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AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
STANDING COMMITTEE ON THE LAW LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
INFORMATIONAL REPORT TO THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES
The Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress has served as the Association’s connection to and voice of the legal profession concerning the continued development and effective operation of the Law Library of Congress (LLC) since 1932. The LLC is the world’s largest collection of law books and associated legal materials (both domestic and international), with a growing electronic database to access those resources. Over the years, working directly with Members of Congress and their staffs, the Committee has succeeded in obtaining higher levels of funding for LLC. In addition, working with other nationally recognized professional societies, the Committee facilitates efforts to increase Law Library visibility; supports the digitization of legal materials and other efforts that improve access to legal literature and resources; supports efforts to provide global access to legal materials; and works to ensure that the security, authentication, and long-term retention of online legal materials is adequately addressed. The Committee has continued to work toward the development of the LLC as a national resource serving not only the Congress, but also the legal profession, universities and law schools, and the public, both in the United States and throughout the world. Since its last report in February 2013, the Committee has maintained an active dialogue with LLC officials; held programming highlighting free resources available to lawyers through the Law Library of Congress; and made progress on plans for the Magna Carta Facsimile Traveling Exhibit.
Ongoing Dialogue with the Law Library of Congress
The Committee has continued its frequent exchanges and routine meetings with the Law Library and Library of Congress management, fostering greater collaboration. During the Committee’s spring business meeting held on April 19, 2013 at the Law Library of Congress, the Law Librarian of Congress, David Mao, and his staff presented reports on the budget as well as the state of the library and its collections, including: the current budget situation and the impact of sequestration, staffing and open positions, and the Law Library’s plans for the Magna Carta exhibit and gala in 2014.
Programming and Association-Wide Outreach on Behalf of the Law Library of Congress
On March 15, 2013, the Committee sponsored a free legal research training at the Law Library of Congress followed by a rare books presentation and tours of the Law Library, Library of Congress and the Capitol. Registration was limited to the first 80 participants, and the program reached capacity within hours after circulating a promotional email to ABA members. Given the tremendous interest in the program, the Committee reached out to ABA CLE and ABA Marketing to inquire about the possibility of holding a webinar training as a member benefit.
On May 20, 2013, “How to Conduct Free Legal Research Online” was the featured ABA CLE Premier Speaker Series program for the month of May. Approximately 6,100 ABA members participated in the free webinar program (surpassing the previous Premier Speaker Series record for attendance by nearly 2,000). Matthew Braun, a lawyer and expert legal researcher from the Law Library of Congress, was joined in making this presentation by colleagues from the Law Library of Congress, the University of North Carolina School of Law, and the Tarlton Law Library at the University of Texas School of Law.
During the 2013 ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco, the Committee will once again host its popular free CLE program titled “How to Conduct Free Legal Research Online.” Matthew Braun will discuss how lawyers across the country can access free legal resources online through the Law Library as well as directly through other sites. Braun will also provide guidance on how to conduct research via THOMAS and Congress.gov, the Law Library’s free federal legislative databases. Braun will also staff a booth in the ABA Source area of the Expo and will provide technical assistance on how to conduct free legal research online to members. The Committee has sponsored the booth for several years, and we are told that it is a popular attraction for members.
The Committee continues to increase ABA entity awareness of the LLC and its resources by utilizing liaisons to the Committee from various ABA entities to assist with direct LLC contacts with ABA publications as well as facilitating LLC presentations at ABA Section programs and coordinating rare books presentations and tours of the LLC for ABA entities. Most recently the Committee played a key role in securing the Library of Congress for the ABA Day Congressional Justice Awards dinner. The Committee also facilitated a rare books presentation at the ABA Day awards dinner as well as at the TTIPS spring meeting dinner on April 27. Please feel free to call upon the Committee if you or your entity would like to participate in a tour or rare books presentation at LLC.
Finally, the Committee facilitated an ABA Journal article on the Law Library of Congress and its use of social media to engage lawyers, librarians and researchers. “Law Library of Congress is Collecting Treasures for You” (ABA Journal, March 2013) featured the role of Andrew Weber, the Law Library’s social media director, and his efforts to promote use of the Law Library’s extensive resources.
Advocacy Efforts
The Committee continues to support efforts by the Uniform Law Commission and the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) to promote the implementation of the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act (UELMA) which was approved by the ABA House of Delegates at the 2012 Midyear in New Orleans. The Committee is working directly with the ABA Governmental Affairs Office and other interested ABA entities (most notably the Section of Science and Technology Law) to coordinate efforts. The Committee is currently coordinating with the ULC and AALL to support legislative efforts related to UELMA in Washington, DC. The Committee will continue to track new legislative efforts and will work with the ABA Governmental Affairs Office to foster implementation of this important uniform state law.
The Committee collaborated with a journalist from the ABA Journal on an article on UELMA and the importance of authenticity, security and preservation of legal resources in a time of increasing digitization. “Are Digitization and Budget Cuts Compromising History?” (See ABA Journal, May 2013) featured quotes from the Committee Chair, two members, and the Law Librarian of Congress. The ABA Journal article provided a wonderful platform to highlight the Committee’s efforts to ensure that digitized materials and those that are born digital are authentic, secure and preserved so that lawyers across the country and around the world can confidently rely on legal resources online.
800th Anniversary of the Magna Carta
The Committee continues to be involved in planning to commemorate the 800th Anniversary of the Magna Carta through its work with the Law Library of Congress as well as with the ABA Magna Carta Committee. The Law Library is working to bring the 1215 Magna Carta from the Lincoln Cathedral in Lincoln, England to Washington, DC in November 2014. The Committee will continue to support ABA and Law Library efforts to mark the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta. Plans are underway for the Committee to develop a facsimile traveling exhibit highlighting the occasion and the document along with other Magna Carta-related treasures in the Law Library of Congress collections. This exhibit will not only highlight the enduring legacy of Magna Carta, but will also increase awareness of the Law Library’s publicly available resources Fundraising efforts are already underway for this high quality exhibit that will be curated by the Law Library of Congress. The exhibit will be launched at the 2014 ABA Annual Meeting in Boston, and will then be sent across the country to law schools, courthouses, public libraries and other venues through 2015 and beyond. In addition, the Committee’s Chair serves on the ABA Magna Carta Committee, where the facsimile traveling exhibit is one of the high priority ABA initiatives to celebrate the Magna Carta anniversary. The fundraising subcommittees of the Magna Carta Committee and the Standing Committee are working together to raise the necessary funds.
Strategic Planning
In 2009, the Committee developed a five-year Strategic Plan to guide its efforts in support of the Law Library of Congress, consistent with ABA Goals I and IV. Given the LLC’s recent strategic planning efforts, the Committee reprioritized and updated its Strategic Plan in the fall of 2011. The Committee has established a subcommittee to review and update the Strategic Plan during the summer of 2013. The subcommittee will submit the updated Strategic Plan to the Committee at its fall business meeting in 2013. The Committee has accomplished a significant portion of the goals set forth in the 2009 Strategic Plan, and it looks forward to implementing its evolving Strategic Plan and its ambitious Annual Plan in concert with the LLC and a number of interested ABA entities.
Respectfully submitted,
M. Elizabeth Medaglia, Chair
August 2013
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