President's Message: Fred Dingledy

The smoke from the fireworks has cleared, the July Fourth barbecues are but a memory.
Welcome to the middle of summer.

It’s been quite a year for VALL so far; we’ve had a successful Winter meeting at George Mason University School of Law, and a very enjoyable Spring meeting with the Virginia chapter of SLA at Washington and Lee School of Law. My thanks go out to the hosts of both these meetings for their generous help. My thanks also to Leanne Battle and the 2008-09 Executive Board for a year well-done. I am thrilled to be taking the baton from Leanne Battle and hope to serve you well as president, along with the 2009-10 Executive Board.

Tony Ikwueme and his Program Committee are hard at work on events for the upcoming year. On July 27, we will be meeting at Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant during AALL, and in Spring 2010, we will be meeting in Williamsburg during the SEAALL Annual Meeting. We’ll keep you up-to-date with more details on upcoming meetings as they develop.

The year ahead will be full of challenges. The current economy has meant tough times and tight budgets for libraries of all sizes and specialties. It is during times such as these that I hope VALL can truly be of service to you, the members who make VALL possible. Take advantage of what we can offer you, whether it be applying for a grant to attend a meeting, using the new VALL wiki to get some practice with Web 2.0, or simply communicating with your fellow members. VALL’s committees are always looking for new volunteers, so be sure to let me know if you’re interested.

Best wishes to all of you, and I hope to meet up with many of you in DC! Enjoy the rest of summer!

Fred

President's Message

New Toys, New Tools

I am beyond overdue on this last VALL president’s column. The presidency has been in Fred Dingledy’s capable hands for a month now. I think it just seemed strange to write some sort of farewell column when I’m not really going anywhere. So here are a few thoughts on the new direction in which we are headed.

Some of you are aware that of late there has been a lot of new technology in my life. I have canceled my land line and replaced it with a new cell phone and cell plan. I have purchased a netbook so that I once again have a personal computer at home and on the go. I have investigated switching from my current cable to FIOS. My phone has a QWERTY keyboard, flip phone, camera, speakerphone, web browser, etc. and assorted other features that my nephew will have to explain to me. It is going to be a fantastic communication tool for me. Of course it doesn’t hurt that my new ‘tool’ is also about three inches square when closed and has a shiny purple front embossed with flowers. My netbook has a 6 hour battery life, an Atom N280 processor, 160GB harddrive and weighs 2.4 lbs. It’s a powerful tool for web searching, music and video storage and generally managing my life in the digital sphere. Of course it is also cute, pearly white and called the Seashell – perfect for a beach lover like myself. So what’s my point? The point is that there are a lot of fantastic tools out there, a myriad of options with striking similarities and still for a lot of us the final buying decision rests with the parts that make these tools fun!

We have introduced some terrific new tools in VALL. We now have the means, via VALL Talk, to have our musings posted; to congratulate members on successes; to see photos of friends and colleagues; to have links to interesting and helpful articles, blogs and websites. We have the wiki so that members across the state can collaborate on projects, presentations and articles without clogging Inboxes. Last year was all about providing the tools. I encourage us all this year to spend some time putting the FUN in their FUNction.

So today, it being a fantastic summer day and me working from the patio, I am going to spend a little time in the VALL Wiki Sandbox. I’m working on the idea of a competitive intelligence sand castle, complete with turrets, a drawbridge and a moat. Come and play!

Leanne Battle

Moving On ...

David Baldacci & Kevin Butterfield

Kevin Butterfield

Former VALL president Kevin Butterfield is now the director of bibliographic & digital services at Boatwright Memorial Library at the University of Richmond. We wish him much success in his new job and hope that we will see him at future VALL events. Kevin can be reached at kbutterf@richmond.edu.

Linda Tesar, technical services & systems librarian at Vanderbilt University Law Library will take over as head of technical services at the College of William & Mary's Wolf Law Library in mid-August.

Position Available: Reference & Research Services Librarian, University of Richmond School of Law

The William Taylor Muse Law Library at the University of Richmond seeks a Reference and Research Services Librarian. A brief description of the position appears below.

Reference and Research Services Librarian
William Taylor Muse Law Library
University of Richmond School of Law

Responsibilities: This full-time position will provide reference and research services and instruction for faculty, students and other library users (including one evening per week and a weekend rotation with other librarians); teach Legal Research in the School’s first-year Lawyering Skills program; monitor availability of law-related electronic resources and recommend titles for purchase; prepare and update library research guides, pathfinders and other research tools; and edit library’s newsletter and User’s Guide. Librarians work twelve months per year and hold a non-tenure-track appointment, which carries University faculty status. Librarians participate in Law School faculty meetings and committees.

Required: Master’s degree in Library and/or Information Science from ALA-accredited institution; J.D. from ABA-accredited law school or equivalent.

Preferred: Demonstrated teaching ability and law library experience.

Salary and Benefits: The University of Richmond is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and salary and benefits are competitive. (For more information about benefits, see http://hr.richmond.edu.)

UR Law Library: The Law Library has seven law librarians and a total technology/library staff of 17. The collection consists of approximately 400,000 volumes. The library serves approximately 460 students and 30 faculty members and is responsible for technology and media services at the Law School as well. Visit the Law School website at http://law.richmond.edu and select “Library and Technology” for additional information.

To Apply: The deadline for applications is August 31, 2009. To view position description and to apply, visit https://www.urjobs.org. Applications must be submitted online. The University of Richmond values diversity in its faculty, staff and student body.

For information about specific job responsibilities, telephone or email Suzanne B. Corriell, Head of Reference and Research Services, at 804-289-8217 or scorriel@richmond.edu.

Law Librarians of Leisure

What do law librarians do when they fall victim to this economic downturn, when their organizations tell them that they are no longer relevant and that their services are not needed? Do they curl up in a ball and feel sorry for themselves? That would be a resounding "no". They find a new path and amidst the turmoil and the trauma, they can still find it in themselves to be of service to others.

Christine Sellers who was laid off from Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd in Columbia, SC, in April, has started a blog called Law Librarians of Leisure: http://lawlibrariansofleisure.com/ for librarians in a similar situation. This blog is a useful read for any law librarian and has links to library job sites, articles of interest and Christine's own exploration of such things as where to find business cards that will give you the best value for your dollar.

In a similar light here are links to articles which may be helpful to anyone who has found themselves in that unenviable position of having to look for a job in these times. Here is a useful article from Jobsearchonline on nine resume mistakes that people make:
http://www.jobsearchonline.bc.ca/Resume/9%20worst%20resume%20mistakes.htm
There are also other useful articles on this site, so look around.

In addition to crafting that perfect cover letter and making sure that your resume showcases your talents and experience, don't forget to look out for those warning signs that tell you that you may not want to work for certain organizations or as Liz Ryan calls it -- "reasons to run from a job interview".

Employers sometimes forget that they are being scrutinized just as much as they are scrutinizing and that their actions may cost them to lose or to cut out the best of their candidate pool. The top reason Ryan lists as your cue to bail from an interview with a particular organization is if your references are checked or requested even before you are offered an interview. For the other five reasons check out this Businessweek article: http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/jul2008/ca20080731_005117.htm?chan=careers_managing+your+career+page_find+a+job?campaign_id=yahoo

Note: Thank you to Leanne Battle for the link to Christine Sellers' blog.

Remembering Pat Burton

Our friend, colleague and longtime VALL member, Pat Burton passed away on June 2. Those of us who had the privilege of knowing Pat will never forget her larger than life personality and that distinctive voice that needed no introduction. Below is Pat's obituary from the Virginian Pilot.

Patricia Ann Burton SUFFOLK - Patricia Ann Burton, 78, passed away June 2, 2009, in Sentara Obici Hospital after a short illness. She had been a resident of Lake Prince Woods in Suffolk since 2005 and previously lived for many years in Forest Hills in Chesapeake.

She was the widow of John M. "Jack" Burton. The daughter of John M. Harrison and Mildred A. Harrison, Mrs. Burton was born Oct. 22, 1930 in Colorado Springs. She attended Colorado A&M (now Colorado State University) and married Jack on Oct. 10, 1954. Pat and Jack lived at various times in Denver, Appleton City, Mo., Waveland, Miss., Titusville, Fla., and Henderson, Ky., before moving to Virginia in 1973.

Mrs. Burton worked as a librarian at Western Branch High School where her children attended school, and later at Kirn Library in Norfolk and as a law librarian for a number of Norfolk firms including Williams, Kelly & Greer, the Federal Court Library, Wilcox, Nusbaum & Vandevener, the Norfolk City Attorney's Office, Hofheimer Nusbaum (now Williams Mullen), Decker, Cardon, Thomas, Weintraub & Neskis, and retired from the Norfolk Law Library in 2006. She was a member of the Virginia Association of Law Libraries.

She is survived by her daughter, Pamela S. Burton and her husband Jerry W. Moore of Gloucester; a son, John R. Burton and his wife Cindy W. Burton of Chesapeake; a grandson, Frank R. Burton; and by the Sanders family of Colorado and California. Pat was loved by many in this life, all of whom look forward to trying to keep up with her in the next.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 13, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church at 213 N. Main St., Suffolk, by the Rev. Emerson. Friends and family may gather in the parish hall following the service. Cremation Society of Virginia is assisting the family. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the charity of your choice.

Pat Burton at a leadership session at VALL

Evelyn Campbell & Pat Burton enjoying a moment between VALL sessions

Jill Burr, Theresa Schmid & Pat Burton at VALL in Williamsburg

Pat Burton in the yellow VALL t-shirt

Thank you to Donna Bausch for providing the first picture of Pat and to Gail Warren for providing the VALL pictures. Please feel free to share your memories of Pat in the Comment section.

VALL/VASLA Spring 2009 Meeting

Many thanks to VALL shutterbug Cindy Carlson for the majority of the images in the slide and also to Sally Wiant who also provided some images.