Newest Issue of AALL Spectrum: Marketing, Preservation and Katrina

The February 2007 issue of the AALL Spectrum (American Association of Law Libraries) is available online.

Among the offerings are:

• Public Relations: Marketing Inspiration - How to move the law library to the center of your organization’s culture: "I consider myself a natural marketer. I see opportunities everywhere I look. However, Jill Stover, undergraduate services librarian at Virginia Commonwealth University and author of the blog, Library Marketing-Thinking Outside the Book (http://librarymarketing.blogspot.com), puts me to shame. Not only does Stover find inspiration in the most unlikely places, but she also finds it right at the source."
• Practicing Law Librarianship: Preserving a Special Collection - Ten things you can do when you're on your own: "Preservation is always an important consideration in libraries, but especially for special collections. And small special collections can be particularly troublesome. Small collections usually do not fall under the purview of a special collections librarian, but instead become just one tiny part of a regular librarian’s duties. And most likely that librarian, although having a bona fide interest in special collections, won’t have any particular training or expertise (...) So how does a librarian who is not trained in preservation issues assess the preservation needs of a special collection? What do you do when you have a special collection with special preservation needs, but you’re on your own?"
• After the Storm - New Orleans law libraries' long and continuing recovery from Hurricane Katrina: "New Orleans is the legal capital of Louisiana. It was the seat of state government during Louisiana’s first decades, and its Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit are both here. The commercial importance of the major port near the mouth of America’s largest river ensures that the biggest law firms in the state have their main offices in New Orleans and that many firms around the country and the world also have a presence in the Crescent City. The two law schools in Louisiana with the most students, Tulane and Loyola, are also in New Orleans. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina breached the ineptly designed and constructed flood control system that was supposed to protect New Orleans. In our nation’s history, only the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 devastated a major American city more. The law librarians at the courts, firms, and law schools in New Orleans, like everyone else, have been dealing with the consequences of Hurricane Katrina, both personally and professionally, ever since."