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Rebalancing the Collection – A Checklist for Watching the Bottom Line
Editors' Notes
From the Boardroom
your pr update
water cooler
international corner – Letter from Australia
international corner – Letter from Europe
Legal Division Minutes 6/9/01
Legal Division Minutes 6/13/01
Member News
tax file
tech support
Getting It Down Pat With Pat Wagner
Tax Roundtable
Managing a Value-Driven Tax Information Service

Rebalancing the Collection – A Checklist for Watching the Bottom Line
by Robert R. Myers Jr., Arter & Hadden LLP

What is the effect of rebalancing portions of a law firm library to electronic formats on the bottom line? Does transferring portions of the hard copy collection to CD-ROM, Internet subscription services, e-mail subscription services, and online (Lexis, Westlaw®, etc.) save the firm money or actually cost more in the long run? No singular measure is appropriate or available to identify the cost effects of rebalancing a collection. Nor does a simple cost analysis take into account all the hidden costs and benefits of converting materials to electronic format.

To compare the current year's library expenditures with a previous year's expenditures doesn't account for the effect increases and decreases in the number of attorneys and practice groups has on library costs throughout the year. If I select several groups of materials we had converted and measure their effect on the bottom line, I would only be measuring materials whose conversion to electronic format had a beneficial effect on the bottom line. This creates a bias in that cost savings are the major consideration for the library at our firm. Alternatively, I could compare how much we spent on hard copy and how much we spent on electronic formats in a given year with the same budget categories in a subsequent year. To be truly accurate, I would have to factor in how much of the cost of electronic research had been recouped from clients (and how much was written off by attorneys), how much billable time was eliminated and thus revenue not realized due to the speed with which electronic research was conducted, and how much library staff time was saved by not having to check in updates, loose-leaf file, or reshelve books.

There is no quick and easy way to measure the effect rebalancing a collection has on the bottom line. Even if an accurate and comprehensive analysis could be performed, I doubt its usefulness when compared with the time that would need to be invested creating it. Some material has been, and others will continue to be, converted to electronic formats not because it is cost effective but because it enables more thorough and sophisticated research. Therefore I have created a checklist of cost considerations that can be used to evaluate future electronic conversion projects.

Face-Value Cost – Face-value cost (retail cost not including all the hidden costs of training, installation, etc.) can be the single most determinative factor in whether to convert an item to electronic format. For instance, several major publishers have approached our firm with opportunities to cancel our hard copy loose-leaf subscriptions and switch to their Web counterparts. In most cases a comparison of the costs for the print subscriptions versus the higher cost of the Web version quickly killed the deal. One must consider numerous other factors in determining overall cost.

Overhead vs. Billing Clients – Traditionally law firms maintained hard copy collections as overhead expense. The advent of Lexis and Westlaw caused a shift in this paradigm. Case law research and Shepardizing performed online could be billed back to clients because it was research performed for a specific client; it caused the firm to incur a discrete, out-of-pocket expense (fixed-rate contracts tend to dilute this argument); it enabled more thorough and up-to-date research; and it cut the amount of billable time taken to research an issue so dramatically that the client was likely to save money by paying the cost of having the research performed online. Online research at client expense has become so pervasive and accepted that many law firms ceased subscribing to hard copy several years ago and now are ridding their shelves of these collections entirely.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to say that an online version of a treatise enables an attorney to perform better research than the print version. Material format, as well as the type of research conducted using a particular resource, play an important role in determining whether associated costs get billed back directly to clients. In turn, whether or not the costs can be billed back to clients has a significant effect on the bottom line.

Impact on the Billable Hour – Closely related to the above discussion: What is the impact on billable hours of the speed with which electronic research can be conducted? Research that used to amount to several billable hours now accounts for only a half-hour of billable revenue. While electronic research provides an edge over manual research in terms of thoroughness, currency, and speed, it frequently has a negative impact on the amount of research hours billed. This may be good for clients but bad for the bottom line, and often is not factored into the cost analysis when rebalancing the collection.

Users/Patrons – Will everyone be able to use the electronic format or will the library end up having to maintain both electronic and hard copy versions? A general policy in our firm library is that we try to eliminate having too many different access points. This being said, there have been a few cases where a practice group chair asks for a CD-ROM only to come back a few months later to ask that the same title be maintained in print as well so everyone has access. Situations such as this need to be avoided if electronic resources are to have a beneficial effect on the bottom line.

Format and Ease of Use – Whether attorneys will be able to use the item in its electronic format with any level of comfort is an important factor which needs to be determined prior to canceling the hard copy and purchasing the electronic version. Shortly after the GPO made the Code of Federal Regulations available on the Web free of charge, we decided not to renew our hard copy subscription. Within a few months, it became apparent that this was a bad decision. While the free Web version of the CFR has some advantages, most attorneys, including the most computer savvy, have a much higher comfort level using the hard copy CFRs. Had we paid for a web subscription, the bottom line would have been negatively impacted.

Supplemental Access Points – Occasionally an electronic version of an item is acquired not to supplant but rather to supplement the hard copy version A few years ago we maintained seven hard copy sets of Ohio Revised Code in our Cleveland office. When we took out a subscription to Ohio case law on CD-ROM we decided to add the CD-ROM version of the Code so that the hypertext links to the Ohio Revised Code in the case law CD-ROM would be activated. We found that for certain types of research, attorneys actually preferred to search on the Ohio Revised Code CD-ROM first and then go look at the hard copy. For other types of Ohio Revised Code research they still prefer consulting the hard copy alone. Either way, the CD-ROM paid for itself by allowing us to eliminate three sets of hard copy codes!

Multiple Copies – Similar to the point made above, often a two-user network license to an electronic version will enable multiple hard copy subscriptions to be cut. Attorneys will log off a CD-ROM much more readily than they will return a book to the library. In terms of multiple copy reduction, electronic versions have a beneficial impact on the bottom line.

Coverage and Currency – Lately our firm has been inundated with e-mails from the web-based case law start-ups. These e-mails are forwarded to me from our attorneys asking why we pay so much for Lexis and Westlaw when these low cost alternatives are available. Aside from the fact that their search engines are not as strong as the major online vendors', the majority of these startups' historical coverage is lacking. Until they obtain complete case law coverage, we're much better off with our lower cost CD-ROMs. On the other side of the coin, electronic research has beat out hard copy research hands down with respect to currency. The need for currency has made the online versions of Shepard's, KeyCite^®, and case law indispensable despite the effect on the bottom line.

Speed of Delivery – In some cases, the need for speed in the method of delivery outweighs the incremental costs associated with the electronic subscription. While we still manually circulate hard copy versions of the majority of our current awareness subscriptions, there are certain titles for which the ability to have today's copy land on everyone's desktop at the same time outweighs the cost. E-mail summary versions of BNA's daily newsletters are one example. In a similar vein, a fair number of medical and trade journals now have e-mail versions of their table of contents available free of charge even if you don't subscribe to the hard copy. We have been able to cancel several hard copy subscriptions in favor of timely e-mail highlights.

Faster Research – When answers are needed immediately, the firm and/or the clients are willing to pay the extra costs associated with electronic research. The ability to handle these types of emergency requests via online vendors such as Lexis, Westlaw, and Dialog is what keeps us competitive and the clients happy. Instantaneous access to the biggest collections of databases comes with a significant price tag, but we can ill-afford not to be equipped to handle these emergency requests despite bottom line cost issues. While I would never advocate canceling all library subscriptions in favor of Westlaw or Lexis, I can't imagine proposing a budget that didn't include online services as a major component. Whether or not a firm chooses to bill these services back to clients has a major impact on the bottom line.

Space Savings – One of the most beneficial effects rebalancing the collection has can be seen in the area of space savings. Library shelf space is not billable space. Our firm, like many others, recently downsized our hard copy collection. We were able to reduce our total library floor space by 1/3 thus providing room for six additional billable offices. The downsizing has had little impact on our research capabilities as the majority of discarded material had been transferred to electronic formats over the preceding years. Turning non-billable library space into billable attorney office space is very beneficial to the firm's bottom line.

Reduction in Library Staff Size – Over time the cumulative impact of moving more materials to electronic formats has enabled the firm to operate with smaller library staffs. The amount of loose-leaf filing is less than half of what it was fifteen years ago. There are fewer serials to check in and significantly fewer items routed manually. Our Cleveland office library had a staff of six full-time people and two part-time people in 1989. Today we have two full-timers and one part-timer on the staff. The reduction in the number and cost of library staff salaries has undoubtedly benefited the bottom line.

I.S. and Library Staff Time – One area that often gets overlooked in deciding to transfer a subscription to an electronic format is the amount of library and/or I.S. staff time involved in installing the necessary hardware, rolling out the software, maintaining the system, etc. This is particularly true of CD-ROM installations and online proprietary software, but also can be true of Web databases that have certain technical requirements.

Cost of Special Hardware Requirements – Although hardware costs are much less of a consideration today due to the proliferation of web-based subscriptions, technical cost considerations of moving titles to electronic format mainly revolve around the cost of increasing Internet bandwidth. This is particularly true for firms with numerous satellite offices. Smaller offices would be moving to Web-based subscriptions much more quickly if not for the slowness of their Internet connections. Unfortunately, the cost of increasing bandwidth for an office with only a handful of attorneys makes it unlikely they will have completely Web-based libraries any time soon.

Cost of Training – Unlike books, electronic formats almost always require a certain amount of training – be it self instruction, telephonic instruction, librarian instruction, or training from an outside professional. Training, while certainly a necessity, negatively impacts the bottom line in several ways. When attorneys are attending training sessions they are unavailable to bill their time. Those attorneys who pass up training usually end up frustrated and disappointed with the product, often leading to reinstatement of the hard copy. It is best to offer training when attorneys would not otherwise be billing time; for instance, training sessions accompanied by breakfast or lunch often result in better attendance. Also, training in which the attorneys can earn CLE credit enable the attorney to kill two birds with one stone during down time. Finally, when initially taking out a subscription to an electronic research product, it is incumbent upon the library to negotiate some form of training as part of the subscription price of the product.

Portability – I've seen the portability issue work both in favor of electronics and in favor of maintaining print. For higher tech attorneys, electronic subscriptions, particularly Web-based subscriptions, mean they can access the "library" from virtually anywhere. Other attorneys will need to be in the office more because they do not have Internet access at home. These attorneys prefer to load the books in their briefcases and take them with them. Others, with Internet access, still favor books or CD-ROMs in terms of portability as they can access them in court, on the bus ride home, in their hotel room, etc. With the advent of wireless Internet, the momentum is on the side of electronic subscriptions in terms of portability and enhancing the bottom line.

Paper and Toner Costs – It is also true that we use a lot more paper and toner with electronic research than we did using books. Reading from paper is much easier on the eyes and the brain than reading from a computer screen. Also, attorneys are content to read from a book and don't necessarily make photocopies of everything they read in hard copy. They do seem to want printouts of most things they research on the computer. Too few attorneys think to save electronic research documents to their hard drives. While I don't have any concrete statistics on it, I imagine the paper and toner budget takes an additional hit every time we transfer an item to an electronic format.

The numerous and varied costs and benefits associated with balancing a collection do not lend themselves to easy quantification. We have traveled a long distance in rebalancing our collections toward electronic resources. Competitive forces, technological forces, time constraints, budgetary issues, and our own downsizing ensure that we will not be turning back to the days of manual research. Our continuing mission is to provide our attorneys with the best modes of access to the primary and secondary sources that comprise the body of American and foreign legal scholarship and do so with a constant eye towards the bottom line. Hopefully, the above checklist will help make this mission a little easier.

rmyers@arterhadden.com

Editors' Notes

We hope everyone is having a great summer. And for those of you who attended the San Antonio conference, we hope you came away with so many ideas that you are having a productive one as well! We welcome our new Division Chair, Jeanne Korman. Read what she has to say in the From the Boardroom column. Follow Constance Ard's example of growing professional involvement when you consider the volunteering opportunities that SLA's Legal Division provides. Cindy Spohr offers a rundown on some of the San Antonio programs; others give us a further glimpse into what some of the speakers presented. We get the full-blown thought process from Rob Myers, our Change Control columnist, when it comes to rebalancing a collection. Our Tech Support columnist, Heather Wright, writes a good heads-up in the medical area. The tax area gets hefty treatment from Adrienne Eng and Carol Mohammed. Liz Blankson-Hemans stocks our International Corner from the European side; and from Australia, one of a team of three newcomers, Emma Thomas. Carolyn Korkmas has written a thank-you to the Division when actually we should all be thanking her! On our Web site, it's always nice to read updates on our members in Member News so dutifully provided to us by Karen Krupka. This is the issue that presents minutes from the Board meetings that took place in San Antonio; it is interesting to see and to think about where our Board is headed.

Again, thoughts that cross your mind may prove invaluable to our Division so don't hold back. Stand up and volunteer!

Barbara W. Silbersack
Co-Editor

Mary Lynn Wagner
Co-Editor

From the Boardroom

Greetings to all our Legal Division members at the beginning of another Division year. I hope those of you who were able to attend the conference in San Antonio found the programs stimulating and that you had time to enjoy the flavor of San Antonio. I want to again thank Anne Abate, her Board, and all those who worked so hard for the Division during the past year.

I am honored to be leading such a dynamic division of SLA. Each new chair of the Division is fortunate to have a sound foundation to work with and to enhance. As I noted in my Business Luncheon comments, the development of the Division will naturally occur a few steps each year. My goals for additions to the Division this year are:

• Complete the Division Strategic Plan
• Institute a diversity program and a mentoring program
• Continue to grow the regional program initiatives
• Complete a thorough review of membership and begin a membership recruitment program
• Develop a Division brochure
• Further develop the international aspects of the Division
• Do more outreach to library school students

The annual conference programs are a large part of the work of the Division. Cindy Spohr, the Program Planner for the Los Angeles conference, has already been working for over six months on next year's programs. She would welcome help as a program developer or coordinator.

Cindy can be reached at cindy.spohr@lexisnexis.com. The ongoing success of the Division is our Board's goal. We welcome any suggestions you have to add to that success. I am looking forward to an exciting and productive year as chair.

Jeanne Korman
SLA Legal Division Chair

TO THE LEGAL DIVISION

A big thank-you to everyone for the lovely crystal bowl that was presented to me by Anne Abate at the Business Meeting during the Annual Conference in June to commemorate my retirement earlier this year. It was a complete surprise to me, and I was not prepared to make a speech. I appreciate the honor bestowed on me more than I can say. Being one of the founders of the Legal Division, I am always ready to thank those who have helped me so much. Our hard work has paid off. We now have over 1,200 members, and there are new members stepping up to take on the responsibility of running the Division, which is the true test of how well we have succeeded. Doing something that makes a difference is one of the most satisfying things in life, and in the process, I have made some of the best friends of a lifetime. I will not bid you farewell because, as one of the godmothers of the Division, I plan to stay involved in the Legal Division for some time to come! Thanks again.
Carolyn Korkmas

your pr update
by Cindy Spohr, LexisNexis

Almost 200 Legal Division members attended the SLA 92nd Annual Conference in San Antonio, TX. Librarians from around the world attended the conference, which provided a schedule packed with challenging programs, continuing education opportunities and social events. The exhibit hall offered an exciting array of must-see products and special activities. The conference provided all attendees with learning opportunities, the chance to renew and build partnerships with colleagues, and some exciting new concepts and methods on personal and professional competencies.

The Legal Division sponsored a wide variety of educational programs with interesting topics and speakers. Many volunteers in the Legal Division, speakers, and sponsors worked toward this end and the result was an educational and rewarding experience for all attendees. Program highlights from some Legal Division sessions include:

Current Internet Legal Issues, moderated by Gayle Lynn-Nelson with speakers Steve Emmert, Reed Elsevier and Betsy Kalb, Xerox Corporation. Steve provided an overview of current and pending legislation and case law about financial information privacy, availability of Social Security numbers, medical record privacy, children's privacy, unsolicited e-mail, identity theft, bankruptcy information, wireless privacy, and the Driver's License Privacy Protection Act. Betsy discussed the issue of security of electronic documents within an organization and why all companies need to have a policy on electronic communications and enforce these policies with their employees.

Emerging Technologies, moderated by Dina Dreifuerst, Clements O'Neill Pierce, with speakers Tom Fleming, Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro, and Doug Rosenoff, West Group. Doug began the session with an overview of the continuing emergence of technology applications in the information workplace. Librarian roles as innovator, classifier, designer and information advisor will increase. We should expect cleaner, faster, better designed user interfaces for wireless products, as the difference between PCs and PDAs becomes more apparent to users. Legal research capabilities on handheld devices include citation location, document finding, citation checking, and searching to find a lawyer or a firm. Dina reviewed several models of PDA devices and discussed the capabilities of this technology. Tom discussed the increase of international Webster and the volume of e-commerce transactions and how both are increasing. Application service providers are also on the rise, and Tom advises that one should always check the security and the stability of the company under consideration. Librarians need to push themselves into every knowledge management project in their organization, and remain knowledgeable about portal technology.

Fun in the Stacks: Creating a Dynamic Environment, moderated by Susan Skyzinski, LexisNexis, with speakers Janeen Heath, Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, and Terri Lawrence, Thompson & Knight LLP. Janeen and Terri co-presented a fun and information-filled session with strategies, ideas and success stories on how to create an environment where the library is an integral and dynamic part of the firm. They approached activities month by month with ideas and tips and included strategies for working within the firm to leverage resources and ideas with other departments and firm management.

Legal Issues of Presentations, moderated by Joanne Dugan, West Group, with speakers Donna Gies, West Group and Eric Jorstad, Faegre & Benson. To a capacity room of 65 attendees, Donna summarized copyright law as it applies to presentations; especially regarding printed material, photographs, cartoons, and movies. She gave conservative advice to get permission for every potentially copyrighted work. Also a new Web site at the Copyright Office may be helpful: www.loc.gov/copyright/search. Eric also gave conservative advice to get permission, if in doubt, to quote another person. Avoid personal references if possible and in particular do not publish private information. Weighing free speech aspects, privacy and defamation are issues in the cyberworld. www.faegre.com may be helpful.

Mastering the Organizational Map, moderated by Lori Hedstrom, West Group, with speaker Pat Wagner, Pattern Research. Pat is a favorite speaker with librarian audiences due to her familiarity with our workplaces as well as her sense of humor and straightforward approach. For this program she covered the various levels at which work gets done ­ leadership, management, and task ­ and how to identify the level at which you and your colleagues do the best work. This is the first step in changing disruptive or unproductive behaviors and is crucial to effective communication. Pat is an advocate of listening, taking action, and providing a healthy, stable, consistent structure for all staff and organizations. Her programs enable us to elicit the best from everyone as we translate among different levels and points of view.

Personal to Virtual, moderated by Constance Ard, Greenebaum Doll & McDonald, with speakers Susan Klopper, Arthur Andersen and Judith Field, Wayne State University. Judith discussed situational communication and stressed that technology is an enabler, but cannot communicate for us. Ultimately we are responsible for the content of our communication. Communication should be effective, timely, accurate, and appropriate. E-mail and voice mail should be used for the appropriate type of messages as one type of message does not fit all recipients. Susan discussed a specific application by describing the communication methods used by her information center. A shift to virtual is already taking place and Susan's basic principles include:

• Remind users that the information center appreciates their business (the information center understands that people have choices)
• Survey users on a regular basis
• Follow up on the majority of the research provided

This program was selected as an SLA Association Series – congratulations to Constance on this honor!

Risk Issues and the Internet: Cyber Risk, moderated by Brenda Stenger, with Giles Alston from Oxford Analysts speaking. Giles discussed infrastructure networks and their vulnerabilities including natural disasters, internal disasters and reliance on the Internet. As technology users we must be able to get information and we must be able to trust what comes through the network, including the sender and the data. Cyberterrorism, unlike terrorism in the past, does not have an ideological agenda but is basically malicious disruptions. The extent of cyberterrorism is difficult to measure and is probably underreported and over-estimated. Giles sees opportunities in working with standard-setting bodies, teaming with security companies, and fostering the idea that we all benefit when the infrastructure is protected above and beyond our immediate need.

60 Sites in 60 Minutes, moderated by Karen Krupka, Wildman Harold Allen & Dixon, with speakers Jenny Kanji, LexisNexis, and Genie Tyburski, Ballard Spahr Andrews. Over 300 librarians attended this ever-popular presentation. Jenny and Genie shared 60 Web sites to inform, amuse and make us think about how and what we search on the Internet.

Working with MIS Professionals, moderated by Mary Ames, Edward & Angell LLP, with speakers Lynn Martin, Bureau of National Affairs, Sara Thompson, Parker Engineering, and Matthew Trivino, Akin Gump. The speakers began with opening comments on how best to work with IT and then conducted a Q&A and discussion on various aspects of librarians working with IT. A summary of the advice on working effectively with IT includes:

• Communicate in order to collaborate
• Plan in advance and communicate
• Build ongoing relationships with IT; don't contact them only when you need them
• Time, money and frustration can be saved if IT is brought in at the beginning of a project (particularly when working with a third party)
• Explain the desired end results and goals
• Background information is very helpful
• Don't sign an agreement with a third party without bringing in IT
• Know the basics of your system prior to discussing needs with a third party
• Involve IT in office redesigns

If you were unable to attend the conference or missed sessions you wanted to attend, you can order audio tapes. Check out the SLA Web site at http://www.sla.org, Events and Conferences, 2001 Annual Conference, SLA 2001 Conference Audio Taping Program.

Social events included the Hospitality Suite, the Ice Cream Social, the Networking Breakfast, a Dine-around and a Reception at the La Mansion del Rio historic hotel.

Business conducted at the conference for the Legal Division included two Board Meetings, the Annual Luncheon and Business Meeting, and the Leadership Tea.

The Legal Division would like to thank the following corporate sponsors: Alert Publications, Inc., Aspen Publishers, Inc., C. Berger Group, Inc., Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., ChoicePoint, Commerce Clearing House, Inc., Courthouse Direct.com, Courtlink, Dialog, William S. Hein & Co., Inc., International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation USA, Inc., LexisNexis, Mergent, Inc., Oceana Publications Inc., Practising Law Institute, SydneyPlus International, Tax Analysts and West Group. Your contributions to our programs and social events allow us to provide a diverse and dynamic program for Legal Division members.

We are looking forward to a vibrant conference in 2002. The SLA 93rd Annual Conference, Putting Knowledge to Work, will be held in Los Angeles, CA June 9 - 12, 2002. If you are interested in working on a program or other events for this conference, please contact Cindy Spohr, the 2002 Legal Division Programs Chair, at cindy.spohr@lexisnexis.com.

On a personal note, I have enjoyed serving the Legal Division as the Public Relations Chair for the past two years and look forward to my new responsibilities as the Program Planning Chair for the 2002 Annual Conference.

watercooler
Reflections on Careers, Professional Development and Personal Satisfaction
by Constance Ard, Greenebaum Doll & McDonald

SLA took place several weeks ago and I'm going to take this time to reflect on my relatively short career, the importance of professional development in that career and how I've managed to stay satisfied with my career. This is a column where I get to relate/push my personal reflections on you, but some of you told me you enjoyed that in this column when I met you a few weeks ago. So now I'm getting really personal.

SLA this year was just great. I survived my first major presentation! (Look for the Legal Resources presentation I did for the News Division.) Despite a major panic attack and the fear of actually doing it, after it was done I was glad that I had challenged myself.

"Challenged myself!" Most of the time challenges are said to originate externally. I think that in order to succeed, challenges must come from within. I also moderated a session done by Susan Klopper and Judith Field (see Cindy Spohr's article for more details). That too was a challenge!

When Carolyn Edds called early last fall and said that I had been recommended as a presenter of legal research issues for her News by the Beat program, I was honored and surprised. So I challenged myself! I said yes based on the assumption that I would be teaching people about the thing I'm good at and that I enjoy doing and that I do every day. What's so challenging about that? That's the easy part. I'm on my way. The bonus is that my firm now knows that their librarian is respected by her peers. That provides me with some bargaining power and it also shows the firm that their investment in me as an employee provides them some good PR within the law library field. That too is a bonus.

So now I've challenged myself for one presentation and I've challenged myself to lead others in the efforts that make SLA and especially the Legal Division an enjoyable activity. I challenged myself to be Chair of the Regional Meeting Committee for the Legal Division, again. Someone mentioned a need to me and I know people who can meet that need, so I'm working with both to see the results and make the Legal Division even stronger.

Professional development is no longer a sideline activity for me. I see the need and I step up to meet the need. This provides me with better professional development and a great sense of personal satisfaction. What could possibly be wrong with that? Fear. That's the challenge I haven't met and overcome yet, but I will.

So in my short career, I've moved twice for a promotion, participated locally and statewide in library organizations and my level of national involvement seems to be growing, too. These challenges keep me refreshed and energized. The things I learn, from the sidelines and in front of a crowd, make me better at my job and make my job better. In fact, my job is so good that I'm thrilled it's my career. I will continue to learn from each of you and participate actively at all levels of my chosen professional field. I will do this because I love the people I meet, the knowledge and confidence I gain, and because I'm proud to be a law librarian who shares.

I'm not sure where my career will lead me, but I know that it will keep me close to the challenges of this profession and that this profession will never be boring as long as new challenges are there to be met. I hope each of you will seize opportunities to challenge and invigorate yourselves by working with your professional organizations. The Legal Division has lots of room for all of you, whether you challenge it or meet the challenge it provides.

international corner
Letter from Australia
by Emma Thomas, Middleton Moore & Bevins

Greetings from Australia! Australia recently has had two major corporate debacles with the liquidation of Australia's third largest insurance company, HIH, and the telecommunications company, One.Tel, making for interesting times for librarians.

HIH in particular has lost billions of dollars, not only in Australia, but world- wide, causing financial difficulty for many people. To compensate for this loss, the Australian government has set up a rescue package for those who have been severely affected by the untimely demise of HIH. Creditors in the United States have also been affected by the collapse of HIH, having to obtain court orders to secure access to $A20 million in trust funds established in the United States by HIH subsidiaries.

In Australia, a royal commission into the collapse of HIH will start an inquiry in September this year. Corporate insolvency specialist Judge Neville Owen of the Western Australian Supreme Court will head the inquiry.

On a happier note, we are all looking forward to attending the upcoming conference "Rivers of Knowledge, 9th Special, Health and Law Libraries Conference" which will be held in Melbourne, 26th - 29th August. Some topics of interest that will be covered at the conference are:

• Information literacy and research skills training – a vital part of a firm's learning programme
• Customer service – pitfalls and potentialities
• Performance + Professionalism + Knowledge of client needs – Threats = 100% client satisfaction
• Redefining the role of the information professional
• 'Thank God it's Friday' – the image of the librarian visited
• Outside the square – library and information services innovations within a knowledge management context
• Surviving on the shifting sands of corporate restructure
• Risk management – a strategy for success

International visitors will be most welcome. For more information regarding the above conference you can visit the following Web site: http://www.alia.org.au/ conferences/shllc/2001/

Helen Wallace, Law Librarian of the University of Western Australia, has developed and implemented an online course "Law for Non-lawyers." Interstate colleagues expressed an interest and asked Helen to present a paper at last year's Law Librarians Symposium. For a copy of Helen's presentation, visit www.allg.asn.au (select Symposium 2000 in the sidebar). The course has been designed to provide an overview and understanding into Australian law for information professionals such as Law Librarians and Knowledge Managers. It covers topics such as: tort, criminal and international law, and the history of Australian Law.

Details about the course can be found at www.extension.uwa.edu.au. Click on Winter Courses, click on Browse our Winter Courses, click on Business Life, scroll down to 018011 – Law for Non-lawyers.

international corner
Letter from Europe
by Liz Blankson-Hemans, Clifford Chance LLP, London, England.

Well, we're all post-conference now, and after all the heat of San Antonio, I never thought I'd live to hear myself say it – I actually do not mind the cool/wet summer of England ... this time! I mean, of all people, I like the heat, but this was something else!!

One of my biggest moments of conference is always the Legal Division Annual Business Luncheon. This year was especially memorable as the new Executive Director of SLA, Roberta Shaffer, addressed the lunch, as she is a Legal Division member. My interest in her is three-pronged – new executive director of my association, member of my division, and also, since she is interested in making the organisation more 'international', hopeful strengthening of the liaison between the European Chapter and the executive of the SLA.

Last time, I mentioned briefly the planned closure of the open.gov.uk web site. From 1 July 2001, this service is now hosted by ukonline.gov.uk. Existing features of open.gov.uk will be retained on the new service, and nothing should be 'lost' that is of value to users of the old service. However, I have heard rumblings that features have not been carried over exactly as before, particularly the organisational indexing. I am sure they are listening to the feedback. Additionally, as part of the rationalisation, the old Office of Government Commerce (under whom the CCTA who ran the previous service came) now becomes the Office of the e-Envoy. No jokes please!

Lawtel has rebranded itself and all its products into the Lawyer Group. From now on, all Lawtel services – Lawyer.com, Lawtel EU and LawtelUK itself can be accessed at www.lawyergroup.com as well as the regular www.lawtel.co.uk. The services are divided into two streams, red and blue. The blue channel is for all 'legal' services and the red channel is 'business' related with news of the profession, jobs, links to business databases such as Equifax and Perfect Information.

Factiva.com was launched on 11 June at the SLA conference. In the UK it is intended to gradually replace the Reuters Business Briefing service when it becomes fully operational on 31 July. I also hear that LexisNexis has launched its Publisher product, a toolkit that can be used to integrate internal and external information on a client's intranet. Publisher – now haven't I heard that same name before, somewhere in the same context ...?

I have also come across an Internet news service called Public Information Europe (www.publicinfo.net) which groups together all links to documents in the public domain published by the various EU institutions and sends them to you by e-mail – all free of charge. (You know me and access to free information; I harped on enough about it at the conference annual business lunch!). They do not claim to edit or add value, they just group to make information easier to find. It is even possible to personalise the e-mail by selecting subjects, sources, jurisdictions etc. And if you really want to pay for something, you can subscribe to a service that contains the full text of articles.

Finally, I mentioned at conference that I would now like to try and include a regular paragraph of news from BIALL in order to strengthen the liaison between us. Look for news in the next column.

Legal Division Minutes 6/9/01

Attendees:

Anne Abate, Chair
Jeanne Korman, Chair-Elect
Jeffrey R. Stickle, Chair-Elect-Elect
Linda Fowlie, Director
Larry Guthrie, Past Chair
Charlene Cunniffe, Membership
John J. DiGilio, Diversity
Lori Hedstrom, Liaison to AALL
Carolyn Korkmas
Karen Krupka, Division Manual
Cindy Spohr, Public Relations/2002 Program

Issues discussed:
Membership. Charlene Cunniffe reported that the most recent membership figure she had is 1254. The membership has remained relatively steady, taking into consideration fluctuations that are considered normal. The Division is the 4th largest in SLA.

No ticketed programs sponsored by the Division were cancelled due to lack of ticket sales. The Alamo/Mission tour was combined with a Headquarters sponsored event, and the Continuing Education Course registration was borderline.

Anne Abate informed the Board that the chair routinely receives many invitations from other law library groups such as the British & Irish Association of Law Libraries (BIALL) and the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL), to send a Division member to their conferences. Larry Guthrie suggested forming a committee to select someone to attend. The Past Chair, or an SLA member residing in the area of the conferences, was suggested. It was agreed that the Division should try to send a representative to these conferences.

A suggestion was made that since the Division membership has leveled off somewhat, active recruitment of new members should be undertaken.

Anne Abate expressed thanks on behalf of the Board to West Group for the Hospitality Suite.

Electronic votes taken by the Executive Board during the year were ratified.

Treasurer's Report:
The Division's financial condition is stable. Final figures will be determined after all conference costs have been paid. No problems are expected when the final figures are determined.

New business:
Anne Abate informed the Board that divisions throughout SLA have been approached for financial support for the newly created David Bender Endowment Fund for International Development. It was suggested that $1,000 would be appropriate for a division of our size and status as the 4th largest in SLA. A motion was made, seconded and passed to approve $1,000 be donated to the David Bender Endowment Fund.

Committee reports:
Program Committee: Cindy Spohr, the 2002 Program Chair, announced that she would be distributing a survey at the Division Business Meeting on June 11th, to determine member preferences with regard to programs. Jeff Stickle expressed thanks to Cindy and Jeanne Korman for including him in the program planning process, in preparation for his involvement in the coming year.

Affirmative Action Committee: John DiGilio, Chair, expressed the opinion that the committee's name and focus should be changed slightly, and suggested "Diversity Committee". Carolyn Korkmas expressed the opinion that mentoring in general might be appropriate and more inclusive. Subsequently the name "Mentoring and Diversity" was agreed to.

Archives: Anne Abate, Committee Chair, is relocating the archives. She told all Board members to send any submissions they might have to her.

Bylaws: Jeff Stickle, Chair, expressed the opinion that the previously discussed elimination of the Chair-Elect-Elect position in favor of a second Director position, should be abandoned. The Chair-Elect-Elect position is valuable experience for the future duties of the Chair-Elect position, especially with regard to program planning. No other bylaws changes were felt to be necessary.

Directory: Since SLA now has the membership lists available on the SLA web site, searchable by all members using various criteria, the opinion was expressed that a directory may not be necessary.

Division Manual: Karen Krupka, Chair, reported that the Manual is finished and that Board members would be provided with a copy for their use after the conference, and that it will be posted on the Division web site in the near future.

Employment: It was suggested that the Hospitality Suite might be employed in various ways for the benefit of employees and employers, including the compilation of a binder with job opening notices, and as a place for members and potential employers to meet.

The following have not been active in the past year: European Liaison, Government Relations Committee, and International Relations Committee.

Legal Division Quarterly: The print version has been reduced in size due to cost; regular columns are now posted to the Division web site. It was mentioned that due to our tax exempt status, the print version cannot be more than 1/3 advertising. Therefore, the size cannot be reduced further without a reduction in advertising, necessitating the maintenance of the current size of the print issues.

Liaison to AALL: Lori Hedstrom, Liaison, reports that she has been writing articles and suggesting to PLL newsletter columnists that they submit their writing to the Legal Division Quarterly. However, she suggests that the organizations should agree to appoint one person to be liaison in both directions. This year, she has not been AALL's liaison to SLA.

Liaison to ABA: The liaison is looking for ideas as to whom she should be communicating with within the ABA.

Larry Guthrie mentioned that it might be appropriate to appoint a liaison to the AICPA; others suggested that this is more appropriately done by the Business & Finance Division.

Membership: Charlene Cunniffe, Chair, expressed the opinion that the responsibilities of this committee are too large for one person. She has been trying to contact new members to welcome them, but due to constant fluctuations in membership, mailings to all new members have become too cost prohibitive to be handled by one person's firm. She has been sending e-mails as much as possible. The committee responsibilities should be divided among several committee members, as there is much more that can be done by this committee.

Nominating: Carolyn Korkmas reported on behalf of Barbara Silbersack of the Nominating Committee, that the following new board members have been elected:
Charlene Cunniffe, Chair-Elect-Elect
Karen Krupka, Treasurer

Public Relations: Cindy Spohr, Chair, reported that she has been writing articles for all issues of the Legal Division Quarterly and would like to see a history of the Division developed for its 10th Anniversary, to be celebrated at the 2003 Annual Conference in New York.

Regional Meetings: Anne Abate reported on behalf of Constance Ard, Chair, that 4 regional meetings were held. This concept is one the Board would like to see continued and expanded.

Scholarships & Grants: Anne Abate reported on behalf of Joni Cassidy, Chair. On very short notice, a program was put together and a scholarship awarded to Merrill Chertok.

Strategic Planning: This committee was inactive this year. Anne Abate proposed that the incoming Chair begin planning an event for the Division's 10th Anniversary.

Student Committee: Inactive.

Vendor Relations: It was reported that the Division has many more vendors exhibiting and sponsoring this year. An affinity relationship with Courthouse News will be explored in the coming year.

Yearbook: A yearbook is being compiled, to be issued at the Division's 10th Anniversary.

Emerging Technologies Roundtable: Since this roundtable's breakfast meeting is so well attended by members from other divisions, it was suggested that non-Legal Division members should pay more for this event, and membership in the Legal Division should be encouraged during the breakfast. It was felt by most Board Members that the two-tiered pricing would be permissible under Headquarters guidelines.

A motion was made, seconded and passed to adjourn the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Karen Krupka
on behalf of
Jenny Kanji, Legal Division Secretary

Legal Division Minutes 6/13/01

Attendees:

Jeanne Korman, Chair
Ann Abate, Past Chair
Jeff Stickle, Chair elect
Larry Guthrie, Past Chair
Karen Krupka, Treasurer
John DiGilio, Mentoring & Diversity Chair
Lori Hedstrom, Liaison to AALL
Tina Dumas, Membership Chair
Charlene Cunniffe, Chair elect-elect
Cindy Spohr, Program Chair 2002
Carolyn Korkmas, Strategic Planning

Division Cabinet Report - Jeanne

Communication Division and ITE will probably merge because of lack of interest in communication.

Division membership is fluctuating. We are waiting for a chart from SLA that will give us 12-month look of membership. Some general division statistics:

• 42% don't have a recruiting plan
• 71% don't have mentoring
• over 50% don't have brochures
• 62% sent welcome packages

We should plan an anniversary party in New York - 10th year

The division would like to begin Corporate legal librarian round table

2002 Report on Program Plans - Cindy

A survey taken at luncheon showed that there is interest in developing the following programs:

• Licensing of electronic products – moderated by non-vendor
• advanced intranet, extranets
• marketing
• Intellectual Property
• Management
• international – Latin America
• space planning
• harassment in the workplace
• acquisition and cataloging of electronic material
• knowledge management for law firms
• case studies on mergers
• CE program conducted by Pat Wagner
• Multidisciplinary partnership
• Gumshoe librarian

Mentoring – John DeGilio – John is in the process of developing a plan.

Bylaws – Jeff Stickle

International Relations – Jeff will take care of keeping the SLA International Relations group informed about our activities. We should have some representation at CALL

Archive – Ann Abate

Legal Division Quarterly – Barbara Silbersack – There was a discussion on whether we should have our Division Quarterly electronic or in print and if there are too many ads in our publication.

Division Manual – Joni Cassidy

Employment – Charlene Cunniffe

Government Relations – SLA now calls it Public Policy

Public Relations – Joan Ogden

Scholarship & Grants – Margaret Ross

Vendor Relations – Loretta Mak & Gitelle Seer

Website & Content – Richard Guarjardo – Because of the flooding in Texas, he will not be able to do the necessary upkeep for a while

Student chair – We need to contact library schools

Professional Development – Regional Meeting Coordinator – Constance Ard

Membership – Tina Dumas – Discussion on how to identify members who work in a legal setting and recruiting them for our division.

Liaison to AALL – Lori Hedstrom – We will aim to do more joint programming at annual and regional conferences with AALL and the Chapters.

Liaison to ABA – Susan Catterall

Yearbook Editor – Julia Daniel

Strategic Planning – Larry Carolyn & Barbara

Division Directory – Joanne Dugan

Conference Planner – Cindy Spohr

Conference Planner 2003 – Lori Hedstrom

Nomination – Gayle Lynn-Nelson. New members are Larry Guthrie, Erika Howder, and Peg La France. Move to approve the nomination committee as given – Jeff Stickle

Move to adjourn – Ann Abate.

Jenny Kanji
Secretary

Member News
Karen Krupka, Wildman Harrold

Hi everyone! Welcome to your summertime Member News column. I was very gratified to see and meet so many of you in San Antonio. For those of you who were not able to attend the conference, I highly recommend it (as I do every year at this time). It amazes me that even after 17 years as an SLA member (I was a student member, just in case anyone wondered), I am still meeting so many new people.

**********

Cynthia Barrancotto, Reference Librarian at Flagler College and Doctoral Student at Florida State University, is the President-Elect of the Florida and Caribbean Chapter of SLA and the Leader (for the second year!) of the Special and Institutional Libraries Division of the Florida Library Association. On a personal note, she is a new grandmother, "Nani," to Ethan, who was born May 2 to her son Gabriel and his wife, Richelle, in Houston, Texas.

**********

John J. DiGilio, Legal & Business Research Librarian at Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP, was recently honored with service awards from both the Western Pennsylvania Law Libraries Association (WPLLA) and the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Special Libraries Association. John had been serving as secretary to WPLLA and was the chair of the Pittsburgh Chapter of SLA's professional development committee. John is the new President-Elect of the Pittsburgh Chapter of SLA and the Chair of the newly restructured, refocused, and renamed Legal Division Diversity & Mentoring Committee.

**********

On June 14, Alan Schroeder, Senior Law Librarian at Rutan & Tucker, LLP, gave a presentation entitled "The Latest in Electronic Case Retrieval & Tracking" during LegalTech in downtown Los Angeles. The presentation was offered in conjunction with SCALL.

**********

Finally, just for those of you who have not already heard, my own news is that I am your new Legal Division Treasurer. I join Charlene Cunniffe of Bass Berry in Nashville, who was elected to the office of Chair-Elect-Elect, as new members of the Executive Board. Jeanne Korman and Jeff Stickle assume the offices of Chair and Chair-Elect, respectively. Thanks go to outgoing Treasurer Carol Furnish of Chase College of Law for her help in the still ongoing transition, and to Johanna Bizub, my fellow candidate.

Just to "plug" our Division once more: If someone from the Executive Board or any Legal Division committee calls, agree to volunteer! You don't necessarily need to go to any meetings to serve on a committee (although you must know by now how I feel about that!) I promise, you'll enjoy it!

Looking forward to hearing from you in the coming months,
Karen
krupka@wildmanharrold.com

tax file
Tax-Librarians -- A Tax Analysts Sponsored Discussion Group
By Adrienne Eng, Tax Analyst

Tax-librarians is an electronic discussion group available to any member of the library community who has an interest in tax. The list provides a forum for librarians to seek advice or brainstorm solutions on challenging tax research questions, comment on new products, or provide a common place to share professional development experiences.

Carolyn Korkmas, a founding member of the Tax Roundtable, suggested the creation of the list in 1998. Carol Mohammed, this year's Tax Roundtable Coordinator, discussed several new items that will be added to the listserv at the Tax Roundtable held at the 2001 Special Libraries Association conference. Carol plans to post Tax Roundtable news and information about the conference on the list. In addition, the list will begin to offer regular postings by several contributors on items of interest to tax librarians such as new tax-specific web sites or citations to interesting articles in the world of tax or librarianship. Librarians always have too much to do and too little time, so it never hurts to have a second set of eyes to scan professional journals or to have a colleague point out a new resource. These postings will be brief but helpful information for the busy tax librarian. Carol and Carolyn encourage members to comment on these postings and to add their own "finds".

Here's a sample posting that you might see.

This list is from the Lexis Weekly Research Tips article: Training Tips for Librarians. The Charles book was very helpful. I have the checklist posted on my bulletin board.

For training tips, check out these Web sites and books: American Society for Training & Development ~ http://www.astd.org Training Supersite ~http://www.trainingsupersite.com

Charles, G. Leslie: The Instant Trainer: Quick Tips on How to Teach Others What You Know. New York: McGraw-Hill. 1998. (ISBN 0-07011-958-9)

Kroehnert, Gary: Basic Training for Trainers: A Handbook for New Trainers. New York: McGraw-Hill. 1995. (ISBN 0-07-470193-2)

Stern, Nancy and Maggi Payment: 101Stupid Things Trainers Do to Sabotage Success. Irvine, CA: Richard Chang Associates, Inc. 1999. (ISBN 1-883553-93-8)

Van Daele, Carrie A.: 50 One-Minute Tips for Trainers: A Quick and Easy Guide. Menlo Park, CA: Crisp Publications. 1995. (ISBN 1-56052-352-2)

If you are interested in joining the list, follow the steps below. To subscribe, e-mail: Majordomo@lists.tax.org
In the message, type: subscribe tax-librarians
To post to the lists, address your message to: tax-librarians@lists.tax.org

tech support
"NLM's Online Transition: Saying Good-bye to Internet Grateful Med"
by Heather Wright, Reference/Internet Librarian, Andrew W. Breidenbach Environmental Research Center Library, U.S. EPA, Cincinnati, OH.

The National Library of Medicine will discontinue Internet Grateful Med (IGM) by the end of the summer. In its place will be the NLM Gateway, a new one-stop portal to a large spectrum of NLM databases. This overview of the National Library of Medicine's portals and major databases will outline the specifics of IGM's departure and detail the differences between the new NLM Gateway and PubMed.

The IGM interface has been publicly available since April 1996 and has provided free online access to multiple databases, including MEDLINE, AIDSLINE, ChemID, and many others. Internet Grateful Med provided a public portal while the National Library of Medicine converted its databases to a more updated retrieval system that would allow greater compatibility with other web-based systems. This interface has been very popular and already is heavily used. The phase-out of IGM began late last year with the cessation of regular updates to its databases. Currently IGM is a static database portal and its anticipated final shutdown date is in September of this year.

The NLM Gateway is the new portal that has been designed to replace IGM. Allowing quick access to NLM databases for the general public and those unfamiliar with in-depth medical research, it is already available at http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/gw/Cmd. Field searching is available but users must check the help page to retrieve instructions on the correct field limiters and their placement within the search query. Boolean search terms and MeSH term searching are supported. A basic search (free of field limiters) completes a subject search in all the available databases. The NLM Gateway defaults to a subject search because its targeted user would most likely skip field limiters and simply type in a few key terms, such as diabetes or Hodgkin's lymphoma. Researchers can limit their searches to specific types of resources (journal citations, books, consumer health, and meeting abstracts) as well as to English language publications only. The NLM Gateway also offers a Locker feature, where registered users can store citations for later printing, downloading, or ordering. There is a quick link to a MeSH browser ("find terms") as well as a link to see earlier searches. The NLM Gateway will have the largest content of any of the NLM portals. It will access more than ten different NLM databases, providing access to information not available through PubMed or other NLM portals (such as meeting abstracts and drug information).

PubMed, established in 1998, provides access to MEDLINE citations as well as to citations from selected scientific journals not indexed by MEDLINE. PubMed, available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi, offers quick and easy field searching with its Preview/Index feature. Twenty different fields are searchable, making PubMed an excellent tool for chasing down an incomplete citation or tracking down a specific physician's or scientist's publications. PubMed offers a Cubby search, which allows a registered user to save frequent searches for quick retrieval when they need to be run again. Similar to NLM Gateway's Locker, PubMed allows users to collect records for later download, printing, or ordering on its Clipboard. Boolean searching is supported and PubMed makes combining searches easy. Although it only displays result sets for the three most recent searches on the Preview/Index page, users can link to "history" to see the full set of previous searches. Researchers can limit results to animal or human, various age groups, gender, language, publication date and more. PubMed is updated daily, Tuesday through Saturday. Pre-publication citations are provided by publishers and then fully indexed by the National Library of Medicine upon publication.

When one uses PubMed and then the new NLM Gateway, the difference between the anticipated target users is clear. PubMed is more geared toward a professional physician, scientist or librarian. The NLM Gateway is geared toward a new user of the National Library of Medicine resources. The searching capabilities are a bit more basic on the NLM Gateway, but the NLM Gateway searches more resources than PubMed, which primarily focuses on MEDLINE. Law librarians may be most comfortable with PubMed searching, but they should be aware of the NLM Gateway if they are asked to provide a quick overview to a disease, condition, treatment, or medical problem. The NLM Gateway will provide resources that could also be pertinent to the practice of law. It will search MEDLINEPlus, drug information (generic and brand name pharmaceuticals), HSRProj (Health Services Research Projects in Progress), and Health Services Research Meetings (abstracts from research, health policy, international, and Technology Assessment in Health Care annual conferences). These resources provide information that can be difficult to track down quickly online and can be important in a variety of situations. As Internet Grateful Med prepares to shut down, librarians will still have multiple strong portals available from the National Library of Medicine with which to fill their research needs.

Getting It Down Pat With Pat Wagner
by Mykie Howard, University of Kentucky

Note: Upon being chosen to attend SLA with Division Support, this library school student was asked to submit a short article covering one of the sessions she attended.

Regardless of age, experience, education, or library type, we have all had some experience with management, on one side of it or the other. While we yearn for good experiences, oftentimes managers let us and our organizations down because of lack of understanding, knowledge, and inspiration to correctly interact with other areas within the organizational map. On Tuesday morning of the 2001 Annual Conference in San Antonio, Pat Wagner of Pattern Research enthusiastically and energetically shared her expertise of "Managing the Organizational Map" to over 100 eager listeners. Pat shared her thoughts on how to succeed and not get lost within the workplace by understanding three main roles: task, management, and leadership.

Pat began by presenting the problems. Constant struggle and misunderstanding exists within organizations between task workers and management. The two "defined" roles of the organizational map often become blurred and misconstrued because of managers reverting or being seduced to perform former task worker duties and because downsizing causes many task workers to be thrown into the unknown realm of management (i.e. micromanagement). When this happens, a struggle may occur due to the manifestation of role differentials. Once roles are defined they become so defined that the proponents within the two roles cannot work together, making the organization completely dysfunctional.

Perhaps organizational leadership, stemming from both roles, should be deemed as the solution to both sides of the problem. A true leader must communicate, coach, reward, praise, motivate, and be flexible. A true leader must elicit the best from other people. The best way to encourage the best from other people is to let them "do it themselves;" a manager must be willing to train employees as well as be willing to let them train themselves through learning. Likewise, task workers must be willing to "train" their manager to be a manager by allowing him to train himself through experience with them. Both parties must be willing to communicate suggestions and be open to criticism for success. Good leadership also comes from a true understanding of each other's roles; therefore, managers must not lose sight of the definition of task work and task workers must experience some type of managerial responsibility. In addition, leadership involves investing in each other's lives. When this happens the relationship between the task worker and the manager (as well as the overall health of the organization) is strengthened. It is also important that leaders not get bogged down with rules or procedures. Pat explained that "rules are not physics, they can be changed." Last, good leadership involves looking into the future. Truly caring about those you lead involves examining and preparing others of the things to come: either external threats that may have an impact on the organization or the rewards that will come from working together. Although costs of adapting such a philosophy may seem overwhelming in the short-run, managers and task workers alike will be a much stronger team in the end if basic leadership principles are applied to the roles within the organizational map.

Pat Wagner's presentation was well received by all who attended and gave us better understanding, knowledge and inspiration needed to manage the organizational map to success. Pat and her partner, Leif Smith, offer various resources and "tools for explorers" to promote healthy businesses and organizations. For more information, go to www.pattern.com.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the Legal Division for sponsoring my student registration to the conference. Indeed, from being a helper during this session, writing this article, getting to know so many of you at the conference, and experiencing an SLA conference for the second time has given a better understanding of the global impact of SLA (and specifically the Legal Division of SLA), more knowledge of the vast network of special librarians, and the inspiration to be a future leader within the profession as well as SLA. I look forward to getting to know and working with you all even more. Thank you for investing in me, and thank you for investing in my future!

Tax Roundtable, June 10, 2001
By Carol Mohammed, Canadian Tax Foundation

This year's roundtable took on a new format with a panel of legal librarians who specialize in tax. Carolyn Korkmas, formerly of Shell Oil and founder of the Tax Roundtable, Linda Boyko of KPMG Canada, Thomas Tatarian of Skadden Arps, New York, and Yoko Beriault of Thorsteinssons, Vancouver, with Carol Mohammed of the Canadian Tax Foundation as Moderator.

The panel presented issues concerning tax librarianship today and the audience was quickly brought into the discussion. Discussion was so lively that we ran overtime to enable everyone to speak to the issues.

Carol Mohammed began by thanking Carolyn Korkmas for all the work she had put in to founding the Tax Roundtable and ensuring its continuity as an integral part of the Legal Division of SLA. Carolyn introduced the issue of downsizing in the profession and dealt with issues such as changes in administration and attitudes that lie at the heart of problems within the profession today. Recommendations in dealing with this included going with the flow, becoming more visible and proactive in the operations of the organization, and aligning with supportive senior people who are aware of the value of the resources to the overall organization.

The discussion continued its lively pace as perspectives and suggestions were shared concerning training, encouraging clients to become familiar with new media, resources and resource sharing, and the changing nature of our role. Yoko talked about using the SLA Who's Who to locate colleagues in foreign countries to assist with reference searches. A common thread permeated the discussion, namely that information sharing and networking are integral to keeping current and informed. All participants agreed that there was no better way to accomplish this than to make use of SLA contacts and networks such as the Tax Librarians e-mail Listserv as outlined in Adrienne Eng's article in this issue.

This year's Roundtable achieved a new high by providing relevant solutions to current tax librarianship issues. We most heartily thank Commerce Clearing House for making this possible through their continued support and sponsorship.

Managing a Value-Driven Tax Information Service
By Carol Mohammed, Canadian Tax Foundation

Yoko Beriault of Thorsteinssons, Vancouver, was the main presenter with Thomas Tatarian of Skadden Arps, New York, providing the United States viewpoint. Carol Mohammed of the Canadian Tax Foundation acted as Moderator.

The session opened by thanking Carolyn Korkmas for all her work over the past decade in founding the Legal Division and especially the Tax Roundtable. Yoko then provided an excellent overview of a value-driven tax information service. She clearly illustrated that we have an important role in keeping our clients informed and aware of the value that a good tax information service adds to their overall productivity. Since tax information is constantly changing, providing the most current information in the most reliable format definitely adds value. Referencing and cross referencing adds value. Understanding your client's practice will enlighten you as to their needs. Be there first. This involves self-marketing within your organization as the main portal for tax information. Yoko provided some excellent insight into how we can properly target our audience and assess its needs.

Thomas Tatarian discussed the workings of his tax resource service at Skadden Arps. He shares the perspective presented by Yoko and provided practical expertise used in establishing his service as the tax information service for the firm. Thomas emphasized that this is accomplished by maintaining high quality products that meet the specific needs of the client.

The audience had many questions and concerns during the question period that followed. It became apparent once again that networking and resource sharing had to be developed for SLA Legal Division members dealing with tax issues.

The session concluded with a drawing for a door prize from the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation by Tammy MacLean. Our sincere thanks to IBFD for the door prize and Tax Analysts for sponsoring the session and all the support they have given the Tax Group.

SLA Legal Division 2001/2002

[ Executive Board ]
[ Advisory Board ]
[ Roundtable Coordinators ]

Chair
Jeanne Korman
Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP
701 Brickell Avenue, Suite 2100
Miami, FL 33131
Phone 305-577-3118
Fax 305-374-7159
jeanne.korman@weil.com

Chair-Elect
Jeffrey R. Stickle
Head Law Librarian
WorldCom 0090/003
1133 19th Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
Phone 202-736-6366
Fax 202-736-6176 
jeffrey.stickle@wcom.com

Chair Elect-Elect
Charlene M. Cunniffe
Bass Berry & Sims PLC
2700 First American Center
Nashville, TN 37238
Phone 615-259-6473
Fax 615-259-2761
cunniffec@bassberry.com

Director 2000–2002
Linda Fowlie
Akerman Senterfitt
255 South Orange Avenue
Orlando, FL 32801
Phone 407-843-7860
Fax 407-843-6610
lfowlie@akerman.com

Secretary 2000–2002
Jenny Kanji
Lexis-Nexis
353 Sacramento Street Suite 800
San Francisco, CA 94111
Phone 800-375-4458
Fax 650-324-8589
jenny.kanji@lexis-nexis.com

Treasurer 2001–2003
Karen Krupka
Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon
225 W Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
Phone 312-201-2395
Fax 312-201-2555
krupka@wildmanharrold.com

Past Chair
Anne K. Abate, Ph.D.
GovConnect
11311 Cornell Park Drive
Cincinnati, OH 45242
Phone 513-489-9599 ext 185
Fax 513-489-6521
aabate@govconnect.com

Advisory Board

Archivist
Anne K. Abate – see Past Chair

Bylaws
Charlene M. Cunniffe – see Chair Elect-Elect

Division Manual
Joni L. Cassidy
Cassidy Cataloging Services
111 Frank E. Rodgers Blvd South
Harrison, NJ 07029
Phone 973-481-0900
Fax 973-481-9110
joni@cassidycat.com

Division Photographer
Anne K. Abate – see Past Chair

Employment
Open

European Liaison
Liz Blankson-Hemans
Clifford Chance
200 Aldersgate Street
London, EC1A 4JJ England
Phone 44-171-600-1000
Fax 44-171-600-5555
liz.blankson-hemans@cliffordchance.com

International Relations
Martha Foote
Sun Life Assurance Co. Canada
Toronto, ON M5H 1J9, Canada
Phone 416-204-3835
Fax 416-595-0346

Legal Division Quarterly

Advertising Manager
Ms. Merrill Chertok
Director/Law Librarian
Alexandria Law Library
520 King Street, Room L34
Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone 703-838-4077
Fax 703-838-5055
alexlaw@erols.com

Co-Editors
Barbara W. Silbersack
Thompson Hine & Flory LLP
312 Walnut Street, Suite 1400
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Phone 513-352-6528
Fax 513-241-4771
Barbara.Silbersack@ThompsonHine.com

Mary Lynn Wagner
Keating, Muething & Klekamp
1400 Provident Tower
One East Fourth Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Phone 513-579-6902
Fax 513-579-6457
wagnerm@kmklaw.com

Design, Layout, Printing and Mailing
West Group
Creative Services
610 Opperman Drive
Eagan, MN 55123
Phone 651-687-6790
Fax 651-687-7374

Liaison to AALL and other SLA Divisions
Lori Hedstrom
Program Manager, Librarian Relations
West Group
610 Opperman Drive
Eagan, MN 55123
Phone 651-687-5891
Fax 651-687-5614
lori.hedstrom@westgroup.com

Liaison to the ABA
Susan Catterall
Leonard Street & Deinard
150 South Fifth Street, Suite 2300
Minneapolis, MN 55402
Phone 612-335-1742
Fax 612-335-1657
susan.caterall@leonard.com

Membership
Tina Dumas
Lillick & Charles
2 Embarcadero Center, Ste 2600
San Francisco, CA 94111-3993
Phone 415-984-8200
Fax 415-984-8300
tdumas@lillick.com

Mentoring and Diversity
John DiGilio
Kirkpatrick & Lockhart
1500 Oliver Bldg.
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Phone 412-355-6304
Fax 412-355-6501
jdigilio@kl.com

Nominating
Gayle Lynn-Nelson
Lexis-Nexis
457 Park Avenue S.
New York, N.Y. 10016
Phone 212-309-8177
Fax 973-627-9378
gayle.lynn-nelson@lexis-nexis.com

Professional Development Chair
Constance Ard
Greenebaum Doll & McDonald
3300 National City Tower
101 S Fifth St
Louisville, KY 40202
Phone 502-587-3721
Fax 502-587-3695
csa@gdm.com

Program Chair 2002
Cindy Spohr
Lexis-Nexis
PO Box 933
Dayton, OH 45401
Phone 513-865-7883, 219-436-1944
Fax 513-865-1858
cindy.spohr@lexis-nexis.com

Public Policy
Pamela I. Mandel
Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll
601 13th Street NW 1000 South
Washington, DC 20005
Phone 202-661-2247
Fax 202-661-2299
pmandel@panix.com

Public Relations
Joan M. Ogden
McGuire Woods LLP
77 W Wacker, Ste 4400
Chicago, IL 60601-1635
Phone 312-849-3657
Fax 312-849-3690
jogden@mcguirewoods.com

Regional Meeting Coordinator
Constance Ard – see Professional Development Chair

Scholarships and Grants
Margaret J. Ross
McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC
100 Pine Street
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1166

Student Chair
Open

Tenth Year Anniversary Committee
Anne Abate see Past Chair

Vendor Relations
Co-Chairs Gitelle Seer
Dewey Ballantine
1301 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10019
Phone 212-259-6610
Fax 212-259-6679
gitelle_seer@deweyballantine.com

Loretta Mak
Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe
333 Bush Street, Room 3355
San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone 415-772-6812
Fax 415-772-6268
lmak@hewm.com

Web Site Content Manager
Linda Fowlie – see Director

Web Site and Listserv Administrator
Richard R. Guajardo
University of Houston
114 University Libraries
Houston, TX 77204-2000
Phone 713-743-9984
Fax 713-743-9811
guajardo@uh.edu

Roundtable Coordinators

County, Courts and Provinces/State Librarians (CCAPS)
Judith Jackson
Harris County Law Library
1019 Congress, 17th Floor
Houston, TX 77002
Phone 713-755-5649
Fax 713-755-5603
ja_jackson@co.harris.tx.us

Emerging Technologies in the Law
Nathan Rosen
Credit Suisse First Boston
11 Madison Avenue, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10010
Phone 212-325-5672
Fax 212-325-6424
nathan.rosen@csfb.com

International
Martha Foote – see International Relations

Tax
Carol Mohammed
Canadian Tax Foundation Library
595 Bay Street #1200
Toronto, ON, Canada M5G 2N5
Phone 416-599-0283
Fax 416-599-9283
cmohammed@ctf.ca

Special Libraries Association, Legal Division