热点大瓜

Conference Abstract: Scholarly communications work is an emerging area in law school libraries in the United States. Despite the relatively small number of dedicated scholarly communications librarians in academic law libraries, their work is becoming increasingly important. Librarians, for example, were one of the primary groups who spoke out in opposition to the U.S. News & World Report proposal to use a flawed citation counting methodology to rank the quality of law school faculties, a proposal that was ultimately abandoned. To date there is only one major study of the scholarly communications landscape in academic libraries generally, but law libraries are usually administered separately from main campus libraries, and most library directors report to the dean of the law school. As a result, law libraries usually offer more full featured services to law faculty than main campus libraries offer to other faculty. But at the same time, they are often slower to adopt new services than larger campus libraries. The organizers will present the first major survey describing the extent of scholarly communications work being performed in academic law libraries in the United States as the conference keynote. The remainder of the conference will consist of presentations of papers on related scholarly communications topics, written by members of the study team and other scholars.

Presentation: Comparing Law Library Scholarly Communications Jobs with Main Campus Libraries: A Content Analysis of Job Advertisements

Abstract: Scholarly Communications is a relatively new field in academic libraries generally. Law school libraries tend to lag behind larger academic libraries and the development of scholarly communications positions is no exception. The purpose of this study is to outline the distinctions of scholarly communications jobs in law libraries as compared with general academic libraries and other positions in academic law libraries. The study examines 1,414 advertisements gathered from ALA JobList and AALL Career Center over the calendar year 2024. It analyzes the most frequent terms appearing in all scholarly communications job advertisements and compares their frequencies across scholarly communications and other jobs, and law libraries and other academic libraries.

Bio: Conference organizer John R. Beatty is the Faculty Scholarship Outreach Librarian at the Charles B. Sears Law Library at the University at Buffalo School of Law. He administers the Law School’s institutional repository, Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law and advises on copyright and publishing. Beatty’s research is focused on the role of citation in law, including scholarly publishing, case law, and law school rankings.

Before arriving at the University at Buffalo, Beatty practiced law with Melvin & Melvin in Syracuse, New York. His practice was focused on trusts and estates, but also touched on employment law, corporate law, and collections. He previously served as the Head of Media and Access Services at St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami Gardens, Florida. 

Presentation: Copyright for Legal Scholarship in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence

Abstract: With the widespread availability and adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), stakeholders in scholarly publishing need to adapt in order to continue supporting scholarly integrity. Amongst scholarly disciplines, legal scholarship stands at a particular nexus of institutional support for open access. As a result, academic law librarians who work in scholarly communications must balance the precedent for open access legal scholarship with GenAI that uses scholarly work for training its large language models (LLMs). This article outlines some current use cases involving legal scholarship, open access, and GenAI, discusses ethical concerns and scenarios, explores relevant areas of copyright, and proposes new licensing elements for legal scholarship in response to the rapidly evolving GenAI landscape.

Bio: Maya Bergamasco provides scholarly publication and research support to the Harvard Law School community. Maya holds a B.A. in English literature with a concentration in creative writing. She received her M.L.I.S. with a concentration in user instruction from Simmons University, where she was an American Library Association (ALA) Spectrum Scholar. She was the Harvard Libraries Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) Diversity Resident Librarian from 2019-2021. Maya’s research interests include critical data studies and community outreach and engagement. She has intermediate proficiency in Spanish, and has studied Russian and Korean. In her free time, she works as a community organizer, plays ultimate Frisbee, and visits local bookstores.  

Presentation: Realizing Empirical Data Transparency in Law Reviews

Abstract: Propelled by grant requirements and high-profile instances of scientific misconduct, data transparency has flourished in the past two decades. Providing information about the collection and analysis of data used in research, including making that data and any code necessary to replicate the analysis of that data, allows other researchers to fully assess and validate empirical findings presented in scholarly works. Data transparency also contributes to the scholarly ecosystem by allowing other researchers to conduct their own analyses of that data. However, while data transparency is now common in many disciplines, it is far from the norm in law reviews. This paper explores this data transparency gap and how it can be narrowed through practical measures taken by law reviews, law libraries, and legal scholars.

Bio: Pam Brannon joined the Law Library in June 2007. As coordinator of faculty services, she oversees all aspects of the Law Library’s services to faculty, including research services, current awareness services, and special programs; provides reference assistance to college faculty, staff, and students, as well as members of the public; and participates in the maintenance of the Law Library’s website. Brannon is an active member the American Association for Law Libraries, the Southeastern Chapter of AALL and the Atlanta Law Libraries Association.  

Presentation: The Value of Downloads in Legal Scholarly Impact Assessment

Abstract: The growing field of legal scholarly communications has raised an accompanying interest in methods to assess scholarly performance. Many Law librarians are tasked with collecting and analyzing data that may provide insights into the impact and reach of faculty scholarship. Impact measurements could be used to provide statistics to authors and to measure the effects of new ScholComm initiatives and systems.

Downloads of posted scholarly works are framed by online platforms as one way among many to measure impact. SSRN makes downloads central to their scholarly rankings, and most Digital Commons repositories report download counts in what seems like real time with geographical precision.

This paper will analyze the value and meaning of downloads in a scholarly impact context. What insights can we draw from download statistics that could describe impact and inform future decisions about ScholComm? The paper will start with a theoretical discussion about what a download is and how download counts respond to scholarly marketing and quality. Next I will explore many of the leading factors that make downloads difficult to count and compare within and across platforms. I will conclude with some examples of usage trends that can be inferred from detailed analysis of download statistics.

Bio: Conference organizer Ben Carlson is the Associate Director for Scholarly Data and Innovation at the Biddle Law Library. In this role, he is responsible for assessing, collecting, and publicizing the intellectual life and impact of Penn Carey Law. He oversees scholarly communication, digital publication of faculty scholarship, scholarly impact assessment, and institutional archives.

Ben is focused on innovation in discoverability and accessibility of legal information through open access and integration with emerging technologies. Prior to joining Penn Carey Law, he was the Director of Information Technology Services at the University of Connecticut School of Law and the Emerging Technologies Librarian at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law.  

Presentation: Developing Community

Abstract: This paper describes efforts in the Berkeley Law Library to embrace a project-based approach to skill building, professional development, and providing better library service through getting more done. Much of the focus is on the challenges of leading and building projects in environments that are traditionally siloed and hierarchical. This paper describes efforts in the Berkeley Law Library to embrace a project-based approach to skill building, professional development, and providing better library service through getting more done. This addresses the challenges of leading and building projects in environments that are traditionally siloed and hierarchical. The focus of the paper is on a project involving administration of the Perma.cc platform in our role as a registrar. This project provided an opportunity to collaboratively write Python scripts that added batch functionalities for the administrative tasks of adding and removing users which allowed us to provide better service in this area. Through this project we were able to build a community of learners in the library that meet regularly, engage in professional development, and take advantage of different roles within the library. This paper also shares multiple takeaways that we learned from engaging this effort including the idea that a person doesn’t need to know how to program in order to help with programming projects and that project-based approaches provide opportunities to gain skills that are not available to all staff members in the library.  

Presentation: Learning to Schol Comm, or I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

Abstract:  <Record scratch> You might be wondering how exactly I got here. Here meaning involved in Scholarly Communications (Schol Comm) in law librarianship. Unlike other disciplines, law librarianship has been a bit slower to warm to Schol Comm. At least it was slow until U.S. News got involved. Then it warmed up right quick, and a group of law librarians found themselves in the thick of it, figuring out workflows and best practices as they went, banding together to share information. But was that the start? Or was it a continuation of a prior community of practice, the broadening of a support network that began as law librarians ventured into the realm of institutional repositories, yet another area where law librarians were lagging behind our university librarian colleagues? As Schol Comm is being defined as a specialization within law librarianship, and jobs are being revamped or created into Schol Comm-specific positions, it is important to remember the start, the community that helped get Schol Comm to this particular point.

Conference Organizer: Christine George   

Co-presentation with Aaron Retteen: Law Reviews' Stewardship of Copyright

Abstract: Law reviews are institutions of tradition, but each generation of leaders is short-lived. In contrast, copyright protection persists for 70 years after the death of the last author. This mismatch between long-term responsibilities and institutional capacity and leadership’s mindset presents a challenge for law reviews’ ability and willingness to responsibly manage copyrighted works in the interests of the authors, the academy, and the public.

This article will examine how law reviews manage the copyright rights they obtain in the articles they publish. It will show  a trend toward favoring authors’ retention of rights and suggest such a trend is beneficial from an open access perspective. The article will also suggest that the relatively lax and ambiguous treatment of copyright in articles may not reliably reach desirable results in the long term.

The article will discuss choices authors and law review editors should consider when deciding how to share and distribute copyright rights and make recommendations for arrangements that take into account each parties’ interests, timelines, and capacities. The future is uncertain, but law review copyright practices can be changed to clearly distribute rights in a way that promotes flexibility as new ways to distribute and use legal scholarship become available.

Bio: Benjamin Keele is Minnesota Law's scholarly services librarian. His work primarily centers on promoting the scholarship of the Law School’s faculty to maximize its discoverability and scholarly impact. Keele assists faculty with managing scholarly profiles, submitting working papers, and publishing the Law School’s SSRN Research Paper Series. He also manages the Law School's faculty publications database and the Law School’s Scholarship Repository. He also provides reference, research assistance, and instruction as a Law Library reference team member. Keele is the editor of Law Library Journal, a major scholarly journal for law librarians and legal information professionals. He has presented and published articles on copyright, scholarly communications, access restrictions on U.S. Supreme Court justices' papers, and the Uniform Electronic Legal Materials Act.  

Presentation: Aligning for Impact: Collaborative Approaches to Linked Data and Name Authority Work in Academic Libraries

Abstract: The traditional siloing of technical and public services in libraries often results in parallel work with limited collaboration. Divergent communication styles, specialized jargon, and distinct skill sets can hinder joint efforts to enhance patron services. However, emerging technologies demand cross-functional understanding to ensure effective implementation and maximize institutional benefit. Librarians working in Scholarly Communications must understand the basics of name authority records and linked data to converse with Electronic Resources Librarians and Cataloging Librarians to normalize records for the benefit of the scholars of their institutions. As linked data and the disambiguation of authority records—both domestic and international—gain importance in the age of the semantic web, they play a critical role in improving discoverability. While previous scholarship has addressed the mechanics of authority control and linked data, this paper shifts the focus to why their integration into library workflows is essential. Using a case study that linked Library of Congress Name Authority Records with external identifiers such as ORCID iDs and Wikidata, this paper explores the challenges and competencies required for successful interdepartmental collaboration. Speaking a shared language is essential for the success of the modern library and this paper will provide a basic vocabulary.

Bio: Elizabeth Manriquez is the Head of Reference & Scholarly Support at the University of Wisconsin Law School Library.  In this role, she supervises an incredible team of reference librarians, oversees project planning for the UW Law School Digital Repository and works with faculty to improve the discoverability of their scholarship.  Elizabeth is always on the hunt for new collections and content featuring UW Law and the greater Wisconsin legal community, so please contact her if you have ideas!  

Presentation: All in Good Time: An Analysis of Longitudinal Citation Data to Assess the Impact of Open Access Digital Archives

Abstract: What is the impact of self-archiving platforms and institutional repositories on rate of citation to legal scholarship over time? While we know that greater exposure leads to higher rates of citation in the aggregate1, this study will use citation analysis to investigate the question of whether and to what degree these platforms have increased the rate of citation to legal scholarship over the lifespan of the published work. The study will analyze longitudinal citation data of a selection of lead articles published by flagship law journals across multiple time intervals to address questions such as: is the volume of citations to a given work at the time of publication, months, years, or even decades later greater if such platforms are used to increase exposure? Does it matter whether such tools are implemented contemporaneously with publication or implemented at a later stage in the lifespan of the work? Finally, what implications, if any, do these results have in the context of the long tail theory of legal scholarship?  

Co-presentation with Benhamin Keele: Law Reviews' Stewardship of Copyright

Abstract: Law reviews are institutions of tradition, but each generation of leaders is short-lived. In contrast, copyright protection persists for 70 years after the death of the last author. This mismatch between long-term responsibilities and institutional capacity and leadership’s mindset presents a challenge for law reviews’ ability and willingness to responsibly manage copyrighted works in the interests of the authors, the academy, and the public.

This article will examine how law reviews manage the copyright rights they obtain in the articles they publish. It will show  a trend toward favoring authors’ retention of rights and suggest such a trend is beneficial from an open access perspective. The article will also suggest that the relatively lax and ambiguous treatment of copyright in articles may not reliably reach desirable results in the long term.

The article will discuss choices authors and law review editors should consider when deciding how to share and distribute copyright rights and make recommendations for arrangements that take into account each parties’ interests, timelines, and capacities. The future is uncertain, but law review copyright practices can be changed to clearly distribute rights in a way that promotes flexibility as new ways to distribute and use legal scholarship become available.

Expertise: Legal Research; Media Law; Internet Law; Technology Law; Legal research & writing; Law librarianship; Web design and development.

Presentation: Discoverability, Access, and Reuse in ABA Law School IRs and Faculty Scholarship Sections: Scanning the Lay of the Land

Abstract: This paper outlines observations from an environmental scan of ABA Law School Institutional Repositories that have a faculty scholarship section. The environmental scan draws on some characteristics from the COAR Community Framework for Good Practices in Repositories in the areas of discoverability, access, and reuse; in particular, the author examined the presence of metadata about related contents, work versioning, no-cost access, and licensing information stipulating reuse conditions. Results of the environmental scan are intended to provide ideas to law repository administrators for enhancing metadata records so that users of the repository understand what they are finding, accessing, downloading, and reusing.

Bio: Sarah Woloschuk joined the Law Library as the Scholarly Publishing Librarian in August 2021. She assists with scholarly publishing and open access initiatives for law faculty and students, including the institutional repository and the faculty publications project.