Getting to Know LLTC: Alison Rosenberg

Where did you grow up?

I was born in Miami, Florida, and I resided there for eighteen years.  As for growing up, that’s a lifelong process for me.

What year did you begin working for the LLTC?

I began working part-time for the LLTC in 2008 while I was enrolled in the distance Master’s program in library and information studies at Florida State University.  When I arrived at the LLTC, I spent most of my time at the reference desk, which was great for me because I love helping people.

Where did you work prior to the LLTC? 

Prior to arriving in Davie, Florida, I attended law school at Northwestern in Chicago, Illinois.  While in Chicago, I developed a love for the Chicago Transit Authority (“CTA”).  I was fascinated by the concept that you could travel anywhere in the city without having to walk a great distance once you arrived at your destination, which was a benefit while living in cold weather.  A bit of advice for those who move to cold climates after spending the majority of their lives in flip flops—it’s the accessories that really protect against the elements, so (1) find boots with excellent tread on the bottom—don’t go for fashion, as slipping is a very real possibility; (2) get a very long coat—the longest you can find, and get a puffy one—throw style to the wind (literally, if you’re in Chicago); (3) wear earmuffs—I had to learn the hard way that if you need to walk even a small distance, your ears will soon be radiating with pain (at first I thought it was just me and that I had been walking too fast or that I had an ear infection—but no, you need to cover every part of your body with fabric—see my coat; and (4) invest in a snowbrush if you own a car—do not attempt to use paper towels because although they are super absorbent, it’s not practical to use them for snow removal, and even less practical to use your hands once you run out of paper towels.

So, as I said, I developed an interest in public transportation, and I thought that I might apply to work for the City after graduation.  I loved the CTA for the people watching—and there was much to observe on public transportation.  I worked at a law firm before law school, and I loved the morning ride to work when passengers took up every inch of space in the bus, all of them bright-eyed and ready for the day ahead (I’m not sure if they actually were bright-eyed or just being squeezed too tightly by the other passengers).  I read up on the bus and train schedules, discovering all of the places you could go on the different routes.  Soon, I had lived in Chicago long enough to be able to help others get to their destinations.  I loved tourist season in the summer when all the visitors would board the CTA, fold open their maps, and try to figure out how to get from place to place.  I was really excited to tell these travelers the best ways to go and provide them with a little known fact about each landmark.  Looking back at these experiences, it makes sense to me now that I became a librarian.  These experiences—and the time when my college English class was scheduled to take a field trip to the rare books collection in our library, and I could not contain my enthusiasm—should have all pointed me toward librarianship.  Yes, I was just that excited to see the rare books—and they definitely lived up to the hype.

Simply stated, my prior law experience includes several public interest organizations with a focus on access to justice and civil liberties, a big law firm, and a small law firm.  My prior library experience includes the LLTC.

What do I do at the LLTC?

I am the head of a new department in the LLTC called Outreach Services.  My department is responsible for developing programs and services for faculty and students, and also for the NSU community, alumni, and public.  It is a job that makes me excited to come to work every day because there are endless opportunities for professional growth, and I still get to tell people how to get places. 

What do you like best about your job? How did you come to be here?

There are many things that I love about my job, but mainly I love being in academics because of the opportunities to learn.  I was always someone who loved being in school.  I really loved it, and I was a very serious student.  Years ago, I realized that at some point my formal education would end, and I would be forced to secure a job where I would be focused on one area or skill.  So, before that happened, I considered ways to prolong my education.  I decided to attend law school, in part because my father held a strong belief that I would become a skilled appellate attorney (I think he still hopes that will happen someday), and in part because my undergraduate English major had very few obvious career choices that weren’t prefaced by the words “struggling” or “starving”.  When I graduated from law school, my career counselor helped me discover that I didn’t want to be a practicing attorney—at least not right away.  So, after reviewing my life’s path, I went back to what I loved, which had always been books and learning, and I decided to enter library school.  It was a decision that required a lot of explanations to those who had seen me go through law school.  How many years of school is it?  Your classes are all online?  All of them?  Fortunately, it turned out that there was an actual job where I could use both my law degree and my library degree—a law librarian—and that’s how I came to be here.

What is your proudest accomplishment on the job? 

My goal as a librarian is to help people find information and feel good about the process, and I am happy when I can make someone’s work a little easier for them by teaching them something they didn’t know before.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? 

Television—lots of television. That probably seems somewhat discordant following everything I just said about loving education and learning, but I love TV—and it does have an educational component.  My brother and I used to identify SAT words while watching The Simpsons, and I can get very competitive playing Jeopardy—by the way, did you ever notice how successful librarians are on Jeopardy?  Whenever they appear, it seems that they have no problem answering questions about obscure or random topics.  Television also helps me stay attuned to popular culture.  If I don’t understand a reference that I hear on TV, I look it up. 

I also enjoy taking naps, vacations, and spending time with my family.  I like activities that require only a moderate level of energy.

Favorite food? 

Since I enjoy so many types of food, I’ll just name the greens and the sweets:  Le Sueur very young small early peas, artichokes, avocados, frosting, cake with ample frosting, and boxes of chocolates that contain a map (because I like to look up each chocolate and read a bit about it before I eat it).

Favorite book? 

My favorite books to read are those that provide me with insight into the human experience through character development.  I like to read the same book multiple times and sometimes years apart, because I have found that I get more out of reading that way.

Is there any particular advice you would like to share with students? 

As you are mastering the legal theory in your classes, learn as many practical skills as you can while in law school.  Enroll in clinics and externships that will expose you to the areas of law that interest you.  Take advantage of any opportunity to develop your legal research skills, as it’s been suggested that good students can get by without strong legal research skills.  See Steve Kolowich’s article.  So, while it’s possible to become a top student without possessing strong legal research skills, it is advisable to take some time to focus on this aspect of your education because it is vital to the practice of law.  This statement taken from the preamble to the Florida Rules of Professional Conduct is one that I’ve found to be a useful guide for present and future lawyers:  A lawyer should strive to attain the highest level of skill, to improve the law and the legal profession, and to exemplify the legal profession’s ideals of public service.  You can work on these goals right now, while you’re in law school, and if you’ll let us, librarians are excited to help you do it.

Trivia returns for 2011-2012 school year!

The LLTC is proud to announce the return of the trivia game for the 2011-2012 school year.  All Nova law students are eligible to participate.

A new clue will be posted every day from Monday through Friday at 8pm, with the topic changing from week to week.  Monday’s clue will be the hardest to guess and Friday’s the easiest. You get more points the earlier you guess the right answer (50 points if you guess on Monday, 10 on Friday). Clues will be posted on the LLTC’s Twitter and Facebook feeds.  Your guess/answer to the clue should be sent to William Owens (owensw@nsu.law.nova.edu) who will be tabulating the answers.

There will be five trivia topics this year:

1)      Name that Movie

2)      Name that Professor

3)      Name that Library/Legal Resource

4)      Name that Case

5)      Name that Pop Culture (Person/Place/Thing)

Every week, we will post the leaderboard to the blog so that everyone can see who our top trivia players are.  Each month, a $25 prize will go to the top player.  Each semester, a $50 prize will go to the top player.  At the end of the school year, the top contender will receive a $100 prize.  In the case of a tie, players will be entered into a drawing for the prize.

For Movie questions, you will also have an additional opportunity for a prize.  The LLTC is showing six movies this year in a series called Law on the Silver Screen.  Correct answers to Movie trivia questions (regardless of the number of points) will be entered into a drawing that will take place each movie night.  Movie trivia participants who join us to enjoy the movie, popcorn, treats, and other prizes will be eligible for a special $25 prize drawing.

Because we’re getting a late start this week, two clues will be released tonight at 8 and two clues will be released tomorrow at 8, with the final clue being released Friday at 8.  If you guess tonight, you will be eligible for 30 points, tomorrow (after 7:59 pm) 20 points, and Friday (after 7:59 pm) 10 points.

Join in and learn more about law and popular culture, the law school, our faculty, library resources, and the profession!

 

Update on the rules: You may ask professors if they are the professor named.  You may not ask your fellow students or librarians.

Getting to know LLTC: William Owens

Where did you grow up? How did you come to be here?

I was born and raised in Jacksonville, North Carolina, a “city” which is primarily known as the “home to Camp Lejeune.” Both my grandfathers were career military men (marines as indicated by the “camp” designation) and ultimately settled in the area surrounding their final duty station. My childhood and young adult life were primarily defined by my relationship with my sister, who had a rare genetic disorder called Friedreich’s ataxia. It is a progressive, degenerative autosomal recessive disorder that primarily affects motor functions regulated by the cerebellum; fortunately, while physically disabled, she was quite intelligent and we would spend seemingly countless hours reading (which was her favorite pastime) and discussing topics of interest.

I was not particularly fond of grade/secondary school and generally avoided doing homework or any other educational responsibilities. I had to have minor surgery in high school because I developed a condition called “testicular tortion” as the result of an injury sustained during a martial arts class (just ask if you would like more details). I felt frustrated and hopeless after missing about three months of classes, so (to my mother’s utter chagrin) I decided to drop out of high school. By this point, however, I had developed an interest in education and decided to earn a college degree.  So, after I recovered from surgery, I proceed to Coastal Carolina Community College (CCCC) (at the time, Jacksonville’s only institution of higher education), completed the 6 required study hours and took/passed the GED exam. Then, after taking and passing CCCC’s placement test, I enrolled in college courses in May, 1994, ironically about one month prior to what should have been my high school graduation ceremony.

I was forced to withdraw several times due to my sister’s deteriorating health, and was not able complete my BA until a little over 8 years later in December, 2002. Originally, I was a biology/pre-med major, but I quickly lost interest in that path after my sister passed away on November 23, 1998. I transferred to the University of North Carolina-Greensboro in 2000 and changed my major to philosophy/pre-law after taking an incredible Introduction to Philosophy course. I decided to apply to law school after taking a moral philosophy course (What makes right/wrong actions right/wrong?) and a philosophy of law course (which primarily focused on arguments from Judith Jarvis Thomson’s “Defense of Abortion”). Since most of my family relocated to Florida in the early 2000s I decided to attend a Florida law school (a partial scholarship factored into that decision as well).

During law school I read a colleague’s paper regarding alternative professions for the Juris Doctor; the section describing law librarianship blew me away. I had always been more of a research nerd and preferred the research and philosophical aspects of the law to its actual practice (however, I have recently been contemplating sitting for and passing the Florida bar exam and taking on a few cases here and there). So, I earned a Master of Arts in Library and Information Science in December of 2010 and here I am working in my first position as a law librarian at NSU’s Shepard Broad Law Center Law Library and Technology Center (that’s a mouthful). I am happy to be here and shall endeavor to have a positive impact on everyone with whom I come into physical, electronic or audio contact.

Where did you work prior to LLTC?

Just prior to the LLTC, I worked for the University of South Florida’s Center for the Study of International Languages and Cultures (CSILC), whose mission is to promote global understanding through the integrated and interdisciplinary study of languages and cultures.  At CSILC, I held the title, “Translation Research Specialist,” a position which is responsible for ensuring that target language source materials are accurately translated into English. I cooperated with an English proficient target language expert and researched individual words and phrases as well as understood various cultural issues in order to create the most accurate translation of the source material as possible. A few of my previous jobs include: assistant manager at Walgreen Co., U.S Army Reserves and Martial Arts Instructor.

When did you begin working for the LLTC?

I began working at the LLTC on May 16, 2011 as a part time reference librarian, and was officially promoted to a full time position titled, Evening and Reference Services Librarian, on July 9, 2011.

What do you do at LLTC?

As the Evening and Weekend Services Librarian (although I assist all library patrons) I act primarily as the contact/liaison for evening students, associate professors and adjunct professors (who generally teach during the evening hours). I help students, attorneys and pro se patrons to locate materials that might elucidate their legal queries. I also teach basic legal research instruction modules to LSV students to supplement professorial instruction.

What do you like best about your job?

I love just about every aspect of being a law librarian: reference interviews, print research, database/online searching, instructing patrons in the use of the vast array of legal resources etc… ad infinitum. Most especially, I love the fact that I am always learning something new; I am not limited to researching one category or topic. I also love the fact that I assist a very diverse group of patrons: professors, students, attorneys and pro se patrons. Just about everyone will have a legal research question at some point in their lives; I hope to be there to assist in their quest to discover the answer.

What are your proudest accomplishments on the job?

So far, my proudest moments have been those in which I have successfully taught patrons how to utilize legal resources. Many first year students and pro se patrons know very little about the law and even less about the legal resources necessary to perform quality legal research; if I can impart some small measure of useful research knowledge unto them, then I will consider myself to have served them well.

 What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

Among other things, I enjoy reading, cooking, exercising, and spending time with my family. I have been trying to run 2 to 3 miles every other day since I moved to Fort Lauderdale, but something always seems to happen that precludes me from achieving that goal; I do run, just not as consistently as I would like to. I was making good use of NSU’s recplex for the first few weeks after I joined back in May, but I have been slacking off there as well. I also enjoy kickboxing and basketball. Next to engaging in family activities, reading moral or metaphysical philosophy is probably my favorite thing to do.

Favorite food?

Although I have my favorite set of parents (my own) and my favorite wife (my current and only one at this time), I am not really a “favorites” kind of person; there are way too many wonderful dishes out there for me to say that any particular one of them is my favorite. I am more of a top ten kind of guy. Let’s see I love my grandmother’s 150-200 year old recipe for Macaroni and Gravy (thick, red sauce with pork loin, Italian sausages, ¼ inch thick slices of pepperoni etc…). I am also particularly fond of Puerto Rican red beans and rice. My wife’s family hails from the island country of St. Lucia, which is located in the Caribbean, so I am also quite fond of stew peas, bakes, curry goat, roti, and numerous other dishes (this section of the blog is making me really hungry). Hmm here are a few more dishes I could go crazy for right now: a slice of New York style thin crust pizza from Circle Pizza in the Bronx, an order of shrimp fried rice or an egg roll from Amy’s Chinese Restaurant in Jacksonville, NC circa 1989, a Philly cheese steak sandwich (on amorosa bread) with or without onions from Philly Flava in Tampa, Florida, a chipotle cheeseburger from Cruisers in Ponte Vedra, Florida, an oxtail roti from Golden Crust in the Bronx. Okay, okay, I could go on and on with food, but I’ll do you a favor and stop here. Oh yeah, I would appreciate it if you would email me a list of your favorite Fort Lauderdale area restaurants.

Favorite book?

If you read the last paragraph, then you probably correctly anticipated, at least in part, how I would respond to this question. That’s right. There are way too many great books for me to ascribe the word “favorite” to any particular one of them. However, as with food, I could probably construct a few top ten lists. Here are a few of my personal favorites.

The Critique of Pure Reason

A Brief History of Time

An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

The God Delusion

The Iliad

Lord Foul’s Bane

Maus: a Survivor’s Tale

Meditations on First Philosophy: in which the existence of God and the immortality of the soul are demonstrated

A People’s History of the United States

Principia Ethica

Relativity: the Special and the General Theory

A Theory of Justice

Utilitarianism

 Is there any particular advice you would like to share with students?

Yes. Learn as much about conducting efficient print/online legal research as you possibly can. Once you leave law school you will no longer have unlimited access to either Westlaw or Lexis Nexis. Utilizing research tools can become very expensive even if you have developed an advanced set of legal research skills. The more time you dedicate to building upon and mastering the skills you learn in LSV, the less time, money and effort you will waste as an associate muddling through the legal research process at which you should have become competent in law school. Also, we librarians are here to help you to become effective legal researchers so that you will not only be successful law students but successful legal professionals as well; I suggest you take advantage of our expertise while we are available to you. Good luck!!!

Office of the Law Revision Counsel wants YOU!

The Office of the Law Revision Counsel is seeking comments on the new beta version of its website for the U.S. Code. The Office is looking for feedback from law librarians and members of the public about the site’s features, content, and ease of use.

The beta site is located at http://uscodebeta.house.gov and the current site is located at http://uscode.house.gov/. Your comments will help the Office make changes to the website to better meet user needs. Please send your comments to uscode@mail.house.gov.

Some key features of the new website are:

• A new search engine for Code data
• An expanding "Table of Contents" style browse of the Code
• A simple search facility for quickly accessing specific Code sections or performing simple word or phrase searches
• An advanced search facility for sophisticated searching of Code content using delimiters such as field or Code hierarchy restrictions, Boolean logic, and case sensitive searches
• An improved display of search results and Code documents
• Cite Checker, a new tool that enables quick checking of specific Code sections for recent amendments
• Easy access to USCprelim, an advance posting of the next online version of the Code
• New explanatory material about the Code and the functions of the Office

Prospective features include:

• Ability to search previous versions of the Code
• Ability to search USCprelim
• Enhanced internal and external links

Hat tip to Emily Feldman, Advocacy Communications Assistant at the American Association of Law Libraries for sharing this exciting news with us!