get a kick out of helping people!
The thing that I hate more than anything is completing expense reimbursements. I travel a lot in my current job, and taking time to fill out this paperwork is so tedious that I just dread doing them, especially when there are so many other more interesting and important things to do!
How do you keep up with news and trends in law libraries?                                                       
Reading and networking are integral for me to stay on top of developments in the legal information world. If I haven't discovered something for myself, I learn about it from my professional community-colleagues at work, and in the professional organizations I belong to and the people I volunteer with. I also find conference attendance and other professional development opportunities crucial in staying abreast of new developments.
What job would you have if you had not become a law librarian?
I have a personal interest and some training in interior design, and if I couldn't be a law librarian I would enjoy unleashing my creative side and working as a designer.
How do you reach out to your attorneys to let them know how the library can help them?
Every point of contact-elevator conversation, email communication, meeting presentation-is an opportunity to promote library services so it is important to make the most of each connection. In marketing they say that it is easier to build your business from existing customers than try to earn new customers, so building upon the work that you are already doing is key. Look for ways to provide value-added services. For example, if you are performing research for someone offer to take it one step further and let them know that you can also set up an alert for them, etc.
Any advice for new librarians who are just starting out?
Be bold and fearless. This profession needs young leaders who will embrace the challenges and changes before them with courage and enthusiasm. Don't be afraid to take risks, say yes to growth opportunities, and if opportunities don't present themselves to you, create your own!