Librarians and Vendors: Some Thoughts As Conference Season Approaches

by Charles J. Lowry, enterprise sales representative for Fastcase

The poet Dante took great relish in describing the sign over the entrance to the underworld. There is a part of that sign that all vendors secretly fear is in the hearts of librarians as they contemplate the exhibit hall:

Per me si va ne la citta dolente,

Per me si va ne l’etterno dolore,

Per me si va tra la perduta gente.

Inferno III.1-3

“Through me you enter into the grieving city; through me you enter into unending sorrow; through me you enter to be among a forsaken nation.” What I hope to do over the next few paragraphs is to offer a couple thoughts that might enable both librarians and vendors to appreciate the opportunities and challenges of the exhibit hall. These thoughts are based on years of experience, but it is my experience only. I make no claim to speak for all vendors or for any particular vendor, including my employer.

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LIBRARIAN, CONFERENCES, VENDORS AND EXHIBIT HALLS: PROFITING FROM PROXIMITY

Chuck Lowry is an enterprise sales rep for Fastcase, the winner, with Hein, of the 2014 AALL new product of the year award. Chuck can be reached at 202.999.4975 or clowry@fastcase.com.

The other day, I got my thirty-year pin in the mail from AALL. Now this only poses a mid-life crisis for me if I am able to live to one hundred twenty-eight years of age, and my family history screams that such a span is unlikely. Still, I like to think that there may be some benefit to others in thinking about my experience dealing with law librarians, especially at conferences. Much of what I say will be obvious to those of you who have attended several conferences; if I am only able to help you express or articulate what you have learned from the conferences, that will perhaps be useful to some of our readers.

The Changing Role of Women in the Law Library Community

(photo credit: Maggie Soladay, ALM)

Monica Bay is editor-in-chief of Law Technology News and a member of the California bar. Email: mbay@alm.com. Twitter: @lawtechnews @LTNMonicaBay

I’ll be honest. One of the reasons I said “yes” to the invitation to speak at AALL’s 106th annual meeting was because it was in Seattle. Frankly, I probably would have said yes to speak in San Diego, Yakima, Fremont, Santa Barbara, Ashland, Vancouver, or Sequim — or any other town from the Mexican border to Barrow, Alaska — because I have learned in my 15 years as a San Francisco ex-pat living in New York City that it is a really good idea to leave hot, steamy, miserable Manhattan the last week of July.

How to Sit at the Table: Lean In

by: Joan L. Axelroth, Axelroth and Associates, Library & Information Management Consultant

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately thinking about the challenges facing law firm librarians, including the obstacles to success and what we can do to overcome them.  Always a worthwhile topic, it is of particular interest these days as I work alongside a stellar committee on programming for the upcoming Private Law Library Summit to be held this July as part of AALL’s annual meeting.  

Demonstrating the value of your service

I’m going to start this blog post by making an assumption about Law Librarians, which is that we’re all passionate about the service we provide and how we provide it. But what if your organisation doesn’t feel the same way as you? How can you demonstrate your value and ensure you don’t become obsolete.