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Abstract:
Open access to scholarship, that is, making scholarship freely available to the public via the Internet without subscription or access fees, is a natural fit for legal scholarship given our tradition of making government and legal information available to citizens, and the many benefits that flow from freely disseminating information for its own sake. Law schools, journals and scholars should espouse the principle of open access to legal scholarship, not only for the public good, but also for the enhanced visibility it provides journals and authors. Open access can be accomplished by archiving digital works in online institutional repositories. Legal scholars have enjoyed the benefits of open access to working paper repositories such as SSRN for more than ten years - even if they have not thought of this practice as 'open access.' It is a natural progression for legal scholars to now self-archive published works as well, and they are beginning to do so as awareness grows of the benefits of providing open access to published legal scholarship. Institutional repositories provide new ways to publish student scholarship, empirical data, teaching materials, and original historical documents uncovered during the research process. Author self-archiving does not threaten the existence of law school-subsidized journals, and institutional repositories generate new audiences for legal scholarship, including international and multidisciplinary audiences. Not insignificantly, repositories also help preserve digital work. Law schools are discovering that the publicity and download counts generated by repositories provide new ways to measure scholarly impact and reputation. Approximately 40% of U.S. law schools now have some form of institutional repository, all of which are indexed by Internet search engines. Law schools seeking to establish institutional repositories enjoy a variety of options to choose from, ranging from proprietary applications like Digital Commons, SSRN's Legal Scholarship Network, the Berkeley Electronic Press' Legal Repository, and NELLCO's Legal Scholarship Repository, to open source applications like EPrints and DSpace.

open access to legal scholarship, institutional repositories, SSRN, bepress, EPrints, DSpace

Abstract:
This article examines what is required of law librarian tenure candidates and their directors and supervisors to bring a tenure track to a successful conclusion. It is the second of two articles examining the effect of tenure opportunities on academic law librarians, their law libraries, and the profession of law librarianship. Its intended audience is tenure candidates, and directors and supervisors who oversee the tenure process. Tenure candidates must regularly engage in self-reflection, personally assess their progress, and seek feedback from directors and supervisors throughout the tenure-track period. Candidates should be prepared to invest the time and effort that will be necessary to excel as an academic law librarian. Candidates must master the concept of shared governance and understand the institutional culture of their library. Library directors serve a role similar to that of a department chair or a dean during the tenure process. Directors must provide adequate support to candidates, ensure equitable policies and procedures are in place, and apply them consistently and fairly. Regular meetings with tenure track librarians to check on their progress and to provide feedback are essential. Directors must be prepared to address performance problems that arise during a tenure track.

The companion piece to this article, “Providing Tenure and Continuous Appointment Opportunities for Academic Law Librarians: Challenges for the Profession,” may be found at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1510824. It discusses performance review standards currently in use for law librarian tenure candidates and makes urges law library leaders to work to ensure that these standards are uniform and rigorous.

Abstract:
In 2003 the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) identified leadership development as one of three primary goals for the organization during this decade. Motivated by a desire to provide leadership training opportunities and expand mentoring programs, a special committee on leadership development created a Leadership Academy for AALL members. The two-day program challenges participants to increase self-awareness of leadership skills and opportunities, and provides them with strategies to emerge as leaders in their organizations and the profession. Academy participation initiates a year-long program of formal mentoring and includes activities held during the AALL annual meeting.

law librarian leadership development programs

Abstract:
This article examines tenure requirements currently in use in academic law libraries in the United States. It is the first of two articles examining the effect of tenure opportunities on rank-and-file academic law librarians, their law libraries, and the profession of law librarianship. Its intended audience is library directors and other leaders within the profession of academic law librarianship. The article reports data gathered in an August 2009 survey of law libraries that currently provide tenure or continuous appointment opportunities for academic law librarians. To provide context, this article revisits faculty status and how it can naturally lead to law librarians having opportunities to attain tenured status. The article also considers the ideal of tenured status - what benefits are gained by the tenure system and what is meant by the concept of academic freedom which underpins justification of tenure generally. It identifies various tenure tracks for librarians and the standards for performance under which law librarians are currently reviewed, promoted to progressively higher rank, and awarded tenure. Finally, it recommends that library directors and other leaders within the profession make a concerted effort to encourage law libraries to employ more uniform and consistently rigorous standards for assessing law librarian performance for tenure or continuous appointment. Failing to do so can only weaken arguments that law librarians should continue to hold faculty status, and be able to attain tenured status, well into the future. The companion piece to this article, “Providing Tenure and Continuous Appointment Opportunities for Academic Law Librarians: Challenges for Librarians and Library Directors,” may be found at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1490113.