September/October 2014 Issue of AALL Spectrum

The September/October 2014 issue of AALL Spectrum, a monthly publication of the American Association of Law Libraries, is available.

Among this month's selection of articles:

• Public Relations: Outstanding Achievements: "The marketing strategy or public relations initiatives that work well for one library might not necessarily work well for another. One of the most impressive qualities shared among the 2014 Excellence in Marketing Award winners is that they each evaluated their patrons and their unique communities and creatively produced marketing materials that were able to speak to their audiences and stakeholders. AALL’s Excellence in Marketing Award honors outstanding achievement in public relations activities by an individual, group of individuals, library, chapter, special interest section, consortium, caucus, or any other group affiliated with the Association. This year’s winners include a law firm library, a federal court library, a chapter, a public academic/county law library, and a private academic law library."
• Networking, Mutual Assistance, and a Whole Lot More: "A small group of Attorneys General Office (AGO) librarians gathered informally at AALL’s 2009 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The talk turned to explaining what we do and how it differs from what other law librarians do... "
• Mentorship: The AALL Push: "AALL believes in mentoring. Exploring the various aspects of the AALL website confirms that it is currently one of the major tenets of the organization and with good reason. Law librarianship is sometimes a misunderstood and underappreciated profession. Many people do not really know what we do, so it’s important to show them. Every day is game day for us, and we should remember that. A lot of things are happening, both in law firms and in academia. We can’t control these changes, but we can make sure that our profession is ready to respond to and manage these changes."
• Out With the Old, In With the New: "LibGuides can be a great tool, as many librarians in various types of institutions will testify. But there are some considerations for their use. Following, Danielle A. Becker, electronic services librarian at Minnesota State Law Library, and Shamika D. Dalton, assistant university librarian at University of Florida Levin College of Law, provide their insights on working with the tool in their respective institutions."
• Changing Spaces: "As print collections shrink in favor of the electronic delivery of information, library space—once needed to hold the volumes we counted on to justify our existence—is no longer necessary for that purpose. Those of us who manage law libraries with large footprints are regularly asked to justify the continued maintenance of space that houses much smaller collections. Even those with smaller library spaces find themselves, at the very least, with more space than they had before and facing decisions about its use."