Master the Skills for Professional Networking

Networking skills can increase library visibility, professional credibility, and collaboration across your library, your larger institution, and your greater community. A new webinar, Make the Connection: Mastering the Skills for Professional Networking, on June 21 at 11 a.m. CDT, will teach you the dos and don’ts of interacting effectively and the skills and confidence to navigate any networking opportunity.

Learn:

• Pre-planning techniques for networking events
• Best practices for professional interactions
• Networking pitfalls to avoid
• Effective follow-up etiquette

Be prepared for AALL’s biggest networking event – the AALL Annual Meeting in Boston, July 21-24. Register now! 
 
Cost: $30/members; $60/nonmembers; $150/site registration

Get Your Strategic Plan Back On Track When It Goes Off the Rails

Strategic planning is a useful process for identifying goals and aligning resources for the good of our libraries and the agencies they serve. But what happens when the plan stalls, is ignored, or fails to launch in the first place? What can fix a broken strategic plan?

The good news is that project management principles can help identify what needs to be done, and how. This month’s webinar, Get Your Strategic Plan Back On Track When It Goes Off the Rails, on May 24 at 11 a.m. CDT, will cover:

• What successful strategic plans have in common
• Symptoms of problems
• How to know if your workplace is actually ready for executing a strategic plan
• Steps for revising and resurrecting a stalled plan
• When to abandon a plan
• When and how to start again

Register by May 17.

Cost: $30/members; $60/nonmembers; $150/site registration

Help Determine the Direction of the Federal Depository Library Program

AALL and the Government Printing Office invite you to join the webinar Law Librarians and the Federal Depository Library Program: Working Together for a Successful Future, on April 19 at 11 a.m. CDT, and learn about the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) Forecast Study and how you can contribute. Learn the goals of the study, its three major components, and how you can participate in your state and/or region. Find out how Washington State federal depository libraries are working together to create a state forecast and action plan. The webinar is geared toward law librarians at federal depository libraries, but all AALL and chapter members are welcome to attend. Register by April 12.

This webinar is free for AALL members and chapter members.

Learn How to Become a Thought Leader with Social Media

The value of social media as a communication tool is fast becoming ubiquitous in the professional law library culture. However, its value as a leadership tool is less evident. A new webinar, Open Leadership: Using Social Media as a Leadership Tool, to be held April 25 at 11 a.m. CDT, will demonstrate how all types of law librarians can become thought leaders inside and outside their institutions by using well-known social media applications to achieve strategic openness and transparency. This webinar is sponsored by the AALL Leadership Development Committee.

Register by April 18.

Cost: $30/members; $60/nonmembers; $150/site registration

Learn How to Make Your Voice Heard in State Advocacy

In the midst of state budget cuts that threaten the very existence of public law libraries and a growing number of state governments looking to eliminate print legal resources in favor of online-only, now is a critical time for law librarians to speak up for the important issues that affect the profession.

Join the free webinar, Making Your Voice Heard: Your Role in State Advocacy, on March 20 at 11 a.m. CST, to learn practical skills and strategies to make a difference in your state. You’ll hear the latest and most effective ways to influence decision-makers and come away prepared to advocate for the enactment of the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act (UELMA) to ensure authentication and preservation of electronic legal material in your state. Register by March 13.

This webinar is free for AALL members and chapter members.

Learn to Write a Successful AALL/BNA Continuing Education Grant Proposal

Do you have a bright idea for a continuing education program? AALL would love to fund it!

Please join the Continuing Professional Education Committee on February 7 at 11 a.m. CST for a FREE webinar, Tips for Writing a Successful AALL/BNA Continuing Education Grant Proposal. Learn about the grant, the application process, and hear about program successes all just in time to meet the deadlines for submission. The AALL/BNA Continuing Education Grant can assist you in providing ongoing quality continuing education programming outside of the AALL Annual Meeting. All AALL chapters, special interest sections, member institutions, caucuses, and individual AALL members are encouraged to apply.

Register by February 6 at 4:30 p.m. CST.

Learn How to Use Stories to Teach Legal Research

Storytelling has the potential to transform the way law librarians convey legal research techniques and legal information to law library patrons. In preliterate times, storytelling was the primary way of disseminating culturally relevant information and educating members of a society. Today, storytelling still serves as an effective communication technique in trial practice, business administration, and library science.

Join the comprehensive webinar, Developing and Using Stories to Teach Legal Research, on February 22 at 11 a.m. CST, for an introduction to educational storytelling. The program will include a demonstration of a legal education story, as well as methods for collecting, developing, and evaluating potential stories.

Cost: $30 for AALL members; $60 for nonmembers.

Register by February 16.

This webinar is sponsored by the AALL/BNA Continuing Education Grants Program.

Prepare for the Future with Environmental Scanning

These days change happens so fast and can significantly impact our libraries. How do we plan for the future? An environmental scan can help. It provides a systematic overview of the external factors that are important to your organization and indicates how (or whether) the organization can influence them. This knowledge can assist management in planning your organization’s future course of action.

The January 26 webinar, Environmental Scanning as a Change Management Tool, 11 a.m. CST, will guide you step-by-step through the process of developing environmental scans, providing resources and tips to ensure it’s a painless and efficient process.

Cost: $30 for AALL members; $60 for nonmembers.

Register by January 19.

Learn How RDA Will Affect Your Job

Resource Description and Access (RDA) is coming, whether you like it or not. Join RDA experts John Hostage, from Harvard Law School Library, and Richard Amelung, from Saint Louis University Omer Poos Law Library, for a FREE AALL webinar, RDA and Law Libraries, December 14, 11 a.m. CST, as they give an overview of RDA. They will discuss how the new code will assist in finding resources and its impact on staff and other library functions.   

You will learn:

• How RDA fits into the changing bibliographic landscape
• How to identify pertinent implementation issues associated with application of RDA principles

Cost: FREE for AALL members; $60 for nonmembers.

Register by December 8.

Learn All About Animal Law

Animal law crosses the boundaries of legal topics and jurisdictions. It touches upon subjects such as property, insurance, torts, contract, estate planning, and criminal law at the federal, state, international, and foreign levels. Join experts Julie Davies, Marylin Johnson Raisch, and Vicki Steiner for the AALL webinar, Animal Law Across All Boundaries, October 20, 11 a.m. CDT, as they delineate the legal status of animals as the law has evolved through treaties, legislation, and court decisions. They will also highlight useful strategies in determining the most relevant primary and secondary sources for librarians in firm, public, and academic settings.

Register by October 13.