It’s often hard to prioritize the special interest sections that cover all interests, and at $20 a section, the fees add up.  The Computing Services SIS would like to make it a bit easier to join sections by sponsoring 25 CONELL participants with a 2018-2019 section membership grant to CS-SIS.  There is a string attached, however.  We’d like the grant recipient to join a committee.  Committees are at the heart of CS-SIS, and joining a committee is the best way to network and to help move CS-SIS initiatives forward.

Are you a newer member of AALL interested in joining CS-SIS? Or do you a know a newer member who might be interested?   If so, please fill out the form or share the link.  Only 25 section membership grants will be awarded, so sign up soon.  Direct questions to CS-SIS Chair, Tawnya Plumb.

Guest post by David Whelan; originally published on David’s own blog. 

When you weed – deselect – from a collection, you are focused on a particular audience. No-one can keep everything. I was looking for an album to stream over the weekend and was amazed to find it unavailable. Deselection can also mean that weeded content, by being out of sight, becomes out of mind as well. It makes me wonder how often library users realize what’s missing.

I almost did an eye roll when I saw Southern Methodist University law library’s collection described as having dead books in it. I worked at the Underwood Law Library right out of law school and, while I didn’t spend much time in certain parts of the collection, I’m not sure I’d call any of the books dead.

I think the writer was doing the dead trees thing but perhaps it’s passé.

Items that are in a collection have always seemed to me to be like an object with potential energy. A lack of regular use isn’t a value reflection; it retains the same value it had when it was selected. If it’s remained on the shelf, it’s probably got some value to impart. And if it is weeded, it may not be a value reflection either; there may be something better, or a library just needs shelf space.

In a digital environment, the assumption may be that everything is available, and so a search is comprehensive. I know that’s not true in law, although maybe not all legal researchers do. I expected more in music, although now I’m not sure why I had that expectation.

Preferred Formats

In my case, I was just looking for the soundtrack to Amadeus, the 1984 film starring Tom Hulce and F. Murray Abraham, among others. I have the vinyl LP record but I was going to stream just a selection, figuring it would be easier than relocating to the record player. The movie won a ton of awards, so I figured the soundtrack would, similarly, have enough profile to live on digitally.

Wrong. I couldn’t locate the soundtrack on Apple’s iTunes. Nor on 2 other music services I use. 7Digital brought up nothing. Google Play responded in a typical Google way: we know you’re looking something that involves these two people, but we’re not going to show it to you.

Then I thought of Spotify. Surely Spotify would have it! Sort of.

To paraphrase Lou “Blue Lou” Marini, “that green Play button is greyed out on purpose.” I saw a small message at the top that warned me to come back later, that Firefox was installing something to play DRM content. But when I restarted the browser – and tried in Edge – the button stayed unplayable.

Mission Impossible

I can’t stream Amadeus, that much is clear. I can probably find a Youtube or other copyright-violated online version. But the failure of the immediate access promised by digital music services struck me. If I really wanted to listen to this music, I’d have to fall back on other formats.

Slower formats. Library formats.

Toronto Public Library has 4 copies of the soundtrack. That was the nearest copy to me in a library to which I had borrowing privileges. I could put one on hold and have it forwarded to the nearest branch. Could be a week or more.

I could order a copy online. Amazon has one for about C$22 and could deliver by tomorrow. For those privileged enough to afford it, you can see why Amazon has a potential for replacing libraries who base value on delivering specific formatted content.

Whether from the library or Amazon or some other store, a CD format would eventually become a digital format for me. I don’t listen to CDs much; my collection is mostly just an archive now.

Or, since I was fortunate enough to own a vinyl copy, I could plug my Ion record player into a computer and, using Audacity, make my own digital copy. I’ve done it in the past and it’s a bit of a hassle but it’s not impossible. It’s how I copied my parent’s LP called Feux Follets, a 1960s era Canadian folk dance and music ensemble. I’ve never found that anywhere else.

Dead and Unknown

This is not the first time. I was looking recently for the heavily bagpipe-reliant soundtack to The Navigator: a Medieval Odyssey. The score lines up a bunch of European and Middle Eastern bagpipes with other instruments; it’s an interesting mix, but not for everyone.

Before that it was German Brass, a group that’s been performing since the 1970s with a changing line up. And the Cambridge Buskers, a novelty act from the early 1980s.

I have to admit that I occasionally buy something in a format that I expect will soon not be available. A copy of Millbank, an 1871 novel, or Pa’s Green Book with the information on the awk, two books mentioned in Laura Ingalls Wilder, have both been acquired and added to our family’s library. Not because they’re great literature but because the Little House books meant something to us and those books are part of it.

It’s like the 1950 limit set on the Google cases. The all-encompassing nature of digital content suggests comprehensiveness. Libraries fight an uphill battle trying to challenge information retention based on format. At the same time, the shift to digital resources leaves both gaps, like Amadeus, or arbitrary cutoffs, like Google, that make the lost information invisible.

Case law at least has the benefit of citations. If no-one links to or talks about the Flying Lizard’s version of Money, no-one will know it’s missing.

The last copy networks that are being created by libraries are one way to capture the big things. Whatever the criteria, it’s a way for groups to take responsibility for keeping things of value even when there are good reasons to get rid of them.

That’s great for the object but I’m not sure it’s as great for the user. Toronto Public Library has an LP version of the Cambridge Buskers 1977 release but it’s reference only. It’s preserved but it’s out of sight and, probably, out of reach of many people. That’s not a criticism; that’s reality for preservation.

In the legal world, books can backstop some of this.  But that they exist doesn’t mean they’ll be used.  It’s not a value judgment.  It’s knowing that, beyond the edges of the visible map, there are other worlds that could be explored.

Unfortunately, not everything can be digitized. Even more content that can is unavailable due to licensing and other issues. Those are realities too and they are part of the perspective that everything is digitally available.  We can’t always know and communicate what’s comprehensive and what’s missing.

Even when we can, and provide information in different formats to fill gaps, it may not be meaningful.  The friction required to go beyond what the publishers and aggregators provide is probably more than most people will attempt. At some point, I expect the perspective is that, if it hasn’t been made available, then it isn’t necessary.

Find David on Twitter @davidpwhelan⁩ and be sure to check out his blog.

The Computing-Services Special Interest Section is made up of awesome law librarians doing interesting things.   The CS-SIS Member Spotlight is designed to shine light on our membership so that we can learn more about each other and stay connected.

CS-SIS Member Spotlight:  Kenneth Hirsh

Kenneth J. Hirsh, a Familiar Name

Since 2004, CS-SIS has honored members who have made outstanding contributions to the section, to AALL, and to the profession as a whole with the Kenneth J. Hirsh Distinguished Service Award.  Ken received the inaugural award in 2004 and continues to be recognized for his outstanding contributions having served as CS-SIS chair, SEAALL president, AALL Executive Board member, and a long-time member of the CALI Board of Directors.  If you didn’t meet him in one of these associations, you may have encountered him as a student at the University of Miami (AB), the University of Florida (JD), or Florida State University (MS).  He was a reference librarian and an I.T. director at Duke and is now the Director of the Law Library and Professor of Practice at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.  Last, but not least, you may have watched him win some money on Jeopardy in 2016.

CS-SIS Then

What we know as Computing Services SIS was formerly the Automation and Scientific Development SIS.  Members communicated through the section’s print newsletter, Automatome, which is archived on our website for those interested.  In the 1990’s, many academics who were interested in computers joined the Technoids mailing list, hosted by Tom Bruce at Cornell.  Discussions at the time considered the roles of librarians, questioned who should manage computers in the law school, and covered hot topics such as Gopher and the internet.  Ken recalls when Anne Myers set up the first internet room at AALL in Boston in 1993.  In 1996, when Ken served as vice-chair, the section was renamed Computing Services.  Although several names where considered, “Computing” Services was selected to signify that the section is about people, not about devices.  With the name change came a new online newsletter, CS-SIS Connecting. It was initially edited by the late Liz Glankler, who received the Distinguished Service Award in 2006.

CS-SIS Now

Ken continues to love CS-SIS and is glad to be part of it.   He believes that our section has always been and will continue to be a home for all law librarians interested in technology, regardless of their professional titles.  These days he sees a strong interest in teaching technology in law schools and in law firms.  He notes that this interest is reflected in conference coverage, such as at the ABA tech show and CALIcon, and in organizations such as ILTA (International Legal Technology Association).  An innovator in his own right, Ken has developed a Technology in the Law Practice course which he co-teaches at the University of Cincinnati.

Karaoke with Ken

Have you heard of Karaoke with Ken?  If you haven’t participated before, consider it a must-attend event at your next AALL annual meeting.

History:  While Ken had indulged in karaoke with Duke coworkers and SEAALL colleagues in years prior, 1997 was the year that Karaoke with Ken became AALL tradition, starting in Baltimore with Jim Milles and Don Buffaloe.  In 2001, CS-SIS became the official sponsor of Karaoke with Ken (well played, Kris Niedringhaus), and 2018 will mark the famed event’s return to Baltimore.

Please download the AALL 2018 app and add Karaoke with Ken to your schedule.  Singing will begin at 10pm on Saturday, July 14th at Supano’s Prime Steakhouse, 110 Water Street, but get there early to secure a seat.  Ken anticipates starting off the night with Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, will work in his tradition Mack the Knife, and is hoping to sing a duet with Shira Megerman from Boston University.  We hope to see you there!

Thanks to Ken for his willingness to be interviewed for this CS-SIS member spotlight.   If you are interested in interviewing and writing a blog post about a CS-SIS member, please contact Tawnya Plumb at tplumb@uwyo.edu.  It is a great opportunity to learn about a fellow member.