v.1, no.3, Win 1995

At AALL Annual Meetings in recent years I have spotted many new faces who may be potential members to this Caucus. Although I could not distinguish whether they are fresh members of law libraries or newcomers to the annual meetings, they reminded me of the feelings of being lost when I first joined law librarianship and how overwhelmed I was by the magnitude of activities during my first AALL annual meeting. There were occasions, especially during those early years, when I thought that how nice it would be if there was someone that I could call on for assistance and guidance in solving some of the mystery of my new library specialization. Now that I am more "seasoned" in this profession, I feel that the "old timers" can be such an asset to the new members in our profession who on occasion can use the wit and wisdom of those who "have been there." Thus, I am proposing a mentoring program for the Caucus members. Let's share our experiences with new members. Give them support when they feel low. Give them a helping hand as they reach out. Isn't that what professionalism is all about?

Let me know if you are willing to be a mentor or you know someone who is interested to be a mentee. I believe that it will be an experience from which both participants can benefit.

Happy Holidays! As editor of the AALLC Newsletter, I would like to congratulate everybody for having a successful year!

1995 was a great year for Asian-American Law Librarians Caucus. A few achievements quickly come to my mind: for the first time in history, we launched a newsletter; for the first time ever, we set up a webpage in the e- world; and also for the first time, we created a brochure to promote our organization and recruit new members to join us .... All these were accomplished thanks to the leadership and hardwork of those men and women who generously contributed either money or time, or both, to make our Caucus a success. I am proud of our members and our impressive achievements.

A few weeks ago, I received a message for help from Ms. Marielena Fina, a librarian at Northeastern University School of Law. In her message, Marielena congratulated the publication of the Newsletter by saying that "I think it is a great idea and I wish you great success." She then went on to say that she was trying to figure out a way to start a similar caucus for Latino law librarians and wanted advice on how to approach that. She remarked that "Being a person of color in this profession is very isolating," so she hoped to put together an organization for law librarians of Latino origin. I was moved by Marielena's word, and wished her best for her effort. Meanwhile, I felt myself lucky to be member of a Caucus which is caring and supportive. I wish the spirit of cooperation and service among our members to continue to flourish in the new year. I believe that we can achieve even greater success in 1996.

Our Newsletter Announced Nationwide

The October 1995 issue of the AALL Newsletter has an announcement of the debut of our Newsletter. Look at page 104 for more details.

Newsletter in OCLC

As you may have noticed from this issue, the AALLC Newsletter now has gotten an ISBN number. Indeed, an entry for this item has been entered in the national database OCLC, with the control #3321902. Check it out for yourself.

For the successful acquisition of the ISSN number, we owe a debt of gratitude to LeChi Gallagher from BNA, who took on herself to apply for the number. Thank you, Le-Chi!

Read the Newsletter Online

The Asian-American Law Librarians Caucus now has a homepage on the World Wide Web at Washburn University School of Law Library in Topeka, Kansas, as reported from the last issue. As a result, the reader may read the Newsletter by computer. In order to access this webpage, set your web browser to: http://lawlib.wuacc.edu/ asianllc/home.html.

If you have any problems with access to this web site, contact the webpage manager Jie Su at (913) 231-1088 or e-mail him at: zzsu@acc.wuacc.edu.

I plan to start communicating with the AALLC 1995/96 Program Committee shortly after the start of the new year. If you want to influence the program planning for Baltimore, now is the time to send any suggestions for, concerns about, or questions on the topics to consider, as well as the process of program planning. The members of this year's committee are LeChi Gallagher, Haibin Hu, Dan Wade and myself.

Speaking of educational programs, "Hong Kong 1997" has been approved for presentation in Indianapolis this coming summer. The Spring issue of this Newsletter will carry a fuller description of the program and the list of speakers - don't miss it.

People & Events

@ Vianne Sha, Catalog Librarian at University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law Library, recently published "Cataloging Internet Resources: the Library Approach" in The Electronic Library: the International Journal for the Applications of Technology in Information Environments, Vol. 13, no.5 (October 1995).

@ Bill McCloy, formerly Assistant Librarian for Comparative Law at University of Washington Gallagher Law Library, Seattle, Washington, now is Assistant Librarian for East Asian Law at the library. The change in Bill's job title is result of an reorganization which took place at his institution in September, 1995, when the Library decided to rename its Comparative Law Department as East Asian Law Department. The change, according to some colleagues, reflects the Library's excellence in both collection and service in East Asian law.

@ Ms. Weiwei Wang, Acquisitions/ Cataloging Librarian at University of Illinois Law Library, Champaign, Illinois, is now a full-time student at the University 's College of Law. While a full-time law student, Weiwei works part-time in the Library. She expects to go back to full-time work while studying part-time in fall 1996.

A big "Thank You" is due the following members who contributed $10.00 each to the Caucus for 1995-96:

Nancy Cheng, Kai-Yun Chiu, Johnathan Franklin, Lei-Chi Gallagher, Haibin Hu, Wendy Hu, Kwei-yuei Hung, Clement Chu- Sing Law, Claire Lee, Frank Liu, Joan Liu, Mon Yin Lung, Wei Luo, William McCloy, Heija B. Ryoo, Jack T. Sheng, Jie Su, Dan Wade, Cindy Wang, and Grace Wang.

Although financial contributions to the Caucus are entirely voluntary, I would like to encourage all of you to make contributions to the Caucus since our membership-based funding is crucial to support the production of both the Newsletter and the Directory of Membership. You may contribute by using the Application for Membership form enclosed in this issue of the Newsletter. Thank you for your support.

                       Application for Membership

          Please include my name in the directory of
          the Asian-American Law Librarians Caucus:

     Name______________________________

     Institution__________________________

          ___________________________________
     
     Mailing Address_____________________

          ___________________________________

          ___________________________________

          ___________________________________

     Phone No.__________________________

     Fax No.____________________________

     E-mail_____________________________

          [   ]  I have enclosed a $10 check, as a
     voluntary contribution to support the Asian-
     American Law Librarians Caucus.  (Please
     note that your check must be made payable
     to American Association of Law Libraries,
     instead of the Caucus.  However, you should 
     note on the back of the check "for Asian-
     American Law Librarians Caucus".)  

     Please send completed application to:

           Wendy Hu
           Secretary/Treasurer of AALLC
           U.S. Court of Appeals Library
           2801 U.S. Courthouse
           40 Centre Street/Foley Square
           New York, NY 10007-1595

The Last Word

Wen Shixing, cataloging librarian at the main library of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale has set up the Internet Chinese Librarians Club (ICLC). The ICLC's home page on the World Wide Web is: http://www.lib.siu.edu/swen/iclc. If you do not have a web browser like Netscape or Mosaic, you may access to this listserv by subscription. To subscribe, you should send an email message to the address listserv@siucvmb.siu.edu, leave the subject line blank and, in the body of your message, type: subscribe mwcala _your full name_.