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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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

W&L Law Library Annual Report 2024-2025, The Law Library At Washington And Lee University School Of Law

Law Library Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

Futurescape Libraries Ai Toolkit, Keith Webster

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A toolkit developed to explore scenario-specific strategies and activities that research libraries can undertake to prepare for various possible AI-influenced futures. The toolkit integrates the ARL/CNI AI Scenarios published in spring 2024 along with priorities trialed and refined by strategic thinkers working directly in, or adjacent to, the research library field during a Strategic Implications forum held December 7–8, 2024, in Washington, DC.

The Impact Of Ai Bots And Crawlers On Open Repositories: Results Of A Coar Survey, April 2025, Kathleen Shearer, Paul Walk

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

There are a growing number of AI bots crawling repositories. These automated bots, or crawlers, navigate the internet, gathering data and indexing information for search engines, AI and large language models, and other purposes. While some bots are rather innocuous, others are sufficiently aggressive that they are increasingly causing service disruptions in repositories (and other scholarly communications infrastructures). To learn more about the current state and gain a better understanding about the impact of bots and crawlers on repositories, COAR distributed a survey to members in April 2025. The survey received 66 responses from repositories around the world (22 from …

The Volume Of Information, Joshua Levine

Library Staff Online Writings

Judge Roy Bean was a legendary justice of the peace in Texas, known as the “Law West of the Pecos.” However, he was not known for his encyclopedic knowledge of the law. Judge Bean “had only one law book, a copy of the Revised Statutes of Texas, printed in 1879, as authorized by the Sixteenth Texas Legislature.” He relied exclusively on that book, and “[e]ven though the legislature sent him new books every two years, reflecting new laws, he burned them. He said he liked the old book better and he like those laws better, too.”

Canadian Security Intelligence Service (Csis), Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

April 24, 2025 presentation for Canada's GovInfo Day Spring 2025 hosted by Simon Fraser University in British Columbia and Internet Archive Canada. Provides information about the publicly available information resources produced by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) which is the Canadian Government's foremost national intelligence agency. Provides information about this agency's statutory organization, types of publicly available reports they produce, information about other Canadian government intelligence agencies, and parliamentary oversight of Canadian government intelligence operations. Lists additional resources for finding information about CSIS and explains the benefits of having access to these resources for users.

Retrieving Information: An Analogy, Joshua Levine

Library Staff Online Writings

A major part of being an effective legal information professional is knowing where to look at the beginning of your search. In this profession, you typically have a wide range of information resources at your fingertips. Mastering those resources, and being able to make an educated guess about where something might be found, are vital in this field.

Write What You Know, Joshua Levine

Library Staff Online Writings

Writing a fact pattern is more challenging than it looks. This is something I learned when I created my first fact pattern for Advanced Legal Research. To accomplish this, I relied on the maxim, “Write what you know.”

Ensuring Free, Immediate, And Equitable Access To Federally Funded Research (August 25, 2022)

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research (August 25, 2022)

Understanding Public Domain Case Citations, Joshua Levine

Library Staff Online Writings

I first learned about public domain citations after law school, when I was working on a fifty-state survey. I was completely used to parentheticals that included the deciding court and the year of decision, so I couldn’t understand the examples I found from certain states. I thought that surely something was missing from these citations!

Identifying Intangible And Biocultural Heritage Elements Toward Environmental Understanding: Engaging Stakeholders Through Art, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Grounded in a case study in Barbuda in the Caribbean, this research examines sustainability from the perspective of what arts and heritage can contribute to community engagement and local and broader understandings about the environment. This article documents a growing body of literature recognizing the role of arts and culture, including local knowledge and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), in climate change endeavors. Art and TEK present expansive world views. Contextual information situates research done on the island of Barbuda pre- and post-Hurricane Irma. Visual arts workshops engaged community members in mixed methods research. Results documented cultural elements, particularly intangible and …

Copyright And Artificial Intelligence, Part 2: Copyrightability

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

This report by the United States Copyright Office addresses the legal and policy issues related to artificial intelligence (AI) and copyright as outlined in the Office’s August 2023 Notice of Inquiry (NOI).

The report will be published in several parts each one addressing a different topic. This part addresses the copyrightability of works created using generative AI. The first part, published in 2024, addresses the topic of digital replicas—the use of digital technology to realistically replicate an individual’s voice or appearance. A subsequent part will turn to the training of AI models on copyrighted works, licensing considerations, and allocation of …

United States Environmental Protection Agency Scientific Integrity Policy

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US EPA SIP

United States Environmental Protection Agency Response To The Ofiice Of Science And Technology Policy Memo, 2022: Public Access Plan (December 2024)

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EPA response to OSTP memo, 2022: Public Access Plan (December 2024)

United States Fish And Wildlife Service Response To The Office Of Science And Technology Policy Memo, 2022: Public Access Plan (December 2024)

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FWS response to OSTP memo, 2022: Public Access Plan (December 2024)

United States Department Of Defense Response To The Office Of Science And Technology Policy Memo, 2022: Public Access Plan (December 2024)

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DOD response to OSTP memo, 2022: Public Access Plan (December 2024)

Acf Response To Ostp Memo, 2022: Public Access Plan (December 2024)

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ACF response to OSTP memo, 2022: Public Access Plan (December 2024)

Feasibility Of Technical Solutions For The Detection Of Falsified Images In Research, Phill Jones, Hylke Koers

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In this report, we discuss the findings of an investigation into the feasibility of developing a research image integrity system. The focus was primarily on immunohistochemistry blots and microscopy images, although the findings are relevant to other types of research images such as gel blots and spectroscopy, geophysical, or astronomical images, as well as to any digital data type. The investigation comprised a mix of desk research and semi-structured (anonymized) interviews with nine stakeholders representing publishers, researchers, technologists, and microscopy companies.

We found that it would be possible to implement a system to assert image integrity and that the technology …