Library and Information Science Commons^™

W&L Law Library Annual Report 2025-2026, The Law Library At Washington And Lee University School Of Law

Law Library Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

De-Centering And Re-Centering Digital Scholarship, Ten Years On, Matthew Hunter, Aaron Retteen, Micah Vandegrift

Faculty Scholarship

Ten years after the publication of a manifesto attempting to describe what digital scholarship could do for and within libraries, some of the original authors reflect on the progress of the call-to-action. This article describes areas in which the integration of digital scholarship activities as core parts of librarianship has and has not become commonplace and traces larger-scale developments in the academy and global knowledge landscape that have contributed to the accuracy of the predictions made in 2017.

Evolving Roles And Realities In Canadian Academic Law Libraries, Yemisi Dina, Sharon Wang, Sooin Kim, Alexia Loumankis

Librarian Publications & Presentations

Canadian academic law libraries are undergoing profound transformation, shaped by shifting university funding models, restructured institutional reporting lines, and the accelerating move toward digital legal information. This plenary session will explore how law libraries across Canada are responding to these pressures while continuing to support legal education, research, and access to justice.

Marketing The Library: Engaging Law Students With Dynamic Displays, Lisa A. Gooden, Ariel Newman

Faculty Works

Academic law libraries increasingly serve as dynamic, student-centered spaces that extend beyond traditional collections. This article explores practical and creative approaches to marketing library resources through engaging, low-cost displays and interactive experiences. Drawing on initiatives at the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law Library, the authors highlight strategies for introducing students to multiple formats of legal study aids, promoting faculty scholarship through institutional repositories, and fostering a welcoming library environment with interactive and frequently refreshed displays. Examples include multimodal displays that integrate print and digital resources, the use of QR codes and design tools to showcase faculty research, and …

How Licensing Compromised The Library, Aaron Perzanowski

Articles

Libraries are under attack on multiple fronts. Fueled by right-wing talking points, social-media misinformation, and conspiratorial fantasy, efforts to remove or restrict access to books in public and school libraries have exploded across the United States. At the same time, libraries have confronted a disturbing rise in threats of violence and harassment directed at staff and patrons. State and federal actors have targeted library budgets. And on occasion, local residents have voted to defund their own libraries.

But it gets worse. Libraries face new challenges to their basic operations. Materials are harder than ever to acquire, and many in-demand digital …

Writing As A Process Of Inquiry In Autoethnography For Meaning-Making: Reflections And Some Points For Consideration, Niroj Dahal

The Qualitative Report

This article explores writing as a process of inquiry and meaning-making in the autoethnographic tradition, offering reflections on the recursive, emergent, and dialogical/dialectical nature of writing, along with some points for consideration. Drawing on perspectives from qualitative research and narrative inquiry (Riessman, 2008), I argue that autoethnographic writing serves as a method of inquiry and/or discovery, generating ontological, epistemological, and axiological-driven cultural meaning that functions as a site of reflection, interrogation, and re-storying of lived experiences. This recursive, often messy, and reflexive act allows researchers to excavate, analyze, and interpret their lived experiences. Rather than viewing writing as a final-stage …

The Impact Of State And Federal Policies On Academic Researchers: Findings From A National Survey, Dylan Ruediger, Chelsea Mccracken, Jonathan Barefield

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

Key findings

● State and federal policies targeting divisive concepts or DEI are shaping research agendas at scale and across disciplines. Twenty percent of all respondents, and 29 percent of researchers working in states with divisive concepts or similar laws, reported having avoided certain research topics because of state laws and policies.

● Eight percent of respondents representing a wide range of disciplines reported having had a federal grant cancelled in 2025.

● Eleven percent of respondents reported that federal and state policies restricting research activities are compelling them to seek employment out of state, to leave the academy, or …

Addressing Legal Uncertainties In Article Versions And Institutional Copyright Policies To Support Immediate Public Access To Federal Grant-Funded Publications, Yuanxiao Xu

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

New federal public access policies—mandated by the 2022 OSTP Memo and already adopted by several key federal grant-making agencies—require authors funded by federal grants to deposit peer-reviewed publications for immediate public access. This paper explains how grant- receiving institutions and their affiliated authors can dispel legal uncertainties and comply with the new public access policies. Section I delineates how valid prior licenses enable public deposit of manuscripts notwithstanding later publishing agreements transferring copyright to the journals. Section II discusses the different versions of a manuscript created during the publication process. Section III describes the different types of third-party contributions incorporated …

Law Library Blog (April 2026): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

16th Annual Ballsa Celebration Informational Flyer, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

16th Annual BALLSA Celebration (2026)

Informational flyer for the 16th Annual BALLSA Celebration held on March 23, 2026, at The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. The flyer includes event details, location information, QR code registration access, and a description of the annual celebration honoring Maurice Q. Robinson ’09 and recognizing the achievements and contributions of Cardozo’s diverse community.

16th Annual Ballsa Celebration Sponsorship Opportunities, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

16th Annual BALLSA Celebration (2026)

Sponsorship opportunities packet for the 16th Annual BALLSA Celebration held at The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law on March 23, 2026. The document outlines sponsorship levels, scholarship donations, and recognition opportunities supporting the annual celebration honoring the achievements and contributions of Cardozo’s diverse community. The 2026 celebration honored Maurice Q. Robinson ’09.

16th Annual Ballsa Celebration Event Flyer, Black Asian Latino Law Students Association (Ballsa), Cardozo Minority Law Student Alliance (Mlsa)

2025–2026 Flyers

Event flyer for the 16th Annual BALLSA Celebration held on March 23, 2026, at The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. The annual celebration honored Maurice Q. Robinson ’09 and recognized the achievements and contributions of Cardozo’s diverse community in partnership with the Minority Law Student Alliance (MLSA).

16th Annual Ballsa Celebration Sponsor Recognition Graphic, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

16th Annual BALLSA Celebration (2026)

Sponsor recognition graphic for the 16th Annual BALLSA Celebration held at The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law on March 23, 2026. The graphic acknowledges sponsors and supporters of the annual celebration honoring the achievements and contributions of Cardozo’s diverse community. Featured sponsors include alumni, law firms, organizations, and community partners supporting the event and its mission.

Using Westlaw And Lexis: The Many Ways In, Joshua Levine

Library Staff Online Writings

Researching the law depends on finding connections between information. No case or statute exists in a vacuum. The primary advantage of using Westlaw and Lexis is that they point out, on a high level, the connections between individual resources. It is disappointing how often students use natural language search terms or basic AI queries to find all their answers. Within the limitations of class time, it is essential to teach our students as much as possible how pieces of information are connected on these platforms.

Library E-Book Licensing And State Law Reform, Kincaid Brown

Law Librarian Scholarship

Libraries don’t “buy” most e-books the way they buy print books; they license them. That reality is at the crossroads of budgetary constraints and patron satisfaction in modern libraries. With print, a library typically pays once, owns the copy, and lends it until it wears out. With e-books, publishers and intermediaries, like platforms such as OverDrive, commonly offer time-limited or loan-limit-ed terms (for example, a license that expires after a set number of checkouts or after a set period), can impose embargoes, and can set prices far above consumer retail. Libraries argue these terms frustrate their public mission and make …

Creating A Responsible Authorship Culture In Science: Anchoring Authorship Practices In Principles Of Transparency, Credit, And Accountability, Susan Wolf, Véronique Kiermer, Sofia Adams, Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Joerg Heber, Mohammad Hosseini, Ana Marušić, Beau Nielsen, Magdalena Skipper, Geeta K. Swamy, Yensi Flores Bueso

Articles

Authorship remains the primary currency of academic credit and a cornerstone of research integrity, yet current practices often fail to reflect the collaborative and interdisciplinary nature of modern science and questionable authorship practices persist. We argue that addressing these shortcomings is a collective responsibility shared by researchers, journals, research funders, scholarly societies, and research institutions. We examined authorship guidelines issued by journals and research institutions and found that their recommendations to researchers are highly variable. We propose that fostering a responsible authorship culture requires a shared, principle-based framework grounded in transparency, credit, and accountability. These three interconnected principles highlight when …

Reawakening Waⁿdat: Community Research & Reclamation, Darcy Allred

Theses and Dissertations

The Wyandot(te) have undergone language dormancy due to settler colonial impacts of warfare, refugee relocation, forced removals, and U.S. assimilation projects. One of the most pressing priorities among our people today is reawakening our ancestral language, Waⁿdat. The common follow-up question is: how? Through the conduit of Waⁿdat language reclamation, this project grapples with the above question in collaboration with the Wyandot(te) community, and in adherence to the tribal sovereignty of the Wyandotte Nation. The project engages with diasporic perspectives, community-based pedagogy design, and tribally specific research protocols and policies. The living collective knowledgebase with which I engage in this …

Law Librarianship And Legal Information Science In The Age Of Genai, Paul D. Callister

Faculty Works

This article examines the relationship between law librarianship and legal information science in the age of generative AI (GenAI), arguing that closer integration between the two is essential to navigating a rapidly evolving legal information landscape. It contends that law librarianship—long grounded in stable classification systems and cognitive authority—must adopt the analytical methods of legal information science to remain effective in the digital era. Together, these fields can reinforce the rule of law by improving the organization, retrieval, and stability of legal information. The article identifies emerging subfields of legal information science that support this integration and develops several concepts …

Allied Professionals In (Academic) Law Libraries, Part I: Evolving Roles, Skills, And Professional Development Needs, Sarah E. Ryan, Mads Ball, Agnes G. Pearcy, Diana Quinones, Dawn L. Smith

Library Staff Publications

Allied professionals comprise a significant portion of the law library workforce, yet their experiences and career pathways are often overlooked in discussions about the profession’s future. This article presents findings from a survey examining how allied professionals pursue professional development, upskilling, and career mobility. While respondents demonstrated a strong commitment to growth, opportunities varied widely and were often limited by institutional support. The authors discuss the survey findings, explore the implications for the profession, and offer recommendations for better supporting allied professionals and recognizing their essential contributions to law librarianship. This is the first in a two-part series.

Ensuring Rich Rigor Of Qualitative Methodologies In Behavior Analytic Research, Daria K. Lorio-Barsten, Selena J. Layden

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Faculty Publications

Quantitative methods remain the hallmark of research in applied behavior analysis. Yet, such methods frequently fail to capture the nuances of context where behavior analysis is practiced. Therefore, qualitative methods can provide complementary means to gain deeper insight into changes in socially significant behavior. We believe that researchers within the field of behavior analysis have much to gain from embracing qualitative methodologies. We propose that more researchers can and should consider conducting rigorous qualitative research to elevate the voices of the participants and relate the depth and complexities of their nuanced experiences. This article discusses Tracy’s “big tent” quality criteria …

Making The Most Of Limited Time, Joshua Levine

Library Staff Online Writings

One of the biggest challenges I have encountered as an advanced legal research instructor is getting everything accomplished that I want to during a class session. The most time I have ever had to get through a class session is one hour and twenty minutes – and this includes lecturing, demonstrations, in-class exercises, and going over those exercises. In particular, it’s challenging to balance giving students enough time to complete their exercises with everything else that needs to be done.

2025 Cardozo Law Library Annual Report, Dr. Lillian & Dr. Rebecca Chutick Law Library

Library Annual Reports

This annual report presents an overview of the Dr. Lillian & Dr. Rebecca Chutick Law Library’s activities and accomplishments during the 2024–2025 fiscal year. It includes highlights on research instruction, faculty and student services, collections management, classroom technology, scholarly communications, and strategic priorities for 2025–2026.

The Rise And Fall (And Rise?) Of New Mexico's Criminalization Of Abortion, Jennifer Laws

Scholarship Day 2025

No abstract provided.

Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania, Peter Rabson Mziray

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which is mmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …

Smu To Build Open Legal Database With Support From Ministry Of Law, Singapore Management University

SMU Press Releases and News

The Singapore Management University (SMU) will be developing Singapore’s first open empirical legal database with support from the Ministry of Law (MinLaw). Housed at SMU’s Centre for Digital Law, the three-year project will compile and release machine-readable datasets containing key statistical information about Singapore court decisions, statutes, legal scholarship and court structures. Named Singapore Open Legal Informatics Database (SOLID), the database will be freely accessible to researchers worldwide through a public website and Application Programming Interface (API), positioning Singapore alongside leading jurisdictions around the world that have invested in building up their legal data infrastructure.

State-Specific Secondary Sources, Joshua Levine

Library Staff Online Writings

As legal research instructors, we regularly teach students that it’s a good idea to start their research with secondary sources. If the research issue falls under the law of a specific state, it’s especially helpful to consult a secondary source that discusses that law of that state. However, you might not find relevant state-specific secondary sources – they simply might not be available – and that poses a special set of challenges.

W&L Law Fall Scholarship Celebration 2025, Andrew Christensen, Michelle Cosby, Brandon Hasbrouck, Jennifer Mitchell, Melanie D. Wilson

Library Events

On October 9, 2025, the Washington and Lee Law Library hosted the fifth W&L Law Fall Scholarship Celebration. The event was co-sponsored by the Frances Lewis Law Center and took place in the Law Library's main reading room from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.

On display were dozens of scholarly articles, books, chapters, and court briefs authored by the W&L Law faculty and student body between October 2022 and October 2025. Additional works were accessible online via QR codes to W&L Law Scholarly Commons institutional repository. A selection of vintage scholarship by former W&L Law professors was also on display, courtesy …

Ai In Law Libraries: Discussing Ethical Considerations And A Way Forward, Joshua Levine

Library Staff Articles

This review examines the AALL 2025 program “AI in Law Libraries: Discussing Ethical Considerations and a Way Forward,” focusing on the ethical challenges artificial intelligence presents for law librarians and legal professionals. The author highlights discussions on the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, responsible and transparent use of AI, risks such as hallucinations and bias, and broader concerns including environmental impact and the future of human labor. The review emphasizes that the program raised important questions rather than definitive solutions, underscoring the need for ongoing, profession-wide dialogue as AI continues to evolve.

Law Library Blog (October 2025): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Active Learning And Notetaking, Joshua Levine

Library Staff Online Writings

This past summer, when I attended my third AALL Conference, I signed up to review a program for the ALL-SIS newsletter. I agreed to report on “AI in Law Libraries: Discussing Ethical Considerations and a Way Forward.” I had attended numerous presentations over three years, but this was the first time I analyzed a program in depth. I needed to make detailed notes about what the participants said, as well as what questions were asked and how the speakers responded to them. Then, I had to synthesize my notes and turn them into an effective program review, about 500-700 words …