Volume 6 No.2, Summer, 2001 (ISSN 1084-9068)
Table of Contents
Words from the Editor
Mila Rush
It was good to see some of you and meet the others in person this July here in Minneapolis. Yes, I know it was too hot and humid when you came to town, but I hope you found some aspects of my adopted town that are quite pleasant and enjoyable.
Before I go any further, I’d like to express my appreciation to our officers Jonathan Franklin and Ting James, to the members who carried out the work of the AALLC committees, and to others who were responsible for making the past year a success. I hope we can prove to be just as successful this year.
As often happens, the AALL annual meetings can get hectic and hurried. This appears to be the same with the AALLC annual business meetings. We have more items to cover for the time we have, and that proved true again last July.
Among items we had to breeze through and actually tabled was the call for volunteers and the consideration of the proposals for a re-structuring of the committees. To follow up, our indefatigable Webmaster Pin-Sheng Hsiao mounted the proposals, an interactive ballot and the call for volunteer form on the AALLC Web site. I also issued an invitation to discuss the re-structuring proposals over the AALLC listserv.
For those who have not had a chance to do so yet, please check out our Web site at: http://www.aallnet.org/caucus/aallc/proposal.html . It is not too late to volunteer for one or more AALLC activities this year. In addition, the information on the our Web site will help clarify my proposals.
We had a relatively small response to the balloting, but the votes of those who did respond were unanimous for changing the committee structure as proposed. Thank you for your guidance through the ballot. The committees then for this year are as follows:
- Program Committee: Following current practice, the President-elect chairs this committee. President-elect Ting James is joined by Le-Chi Gallagher and Heija Ryoo. This committee is responsible for working on a proposal for the AALL Annual Meeting, as well as for a possible speaker/program after the Caucus business meeting.
- Membership Committee: This committee is responsible for nurturing our members (old, and especially new), as well as recruiting new members. Among the activities of this committee are recruitment, welcoming new members, and mentoring. The members of this committee are Swee Berkey, Frederick Chan, Yan Hong, and Wei Luo.
- Communications & Publicity: This committee is responsible for communicating within our Caucus and beyond the gamut of information about the Caucus and its members. Among the activities of this committee are the Newsletter, Web site, AALLC Listserv, and Directory. The members of this committee are Pin-Sheng Hsiao, Xinh Luu, David Mao and Heija Ryoo.
- Nominations Committee: This committee is responsible for coming up with a slate of nominees for the elected offices of President-elect and Secretary/Treasurer. The composition of this committee is yet to be completed, for now only Jonathan Franklin is in place.
Notwithstanding the committees listed above, you can still volunteer to help out with the AALLC activities or something of your own initiative that will enhance the goals and programs of AALLC. For instance, we need somebody to plan the social event (e.g., Asian banquet) for Orlando. Or, you may want to work on a research guide to a jurisdiction, to add to those of China and Korea, which are already mounted/linked to on our Web site.
Whatever it is that suits you, please get in touch with me or fill out the volunteer form on our Web site. The Caucus will only be as good as what the members put into it. Thank you and please let me hear from you: comments, suggestions, ideas, offers to help, etc.
Career Paths to Law Librarianship
Yan Hong
Soon after graduating from the School of Library and Information Science at Brigham Young University in 1993, I landed my first full-time job working as a government documents librarian at the University of Vermont (UVM). Being new in the field, I benefited tremendously from generous support from my colleagues in this Green Mountain State. As a foreigner who only had an inkling of this gigantic machine of U.S. government, I knew I was in for a huge challenge. Thus, I bit the bullet for the first couple of months, learnt to put my arms around all the major issues along the way and, eventually, emerged as an expert in the territory.
One year after I took on the challenge at UVM, I was promoted to Acting Head of the Department of Documents and Maps, supervising a 90% federal depository library (the library gets 90% of publications from the Government Printing Office). The following year, I became head of the department. During my tenure there, I worked hard with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program (PTDL) in Washington DC, Vermont Inventor’s Association and a group of attorneys, and succeeded in establishing a patent/trademark program in the state of Vermont. For this accomplishment, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt) sent me a personal letter to express his appreciation on behalf of the people in Vermont.
With my knowledge of government documents, I was a natural for the transition from a government document librarian to my current position. U.S. government documents cover almost every subject field. They range from legislative materials (hearings, committee reports, bills, etc) and executive publications (code of federal regulations, federal register, census, labor statistics) to judicial resources (Supreme Court decisions). I knew then that if I ever started job-hunting again, I’d try my hands either at law or business librarianship. I was sure that I would excel in either field with my professional knowledge and expertise. When an insurance law librarian position opened at the School of Law Library of University of Connecticut in 1998, I applied for the position and secured it. I was hired to provide research assistance to faculty, students and visiting scholars, teach legal research, develop the insurance collection and cover the reference desk.
Our Insurance Law Center, the only one of its kind in the country, aims to serve as an international resource for the study of insurance, risk management, workers compensation, managed health care and any other problems of risk and responsibility, and for the education of lawyers (LL.M program) who will be prepared to address those problems. I love what I am doing, as though I have found my calling.
David Mao
During my first year of law school, I was given a research problem as part of my legal research and writing class; I had no idea where to begin. I went to the law library’s reference desk and asked a librarian for help. The law librarian patiently listened to my questions, helped clarify my confusion with the sources, and then left the desk to guide me to the correct area of the stacks. He not only helped me find what I needed, but also demonstrated how to use the sources correctly and effectively. Thus began my appreciation and respect for law librarianship.
During my second and third years of law school, I worked as a student aide in the library. I really enjoyed working in the library. When graduation neared in 1993, I consulted with two of the librarians about a possible career in law librarianship. Of course, I was advised that I would need to complete a library degree in order to attain a professional librarian position. Deciding to be fiscally prudent, I took a slight detour from my path towards librarianship—for the next three years, I toiled for a large law firm, working on general commercial litigation matters (primarily products liability defense and creditors’ rights). In 1996, a chance reunion with one of my Georgetown law library co-workers presented me with the opportunity to work in a library again. I decided to take the opportunity and also applied to library school at Catholic University. Though not technically in a professional position, I was able to work in library public services and also helped staff the library’s reference desk. I had the chance to work with a fine collection and learn firsthand from excellent law librarians.
A year later, I applied for and was given, my first professional position—legislative librarian for the law firm of Covington & Burling. I tracked and monitored current federal legislation, provided in-depth research on historical legislation and also compiled and prepared legislative histories. I also continued my studies and received my library science degree in 1998. Currently, I am the Manager of Conflicts and Research Services for the firm. In this position, I supervise conflicts and the library’s reference desk. As a law librarian, I now have the opportunity to help others find what they need and also demonstrate effective and thorough legal research.
Two new Asian legal information providers: JurisAsia.com and Isinolaw.com
www.JurisAsia.com: Legal Information Provider for Asia
www.JurisAsia.com is a new legal information provider for Asia. Already operating in Thailand, with country sites under development in China and India, JurisAsia will soon start developing sites in Japan and Malaysia to begin operation late 2001/early 2002. JurisAsia will then increase its coverage to Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippines, Singapore, and Korea.
All information provided by JurisAsia will be available in English directly from the site or via managed and quality-controlled translation services accessible through the site. Where appropriate, country sites will be bilingual in the language of the country, and in English. JurisAsia is currently developing bilingual sites for China (Mandarin/English) and for Thailand (Thai/English). All bilingual sites offer complete operability in both languages.
JurisAsia is a subscription-based site. Search results for the laws of any country give the titles and references. By clicking on the title you can see a summary of the law. This covers its pertinent points, administrative features, key definitions and terms etc. Also provided are category searches and keyword searches. The full text of the law can also be downloaded for a small fee (fees vary depending on the age of the law, language and size of document).
Content Scope
The long-term intent is to provide a comprehensive database of all the laws in all 11 countries. Its initial focus has been business and investment. Coverage is strong in intellectual property, trade & investment, insurance, corporate, taxation, securities, banking & finance and bankruptcy laws. In the future, JurisAsia will expand to industry, environment, energy, transportation, communications, labor, consumer protection, procedure, immigration, and social welfare, and then move on to administrative law.
Consulting with the Users
From August 2001, JurisAsia began to offer effective coverage of the business laws of Thailand, China and India in English as well as in Thai and Chinese. By the end of the year, sites for Malaysia and Japan will be ready for launch.
JurisAsia is asking the readers of the Asian Law Link for their feedback on the JurisAsia search features and content. JurisAsia is also looking for authors and contributors of commentaries, guides, and insights on specific areas of the law in one or more country, and on comparative law in any field. Because the initial focus is business and investment-related law, the initial focus of these commentaries will also be business and investment but experts in any area are welcome to contact JurisAsia at any time.
If you have any questions, comments or feedback on JurisAsia, or have any suggestions for authors of commentaries etc. (perhaps among the users of the libraries for which you are responsible), please contact: Mrs. Sophia Buranakul, Content Director, JurisAsia atsburanakul@jurisasia.com
Isinolaw.com – A Legal Database for China Studies and Comparative Analysis
Isinolaw ( www.isinolaw.com ) is a bilingual Chinese law and legal materials providers on the Internet. Its database offers nearly 400,000 Chinese legal documents and more than 5,000 legal translations on the Internet. The bilingual contents include National and Local Laws, Departmental Regulations, Judicial Interpretations, Court Judgments, Arbitral awards, a full set of WTO documents, contract precedents, inquiries on Chinese laws and other specialized sections. Isinolaw also has Taiwanese Law and Macao Law in Chinese. Their materials are developed and maintained by the full support of some Chinese authorities such as the Supreme People’s Court of the PRC, China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC), academic institutions including Law School of Renmin University and Fudan University and research institutions like Intellectual Property Research Centre of Peking University and the Shanghai WTO Research Institute. To distinguish itself from others, Isinolaw.com has been granted a great deal of exclusive licenses and translation rights by the above Chinese authorities.
The mission of the database is to offer help to those who intend to trade or conduct business in China especially for the English-speaking world. With the strong financial support from several Hong Kong prominent investors, Isinolaw.com claims to provide the most up-to-date collection of PRC legal information. Most of the newly promulgated Chinese laws can be uploaded in less than three days whereas their corresponding English translations can be ready for access in a week’s time. In order to meet the diversified needs of its clients, Isinolaw offers a quota of up to 80 Chinese-to-English translations of PRC laws to its clients per month on a first-come, first-served basis. For example, on September 7, you can find more than ten pieces of legal news on that day as well as the full version of significant PRC laws in both English and Chinese promulgated on and before September 4.
The web site is best viewed by IE 5.5 and Netscape 4.75 at 600x800 resolution. Users’ browsers should have GB and Big5 fonts for viewing Chinese characters. The subscription package allows concurrent usage. University libraries can simply subscribe 1 or 2 concurrent accounts and authorize the access right to as many users as they want.
Membership News
| Wei Lou and Phil Berwick, Associate Dean of Information Resources at Washington University School of Law went to Beijing between August 1 and 4, 2001, where they held another symposium on the Chinese and US Codification Systems with the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council of the PRC at Beijing University Law School. At the symposium, they continued to discuss how to codify Chinese laws and regulations. Participating in this discussion were Chinese legislators and government officers from the National People's Congress, the Ministry of Justice, legal scholars, judges, lawyers, and publishers. |
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Robert Haibin Hu published an article "A guide to resources on careers in foreign and international law," in Law Library Journal Vol. 93, No. 3, Summer 2001.
Minutes of the Asian-American Law Librarians Caucus Business Meeting
Time: 5:15 - 6:00 PM, July 17, 2001
Location: Minneapolis Convention Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Hilton - Directors Room (4)
Attendees: Priscilla Leung (Hong Kong WTO Research Institute), Fred Chan (Columbia University Law Library), Han Ouyang (Chapman University), Cossette Sun (Alameda County Law Library), Robert Hu (Morrison & Forrster), Pin-Sheng Hsiao (Reed Smith LLP), David Mao (Covington & Burling), Swee Berkey (University of Hawaii), Yan Hong (University of Connecticut), Jonathan Franklin (University of Washington Law Library), Mila Rush (University of Minneapolis Law Library), Liying Yu (Tsinghua University Law School Library), Jessie Tam (University of Pittsburgh), Ting James (St. Louis University Law Library).
The Asian-American Law Librarians Caucus (AALLC) held a business meeting on July 17, 2001 at the Minneapolis Convention Center, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. President Jonathan Franklin called the meeting to order at 5:25pm. Fourteen members and friends attended the meeting. Cossette Sun, a current member of the AALL Executive Board, attended the meeting. Priscilla Leung from the Hong Kong WTO Research Institute and Liying Yu from Tsinghua University Law School Library were guest members at the meeting.
I. Approval of the minutes of the business meeting on July 17, 2000 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The minutes of the business meeting held on July 17, 2000 were approved as published in Caucus’s newsletter, Asian Law Link.
II. President’s remarks
President Jonathan Franklin spoke about the Caucus’s activities and noted that 2000-2001 was a productive year for the AALLC.
III. Report on AALL programs of interest to members
Guest member Priscilla Leung from the Hong Kong WTO Research Group introduced the Chinese law database which she started developing about ten years ago. A member suggested including discussion of her database as a possible program next year.
IV. Report from Secretary/Treasurer
Secretary/Treasurer Ting James reported an account balance of $986.50 in the membership fund for the budget year 2000/2001. She noted that $100.00 was used to help defray the cost of the Minneapolis lunch banquet. Members questioned how else to utilize the membership fund. Ting James asked for input from the membership on this topic. Someone suggested purchasing small items for distribution (with the AALLC monogram) in the exhibit hall at conventions and also promotional material about the caucus. Another member suggested using the funds for a scholarship or grant program.
V. Committee reports
Directory and Communication: Ting James, on behalf of Heijia Ryoo, reported that the Caucus’s Membership Directory had been kept up-to-date.
Membership and Recruiting: Frederick Chan and Yan Hong reported no activities for the year. Several members suggested increasing the caucus’s visibility by staffing a table at the exhibit hall, and also working with other minority groups.
Mentorship: No report.
Newsletter : Editor Pin-Sheng Hsiao thanked the Newsletter Advisory Committee members (Jonathan Franklin, Mon Yin Lung and Mila Rush) for their help with the last issue of Asian Law Link and for establishing an editorial policy. President Jonathan Franklin added that he went to the Newsletter Editor Meeting on July 14th and reporting that our newsletter is one of few newsletters having an editorial policy. In addition, she thanked Xinh Luu for her help editing the newsletter to enhance the quality of the newsletter, and she asked members to contribute ideas for the newsletter.
Program : Mila Rush reported that the AALLC did not present a program at this year’s convention. As incoming president, Mila Rush distributed a “Committee Structure Proposal and Call for Volunteers” at the meeting. Since there was not enough time to discuss the proposal at the meeting, she suggested discussing it online via the Listserv.
Publicit y: No report. Someone suggested that the Publicity Committee and the Membership and Recruiting Committee be combined as these committees have similar functions.
VI. Discussion of proposed new committee: Editorial Advisory Committee
Editorial Advisory Committee current members are: Jonathan Franklin, Mila Rush and Mon Yin Lung.
VII. Election of new officers
Nominations and Election: Jonathan Franklin reported on behalf of Wei Luo. Jessie Tam was nominated as Secretary/Treasurer, and Ting James was nominated as Vice-President/President-Elect. Both were elected with unanimous approval.
IX. Report on the NACPAL pre-conference
AALL Executive Board Member Cossette Sun represented the association at NACPAL (National Conference on Asian Pacific American Librarians) pre-conference from June 13-15, 2001 in San Francisco. She served on the NACPLS Scholarship Committee. She enjoyed the pre-conference and urged members to view the pre-conference’s web page. (http://bioac.uky.edu/ncapal/ ).
X. New business
Cosette Sun suggested that AALLC work with other causes within AALL and the Committee on Diversity to form a coalition. She also urged members to take advantage of various scholarship opportunities available to minorities. She noted that the AALL Executive Board established a Minority Leadership Development Award and that the George A. Strait Scholarship provides scholarship support to minority students pursuing a graduate degree.
XI. Call for volunteers for 2001/2002
President Jonathan Franklin asked for volunteers to help organize the AALLC banquet at the AALL Convention in Orlando next year.
XII. Adjournment
The business meeting was adjourned at 6:00 PM.
2001 Asian Law Working Group Minutes
Time: 7:45–8:45, July 17th, 2001
Location: Minneapolis Convention Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota -Room 212(A)
Participants: Wei Luo, Washington U. Law Lib., Fred Chan, Columbia U. Law Lib., Dan Wade, Yale Law Lib., Yan Hong, U. of Connecticut Law Lib., Arundhati Satkalmi St. John's U. Law Lib., Liying Yu, Tsinghua U. Law Lib., Dorothy Li, The John Marshall Law Lib., Priscilla Leung, Hong Kong City U. Law School
Chair: Wei Luo chaired for Joan Liu of New York U. Law Lib.
Although fewer members attended this year's meeting, we were fortunate to have two attendees from Asia. They were Liying Yu, Associate Law Librarian from Tsinghua University Law School Library, in Beijing and Dr. Priscilla Leung from Hong Kong City University Law School and Isinolaw Limited. Ms. Liying Yu came to the U.S. as a visiting scholar at New York University Law School while Dr. Priscilla Leung was an exhibitor for the Isinolaw.com, an Internet Chinese law service provider.
First, the participants took turns to introduce themselves.
Second, Priscilla Leung, the Executive Director of Isinolaw Limited, spent most of the meeting discussing the Isinolaw. One of the Chinese services that Isinolaw provides but is not available elsewhere is the English translation of the judicial interpretations promulgated by the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China. The annual subscription fee for the Isinolaw is US$3,000 for one user. For detailed information, please see http://www.isinolaw.com . Dorothy Li proposed to form a consortium among American law school libraries to subscribe to Isinolaw.com.
Third, we reported that after using http://www.chinalawinfo.com for a year, the faculty and students at Washington U. Law School are satisfied with the services. Chinlawinfo.com provides the most comprehensive legal research to primary and secondary Chinese legal information. The annual subscription costs to the both Chinese and English websites is only US$750.
Words from the Editor
Let me begin by welcoming David Mao to our newsletter editorial team. We would like to express our thanks to David for offering his support as a new member of our team. David currently works at Covington & Burling in DC as the Manager of Conflicts and Research Services. Please see this issue’s Career Path for his biographical information.
Also, I would like to share some information from this year's AALL conference in Minneapolis. I attended the session: A "How To" Discussion for the Hesitant Cyber Writer and Paper Writer. Among the three speakers, I was very impressed by Frank Houdek, Editor of Law Library Journal,and Director and Professor of Law in Southern Illinois University School of Law Library. His topic was "Top ten tips on writing for professional journals." I believe his tips may provide a useful reminder for those prospective writers wishing to submit future articles in our Caucus newsletter.
10- Write on a topic about which you know something--you should have something to say
9- Write on a topic that interests you: don't choose a topic because it is "hot," choose it because you are passionate about it
8- Know the journal(s) to which you intend to submit your article
- contact the editor early in the process
- look at representative issues
- pay attention to style sheets and author guidelines
7- Know your audience: who are you writing for and what are they interested in?
6- Know specifically, not generally, what it is you want to say before you start writing
5- Pay careful attention to the organization of your article:
- use the introduction to "hook" the reader (but don’t be so "clever" that the reader can't tell what the article is about)
- use the body to logically explain your argument(s) to the reader
- use the conclusion to remind the reader of your main points (and don't introduce anything new for which you haven't already built a solid foundation)
4- Avoid using conclusive statements unless you provide adequate support (or make sure that such statements are clearly labeled as your "opinion" and are not put forth as "fact"
3- Mind the fine line between adequately emphasizing important points (the reader should know what you think) and verbosity (the reader should not be bored by unnecessary repetition)
2- Write with clarity, creativity, and imagination--ask yourself: "Would I read this to the end if I had not written it myself?"
1- Leave yourself plenty of time to revise and edit your submission--several times--before meeting a publication deadline; let a "fresh," unbiased eye read and comment on the piece during this process and try to take ego out of your reaction to what is said.
To contact the editor, please send email to Pin-Sheng Hsiao .
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