v.4, no.1, Sum 1998

Asian-American

Greetings, friends!

As I left the meeting room after our tenth anniversary celebration, annual business meeting and program, my mind went back to the AALL Annual Meeting at Washington, DC in 1986.

That year, after seeing many Asian-American law librarians attending the meeting, Katherine Meng Kenworth and I chatted about the fun things people could do if we had an organization, and wondered why there was not any. Then it dawned on us: we could give it a try. We went to AALL Office for material to make a sign for a gathering. We invited all the Asian-Americans we ran into. To our surprise, more than ten people showed up at the gathering. The response was very positive. The next year, with the help of Dorothy Li, I called for a meeting at a Chinese restaurant at Chicago during the AALL meeting. This led to our formal birth as a group with a name, officers and bylaws in 1988. The rest, as people love to say, is history.

From day one AALLC's is a story written by its members. We have a most diversified membership. We also serve many purposes. Here you can find people from similar backgrounds, people facing similar career issues, people sharing similar research interests, to people trying to have a good Asian dinner Tuesday evening. Over the years, thanks to efforts made by many of us, our caucus has become a voice within the AALL while it strives to meet our various needs. However, our continuing success depends solely on our membership participation and new blood. I urge each one of us to join a committee, or simply bring a friend to our next meeting (or dinner). Here is the place you can build up your professional activities comfortably with plenty of support. It is never too late to sign up for committee work. Just send me (mylung@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu) the word and you are on. Remember, the vitality of our caucus depends on membership participation and that means you. In order to actively reach our membership, I will make contact through our listserv and hopefully, by snail mail to those who are not yet on line. 
 

Before I sign off, I want to take this opportunity to thank, first of all, Frank Liu for his wonderful work during this past year. Frank's show is too hard to follow. Luckily we will still have him on the Executive Committee for one more year. Secondly, I want to thank Haibin Hu for his loyal and unfailing service as our sole newsletter editor from 1995 to present. As this is Haibin's last issue, I cannot find adequate words to express my gratitude for his contribution. Because of his effort our members have had a vehicle to communicate throughout the year. Thank you for your good work, Haibin, and I look forward to working with you as our new secretary/treasurer. Last but not least, I want to thank Hua Li who provides another fine sample of voluntarism by becoming our new newsletter editor. Hua plans to expand the membership news column, so please keep her informed of your activities.

I look forward to having a great year with you. 
 

This is my last issue of the Newsletter as editor. It's hard to believe that this newsletter has been in publication for more than two years. What's equally amazing to me is that since the birth of this newsletter it has moved from the old-fashioned print to the modern age of web publishing!

As the editor, I've enjoyed working with a lot of you, in particular, Paul Fu, Kai-Yun Chiu, Nancy Cheng, and Frank Liu. I want to thank everyone who has supported and contributed to the newsletter. I want to single out Paul Fu for a special "thank you" because he was the President of the Caucus who supported my idea to start a newsletter for the Caucus. I also want to thank Wei Luo, webmaster for our Caucus, for his tireless efforts to bring up and maintain this publication on the web.

Editing a publication like this takes a lot of time and commitment. However, I've enjoyed working on this for the past two years, and I thank you all for the opportunity. My successor, Ms. Hua Li, who has kindly volunteered to edit the newsletter, will take over the editorship from next issue. Let's all wish her well on her new adventure. 
 

Ms. Hua Li is a Catalog/Reference Librarian at Creighton University Law Library. She received her Bachelor and Master of History from People's University of China in 1983 and in 1989. She also received her Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Texas at Austin in 1996. Ms. Li served as an Assistant Archivist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences from 1983-1986, and as a Lecturer and Associate Director of Archives Administration at the Archives College of People's University of China from 1989-1992. 
 

Anaheim, CA

July, 13, 1998

Prior to the business meeting, there was the AALLC 10th anniversary celebration reception. The reception was a joyful event and drew a record crowd of old and new members of the Caucus and officers of the AALL, including Judy Meadows, AALL President; James Heller, AALL Vice President/ President-Elect; Margaret Maes Axtmann, 1998-99 Vice President/President Elect; Frank Houdek, Immediate Past President; Roger Parent, Executive Director; and a number of AALL board members.

The business meeting was called to order by Caucus President Frank Liu at 6:05 p.m. An attendees sheet was circulated, and the attendees briefly introduced themselves; approximately 30 members attended the meeting. The minutes of July 1997 business meeting, as published in the Newsletter (Vol. 3, No. 2, Fall 1997), were unanimously approved without any discussion.

Frank Liu commented on the AALLC 10th year celebration and especially thanked Mon Yin Lung and other committee members for arranging the celebration reception. Dan Wade prepared the AALLC publicity brochure, "Now, Celebrating its 10th year!!". Heija Ryoo, the Directory Committee co-chair, reported on an updated directory on the AALLC home page and on the use of the AALLC listserv for Caucus communication. Kai-Yun Chiu commented on distributing caucus information to those members who do not have access to the web, and Cossette Sun suggested contacting the AALL for linking the AALLC home page to the AALL home page. Wei Luo, the Program Committee chair, reported on program ideas for the 1999 meeting in Washington, D.C. Frank Liu gave the Treasurer's report on behalf of Jonathan Franklin, and reported on Newsletters on behalf ofHaibin Hu.

Frank reviewed the accomplishments in the past year, especially on long range development goals and missions of the Caucus. Frank announced the dinner plans for Tuesday (July 14) at Chu's Wok Inn, and also solicited donations from the members for the Caucus' operation expenses which were later collected by Mon Yin Lung. Cindy Wang, Nominating Committee chair, recommended Wei Luo and Haibin Hu for the offices of Vice-President/President-Elect and Secretary/Treasurer respectively. There were no other nominations from the floor. Both Wei Luo and Haibin Hu were elected unanimously by the members present at the meeting.

Frank then passed the gavel to the new Caucus President, Mon Yin Lung. Mon Yin thanked Frank for his service in the past year. Special thanks were also given to Bill McCloy and Dorothy Li, our first and second presidents. Bill and Dorothy each chaired the Caucus for two terms, and had labored hard for the Caucus in its infancy. Mon Yin commented on activities, programs and plans for the coming year. Mon Yin announced new committee assignments for the new year. Mon Yin thanked Haibin Hu who resigned his job as the editor of the AALLC newsletter after the forthcoming issue.Hua Li, Catalog/Reference Librarian at Creighton University Law Library, will be the new editor. The newsletter will feature an expanded column on membership news and new columns on electronic resources/services as well as current Asian legal material developments.

The business meeting was adjourned and a program on "Professional Growth in the AALL and the Law Library Profession: Sharing the Experiences" was given by Paul Fu and Frank Liu. Both Paul and Frank shared their valuable experiences and gave tips for professionalism and professional growth. To sum it up: be yourself and be happy; set high goals; stay visible; volunteer; build communication and people skills; develop competency; show utmost integrity and honesty; and maintain high standards and ethics.

The program ended at around 7:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Heija B. Ryoo, Recorder Pro Tem 

 From the Editor's Bookshelf

The following is a bibliography of recent publications on Asian law or Asian politics. Items are arranged by country/region names. 
 

Asia in General

International environmental law in the Asia Pacific. By Ben Boer, Ross Ramsay, Donald R. Rothwell. London ; Boston : Kluwer Law International, 1998.

Changing Tax Law in East and Southeast Asia Toward the 21st Century. Edited by Yong Zhang & Toshiro Fuke. The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 1997. Check this on OCLC

China - Hong Kong - Taiwan

Tradition of the Law and Law of the Tradition: Law, State, and Social Control in China. By Xin Ren. Greenwood Press, 1997.

Understanding Chinese courts and legal process : law with Chinese characteristics / by Ronald C. Brown. The Hague ; Boston: Kluwer Law International, 1997.

Forbidden Workers: Illegal Chinese Immigrants and American Labor. By Peter Kwong. New York: the New Press, 1997.

Intellectual Property Enforcement in China: Leading Cases and Commentary. By Zheng Chengsi. Hong Kong; Singapore: Sweet & Maxwell Asia, 1997.

Opinions of the Supreme People's Court: Judicial Interpretation in China. By Nanping Liu. Hong Kong; Singapore: Sweet & Maxwell Asia, 1997.

India

Rules, Laws, Constitutions. Edited by Satish Saberwal, Heiko Sievers. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998. Check this on OCLC

Japan

Authority without power : law and the Japanese paradox. By John Owen Haley. New York : Oxford University Press, 1991.

Japanese Trademark Jurisprudence. By Kenneth L. Port. Cambridge, MA: Kluwer Law International, 1998.

This Newsletter is edited by Haibin Hu, Reference Librarian, Wake Forest University Professional Center Library. For comments or suggestions, please call the editor at (336) 758-6114 or email: haibin_hu@law.wfu.edu.

For technical assistance, please contact the webmaster for the Newsletter Wei Luo (LUO@wulaw.wustl.edu), Washington University School of Law Library, St. Louis, MO.