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VALL Substantive Session – Lightning Talks 2024
Hosted by the Vancouver Association of Law Libraries
May 1, 2024 | 12:00pm-1:00pm
Location: Zoom
Cost: FREE for VALL members, non-members, and students!Join us for a lively, fast-paced session where you will get to hear what your colleagues have been working on. We will have four short presentations on the following topics:
- CSO e-Search Experiment with Court House Libraries – Tracy McLean and Caroline Nevin
- Moving Forward: Improving Interfirm Communication – Kate LeBere
- What’s on the Horizon? Reflections From Our First Library Inventory – Bri Turner & Chelsea Merkl
- Hunting For Our Data – Carolyn Petrie
Please register using the Zoom link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZApf-ysrzsrHtOVup8UFHWJ1dKCZPNZs4ei
Presentation Descriptions:
CSO e-Search Experiment with Court House Libraries – Coming soon!
Moving Forward: Improving Interfirm Communication
In August 2023, Blake, Cassels and Graydon LLP Vancouver moved offices, requiring the entire library collection to be downsized, packed, and reestablished at the new space. This lightning talk uses the move as a case study to explore how it revealed two key areas of improvement in our library’s communication with others at our Firm: (1) in our ability to successfully advocate ourselves to the Firm’s administration, and (2) in our ability to better promote our collection and services to our users. In preparation for the move, we were in a constant dialogue with the Firm’s administration to learn about the new office. To advocate for the library—such as negotiating for more shelf space—we learned the importance quantifying our willingness to collaborate, such as explaining the scale of our digitization projects to downsize our print collection. From hearing about our experience of the move process, this lightning talk hopes to not only help VALL members reassess their team’s general communication with their Firm, but provide practical guidance on how to avoid the various roadblocks experienced by our team.
What’s on the Horizon? Reflections From Our First Library Inventory
In summer and fall 2023, the BLG libraries conducted a first full collection inventory using the Horizon inventory feature. Our Lightning Talk discusses the value of conducting an inventory as part of good library hygiene, and will cover topics such as:
- What to Expect When You’re Expecting (All Your Books to Be on The Shelves)
- Learning From and Laughing at Our Mistakes
- Lost Book Detective 101
Proactively ensuring that we have “clean” records and data not only improves the user experience, but also prepares us for future projects and possibilities including AI integration. Our experience revealed many surprises and opportunities for service improvement and collection management. We hope to pass along this learning for the benefit of other law libraries who may be looking to implement new (or refine existing) inventory practices and processes.
Hunting for our data
The Library team at Norton Rose Fulbright has been working to increase data-driven insights across our functions: current awareness, research requests, and resource use. In the fall, we captured baseline information to identify the data we have and the gaps we want to fill, and plan for new data capture tools. We’ll share what we learned and how we’re using this data to build our strategy and share information about our work.
About the Speakers:
Tracy McLean has over 17 years of experience in legal research and creating online content. She is currently responsible for managing the space, staff and library services in 3 full time locations – Vancouver, New Westminster and Abbotsford – that help lawyers and the public find and use legal information. Tracy also develops training and outreach activities for frontline service staff across the province.
Caroline Nevin has been practicing for more than 30 years in non-profit & business management and public, media & government relations. She is currently the CEO of BC Courthouse Libraries, and was previously the Executive Director of the Canadian Bar Association BC Branch.
Kate LeBere is a Research Coordinator/Librarian at Blake, Cassels and Graydon LLP. She graduated with her MLIS from the University of British Columbia in 2023.
Chelsea Merkl worked as a technician in an academic library for 6 years before transitioning into law librarianship at BLG 1.5 years ago. While working in the academic library, she completed her Legal Assistant diploma, which sparked her interest in law libraries. Outside of work, she can be found in the mountains either hiking, fishing, camping, kayaking, or climbing.
Bri Turner started working in libraries in 2009 and graduated with an LIT diploma from SAIT in 2012. She worked in public, academic, and school libraries before joining the BLG team last July. She loves it. When she’s not at work, Bri is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts part-time and enjoys photography, yoga, live music, and a good book.
Carolyn Petrie is the Library Services Director at Norton Rose Fulbright, leading the Canadian library team. Prior to joining the firm, she worked in research-focused positions at public, academic and special libraries. Carolyn obtained her MAS/MLIS from UBC’s iSchool, and taught the legal information course at the iSchool for several years.
We hope to see you there!
VALL Executive
Vancouver Association of Law Libraries
https://vall.vancouver.bc.ca/
