February 2013 Issue of AALL Spectrum

The February 2013 issue of AALL Spectrum, a monthly publication of the American Association of Law Libraries, is available.

Among this month's selection of articles:

• The Art of Making Law Library Video by L. Cindy Dabney (Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington): "Videos can be an excellent marketing tool for any library. They can entertain your audience, market to them, and educate them. At the 2011 AALL Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, I attended a workshop called Producing Library Videos: A Hands-On Experience. The program, which focused on making good library videos, was given by Todd Shoemaker of Merge Films with Joy Shoemaker, head of research services at University of California, Irvine, and Ellen Augustiniak, web services librarian at University of California, Irvine. As “outreach services” librarian, marketing is something that I’m very interested in—as is education—so videos seemed to fit perfectly into my job."
• Survey Savvy: The truth about benchmarking by Christine Stouffer and Umit Ertin (Thompson Hine LLP in Cleveland):"Now, does your organization benchmark? That answer is resoundingly clear: You bet it does. Benchmarking, or comparing one’s business model, decisions, budget, staffing, and profits against similar organizations, is a common practice. It can be as simple as talking to one’s counterpart at another firm or as sophisticated as using a detailed survey compiled and published by an independent or commercial entity. The fact is we are all being compared with similar organizations when it comes to our work, our staffing, our compensation, and other factors. Surveys have become ever more popular in law firm libraries, so let’s take a look at what law librarians need to know about the increasingly ubiquitous law library benchmarking survey."
• Negotiating and Complying with Electronic Database License Agreements by Ingrid Mattson (Moritz Law Library at The Ohio State University in Columbus) and Linda-Jean Schneider (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP in Philadelphia): "Two programs held at recent AALL Annual Meetings, Getting to Yes for Your Library: Negotiating Vendor Contracts in Your Favor (...) and Walking the Tightrope: Licensed Data Access and Restrictions (...), tackled specific licensing terms and provided insight into the process of handling electronic database licenses in law firms. Inspired by these programs, the authors incorporate tips and tricks from the programs as part of a broader conversation about understanding your library users so that you can effectively implement license compliance strategies."