The Wiener-Rogers Law Library at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas invites applications for a tenure-track position of Electronic Services Reference Librarian (ESRL). The Library seeks a personable, energetic, and motivated individual who will provide electronic information processes and services to faculty, students and other patrons.

RESPONSIBILITIES
The Electronic Services Reference Librarian will administer policies and programs for electronic resources and electronic instruction, and coordinates with other departments in developing such policies and programs for the library as a whole. The ESRL is primarily responsible for day-to-day management and coordination of access and electronic information services. The ESRL provides service-oriented reference and research assistance to patrons of the law library including faculty, students and public patrons (some evening hours required); participates in the library's faculty liaison program (research assistance to law faculty); provides instruction as part of the Advanced Legal Research course and in a variety of other capacities; serves on law library, law school and university committees; and performs other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS
Required:
Candidates must possess an ABA accredited J.D. and an ALA accredited M.L.S. or equivalent, or having completed one of the degrees, is in the process of completing the other degree by the time of appointment or shortly thereafter. Demonstrated experience with legal research materials, techniques and strategies, especially electronic resources. Strong service orientation and an ability to work well with others; and excellent interpersonal, organizational, and communication skills. Knowledge of web-based subscription services, web-based instructional technology tools, and Internet resources

Preferred:
Knowledge of HTML and web-authoring tools; demonstrated experience with creating and maintaining web pages. Experience with database design. Familiarity with library computer applications and desktop Windows software and internet based-communication tools such as blogs, wikis, and podcasting. Knowledge of Digitization Projects, E-Reserves, Database Projects, and Licensing Agreements.

SALARY AND BENEFITS
This is a full-time tenure-track, twelve-month academic faculty position at Rank II (equivalent to an Assistant Professor). Salary competitive and contingent on labor market. This position is contingent upon funding. Excellent medical and retirement benefits; 24 days sick leave, 24 days vacation, 11 holidays; no state income tax.

National Geographic recently voted Las Vegas #1 Best Place to Live and Play due to financial opportunity and "more outdoor action within a 200-mile radius than any other major town in the nation." With 320 days of sunshine and winter temperatures averaging approximately 65 degrees it is easy to enjoy six national parks, two national recreation areas, 13 state parks and millions of acres of national forest within a 200 mile perimeter. Less than an hour from Las Vegas you can enjoy mountain biking, skiing, hiking, fishing, rafting, rock climbing and relaxing at geographically diverse sites such as Mt. Charleston at nearly 12,000 feet, the stunning red sandstone formations of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, and the dramatic Mohave Desert.

If you are interested in applying for this position please go to http://hrsearch.unlv.edu to submit a letter of interest, a detailed resume listing qualifications and experience, and the names, addresses and telephone numbers of three professional references who may be contacted. Applicants should fully describe their qualifications and experience, with specific reference to each of the minimum qualifications. Initial review of materials will be based on this information. The review of materials will begin immediately. For assistance with UNLV's online applicant portal, contact Jen Martens at (702) 895-3886 or hrsearch@unlv.edu

Job Posting

A recently announced website and currently limited beta Twine looks to be an interesting new tool for collecting information and processing it. From the company's website:

in a nutshell Twine uses the Semantic Web, natural language processing, and machine learning to make your information and relationships smarter. But if that’s all Greek to you, just think of Twine as your very own intelligent personal Web assistant, working for you behind the scenes so you can be more productive.

I will be excited to see what it can do.

One week before the release of Apple's new operating system Leopard the company released a video showing the new operating system's latest features. There are all sorts of things that will make significant changes in home computing like the Time Machine backup archive system and increased ease in sharing documents across a network. However there is one technology that certainly has the potential to be very disruptive technology. The new iChat AV stands to make possible fundamental changes in the way we access and share information. The ability to share a document with a patron or user in real-time across the network brings to a whole new level the possibilities of how access to information can be made easier in all corners of the globe. Obviously the first hurdle to overcome is the lack of a cross-platform client but one wonders with the advent of Safari for Windows if there isn't an iChat client for Windows lurking in the wings. If there isn't there will be a rush for other IM/video chat clients to match iChat quickly. There was, of course, a time where iChat and AIM played nicely in the video chat realm. A time so long ago it is almost forgotten but a precedent none the less. To get a full flavor of what is on tap get the video and look about 20 minutes into it for the really cool iChat AV things to come.

The William S. Boyd School of Law of the University of Nevada Las Vegas invites applications for a faculty member to serve as Director of the Wiener-Rogers Law Library commencing July 1, 2008.

Responsibilities of the Law Library Director: The Director of the Law Library reports to the Dean of the School of Law and is responsible for all operations of the library including budgeting, planning, and administration. The Director plays an important role in shaping the future of the collection, supporting and promoting the scholarship of the faculty and students, and serving the community. Although the Director’s primary responsibility is leadership of the Law Library, the Director may also have some teaching and scholarship responsibilities. The Director may also have some oversight responsibilities over the Law School’s information technology operations.

Qualifications: Candidates must have a J.D. from an A.B.A. accredited institution and an M.L.S. or an M.L.L. degree from an A.L.A. accredited institution. They should have significant administrative experience in an academic law library. A successful candidate will be interested in working with the faculty to support their teaching and scholarship and in serving the community, as well as in continuing to shape the largest law library in the state. Teaching experience, a publication record, and a record of contribution to the profession are also desirable.

Rank and Salary: The Director of the Law Library is a full time member of the law faculty. Depending on experience and qualifications, the Director may be hired as a tenured Full Professor, as a tenure track Associate Professor, as a tenured member of the library faculty at Rank III (the equivalent of Associate Professor) or Rank IV (the equivalent of Professor). Salary is competitive; contingent on labor market.

Application Details: Submit a letter of interest, a detailed resume listing qualifications and experience, and the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of at least three professional references who may be contacted. The review of materials will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. Materials should be addressed to Professor Richard Brown, Chair, Law Library Director Search Committee, William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada Las Vegas, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Box 451003, Las Vegas, NV 89154-1003.

UNLV is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity educator and employer committed to excellence through diversity.

Description of the William S. Boyd School of Law and UNLV: The William S. Boyd School of Law is a fully accredited public law school located in state-of-the-art facilities at the center of the UNLV campus. We have a diverse faculty of new and experienced legal educators drawn from top institutions. The student body numbers approximately 470, including both full and part-time students. The full time faculty numbers 41. UNLV is a doctoral degree granting institution with more than 28,000 students and more than 900 faculty members. More than 220 undergraduate, masters, and doctoral degrees are offered. Founded in 1957, UNLV is located on 337 acres in dynamic Southern Nevada. For more information, see the UNLV website.

The Wiener-Rogers Law Library: The Wiener-Rogers Law Library occupies the center of a community of active scholars, providing vital research and support to faculty and students. Currently housing over 311,000 volumes, including micro-format materials, the Law Library has an ample budget with opportunities for significant growth. The most extensive law library in Nevada, it supports the research of judges, lawyers, and other members of the community. The Law Library is staffed with a director, seven library faculty members, and six classified employees, and one professional, non-classified employee.

"It is time to dispense with the all-electronic library as a goal," says Kay M. Todd in a Legal Times article.

A great deal of Todd's argument stems from a recent study of students taking a history class online. The study, Todd reports, found sixty-eight percent of the survey-respondents printed out all the readings for the class. Amongst the reasons given are a cadre of standard reasons including readability, easier means for taking notes and better retention of the material. Personally I don't find issues with any of these reasons. Only recently have I become adept at making notes in electronic materials in a way that is terribly useful. A few small (I hope) forests have given their all for the web and electronic based materials I've committed to the printer. Where the disconnect occurs in Todd's article is that an "all-electronic" library doesn't have to be used only on-screen to make it both valuable and potentially superior to its volume-based predecessor.

One vital omission in Todd's argument is the lack of acknowledgment that there is great value in being able to print materials where and when one needs them. Even if the electronic resources get committed to paper the ability for two different attorneys, in different parts of town or different states, working in the same firm to be able to simultaneously access materials, if only to commit them to atoms, has great value. The need to keep multiple copies and have attorneys travel with bound volumes are costly and unfavorable alternatives.

While arguing that many law firm libraries can be reduced in size and supplemented with electronic resources Todd suggests that all-electronic doesn't work when the materials need deeper consideration. "The electronic library is not an effective delivery mechanism where researchers would benefit from the juxtaposition of sections or when they might want to browse," Todd writes.

The argument goes on to suggest that the inability to browse through electronic resources and to look at the table of contents and go to a section are big downsides of electronic resources. More than indictments of electronic research it speaks more to the types of materials being used. There are plenty of electronic resources, in the legal community and elsewhere, that have just these functions. What is necessary is a well-versed librarian who can help the patrons of the library get information in the way they need. Increasingly this is electronically and as there are more digital natives in the ranks of colleges and the workforce the once preference for print will fade. Even the digital immigrant that I am I find I now exclusively use on-screen resources to a much greater extent when once upon a time I printed nearly everything. Rather than dispensing with the goal of an all-electronic library we need to focus on the needs of users in an ever more electronic, connected world and workforce and make it easier for everyone to be successful in the information age.

UNLV has an opening for a qualified law librarian as some people are moving on.

The Wiener-Rogers Law Library at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas is currently recruiting for a Head of Electronic and Information Services. The Head of Electronic and Information Services will provide service-oriented electronic research leadership and take the lead in developing and implementing electronic reference, circulation, and web-based service initiatives important to the Law Library and Law School.

Qualifications include: Master’s degree in library science from an ALA-accredited institution a JD from an ABA-accredited institution preferred and a minimum of 2 years of law library experience. Requires extensive knowledge of technology-based resources. Salary is competitive and contingent on labor market. Position is contingent upon funding.

Application details may be obtained by visiting http://hr.unlv.edu/Employment_Svcs. Review of applications will begin immediately. EEO/AA Employer. For assistance with UNLV’s online applicant portal, contact bob Sitts at (702) 895-1655 or bob.sitts@unlv.edu.

Some great sessions at the CALI conference. Personally I didn't get to Tom's presentation but did see a couple today that are worth commenting on.

Logfiles 101: Lies, Dammed Lies, and Statistics was interesting and had some good new ideas. Overall one impression I came away with is a dislike for Google Analytics. Certainly there are plenty of things to be not terribly thrilled about with Analytics but it seems this point of view overlooks one of the most important elements of web analysis in general. If you don't do it, all the log files in the world aren't worth much. So many times the perfect becomes the enemy of the good and this is completely true of analytics. I've written elsewhere about the benefits I see in using Google Analytics.

CALI for Undergraduates and for Transition to Law School by professors Pollman, Shoben and Hays, all of UNLV, presents some excellent ideas for helping undergraduates in preparing for law school. Schools can license CALI for other departments (in this case Political Science) for very reasonable rates (i.e. $250).

In my traverse of the web this morning I came across a page on using the Stylish plugin for Firefox to create custom CSS stylesheets for various pages. The author of that site has published some interesting themes for Google Reader that make it look more like Safari's native reader with all of Google Reader's features. It's quite slick.

Security firm Kaspersky Lab reports discovering the first iPod virus. Leaving aside the iPods that were shipped with Windows viruses installed, it is fun to take a look at the so-called discovery. As the company's statement shows it is not easy to have an unsuspecting iPod catch this particular virus. In fact it takes a few steps to get the virus to the iPod. Those include:

1. Install Linux on the iPod
2. Transfer the virus to the iPod
3. Manually tell the virus to run

So at the end of the day this "virus" is rather like OS X or Windows XP. You see if you take an important file with your critical data and put it in the Trash or Recycle Bin and then empty the container these operating systems actually delete the file. Amazing. Who will stop this wanton destruction of data... or maybe we'll just not throw out files we want to keep and won't install a "virus" on our iPods.

UNLV president David Ashley today announced that Professor John White of LSU will be the next dean of the William S. Boyd School of Law. The announcement is below.

I am pleased to formally announce the appointment of John Valery White as Dean of the Boyd School of Law, effective July 1, 2007.

John is a dynamic and accomplished legal scholar and a superb leader, who comes to UNLV from Louisiana State University. He has been a faculty member of the Paul M. Herbert Law Center since 1992 and holds the J. Dawson Gasquet Memorial Professorship. He has also served as a distinguished visiting professor at the University of Insubria in Como, Italy, and prior to teaching law, he served as the Orville Schell Fellow at Human Rights Watch in New York City. John received his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1991, where he was a notes and topics editor for the Yale Law Journal and participated in the Jerome N. Frank Legal Service Organization.

I am delighted John will be joining the team at the Boyd School of Law, and look forward to working with him to advance the school as it enters its second decade. I very much appreciate the work of the search committee and extend my sincere thanks to everyone who contributed to the search process.

Please join me in welcoming John Valery White to UNLV. For more information, please read the full news release at www.unlv.edu.

Sincerely,

David B. Ashley
President