Know More

Know More about Finding Legal Information for your Patrons

 

 

On June 10, SCLS hosted Serving the Legal Information Needs of the Public at the Fitchburg Public Library. The program was organized and provided by the Wisconsin Court System and included a stellar list of presenters:

• Gail Richardson, District Court Administrator, 5th Judicial District

• Hon. Shelley Gaylord, Circuit Court Judge, 5th Judicial District

• Carlo Esqueda, Clerk of Circuit Court, Dane County

• Louis Mineau, Register in Probate, Rock County

• Marsha Mansfield, Professor, UW-Madison Law School

• Julie Tessmer, State Law Librarian, Wisconsin State Law Library

Much of what I know about the legal system comes from reading legal thrillers or watching them on television. What a treat to hear from local experts in the court system about the information needs of people who represent themselves in court. Here’s a sampling of what I learned:

• It takes a lot of people in the court system to keep everything running smoothly

• People representing themselves in court are held to the same rules and standards as lawyers - no special treatment

• Very few cases actually go to trial

• The Clerk of Courts is a 4 year, partisan, elected position

• Clerk of Courts is a big job that includes collecting fees, fines, and forfeitures; being the legal custodian of courts records, and jury management

• Register in Probate handles more than estates and wills -  guardianship cases are handled here

• Someone who has been named as an executor or personal representative in a will can decline the job

• When helping patrons with legal information, avoid the word “should” as we can’t give legal advice
  
  

Resources

• Wisconsin State Law Library - Legal Topics A-Z (over 450 topics covered!)

• Greater Wisconsin Agency on Aging Resources, Inc. has a helpline for “assistance on issues related to guardianship. protective placement, advance directives and more”

• The Wisconsin Register in Probate Association created a publication called “A Personal Representative’s Guide to Informal Estate Administration in Wisconsin” (pdf)

• The State Bar of Wisconsin has a Lawyer Referral and Information Service, a Modest Means Referral Service and a Lawyer Hotline

• Legal Assistance

• Family Law Assistance Center, Dane County Bar Association 

• Small Claims Assistance Program, Dane County

• Veterans Law Center, UW Law School

• Economic Justice Institute, UW Law School

• Consumer Law Clinic

• Consumer Mediation Clinic

• Family Court Clinic

• Neighborhood Law Clinic

• Immigrant Justice Clinic

Whew - that was quite a lot for a sampling. Happy Learning!

WiLS World 2012

I attended WiLS World last week and have some highlights and ideas to share with you.

Marshall Breeding, an expert in library automation systems, spoke about "The Next Generation of Library Automation and Discovery: Key Issues and Trends." Marshall has been following the trends in libary automation for years and his insights were eye opening. I liked his idea of Library Services Platform rather than an automation system. This would be more integrated and not focus soley on the collection. His passion and enthusiasm for his subject showed in his presentation.

 

One of my favorite presentations was Hackerspaces and Libaries with Jesse Vieau and Trent Miller from Madison Public Library and Chris Meyer from Sector67. Chris talked about the cool programs and things that are happening at Sector67 - I live on the East Side of Madison and I had no idea this was going on. There are possibilities for programming and partnership here, I think. Chris also brought some examples of things made with the 3D printers they have. Trent talked about Bookless, the Madison Public Library Foundation fundraiser held this past winter and how this experience is helping to shape the new library. Jesse talked about some of the programming (including Maker Programs in conjunction with Sector67) and programming space they're planning on at the new Central Library. It's going to be a very cool place to be!

Carson Block gave the keynote for the second day, The Great Library Swindle: Your Rights are at Risk. Carson talked about where libraries are headed - we're more than our books. He talked about the libraries in his community during the recent Colorado wildfires and how they assisted residents during the crisis. Carson talked about the library as an economic anchor in the community. He asked some hard questions, too. For example, "if libraries didn't already exist, would we invent them today? and Should books be our brand? Interesting questions to think about for the future of libraries.

If you haven't attended a WiLS World yet, I recommend it. This year, there were more programs geared towards public libraries.

Three OverDrive Things

1. Check out the May 15, 2010 issue of Library Journal. A quote from our Mary Knapp, Reference Librarian at Madison Public Library, starts off the article "The Lowdown on Audio Downloads."  Kudos to Mary!
2. SCLS recently purchased 62 titles for the WPLC OverDrive collection in the Business & Career category as part of our 2010 LSTA grant. Thanks to Mary Knapp for selecting the titles!
3. Last, but not least, OverDrive is conducting a training session specifically for the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium on Tuesday, June 15 at 10 a.m. CDT. Watch your email for more details on the Browse, Check Out, Download webinar or contact me.

Competencies

The March 1, 2010 issue of Library Journal has a great article on competencies. Betha Gutsche, the author of the article, is a Program Manager at WebJunction and is very knowledgeable about competencies. She's also the author of the Competency Index for the Library Field (we have a copy in the SCLS Professional Collection).

I've learned a lot about competencies for libraries in my three years here at SCLS. I've attended several workshops about competencies, read articles, books, and blog posting about them, and thought a lot about them. What I haven't done is figured out the best way to apply them to the services SCLS provides to you - our member libraries.

So, I'm asking for your help. Are you interested in competencies for your library staff? What kind of competencies - technology, customer service, personal/interpersonal communication, management or other - are you interested in?  How can SCLS help you and your library staff address competency needs in your library?

Things to Remember

As I was reading the January 2010 issue of Library Journal, I was marking articles and sections that I wanted to make copies of to keep in my files. Then, I re-read The User Experience by Aaron Schmidt (one of the articles that I copied). In particular, Aaron's experience of moving the stapler to make it more accessible to both library patrons and staff started me thinking. Moving the stapler was a simple act that made many people happy.

Why I was going to copy these particular articles or sections that would end up on my desk or in my files and never referred to again? What did I really want to accomplish? After thinking about it some more, I realized that what I wanted to do was to share what I found interesting or thought provoking enough to want to keep in my files. The physical act of copying an interesting item made the memory of it more tangible - and easier to recall later. How could I accomplish the same thing without wasting paper?

Yes, I could share them with Delicious (and I did tag The User Experience) but I wanted to do a little more. So, I'm starting a new feature in Know More. When I go through the various journals and magazines that come across my desk, I'll pass along those things that piqued my interest, made me think, or made me want to Know More. This will be very subjective as what interests me may not be of interest to you - but hopefully, you'll find some nuggets of information here to that'll make you want to Know More, too!