American Association of Law Libraries
| Abbreviation | AALL |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1906 |
| Founder | A.J. Small |
| Legal status | Nonprofit educational organization |
| Headquarters | Chicago, IL |
Region served | United States |
Membership | 5,000 |
| Website |
www |
The American Association of Law Libraries "is a nonprofit educational organization with over 5,000 members nationwide. AALL's mission is to promote and enhance the value of law libraries to the legal and public communities, to foster the profession of law librarianship, and to provide leadership in the field of legal information and information policy."[1]
History and vision
AALL was founded in 1906.[2] The American Association of Law Libraries' vision is to be
"a thriving professional association whose members and libraries-whether physical or virtual legal information services-are recognized as critical to the success of their organizations and as central to society. AALL members possess the knowledge and skills to maintain effectiveness in a constantly changing legal environment. Since the ready availability of legal information is a necessary requirement for a just and democratic society, AALL and its members advocate and work toward fair and equitable access to authentic current and historic legal information, and educate and train library users to be knowledgeable and skilled legal information consumers."[3]
Advocacy
AALL took a strong position against the Federal Register Modernization Act (H.R. 4195; 113th Congress), a bill that would require the Federal Register to be published (e.g., by electronic means), rather than printed, and that documents in the Federal Register be made available for sale or distribution to the public in published form.[4] AALL argued that the bill "undermines" citizens' "right to be informed" by making it more difficult for "citizens to find their government's regulations."[5] According to AALL, a survey they conducted "revealed that members of the public, librarians, researchers, students, attorneys, and small business owners continue to rely on the print" version of the Federal Register.[5] AALL also argued that the lack of print versions of the Federal Register and CFR would mean the 15 percent of Americans who don't use the internet would lose their access to that material.[5]
Publication
The primary publication produced by AALL is the quarterly Law Library Journal. The Law Library Journal has been the official publication of AALL since 1908 and contains scholarly articles on law, legal materials, legal research, and librarianship. The AALL also produces a monthly electronic newsletter as well as a monthly magazine, The AALL Spectrum.[6] Furthermore, the AALL was the first publisher of the Index to Legal Periodicals, including it with the Law Library Journal beginning in 1908.[7] Printing of the Index to Legal Periodicals was passed to the H.W. Wilson Company in April 1912, and the company assumed business management duties of the Index in 1914.[8] AALL also produces the Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals, an index providing multilingual coverage of foreign, international, and comparative legal journals.[9]
See also
References
- ↑ "EFF, ACLU, American Association of Law Libraries, Public Citizen, ACLU of Oklahoma, Come to Aid of Deborah Foster, File Amicus Brief in Support". Recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com. 2006-08-13. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
- ↑ "AALL chronology" (PDF). Retrieved 9 November 2013.
- ↑ "American Association of Law Libraries". Retrieved 10 October 2013.
- ↑ "H.R. 4195 - Summary". United States Congress. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "The Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations" (PDF). American Association of Law Libraries. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
- ↑ "American Association of Law Libraries Law Library Journal". Aallnet.org. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
- ↑ "AALL Chronology" (PDF). AALL. Retrieved 2014-10-21.
- ↑ "AALL Chronology" (PDF). AALL. Retrieved 2014-10-21.
- ↑ "Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals". AALL. Retrieved 2014-10-21.