Recap: CONELL 2016

By Janet Kearney

If you are new to AALL and to FCIL-SIS, I would recommend making the effort to attend CONELL – Wow, that’s a lot of abbreviations! Exorbitant use of abbreviations aside, the Conference of Newer Law Librarians during the 2016 conference was a great way to be introduced to the organization and learn how to be more involved.

CONELL began with an introduction to several members of the board. It was intended to be a quick introduction to illustrate the wide variety of backgrounds and occupations for AALL members that would be followed with some informal networking. It quickly became obvious that a short introduction was not going to happen, and we instead received some lifelong stories and encouragement to participate in AALL. Although this rearranged the schedule a bit, it was nice to hear how committed these individuals were to the success of the organization and especially its members.

Following the introduction to AALL came the networking fun: a round of speed networking and a visit to the marketplace. The speed networking (set up like a speed dating event) was a surprisingly effective icebreaker. There were two rows of chairs facing each other, and after three minutes, people sitting on one side moved to the next chair. The most interesting aspect of this was the wide variety of people I met in thirty minutes, spanning the range of AALL membership. The marketplace is essentially an exhibition of volunteer opportunities for AALL: SIS, regional/local chapters, and Law Library Journal/Spectrum. Here I first met the incomparable Daniel Wade handing out information on FCIL-SIS and the Schaffer Grant. One of the most interesting aspects of the marketplace was the interaction between all the various tables, showing that you don’t have to limit yourself to one area of AALL.

By far the best perk is the included trip around the city. For this year’s CONELL, we went on a boat tour of Chicago run by the Chicago Architecture Foundation. An hour and a half trip around the Chicago River provided stunning views and an interesting accounting of architecture and water use along the river.

Overall, CONELL was a great opportunity to meet new colleagues who are in a similar place in their careers. Another plus was the ability to interact with longer-term AALL members and see in one place all of the opportunities AALL can provide. If that doesn’t sell you, there’s also free lunch!

Straight Outta Lagos: King Sunny Adé

By Julienne Grant

For those who opted to spend the evening at the West party last night, I’m afraid you missed out.  There was a Nigerian dance party at Millennium Park—an experience that now ranks near the top of my personal list of best musical performances. The king of juju music, King Sunny Adé, put on a show that was truly electric, and Chicago’s entire Nigerian population was there to join in. Adé’s music, which has strong Yoruba influences, was intoxicating and scattered with complex rhythms that quite obviously have deep cultural roots. Local Nigerian-American singer Ugochi, who performed with the band The Afro Soul Ensemble (A.S.E.), was the opening act (also excellent). With the Chicago skyline as a backdrop, it doesn’t get much better than this. A few other FCIL colleagues made it to this incredible concert (Sergio Stone and Victor Essien), and they were as mesmerized as I was.

Photos are of Ugochi and the A.S.E.  My phone unfortunately died before King Sunny hit the stage.

Recap: Jurisdictions Interest Groups Joint Meeting

By Alyson Drake

This year’s Jurisdictions Interest Groups Joint Meeting was a fantastic opportunity to hear from our FCIL-SIS colleagues on interesting topics and interest group projects.

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Jennifer Allison from the European Law Interest Group kicked off the meeting with an informative discussion of recent changes to German asylum law.  First, Jennifer explained that asylum for the politically persecuted is a constitutional right in Germany, under Grundgesetz article 16a.  She highlighted three 2016 laws related to German asylum law:

• The Data Exchange Improvement Act, aimed at improving procedures for the exchange of data between government groups and other entities dealing with refugees;
• The Act Introducing an Accelerated Asylum Procedure, which explains how accelerated asylum procedure will work for those cases where a fraudulent application for asylum is expected or where there’s a potential risk to the safety of the country by an applicant; and
• The Act Simplifying Expulsion of Foreign Criminals and the Broadened Suspension of Refugee Recognition for Criminal Asylum Applicant, which amends earlier asylum laws.

She also discussed the Integration Act, the latest asylum legislation, which has yet to come into force and encourages asylum seekers and grantees to participate in training programs to help integrate them into German culture.

Jennifer also provided a handout with various German law sources and other helpful sources, which can be found on her German Law Research Guide; it includes a section on German asylum law.  She also highly recommended following Jenny Gesley, who is the German Law Specialist at the Library of Congress, on Twitter for updates relating to German law.  One other resource she highly recommended is the Linguee German-English Dictionary, which gives good examples of legal terminology in context.

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Next up were Juice Lee and Steven Alexander de Costa, speaking on behalf of the Latin America Interest Group.  They presented the IG’s progress on the “Guide to Legal Research on Cuba.”  The guide will include information on Cuba’s history and Cuban law.  It will also include both Spanish and English language resources. The expected completion date of the guide is September 1^st, 2016, and the group is still deciding on where to publish the guide after completion.

Steven discussed a little about his experiences working on the legal history portion of the guide.  He explained that the project was unique because materials relating to Cuba’s legal history weren’t widely available, particularly in English.  He noted that he learned some interesting facts about Cuba’s legal history, including that the modern history of Cuba began with the 1959 revolution, and that the legal system entwines both civil and socialist law, as well as some common law.  Interestingly, Cuban law still owes a lot to Spanish civil codes.

In the discussion that followed the update, it was noted that LLMC is currently working on digitizing approximately 200 Cuban materials, and that the National Library of Cuba has joined to cause and is helping find rare titles and more materials.  Teresa Miguel-Stearns also briefly discussed her recent trip to Cuba.

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The third speaker was Yemisi Dina from the Africa Interest Group, updating the group on completing phase one of her the South Western Nigeria digitization project.  One recent development is that she’s created a blog, digesting cases before customary courts in two cities in South Western Nigeria.

Yemisi shared several observations with the group:

• Customary law has a future in the legal system of Nigeria and other African countries. Customary courts are disorganized, but the government is interested. Yemisi noted that the government put a structure together for her to visit.
• The resolution process is open to everyone, not just certain demographic groups. Yemisi observed that educated people are using the customary courts to resolve their disputes.
• The majority of issues before the customary courts are divorce; rent; and child custody. Yemisi mentioned that land disputes used to be before the courts a great deal, but that those disputes have died down.
• The courts face several challenges, including financial issues, as they are not funded by the government; limited resources, such as courts having only one staff person working at the court; and a lack of technology.

Yemisi welcomes comments about and suggestions for her project.

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Finally, Steven Perkins from the Indigenous Peoples Interest Group gave an interesting talk on some of the issues regarding DNA testing of Indigenous Peoples.

First, Steven discussed some of the different types of DNA testing that can take place, including the testing that can be done to determine the ethnic groups from which a person gets their DNA.  Next, Steven provided a brief history of the relationship between scientists and Native American tribes, namely that scientists have been analyzing tribe blood over the last 50 years, but that some challenges arose in how scientists were using their samples.  Scientists conducted research beyond the scope of what they told the tribes would be done, gave samples out to other scientists, and moved around the blood samples to different schools.  As such, the tribe had to set some boundaries and recollect the blood that had been passed around.  As such, tribes have created a guide to decide how to approach these situations.  The guide is found on the National Congress of American Indians website.  Most notably, the tribes keep the data and keep custody of the samples, and have procedures for determining whether a person is part of a particular tribe.

Thank you to all the speakers for presenting such a robust Jurisdictions IG meeting!

Chicago By Night

By Julienne Grant

So far so good from the “host city” standpoint.  We had some sprinkles of rain last night, but today was absolutely glorious weatherwise, as it is tonight. The city is brimming with people—Cubs fans, Texas fans (sorry guys, you lost), suburbanites, real and accidental tourists, and the AALL crowd.

Working registration was fun, and I’m pleased to say I was cordial with both Cardinals and Mets fans alike.  Dine-around at Tavern at the Park was a nice experience, and then a stroll through Millennium Park showcased how magnificent and alive this city is at night.

Pictured are FCIL colleagues Sergio Stone and Marisol Florén-Romero, post-Eataly visit.

Chicago 101, and Let the Games Begin…

By Julienne Grant

All of us in the Chicago law library community are taking a collective deep breath before the games begin (you know what I’m talking about). In all the years I have been a librarian (over 20), this is the first time I have been in a “host city” for a library conference. I can tell you that a tremendous amount of work has gone into AALL Chicago—most of it behind the scenes.  I honestly don’t know anyone in our large community here who is not involved in this event. From bag stuffing (that’s right—22 of us tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. sharp), to library tours, to dine-arounds, we’re all in.

Although I suspect that some of us locals are participating on the “suggestion” of a supervisor, or for professional “brownie points,” my overall impression is that the vast majority of us are involved because we truly love this city, and we want our AALL colleagues to love it too.  I have lived here for about 20 years, and the transformation that the city has undergone during this very short time period has been truly remarkable. What was once a rather dingy and somewhat bland Midwestern city is now a stunning global metropolis.  Whether it was the “Obama Effect,” Mayor Richard M. Daley’s vision, Oprah’s charisma (well, it’s possible), Chef Rick Bayless’ Frontera Grill, or some other force or factor, the result has been phenomenal.

Of course Chicago is not without its irritations–that huge Trump sign on the Trump Tower, for example, and those ridiculous red light cameras (yes, I’ve been caught). There are also, however, very serious problems. We have them all here—police brutality (protestors hit the streets most of this week), a crime rate that’s through the roof, and homelessness. We have the highest sales tax in the country, no state budget (don’t get me started on Illinois politics), and never-ending battles between the city and the CTU (Chicago Teachers Union). I could go on, but I’ll spare you.

We’ve got all kinds of people trying to fix these problems, but as a newbie to Chicago there are really only five names you need to know: Rahm Emanuel (aka Rahmbo) (Mayor); Mike Madigan (Speaker of the Illinois House); Bruce Rauner (Governor); Karen Lewis (CTU President); and Toni Preckwinkle (Cook County Board President). All of these people are part of the fabric of the city, and we’re just used to their antics and their dysfunctional relationships with each other.

Despite all of its problems and pesky politicians, however, Chicago is a wonderful place to live and work. And, as much effort as everyone here has put in to ensure AALL Chicago is a terrific conference, we also want it to be a terrific experience; that is, we want the city itself to shine through. Call it overzealousness if you will, but we Chicagoans are downright proud of our city, and we’re looking forward to showing it off.

FCIL-SIS Jurisdictions Interest Groups To Meet On Sunday

FCIL-SIS invites all AALL conference attendees to join us for our Jurisdictions Interest Groups Joint Meeting this Sunday, from 12:30pm to 2:00pm, in the Hyatt-Water Tower Room.  The program will include substantive presentations from several of our interest groups, as well as 15 minutes at the end of the meeting for each group to discuss their plans for the coming year.

The agenda for the meeting is as follows:

SUNDAY July 17, 2016

12:30 PM – 2:00 PM

FCIL-SIS Jurisdictions IG Joint Meeting (Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, Indigenous Peoples, Customary & Religious Law, Roman Law) (Hyatt-Water Tower)

Meeting Topics:

• Welcome and Intro (Susan Gualtier, Louisiana State University School of Law Library) – 5 minutes
• European Law: Recent Developments in German Law Related to Asylum and Refugees: A Brief Overview for Law Librarians (Jennifer Alison, Harvard Law School Library) – 20 minutes
• Latin America: Cuban Legal Research Guide (Julienne Grant, Loyola University Chicago Law Library, et al.) – 10 minutes
• Africa: Updates of the Digitization Case Law Project from South Western Nigeria (Yemisi Dina, Osgood Hall Law School Library) – 20 minutes
• Indigenous Peoples: Indigenous Peoples and DNA Testing: Friend or Foe? (Steven Perkins, Greenberg Traurig, LLP) – 20 minutes
• Individual Interest Groups business meetings – 15 minutes

Everyone is welcome to attend the presentations and to check out our interest groups, so please spread the word to anyone interested in these areas of foreign law.  FCIL-SIS looks forward to seeing you there!

Forthcoming: “Guide to Legal Research in Cuba,” By the Latin American Law Interest Group

The Latin American Law Interest Group is excited to announce its forthcoming publication, “Guide to Legal Research in Cuba” (edited by Julienne Grant, Sergio Stone, and Marisol Florén-Romero.)

The purpose of the Guide is to provide a snapshot of Cuban law and legal research as they exist in the political fluidity of the moment.  Historical context will also be included. Research for the project in general has been painstakingly difficult. Both Spanish and English-language resources will be covered.

Twelve authors have contributed to the project, which is currently in the editorial phase.  The IG expects to complete the guide by September 1, after which it will be submitted to a journal or published in open access.

Want to learn more? The Latin American Law Interest Group will give a brief presentation on the development of the research guide at the FCIL-SIS Jurisdictions IG Joint Meeting, to be held on Sunday, July 17, 2016, 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM, in the Hyatt-Water Tower Room. Presentation by Steven Alexandre da Costa (Boston University School of Law) and Juice Lee (Northeastern University School of Law.

Roman Law – Translation, Images, Digital Projects and Visual Engagement!

By Marylin Raisch

At the upcoming AALL Annual Meeting, Professor Emeritus Timothy Kearley and digital projects consultant Angela Spinazzè will present a two-part program on creating exciting visual experiences in displaying special collections. First, Professor Kearley will describe the fascinating story of discovering manuscripts on Roman law and Latin translation of Justinian’s Code undertaken by Justice Fred Blume in the early 20th century. The orderliness of law concerned the ancient Romans and American codifiers, and an early taxonomy of law emerged. Then Angela Spinazzè, who has worked at the Art Institute of Chicago, will show beautiful visuals from her past projects for institutions in Chicago and Oxford that exemplify the best approach to creating functional and engaging virtual research experiences like the University of Wyoming’s unique online realization of Blume’s translation.

For those attending the conference, the location is the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Hyatt-Columbus EF at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 19^th.

 

FCIL-SIS Related Programming in Chicago, 2016

SATURDAY July 16, 2016

9:30 AM – 5:00 PM

Two Sides to the United Nations: Working with Public and Private International Law at the U.N. (IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law)

Coordinated by Thomas Mills, et al. and co-sponsored by the International Legal Research Interest Group (ILRIG) of ASIL and the FCIL-SIS. Two specialists, Susan Goard of the UN and Vikki Rogers, Director of the Institute for Int’l Commercial Law at Pace, will engage the audience in an intense full day workshop addressing the major functions of the UN, documentation of the main bodies and specialized agencies, the CISG and its application in international trade, and available UN related research platforms.

SUNDAY July 17, 2016

12:30 PM – 2:00 PM

FCIL-SIS Jurisdictions IG Joint Meeting (Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, Indigenous Peoples, Customary & Religious Law, Roman Law) (Hyatt-Water Tower)

Meeting Topics:

• Welcome and Intro (Susan Gualtier, Louisiana State University School of Law Library) – 5 minutes
• European Law: Recent Developments in German Law Related to Asylum and Refugees: A Brief Overview for Law Librarians (Jennifer Alison, Harvard Law School Library) – 20 minutes
• Latin America: Cuban Legal Research Guide (Julienne Grant, Loyola University Chicago Law Library, et al.) – 10 minutes
• Africa: Updates of the Digitization Case Law Project from South Western Nigeria (Yemisi Dina, Osgood Hall Law School Library) – 20 minutes
• Indigenous Peoples: Indigenous Peoples and DNA Testing: Friend or Foe? (Steven Perkins, Greenberg Traurig, LLP) – 20 minutes
• Individual Interest Groups business meetings – 15 minutes

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Asian Legal Information in English: Availability, Accessibility, and Quality Control (Hyatt-Columbus EF)

Coordinated by Alex Zhang, participants will learn about resources, tools, and tips for finding existing official ENG translations of primary legal materials in major Asian jurisdictions, the speakers will address the pros and cons of ENG translations and how to discern when ENG translation is not readily available.

5:15 PM – 6:00 PM

FCIL-SIS Foreign Law Selectors IG (Hyatt-Comiskey)

Coordinated by Marci Hoffman.

6:00 PM – 6:45 PM

FCIL-SIS Standing Committees Joint Meeting (Publicity Committee, Internships & Exchanges Committee, and Electronic Research IG) (Hyatt-Field)

Meeting Topics:

• Welcome and Introduction (Loren Turner) – 5 minutes
• ERIG: ICRC Customary International Humanitarian Law Database (CIHL database) (Mr. Ismael Raboud, ICRC) – 15 minutes
• ERIG: LOC Indigenous Law Portal (Steve Perkins, Library of Congress) – 15 minutes
• Individual Standing Committees business meetings – 10 minutes

7:00 PM – who knows?

AALL Annual Meeting FCIL-SIS Reading Group (place TBD – stay in touch with Dan Wade at Daniel.wade@yale.edu)

Coordinated and lead by Dan Wade, the group will discuss East West Street: On the Origin of Genocide and “Crimes Against Humanity”

MONDAY July 18, 2016

7:30 AM – 8:30 AM

FCIL-SIS Business Meeting and Breakfast (Sponsored by Bloomberg Law, LexisNexis, Thomson Reuters, and Wolters Kluwer) (Hyatt Wrigley)

3:30 PM – 4:15 PM

FCIL-SIS Teaching Foreign & International Legal Research IG (Hyatt-Michigan B)

Coordinated by Catherine Deane, this meeting will present three substantive presentations:

• Marilyn Raisch (Georgetown University Law Center) will share her experience creating short videos to search databases using Jing
• Alexis Fetzer (Richmond School of Law) will share her experience as a “non”-FCIL librarian proposing an FCIL research course
• Nina E. Scholtz (Cornell Law School) will share her thoughts on teaching an experiential research course for international LLM students.

4:30 PM – 5:30 PM

FCIL-SIS Schaffer Grant for Foreign Law Librarian Recipient’s Presentation – Rhenny Pulungan of Indonesia, currently at U. of Melbourne’s Law School Library will deliver a talk entitled The Legal Research Landscape in Indonesia: Limitations and Possibilities (Hyatt-Columbus GH)

5:45 PM – 6:45 PM

International Attendees Joint Reception (AALL/FCIL/IALL) (Hyatt-Crystal Ballroom C)

TUESDAY July 19, 2016

7:30 AM – 8:15 AM

FCIL-SIS Education Committee and 2017 Summit Task Force Joint Meeting (Hyatt-Skyway 265)

8:30 AM – 9:30 AM

Roman Law, Roman Order, and Restatements (Hyatt-Columbus EF)

Coordinated by Marylin J. Raisch, participants will learn about digitization of historical documentation, assess the role of Roman Law and codification’s impact on American legal taxonomies, explore the influence of Roman Law on Restatements.

9:45 AM – 10:45 AM

Poster #24: Are Self-Paced Pre-Recorded Modules Better than Live Instruction for Teaching Basic Legal research Concepts? (Exhibit Hall)

Created by Lucie Olejnikova and Jane Bahnson, this poster session will be on display starting Sunday, July 17, 2016 through Tuesday, July 19, 2016. During the scheduled TUE session, presenters will be available to answer questions. This poster features a study carried out in Duke’s LLM Legal Research and Writing Course intended to measure students’ information retention when subject material was delivered in traditional live in-class lecture as compared to when the same material is delivered via self-paced pre-recorded online module.

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Vanishing Online? Legal and Policy Implications for Libraries of the EU’s “Right to be Forgotten” (Hyatt-Columbus KL)

Coordinated by Michael G. Bernier, the attendees will be brought up to date on the status of data protection laws and their allocation outside the EU, understand the obligations under the “right to be forgotten” principle for libraries making personal info public, and consider the line between protection personal privacy against the public’s right to access data.

An Experiential Learning Primer

Alyson Drake has published a helpful primer on the ABA’s experiential learning requirements on the RIPS-SIS blog today. Alyson has contributed significantly to FCIL-SIS through her work with DipLawMatic Dialogues. She is also Chair of the European Law Interest Group, incoming Co-Chair of the Publicity Committee, and a member of the Customary and Religious Law Interest Group.

RIPS Law Librarian Blog

by Alyson Drake

Editor’s Note: This week’s post is by incoming RIPS-SIS Vice-Chair/Chair Elect Alyson Drake. Alyson is currently the Reference and Student Services Librarian and the Coordinator of the Excellence in Legal Research Program at the Texas Tech University School of Law Library. 

It’s no secret that legal education is focused primarily on producing graduates who are “practice ready.” The ABA’s increased experiential learning requirement, requiring at least six hours of experiential courses for each student, is a direct response to the argument that new attorneys lack the necessary skills to act like a lawyer from day one on the job. With new attorneys reporting that they spend 35% of their time conducting legal research, it is no stretch to argue that legal education should devote more time and energy to experiential legal research education.

Our research courses have always focused on practical skills, but what else does it take to make…

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