I can only make assumptions as in 20+ years of publishing on law library issues I’ve yet to have any body at the AALL respond to an enquiry from me or get in touch to say hello.
Some may call me paranoid but i fear because the purse strings for this event are in the main held by you know who and you know who….. the AALL bods always err on the side of caution and i can never afford the flights and the cost of attending these things.
As far as i can work out from the fringes.. and i really am on the fringes these days based out here in the wilds of the Indonesian jungle;
Find me here – just up the hill and 2nd left!
I really do get a sense that the annual meeting this year just doesn’t have the pzazz and get up and go that it used to.
I feel that it’s a big shame at this particular juncture because i’d suggest that the changes in legal information and management thereof is currently at a more important point than it has been since the concept of legal publishing came into play way back when
…….and I mean way back when……
This guy was on the throne
and this guy was president
AI, of course, is the reason and the law, our understanding of it, and management of it, is changing faster than warp speed
I would humbly suggest that law librarians and knowledge managers are some of the most important professionals we have in 2024 as it is their knowledge that can police the AI evangelicals in law, legal tech and legal publishing.
It’s no secret that certain quarters of “legal knowledge” in the private sector would rather less power lie in the hands of the libraries, public, educational and private.
There are 3 men who shall remain unamed, acting as unapologetic prosletysers for the law AI industry.
They straddle the pond and appear to me to be the un-opposed voice for a certain view of the future that neatly converges with the wishes and desires of certain legal tech companies, legal publishers, legal database companies and more of their ilk to come.
I know i’m a bit old school and always referencing the 1970’s, but i don’t want to go here
But i fear this is already the future now and as strange as it may seem law knowledge holders and disseminaters in public and private institutions are very important for checks and balances and the sense i get from this year’s AALL these people are currently in the rearguard
I’d love to be proved wrong
