your pr update
New Legal Division Brochure Available
by Joan Ogden, McGuire Woods
Greetings! I am Joan Ogden, the new chair of the Public Relations Committee! Over the past few months, I have created a marketing brochure for our Legal Division. The brochure has been posted on the Legal Division Web site in a format that will allow anyone to download, print, fold, and distribute the brochure at any time (http://www.slalegal.org/brochure.htm). The new brochure is relatively easy to keep up-to-date.
If you have an event coming up, such as your chapter's Special Libraries Association career day, or if you think your undergraduate or library school might like to make the brochure available to students, please check out the new brochure! You also may contact me directly by phone at 312-849-3657 or by e-mail at jogden@mcguirewoods.com.
And speaking of marketing, it would be great if we all start looking for opportunities to market our Legal Division to non-members. Opportunities are everywhere, if we only take the time to look! Why, you may even find some opportunities in your wastebasket ...
letters, we get letters, we get lots and lots of letters ...
I know I'm not being very environmentally sensitive when I say I do like my junk mail! I'll admit that most of what I get definitely can be classified as junk. After all, how many fliers announcing the new version of Black's Law Dictionary do I really need to see?
However, sometimes I receive something odd or funny or even thought provoking! For example, in the odd category, I once received a flier for the Encyclopedia of Criminology and Deviant Behavior. Thank goodness I have no need for this, but it does make me wonder why someone else thought I might. In the funny category, I once received a brochure for the Guide to the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services. Of course, this is not really all that funny, unless you read the word "Nice" to rhyme with ice. (Maybe I do need that publication on deviant behavior after all ...)
Where am I going with this? Why, to the thought-provoking category, of course! One day I received a brochure in the mail, advertising the Legal Research Center, Inc., based in Minneapolis, MN. I scanned the brochure and learned that this organization sells legal research conducted by licensed and experienced attorneys. The fact that this company has been around since 1978 caught my eye, as did the fact that this company is publicly traded on the NASDAQ (LRCI). Where have I been? I've never heard of them before! Then, I snagged another very interesting fact: They have bona fide information professionals on staff to conduct non-legal research! They say that their information professionals have "extensive training and experience with fee-based library services." What a clever company!
Not long after that, I received a similar mailing that hit closer to home. This brochure was for Illinois Legal Research, based in Evanston, IL. Again, where have I been? I'm from Chicago, and I didn't know about this company, which is based in one of our suburbs. The brochure stated that Illinois Legal Research is part of a larger organization, the National Legal Research Group, Inc., based in Charlottesville, VA. Do I detect a trend here?
I did a little research and discovered that there are a number of other legal-research-for-hire outfits across the country. For example, there's LRN, The Legal Knowledge Company, based in Los Angeles, CA. Blackletter Legal Research Service is based in Coral Gables, FL. So far, I've noticed that, except for Legal Research Center, Inc., none of these companies state that they have any information professionals on staff.
How should we view these legal-research-for-hire companies?
Clearly, these companies should be viewed as our competitors. They are marketing their services in a way that is designed to encourage law firms to consider downsizing or eliminating their in-house libraries.
These companies also could be viewed as resources. We might be able to persuade our employers to consider using the services of one of these companies in certain, well-defined situations. Before we go down this road, though, we need to make sure that we would be directly in charge of the management of the project, and that our employers would recognize and appreciate our efforts! These companies also could be viewed as potential employers. If the owners of Legal Research Center, Inc. understand the value of hiring information professionals for non-legal research, perhaps they would consider hiring some legal information professionals. In addition, perhaps we could persuade some of those other companies to hire a few information professionals as well.
Finally, we should look at these companies as sources for new members! According to the SLA Directory, there aren't any members from Legal Resource Center, Inc. Why not? If any of you out there know any of these information professionals who work for Legal Research Center, Inc., why not invite them to a local SLA chapter meeting and introduce them to some of your fellow Legal Division members?
So the next time you get junk mail, instead of just dumping it directly into the circular file, why not take a few moments to open it up. You just might find some interesting reading in there! You also might find some good opportunities to market the Division and make some new friends!
It's Good to Have a Choice: Benefits of Association Membership
Report from the SLA Legal Division Liaison to AALL
by Lori Hedstrom, West Group
As Legal Division liaison to the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), I have had many opportunities to converse with law librarians about the benefits of association membership. I'd
like to share some of the themes that have surfaced during these discussions.
- It's good to have a choice. AALL concentrates on legal topics, and SLA focuses on what information professionals as a group bring to their organizations' tables. With two organizations, law librarians enjoy the best of both worlds, moving among information experts, people who work in a setting like ours, and people proficient in areas unfamiliar to us. Both associations also provide contact with legal administrators, bar associations, and related groups with whom we work every day.
- Having more than one professional association means that we have more opportunities for networking and volunteering. For example, if the local chapter of one organization is more active, one may attend those meetings and be a part of that group, while still reaping the benefits of the other group's annual meeting. If an employer will only pay for one national membership, local memberships are often very affordable and can provide good contacts and educational programs. If we are unable to travel for a meeting of a national committee, we can make a meaningful contribution at the local level.
- Having alternatives means each individual is more likely to find a good fit. Each organization has its strengths, and having a choice makes it more likely that one's needs will be met.
In Minnesota, we are fortunate to have a number of Legal Division members in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. But most of the law librarians' participation is filtered through the Minnesota Association of Law Libraries (MALL), a chapter of AALL. There are no regular Legal Division meetings during the year, but there are three or four MALL meetings with speakers or other educational content, and our SLA colleagues are invited. SLA holds chapter meetings, which include representatives of many divisions, and, likewise, MALL members are invited. For the past several years we have held a joint holiday party, featuring Minnesota authors whose works may be purchased and autographed for gifts. This is quickly becoming an annual tradition.
We also work together in introducing our profession in its many forms to local library school students, whether they are enrolled in a campus program here or participating in distance learning. A Library Association Forum meets a few times a year to find opportunities to work together to promote librarianship and educate our fellow professionals about our distinct areas of expertise. This group, which includes health science librarians, school librarians, and the Minnesota Library Association in addition to SLA and MALL, provides valuable insight into the legislative, recruiting, and public policy issues facing us all. It's very informal and you could do the same thing in your area with just a few phone calls.
The members of the Private Law Libraries Special Interest Section (PLL) and the Legal Division have both made it clear that quality educational programming is their greatest need. In the current climate of limited financial resources, there is universal interest in desktop delivery of education, regional programs, and wise expenditure of professional development dollars. If you have any suggestions or ideas about the way our associations should be providing these benefits, please call or send me an e-mail and I will do all I can to help make them happen. We have more in common than we have differences to divide us.
tax file
"Must Have" State Tax Resources for Practitioners
by Adrienne Eng, Tax Analysts
What resources should be part of your state tax collection? I asked David Brunori, a tax law professor and a practitioner who writes in the state tax area, to share the 10 print and electronic resources that he regularly uses in his work.
David Brunori is editor in chief of the state tax department at Tax Analysts. He also teaches state and local tax law at George Washington University and George Mason University School of Law. Previously, he practiced with a Washington, D.C., law firm specializing in tax litigation and served as an appellate trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Here is an annotated list of Brunori's top 10 "must haves," in alphabetical order by title:
ABA Property Tax Deskbook, 2000 Edition (Chicago: American Bar Association)
A multijurisdictional resource for tax managers, attorneys, and accountants who specialize in state and local tax matters. Each chapter sets out the most important principles and positions in that state, with citations to pertinent statutes, rules, regulations, case law, bulletins, and local practices.
The Encyclopedia of Taxation and Tax Policy. Joseph Cordes, Robert D. Ebel, and Jane G. Gravelle, eds. (Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press 1999) 460 p.
The Encyclopedia of Taxation and Tax Policy contains essays by 50 experts in a wide range of tax and tax policy issues. Written for generalists as well as tax specialists, the encyclopedia explains and reviews:
- Fundamental economic concepts
- Types of taxes levied in the United States and other nations
- Issues involving tax measurement, accounting, administration, analysis, and institutions
The 200 essays provide a list of references for further reading and reference.
The Sales and Use Tax Deskbook, 2000-2001 Edition (Chicago: American Bar Association)
The Sales and Use Tax Deskbook provides tax managers, attorneys, and accountants with all the information they are most likely to need about state and local sales and use taxes. Broken down by state, each chapter is written and updated annually by one or more lawyers experienced in the sales and use tax practice of that state. The chapters are organized in a uniform format to aid readers in finding information and to facilitate multistate research.
State Tax Baedeker (Tax Analysts)
The State Tax Baedeker is a compilation of articles explaining the tax laws of the 50 U.S. states, U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. In addition to offering an introduction and overview of the current tax situation, the articles note developing trends, pending court cases, and upcoming referendums. Each article is fully linked to statutes, regulations, and court cases on the State Tax OneDisc.
State Tax OneDisc (Tax Analysts)
The State Tax OneDisc CD-ROM contains tax statutes, regulations, rates, court cases, and directory information for all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and is updated monthly.
State Tax Notes (Tax Analysts)
State Tax Notes is a weekly journal aimed at practitioners whose practice involves keeping up with developments and trends in state taxation and developments at the multistate level. The journal carries commentary, investigative articles, and special reports from expert practitioners and scholars.
State Tax Policy: A Political Perspective. David Brunori (Washington, D.C: Urban Institute Press, 2001) 156 p.
Revenue collecting methods developed more than a half century ago are facing the strain of dealing with 21st century economies. Globalization and e-commerce are changing the way people work and purchase goods; devolution has steadily shifted responsibility from the federal government to the states; tax incentives have become the weapon of choice in the battle to attract business investment. Brunori analyzes these and other critical challenges facing state governments. He identifies the important issues, and examines possible solutions in formulating and implementing state tax policy.
State Tax Today (Tax Analysts)
State Tax Today is an electronic database that provides practitioners with daily news and tax-related documents that affect the 50 states, U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. The news stories cover events from state governments, revenue departments, courts, and legislative bodies. Activities by multistate organizations and tax conferences are also covered. The editors also include any federal or international news or documents that affect state taxation. The database is available on LexisNexis, Dialog, and TaxBase.
State Taxation. Walter Hellerstein (Boston: WG&L)
State Taxation analyzes, interprets, and integrates the key state tax laws for all 50 states in a two-volume set. Volume I deals with corporate income and franchise taxes. Volume II addresses sales and use taxes. Additionally, both volumes cover the critical constitutional limitations on state taxation. State Taxation shows how the tax administrators of the states deal with problems. In addition, it examines current practices and judicial decisions affecting the states.
stateline.org at http://www.stateline.org
Stateline.org provides news coverage of budget developments across the country. This is a news site for journalists, policymakers, and the public to inform them about innovative public policies originating in the states. The site is operated by the Pew Center on the States, a research organization administered by the University of Richmond, and funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. The site offers links to a number of useful tax sites.
Carol Douglas, editor of State Tax Notes, recommended one other book that David Brunori edited. Douglas felt it deserved to be on the list "not just because it was his, but because it was good":
The Future of State Taxation. David Brunori, ed. (Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press, 1998) 235 p.
The Future of State Taxation is a compilation of essays by the nation's leading experts on what the future holds for state taxes and tax systems. The book includes detailed discussion of the latest trends in sales taxes, business taxes, personal income taxes, property taxes, progressivity, e-commerce, and financing public education.
New Partnership, New Focus, New Name (?) and Next Steps
Report from the SLA Legal Division Liaison to the ABA
by Susan Catterall, Leonard, Street and Deinard
New Partnership
The good news is that the SLA Legal Division has been contacted by two members of the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center and that the LTRC would like to work with us. In June, Catherine Sanders, Research Specialist with the LTRC and SLA member, contacted me to tell me that she had read my article in the Spring 2001 Legal Division Quarterly. Catherine had surveyed our Division earlier this year and she informed me that she had used the survey results in a report which she would
be presenting at the annual meeting in San Antonio. Catherine also "introduced" me to the Legal Technology Resource Center and the work it does.
Meanwhile, David Whelan, Director of the LTRC, had contacted Jeanne Korman and indicated that the LTRC would like to work with the Legal Division. I was unable to attend the SLA annual meeting this year and Catherine would not be attending the AALL meeting in Minneapolis, but David, Jeanne and I were able to meet for breakfast in Minneapolis and we kept Catherine in the loop via e-mail. The four of us have
developed some ideas regarding how to develop this initiative further.
New Focus
David Whelan deciphered some of the infrastructure of the ABA and contrasted it with more cohesive organizations such as SLA and AALL. He recommended that the Legal Division not focus our efforts on the ABA, but rather, with one exception, direct our efforts to regional bar associations and to assisting small to mid-sized law firms. He also sang Catherine's praises, suggested that we ask for her assistance and told us that he would support her efforts to collaborate with us.
David suggested that the Division consider sponsoring/presenting a session at the ABA Tech Show, which is held in March every year. This would be the one exception to concentrating the Division's efforts regionally. A presence at a national technology conference would showcase our collective skills and experiences and lend credibility to our profession. Although it may be too late to get something together for March 2002, David provided the name of the ABA Tech Show Chair and encouraged me to contact him. Some initial steps that need to be taken:
- Contact Andrew Adkins, ABA Tech Show Chair and learn the procedure for sponsoring/proposing a session.
- Have some suggestions for speakers.
- Establish a list/speakers' bureau of librarians and their areas of expertise for future use.
- Encourage regional SLA Chapters to develop speaker lists and to work with local bar associations.
Even if we are unable to move quickly enough to participate in the 2002 ABA Tech Show, we should continue to look for opportunities to sponsor and present on a local level. This could mean working directly with local bar associations or partnering with the ABA Law Practice Management section and the National Practice Institute in developing programs on a local level.
We three also discussed the possibility that our Division could develop a number of "best practices," suitable for small to mid-sized law firms. An example might be criteria for hiring a law librarian for the first time. These best practices could be posted on the LTRC Web page and linked to the SLA Legal Division Web page.
Catherine Sanders has accepted our invitation to work together and has sent me a number of suggestions for potential collaboration. She suggested that our entities address technologies that affect the legal profession, such as content management, KM, information organization, taxonomies, intranet/extranet development, etc. She also suggested that we look at the work she has done on the LTRC Online Research page (http://www. lawtechnology.org/oresearch.html). There are a number of valuable links posted there, such as articles, reviews, comparison charts and the paper which Catherine presented at the SLA meeting in San Antonio, "Trends in Legal Publishing for the Millennium: Quality Moves to the Internet."
New Name (?)
Because this liaison position could and should reach out to regional bar associations, David, Jeanne and I think that the name be changed. One possibility would be: "SLA Legal Division Liaison to Bar Associations." Are there other suggestions?
Next Steps
The next small steps may have to be mine, but I would welcome support and assistance. I plan to contact Catherine Sanders and follow up on some of her suggestions for partnering. I was recently a member of a panel which presented at the Minnesota Law and Technology Show. Our topic was locating case law and statutes via the Internet. I wish I had taken Catherine up on her suggestion that I look at the Online Resource page of the LTRC. There is a "Fee-Based Databases: Comparison Chart" posted there and I would have referenced it. I will also contact Andrew Adkins. In the interim, if any of you have suggestions for speakers and topics, please contact me. Also, if any of you would like to share your experiences or have suggestions for working with regional bar associations, please let me know about them.
News from the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians
Legal Information Management is the new name for The Law Librarian
Information provision in the legal world has changed dramatically since the formation of BIALL in 1969. Now the Association wants to disseminate its own message to reflect the changing face of the profession. Their journal has undergone a complete overhaul. Not only has it been renamed Legal Information Management, but its look has been updated with a new cover and format. The aim is to encompass the needs of all those involved in providing legal information. A sample of the new journal can be seen at http://www.biall.org.uk.
For further information, contact Jonathan Gordon-Till (jonathan.gordon-till@aonconsulting.co.uk).
change control
Free E-mail Subscriptions: Something for Nothing
by Robert R. Myers Jr., Arter & Hadden LLP
From a subscription management and current awareness standpoint, e-mail subscriptions are a dream come true. They arrive in a timely fashion. They arrive on everyone's desk at the same time. Usually, there are no missed or lost issues. They don't require routing lists. And partners can't stockpile issues in their offices! The only problem with e-mail subscriptions has been one of cost.
I'm discovering that our library is subscribing to many more e-mail subscriptions while our costs for e-mail subscriptions are going down. We are utilizing more free e-mail subscriptions and decreasing the number of e-mail subscriptions for which we have to pay. We are canceling for-pay e-mail subscriptions because our attorneys feel the content provided (often just a summary of contents) is not worth the cost (usually based on number of recipients). On the other hand, the free e-mail subscriptions that are now prevalent fill specific niches and, in some cases, enable us to cut hard copy subscriptions.
Examples of a few of our attorneys' favorite e-mail subscriptions include the Ohio Lawyer's Weekly Daily Alert, the Ohio State Bar Association's Online Report, the GPO's Federal Register table of contents, and the Cleveland Law Library Association's List of Law Review Table of Contents Received. While several of these focus specifically on Ohio law, most states have similar e-mail publications. Many state bar associations provide free e-mail publications to their members.
In order to subscribe to the Ohio Lawyer's Weekly Daily Alert e-mail, you must first be an OLW newspaper subscriber. Then you can subscribe to the Daily Alert free of charge and forward it to "any colleagues who would be interested in this breaking news." The Alert features case summaries and synopses of articles along with links to the full text of articles. Lawyer's Weekly will fax copies of cases discussed in the Alert for a small fee or you can pull them from the courts' Web sites.
The Ohio State Bar Association's Online Report is available to members of the OSBA. I simply arrange for the Online Report to be e-mailed directly to our attorneys. The report contains case summaries with links to the full-text of cases on the OSBA's Web site. It also contains Ohio Supreme Court announcements and updates regarding the Ohio legislature, Ohio Attorney General's office, and the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline. Although all members receive the full-text of the OSBA Report via snail mail, I suspect the e-mail version is viewed much more frequently than the hard copy.
Now that the GPO provides access to the current daily issue of the Federal Register on its Web site, we simply copy and paste the URL for today's issue and send the URL via e-mail to those attorneys on the routing list. The GPO posts both a PDF version and an HTML version, so attorneys choose whether to view the quick- scan version or the slightly longer version that contains links to the full text of notices, rules, and regulations.
Another well-received e-mail is created by the staff of the Cleveland Law Library Association, Cuyahoga County's law library. This is a daily e-mail of the tables of contents of all law reviews and journals received at the library that day. The attorneys scan the table of contents and e-mail us with the cites to journal articles they wish to read. This is a great service provided by a great library.
E-mail subscriptions also have made things much simpler with regard to medical journals. Our firm handles a fair amount of medical malpractice defense work. We used to subscribe to the Journal of the American Medical Association and the New England Journal of Medicine in hard copy for current awareness purposes. These journals and others provide their current table of contents in e-mail format at no cost. Now attorneys quickly scan the table of contents, e-mail the library with their requests and we pull the articles from the journal's Web site or obtain a copy from our local medical school library. Either way, a small fee is involved but it has proven less expensive than hard copy subscriptions to the journals.
These are just a few examples of the types of free e-mail services available. Many more are waiting to be discovered. Most e-mail systems enable you to set up a rule which automatically filters e-mails and forwards them to those attorneys on the associated routing lists. In this fashion, routing becomes a hands-free operation. As firm librarians, it is incumbent upon us to take advantage of all the resources at our disposal to provide our attorneys with the information they need, in the format they prefer, in a timely fashion, and in a cost-effective manner. With a little research and thought, one can create a whole host of electronic subscriptions with minimal or no cost. Just remember, don't violate copyright in your efforts!
international corner
Letter from Australia
By Josephine Timcke, Law Librarian, Hall & Wilcox Lawyers
Melbourne, Australia
On behalf of the Law Librarians in Australia, I would like to extend heartfelt sympathies to our US colleagues, their families and friends, after the horrific events in New York and Washington, D.C. on 11 September. Our thoughts are with you all at this time, and in the future. While we are half a world away, we watched in horror and disbelief at what we saw, and we can only imagine the sense of grief and sorrow that must be ever present. Peace be with you all.
The June 30 financial year-end is now behind us, and we can move into a new budget year, we hope without having to cancel too many subscriptions. The end of the financial year also saw several bills being pushed through Federal Parliament, particularly relating to Financial Services Reform (www.minfsr.treasury.gov.au), and the Corporations Act 2001 (http://law.agps.gov.au/).
July also saw some interesting moves in areas such as a draft National Privacy Principles Guidelines for the private sector, in accordance with the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2001, due to commence on 21 December 2001 (www.privacy.gov.au). The issue of mass marketed tax schemes and alienation of personal services income (www.ato.gov.au) also has been debated keenly recently.
The end of August brought our profession together for the 9th Asia Pacific Special, Health and Law Libraries Conference. With law librarians spread far and wide across our vast country, this was, as always, a splendid opportunity to catch up with colleagues. The conference program included some very interesting and thought-provoking presentations and papers, promoting much discussion. It was also fantastic to see several librarians from the Pacific Region (Fiji, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea) attending the conference (with some financial assistance from local publishers).
The theme of the conference was "Rivers of Knowledge" - slightly ironic since we have had an extremely dry winter and there is talk of water restrictions! The Conference Committee was encouraging the delegates to "step out of the square" and to look at things differently. With papers focusing on health and special libraries as well as law libraries, there was plenty of scope to try something new.
The law libraries keynote speaker was Charles Christian, from Legal Technology Insider, UK (www.legaltechnology.com). An entertaining speaker, he was even prepared to sit up until 1:00 a.m. in London to present his paper via teleconference. Beginning with the question "Is technology wagging the law firm dog?", Christian questioned whether IT departments in law firms were merely justifying their own existence or whether they really were adding value to the organisation. He also questioned whether law firm partners were simply following their IT lead in order to be perceived as keeping up with advancing technology.
Christian also expressed concern at the speed at which technology is advancing and how difficult it is to keep up with the advance. I think many in his audience breathed a sigh of relief when he suggested it may be advantageous to only keep up to date with what you need to, rather than trying to keep up with everything.
There were many other interesting papers and presentations on issues such as knowledge management, career development and our profession, education and training of legal practitioners, information literacy and, of course, technology. And naturally, on the social scene at the conference, a great time was had by all! For information about the forthcoming conference proceedings, check www.alia.org.au/conferences/shllc/2001
international corner
Letter from Europe
By Liz Blankson-Hemans, Clifford Chance LLP, London, England.
By the time you read this, the events of 11 September 2001 will be some months past, but the effects will be permanent. The WTC and Pentagon sites soon will be cleared up, but the scars will still be visible. Right now, it is still too fresh in our minds. Everyone, everywhere has been touched by this. Peoples of all nations, races and religions worked at the WTC. At the end of the day, that is what we have to remember … People! Whatever the responses, whatever the outcome, let us all continue to talk to and respect each other. From all the members here in Europe, our hearts go out to those who lost family and friends or were injured in the attacks.
I have just been reading an article on the effects of that day on the information society. Here we all are in the business of encouraging and facilitating the free or easy use and dissemination of information, but how do we prevent the abuse of it? It is after all the ease of using information sources, and the ease of communicating today, that allowed the perpetrators of these acts to carry out their intentions in such a synchronised manner. We hope too that these very information sources will lead the authorities to the masterminds behind this. Life must go on, as best as we know it, so …
I was hoping to include a short paragraph on the British & Irish Association of Law Librarians (BIALL) activities. Whilst arrangements have been started to make this possible, we are not quite there yet, so please bear with me until I can get this regular contribution set up.
Westlaw UK is expanding. Crime has now been added to the existing services. It includes access to the leading Sweet & Maxwell publications on Criminal Practice - Archbold, the Criminal Appeal Reports and the Criminal Law Review. It will also have daily updates.
LexisNexis Professional has released a new version of its software with major enhancements in response to user surveys. It includes a Simple Search form for end users (everyone seems to have caught on to this one!). It also highlights the enhanced Smart Indexing feature a little more prominently, as well as an improved Source Shortcut facility. It is now easier to save your favourite sources in a shortcut to enable quicker searching. And what with every other major supplier's new end user tool (e.g., DialogIQ, etc.), it should make for a very interesting Online Exhibition in December. And these are only the ones they're prepared to tell us about before Online! They usually save the biggies for that. I can't wait …
I haven't mentioned BAILII for awhile, but it appears to be plodding along nicely, thank you. BAILII is the name of an initiative to make primary legal materials available free on the Web. It has been going for 2 years now. A progress meeting is to be held on 10 October, so watch this space next time round.
Finally, 2001 is the official European Year of Languages, so I think I'm going to pay attention to French again, and improve my rudimentary skills. A recent survey amongst EC nations showed that English and French are believed to be the most useful languages to know. If nothing else, it should help me better convince my son that he should continue to go to 'boring French Club' if I am seen to be doing as I say. Want to join me …?
