Job Posting: Associate Director for Public Services @ University of Colorado Law School

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Do you love teaching legal research? Are you looking to join an inspiring higher education environment? Potentially interested in living in sunny Colorado? The Wise Law Library at the University of Colorado Law School is accepting applications for its Associate Director for Public Services position. The Associate Director for Public Services oversees the day-to-day operation of the Law Library’s circulation, reference, research, instruction and faculty services. This is a full-time faculty position within the law school, at the instructor or senior instructor level, with administrative, supervisory and teaching responsibilities. 

The full position description is posted at https://jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDetail/?jobId=51895. The salary range is 120,000-135,000.

Applicants must have a graduate degree in library or information science (e.g., MLS) from an ALA-accredited institution, a JD from an ABA-accredited institution, and a minimum of five years of law library experience, including experience supervising law librarians and/or law library staff, and experience teaching research-related courses.

The application is available at https://jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDetail/?jobId=51895,and includes cover letter, resume, and a list of contact information for 3 professional references. Candidates applying before October 30, 2023, will receive full consideration. If you have any questions about the position, please contact Michelle Penn, michelle.penn@colorado.edu

Job: Access Services & Research Librarian @ University of Colorado Law School

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The University of Colorado William A. Wise Law Library has an opening for an Access Services and Research Librarian. This position is an opportunity for a newer law librarian to manage the daily operations of circulation services, earn supervisory experience, increase their knowledge of research resources and methods, and develop their skill as an instructor. The position requires a librarian with a heart for customer service and an ability to complete the many and varied tasks of circulation services in a timely and efficient manner. Newer law librarians, including recent graduates, are encouraged to apply.

For more information, see the job posting here: https://jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDetail/Access-Services-and-Research-Librarian/45828.

AALL Leader Profile: Susan Nevelow Mart

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CoALL member Susan Nevelow Mart was recently profiled in the AALL Education Update [See January 2021 Update].

Susan Nevelow Mart
Professor and Director of the Law Library
University of Colorado Law School
William A. Wise Law Library

What does leadership mean to you?
It means a having a vision for the law library. There is internal and external leadership. The external vision for me is being part of the scholarly discussion about issues important to our profession. Internally, it means enabling others to succeed in their areas of expertise. I think everyone who is a professional librarian has things that they are passionate about. We’re not a profession without scholarship, but not everyone wants or needs to contribute as a scholar. But everyone can contribute in some way by being on committees, by being on taskforces, by getting involved in AALL, and by presenting on topics. All of these things are elements of outreach for our profession that are important.

As example of leadership, I started the “Boulder Conference on Legal information: Scholarship and Teaching,” because there was no place for librarians to meet with people who had the scholarly background to help them. Librarians are generally very curious and broadly-educated people. Encouraging that curiosity is really a wonderful thing.

How do you help others develop their leadership skills?
I try to be a mentor in my own library. That can be hard to implement in the flat hierarchal structure that exists in so many libraries. So to me, being involved in professional development opportunities is really important to develop leadership–that means working on committees. There are law school committees and university-level committees. There is AALL. If you are curious and involved, you will become a chair of a committee, and you will get training in leadership skills. I have also mentored through AALL, offering encouragement in the same way.

What is one thing you’ve read about leadership that stuck with you? Why? Is there a particular AALL product/program/article that was especially helpful for you as you developed as a leader?
There was not one thing. What I did when I became a librarian was to delve into library literature. I started reading about teaching and about working in libraries. I read everything that I could get my hands on. For me, reading the existing literature was about getting up to speed on where my profession was when I entered it. Also critical for me was attending AALL and going to lots of programs about how libraries work. It was about learning about management and leadership, including the political aspects of being the librarian. It’s kind of like being a lawyer–you enter the profession at a certain point in history, and you need to figure out what that history is so you can figure out how to shape it and move forward.

What is the best advice regarding leadership or being successful in your work that you’ve ever received?
Be kind! I don’t think I started by being very kind. I had been a trial lawyer. There was a transition for me, which many people helped me with–from being adversarial to being thoughtful in my scholarship and kinder in my interactions with people.

Susan Nevelow Mart’s program is AALL2GO Pick of the Month

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WHAT’S IN THE BLACK BOX?: AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE ALGORITHMS FOR WESTLAW, LEXISNEXIS, AND FASTCASE
Have you attempted to run identical searches on various research platforms only to find that you receive significantly different results from each service? This 2018 AALL Annual Meeting program, coordinated and moderated by Susan Nevelow Mart and featuring speakers Ed Walters (Fastcase) and Tito Sierra (LexisNexis Legal & Professional), gave insight into the mystery of the various search engines. This session builds on one of 2016’s most popular sessions and includes an update from Mart and her research on how algorithms work.

 

Find this and many more continuing education programs and webinars on AALLNET.

Karen Selden Elected to AALL Executive Board!

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That’s Karen on the left, accepting on behalf of CoALL the 2008 AALL Award for Chapter Professional Development

Congratulations to our very own Karen Selden on her election to the AALL Executive Board!

http://www.aallnet.org/mm/Publications/AALL-E-briefing/2017/AALL-Executive-Board-Election-Results.html

This honor couldn’t have gone to a more deserving individual. Karen has a long record of service to AALL. Heck, she was even President of CoALL way back when.

Karen will serve a three year term on the Board, from 2018 to 2021, during which time she will undoubtedly represent law librarianship in Colorado in the best possible light. Here’s to an illustrious tenure in the big show, Karen. Go make us proud!

2016-2017 Annual Report

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CoALL’s 2016-2017 Annual Report has been submitted to AALL and will be published in the Chapter Annual Reports section of AALLNET.  Annual reports are a public record of the activities of each AALL entity over the past year.  Reports are also distributed to members of the AALL Executive Board to help them monitor the progress being made toward the Association’s strategic directions.  A more detailed 2016-2017 Annual Report is available here.