1. Maryland People’s Law Library Launches Redesigned Website
2. AAL2Go
3. National Library of Medicine Announces Disaster Symposium
4. THOMAS Update
5. AMPLL 2011 Conference
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Maryland People’s Law Library Launches Redesigned Website
The Maryland State Law Library launched a redesign of the People’s Law Library in December. The new design brings an improved interface, updated content, and many new functionalities to the legal information website. The redesign includes not only a new look for the site, but also new functionality provided by porting the site to the open source Drupal content management system.
The site launch comes after nearly a year of work by library staff members. Over 1000 pages of content have been updated and ported to the new site. In addition, content is now tagged with a taxonomy of legal terms, simplifying user navigation. Among the site’s other new features are link checking, page emailing, print formatting, text scaling, and improved site statistics.
In developing the new site, the library partnered with the Legal Services Network Technology Assistance Project (LSNTAP), which worked with an outside developer to build a Drupal template for legal service organizations. Adopting for Drupal leverages the efforts of one of the largest and most dynamic open source development communities. Literally hundreds of modules for extending the capabilities Drupal are free to download from the main Drupal website. The resulting template is in the process of being adopted by legal aid organizations throughout the nation.
The People’s Law Library has been a leading provider of free legal information to pro se litigants in Maryland since the site was launched in 1996. The site benefits from contributions from throughout the non-profit legal community. Over 90,000 unique users visit the site each month and the site had over 19 million hits in fiscal year 2010. The State Law Library assumed management of the site in 2007. To contribute to or learn more about the People’s Law Library Project, write to the site’s Web Content Coordinator at pll@mdcourts.gov or 410-260-1704.
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AALL2go Pick of the Month
AALL’s Continuin
g Professional Education Committee presents the AALL2go pick of the month: Ten Things Every Law Librarian Needs to Know About Copyright.
This 45-minute humorous skit, performed before a live studio audience, has infamous radio host “Rush Limbaugh” (played by George Pike) interviewing James S. Heller, author of The Librarian’s Copyright Companion, discussing copyright situations that pertain to real life librarians. Rush and James have a lively back and forth conversation with telephone callers who phone in their questions.
This videotaped program was an entertaining way to present the dos and don’ts of copyright. Topics included licensing; four factor fair use, as well as authors’ rights. After the callers’ questions were answered, they opened up questions to the live studio audience made up of attendees of the AALL 2010 Annual Conference in Denver. This session gives valuable information directed at authors, librarians, and patrons in a way that is easy to understand and light.
Find this and more than 60 other free continuing education programs and webinars for AALL members on AALL2go!
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National Library of Medicine Announces Disaster Symposium
A Symposium for Information Professionals Meeting Disaster Health Information Needs
National Library of Medicine
Lister Hill Center, NIH Campus, Bethesda, MD
Who should attend?
- Librarians, library staff, library students, information professionals, informationists, and disaster medicine and public health professionals with a communications focus.
Learn about…
- Tools for providing disaster health information
- Communications and disasters
- Assessing and meeting the information needs of disaster managers and responders
- Using library facilities to support disaster needs during response and recovery
- Workforce development for those interested in disaster information
- Disaster resources for librarians – building a community of practice
- Medical Library Association’s new disaster information specialization
Why attend?
- Network with other disaster-minded information professionals
- Medical Library Association continuing education credit will be offered
- No cost for symposium registration
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THOMAS Update
A recent update of enhancements and additions to THOMAS has been released. Enhancements include converting GPO Access links to FDsys, search enhancements, additional detail to the Bill Summary & Status display, and additional metadata.
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AMPLL 2011 Conference
All private law librarians are encouraged to apply for the Eighth Advanced Management for Private Law Librarians (AMPLL) Conference, sponsored by the LexisNexis Librarian Relations Group. This year’s conference will be held April 8 – 10, 2011 in Dallas, Texas. Applications due by December 31, 2010.
THE MISSION:
Redefining ourselves in the new law firm landscape: changes, challenges and opportunities.
CONFERENCE OBJECTIVES
- Our world: appreciate and capitalize on intimate knowledge of the legal industry
- Our firm: collaborate to create and leverage strategic opportunities
- Our department: measure and communicate value
- Our staff: cultivate the staff you want
- Ourselves: enhance time management, project management and soft skills
Application deadline is December 31, 2010, and all applicants will be informed by February 18, 2011. Previous applicants who did not attend are encouraged to apply again.
Additional information can be found at: AMPLL 2011 and the application to attend can be found at: http://www.lexisnexis.com//ampllapp
LLAM Online 