The Lexis Two-Step: After Two Major Updates in 2014, Lexis Advance Empowers Users with Improved Functionality

In this article, the author discusses improvements to the Lexis Advance research platform

You Say You Want an e-Revolution?: Helping our Patrons Benefit from Developments in Personal Technology

In this article, the author provides advice on how libraries and patrons can adapt to changes in technology and the prevalence of personal tech devices

How to Be Uncommon: Advice to Grads Seeking a First Professional Law Library Job from a Recent Survivor of the Process

In this article, the author provides advice on how to successfully apply for jobs in law libraries

Outlaws, Pirates, Judges: Judicial Activism as an Expression of Antiauthoritarianism in Anglo-American Culture

This article will argue that the rejection of what scholars otherwise view as controlling legal authority lies at the heart of judicial activism. Furthermore, it will argue that judicial activism itself channels the antiauthoritarian current in American culture (and in English culture predating its importation to America). Part II will examine the extensive scholarly writings already existing on judicial activism in order to identify common themes and to explore to what extent scholars have arrived at a consensus definition of judicial activism. Part III will then show that judicial activism may better be understood within the context of law as culture and will offer an updated definition of judicial activism that accounts for a cultural component. Part IV will then delve into expressions of antiauthoritarianism in broader, non-legal Anglo-American culture to demonstrate under what circumstances Anglo-American culture actively encourages antiauthoritarian behavior and attitudes. It will do so specifically through the lens of recurring cultural motifs of outlaws and pirates. Part V will then analyze four sets of judicially activist decisions to gauge the extent to which the decisions align with culturally appropriate exercises of antiauthoritarianism. The first set of decisions will consist of United States Supreme Court decisions that scholars commonly describe as activist. If judicial activism is indeed a cultural phenomenon, however, then one would expect it to be more commonplace than a handful of high profile and oft-discussed Supreme Court decisions cherry picked from throughout history. Therefore, the second and third sets of decisions will comprise United States Supreme Court cases from the 2017-2018 term and cases from courts other than the United States Supreme Court. The fourth set of decisions to be analyzed will be a selection of problem cases, which are activist cases that even apologists of judicial activism decry, and non-activist cases that nonetheless face criticism for their results. Ultimately, this article will argue that assessing judicial activism through the cultural prism of acceptable antiauthoritarianism provides a tool to differentiate between proper and improper judicial activism

Outcomes in the Balance: The Crisis in Legal Education as Catalyst for Change

In this article, the author discusses how changes in the legal education market can force legal research teachers to focus their energies on meaningful assessment

Keeping Up with New Legal Titles

In this book review, Beau Steenken discusses Legal Research Methods by Michael D. Murray & Christy H. DeSanctis

Into the Breach with AALL’s Diversity Committee: Law Libraries’ Struggle to Achieve Diversity Goals

In this article, the authors discuss the need, purpose, and agenda of the AALL Diversity Committee

Sources of American Law: An Introduction to Legal Research

At its most basic definition the practice of law comprises conducting research to find relevant rules of law and then applying those rules to the specific set of circumstances faced by a client. However, in American law, the legal rules to be applied derive from myriad sources, complicating the process and making legal research different from other sorts of research. This text introduces first-year law students to the new kind of research required to study and to practice law. It seeks to demystify the art of legal research by following a “Source and Process” approach. First, the text introduces students to the major sources of American law and describes the forms the various authorities traditionally took in print. After establishing this base, the text proceeds to instruct students on the methods they will most likely use in practice, namely electronic research techniques and the consultation of secondary sources. Sources of Law incorporates screencasts currently hosted on YouTube that actively demonstrate the processes described in the static text. Finally, the text illustrates how the different pieces come together in the legal research process. Sources of Law focuses on realistic goals for 1Ls to learn in a relatively small amount of instruction time, and so focuses mainly on the basics. It does introduce some advanced material so that 1Ls can recognize pieces of information they may encounter in research, but it does not fully cover researching materials outside the scope of the traditional 1L course. As such, it is best-suited for introductory legal research courses for 1Ls.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/lawfac_book/1003/thumbnail.jp

The Future of Law Libraries

Law libraries are filed with the rules that govern our society, thoughtful scholars, conscientious lawyers, some hard working students, and some procrastinating students. In the past, this required libraries to collect hardbound volumes and loose leafs. Today, the collection is beginning to give way to research platforms filed with those same, or similar, materials and then some; much of the primary legal documentation is even freely available on the web. While the physical footprint of the library may be smaller as a result of this transition, the amount of legal information that researchers have access to has grown exponentially. We now have more sophisticated tools for manipulating this ocean of digital information, and the services offered by law librarians are evolving along with those tools. This article will review current trends in law libraries

How Intelligent CI Instruction Gives Law Students a Competitive Edge

Competitive intelligence (CI) is a term that gets bandied about across many sectors, but how exactly do law firms use it to further their business? Academics are aware of CI as a concept, but teaching students how to conduct competitive intelligence requires a more nuanced understanding of how it is actually used. In a discussion moderated by a newer academic librarian who will be teaching competitive intelligence for the first time, a firm librarian will share insights into how competitive intelligence can and should be used, and an academic librarian who regularly teaches competitive intelligence will offer tips on how to construct CI lessons. Takeaways: Participants will be able to evaluate how firms use competitive intelligence in practice. Participants will be able to assess what competitive intelligence skills firms expect to see in new lawyers. Participants will be able to create learning objectives to focus instruction on providing law students with the competitive intelligence skills they need