AALL Webinar: LAW LIBRARIANS COMBATTING INFODEMIC DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The Foreign, Comparative & International Law SIS (FCIL-SIS) presents two paired webinars on June 18, 2020, law librarians will provide an overview of legal responses to COVID-19 worldwide, introduce tools for tracking the international legal response, and explain how to evaluate sources of information in connection with this crisis.

Thursday, June 18, 2020 (11pm – 3pm US/Central)

MY MEETINGS

As the legal response to COVID-19 constantly evolves, it can be difficult to keep track of the rapidly shifting legal landscape.

At 11 am US/Central, Alex Zhang (Washington & Lee), Alison Shea (Cornell), Yemisi Dina (Osgoode Hall Law School, York University), and Mariya Badeva-Bright (Laws.Africa) will update viewers on COVID-19 responses in Asia, Europe, and Africa, highlighting especially interesting responses that you may have missed and resources for learning more.

At 2 pm US/Central, Marcelo Rodríguez (US Courts for the 2nd Circuit), Dr. Michele A. L. Villagran (San José State University), and Victoria De La Torre (AALL Latino Caucus Chair) will introduce viewers to Law Librarians Monitoring COVID-19, their project tracking COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean, and provide updates on COVID-19 responses in the Americas.

Please register now for the Law Librarians Combatting Infodemic during the COVID-19 Pandemic webinars on June 18 at 11 am and 2 pm US/Central. All AALL members are welcome to attend.

SPEAKER BIOS

Alex Zhang
Assistant Dean for Legal Information Services and Professor of Practice
Washington and Lee School of Law

Zhang joined Washington & Lee in December 2018 from Stanford Law Library, where she had served as Head of Public Services since December 2016. Before joining Stanford, she was a Senior Associate Librarian and Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, where she taught Advanced Legal Research, managed Michigan Law Library’s reference and information desk services, and developed the Library’s print and electronic legal materials specializing in non-U.S. jurisdictions. Zhang chaired the Asian American Law Librarian Caucus in 2015-2016 and AALL’s Foreign, Comparative, & International Law Special Interest Section in 2017-2018. She is currently a co-chair of FCIL-SIS Asian Law Interest Group. She is also a co-president of the Chinese-American Forum on Legal Information and Law Libraries.

Alison Shea
Research & Instructional Law Librarian (Foreign, Comparative & International Law)
Cornell University

Before joining Cornell, Shea served as Head of Reference/Foreign & International Specialist at Fordham University School of Law. She has taught both basic and advanced legal research courses on a variety of topics and authored a number of articles for a variety of publications, including serving as co-editor of Sources of State Practice in International Law (2014). Shea chaired AALL’s Foreign, Comparative, & International Law Special Interest Section in 2016-2017 and is a past recipient of the FCIL-SIS Reynolds and Flores Publication Award, Daniel L. Wade FCIL-SIS Outstanding Service Award, and Spirit of the FCIL-SIS Award. She is also an active member of the British and Irish Association of Law Librarian and the International Association of Law Libraries.

Yemisi Dina
Chief Law Librarian
Osgoode Hall Law School Library

Dina joined the Osgoode Hall Law School Library as Associate Librarian and Head of Public Services in June 2006 and became the Chief Law Librarian in 2019. Prior to this, Dina was Law Librarian at the College of The Bahamas/University of The West Indies LLB Program 2001 – 2005 where she helped establish a law library for the program. She worked briefly as Principal Librarian at the newly decentralized Lagos Campus of the Nigerian Law School, Council of Legal Education. She started her career in 1995 as Law Librarian at the Adeola Odutola Law Library, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Dina chairs the FCIL-SIS African Law Interest Group, where she coordinated the compilation of a guide to Top African Legal Research Resources. She is an active member of the British and Irish Association of Law Libraries, Canadian Association of Law Libraries, Nigerian Association of Law Libraries and the Nigerian Library Association.

Mariya Badeva-Bright
Co-founder
Laws.Africa

Badeva-Bright is a technology lawyer who has been actively engaged in the promotion of free access to law in Africa since 2004. She co-founded the African Legal Information Institute (AfricanLII) in 2010 and now manages and directs the programme at the Democratic Governance and Rights Unit, University of Cape Town. She was also involved in the creation and development of the South African Legal Information Institute (SAFLII). Most recently, she co-founded Laws.Africa, a legislation commons built and supported by a dedicated community that aims to make African legislation freely available to everyone.

Marcelo Rodríguez
Research and Outreach Librarian
US Courts for the 2nd Circuit

Rodríguez is the creator of Law Librarians Monitoring COVID-19, a group of 7 law librarians that monitor and analyze the legal response to the COVID-19 crisis in the entire Latin American and Caribbean region. Rodríguez regularly coordinates and moderates panels for the annual American Association of Law Libraries conference, including coordinating three panels last year and again this year. He also served as chair of AALL’s Latino Caucus from 2018-2019 and is currently a board member of AALL’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee, Social Responsibilities – Special Interest Group, and Jewish Law Librarians Caucus. He is also part of the Board of AALL Spectrum.

Dr. Michele A. L. Villagran
Assistant Professor, School of Information
San José State University

Dr. Villagran is an accomplished educator, innovative speaker, entrepreneur, consultant, cultural intelligence and diversity and inclusion expert with over 25 years of experience in the public and private sectors. She is an assistant professor with San José State University School of Information where her research focuses on cultural diversity and social justice in library and information science and cultural intelligence phenomena within organizations. Dr. Villagran is the founder and CEO of CulturalCo LLC, which provides consulting services in conflict management, bias, emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence, diversity, and inclusion. She earned her Doctorate of Education in Organizational Leadership, her Masters of Dispute Resolution and Certificate of Dispute Resolution with Pepperdine University. At the University of North Texas, Dr. Villagran completed her M.L.S. degree in Legal Informatics and her M.B.A. in Strategic Management.

Victoria De La Torre
Currently seeking opportunities

De La Torre is the incoming chair of the American Association of Law Libraries’ Latino Caucus and served as president of the Rocky Mountain Special Libraries Association from 2016-2017. She worked as Electronic Services Librarian for Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck from July 2018 until COVID-19 struck in April 2020. Before taking that position, her prior experiences include the Colorado State Archives, the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law Library, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and the Colorado Supreme Court Library. She earned her M.L.I.S from the University of Denver.

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