Friday, May 6, 2011

The Myth and the Madness of Cost Effective Lexis and Westlaw Research Training

Friday food for thought:

Dewey B Strategic: The Myth and the Madness of Cost Effective Lexis and Westlaw Research Training

The Myth and the Madness of Cost Effective Lexis and Westlaw Research Training

An Alternative title to this post might be “Vendor Sourcing: The Digital Edition.” Like the print issues outlined in my post of February 17th, "Vendor Sourcing: Thinking the Unthinkable...", this post will examine how Lexis and Westlaw pricing strategies have shifted substantial administrative burdens onto their law firm customers which not only drive up administrative costs but have a perversely negative impact on the practice of law.

http://deweybstrategic.blogspot.com/2011/05/myth-and-madness-of-cost-effective.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+DeweyBStrategic+%28Dewey+B+Strategic%29

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

AALL2go Pick of the Month: Federal Regulatory Information and Where to Find It

AALL's Continuing Professional Education Committee presents the AALL2go pick of the month: Federal Regulatory Information and Where to Find It.

In this one-hour video, David Pritzker of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Regulatory Information Service Center provides a handy tutorial on the federal rulemaking process, including where the public can find access to federal regulations. The GSA Regulatory Information Center publishes a semiannual unified agenda on regulatory actions under development. The fall publication of the agenda includes a regulatory plan identifying current regulatory priorities and highlighting significant regulatory actions expected in the coming year. The center also helped establish Reginfo.gov to provide a “regulatory dashboard” of current information on the regulatory process, which includes handy FAQs on the regulatory process and hyperlinks to government sources for the regulations.

Pritzker's presentation explains the evolution of public access to regulatory information (including the genesis of the Code of Federal Regulations and Federal Register), how the Administrative Procedure Act creates a legal framework for the adoption of regulations in a manner allowing for public input, and where to find regulatory information, including new, free web-based government resources.

Find this and more than 80 other free continuing education programs and webinars for AALL members on AALL2go!

Renew Your AALL Membership Early for a Chance to Win a Free AALL Webinar Registration

In May the second round of AALL dues invoices for 2011-2012 will mail out to all library directors for their institutionally paid memberships and to all other individual members. The deadline for membership renewal is May 31.

This year, when you renew by May 31 you'll be entered in a drawing for a free AALL webinar of your choice in 2011-2012. Following is the 2011 membership renewal schedule:


  • May: Second dues invoices mailed out.

  • June: Final dues invoices mailed out.

  • July: Expiration notices emailed to all members—individuals and those paid by institutions.

  • August 1: Expired members deleted from the AALL membership database and access to the AALLNET members only content and Law Library Journal and AALL Spectrum subscriptions discontinued.

For more information or to renew your membership online, view the application form on AALLNET. If you have any questions about your membership renewal, contact AALL Headquarters at membership@aall.org or 312/205-8022.

Learn to Create a Quick Strategic Plan When You Don’t Have Time to do it Perfectly

Strategic planning is one process for setting goals and priorities. However, it is easy to become distracted by unwieldy and repetitive processes, jargon, and arguments over whether something is a goal, outcome, principle, or strategy. Join the June 9 webinar, The Five-Minute Strategic Plan: When You Don't Have the Time or Resources to Do It Perfectly, from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. CST, to learn a simple, proven model that translates strategic planning into four basic steps (plus one that repeats). It allows for effective design and execution when time is short, and you need to move ahead quickly—without driving yourself and other people crazy.

This webinar will discuss how to:


  • Effectively sample qualitative and quantitative research about past, current, and potential users

  • Distill leadership-level concepts (mission, vision, values) in a "where are we going, and why" statement

  • Tie strategic planning goals into project management execution

  • Evaluate plans based on users' criteria

  • Prevent micromanagement

Register by June 2.