Mapping Scholarly Communications in Law Libraries

Conference Abstract: Scholarly communications work is an emerging area in law school libraries in the United States. Despite the relatively small number of dedicated scholarly communications librarians in academic law libraries, their work is becoming increasingly important. Librarians, for example, were one of the primary groups who spoke out in opposition to the U.S. News & World Report proposal to use a flawed citation counting methodology to rank the quality of law school faculties, a proposal that was ultimately abandoned. To date there is only one major study of the scholarly communications landscape in academic libraries generally, but law libraries are usually administered separately from main campus libraries, and most library directors report to the dean of the law school. As a result, law libraries usually offer more full featured services to law faculty than main campus libraries offer to other faculty. But at the same time, they are often slower to adopt new services than larger campus libraries. The organizers will present the first major survey describing the extent of scholarly communications work being performed in academic law libraries in the United States as the conference keynote. The remainder of the conference will consist of presentations of papers on related scholarly communications topics, written by members of the study team and other scholars.

Conference Organizer: John R. Beatty is the Faculty Scholarship Outreach Librarian at the Charles B. Sears Law Library at the University at Buffalo School of Law. He administers the Law School’s institutional repository, Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law and advises on copyright and publishing. Beatty’s research is focused on the role of citation in law, including scholarly publishing, case law, and law school rankings.

Before arriving at the University at Buffalo, Beatty practiced law with Melvin & Melvin in Syracuse, New York. His practice was focused on trusts and estates, but also touched on employment law, corporate law, and collections. He previously served as the Head of Media and Access Services at St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami Gardens, Florida.  Profile page.

Maya Bergamasco provides scholarly publication and research support to the Harvard Law School community.bMaya’s research interests include critical data studies and community outreach and engagement. She has intermediate proficiency in Spanish, and has studied Russian and Korean. In her free time, she works as a community organizer, plays ultimate Frisbee, and visits local bookstores. Profile page.

Pam Brannon joined the Law Library in June 2007. As coordinator of faculty services, she oversees all aspects of the Law Library’s services to faculty, including research services, current awareness services, and special programs; provides reference assistance to college faculty, staff, and students, as well as members of the public; and participates in the maintenance of the Law Library’s website. Brannon is an active member the American Association for Law Libraries, the Southeastern Chapter of AALL and the Atlanta Law Libraries Association.  Profile page.

Conference Organizer: Ben Carlson is the Associate Director for Scholarly Data and Innovation at the Biddle Law Library. In this role, he is responsible for assessing, collecting, and publicizing the intellectual life and impact of Penn Carey Law. He oversees scholarly communication, digital publication of faculty scholarship, scholarly impact assessment, and institutional archives.

Ben is focused on innovation in discoverability and accessibility of legal information through open access and integration with emerging technologies. Prior to joining Penn Carey Law, he was the Director of Information Technology Services at the University of Connecticut School of Law and the Emerging Technologies Librarian at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law.  Profile page.

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Conference Organizer: Christine George 

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Benjamin Keele is Minnesota Law's scholarly services librarian. His work primarily centers on promoting the scholarship of the Law School’s faculty to maximize its discoverability and scholarly impact. Keele assists faculty with managing scholarly profiles, submitting working papers, and publishing the Law School’s SSRN Research Paper Series. He also manages the Law School's faculty publications database and the Law School’s Scholarship Repository. He also provides reference, research assistance, and instruction as a Law Library reference team member. Keele is the editor of Law Library Journal, a major scholarly journal for law librarians and legal information professionals. He has presented and published articles on copyright, scholarly communications, access restrictions on U.S. Supreme Court justices' papers, and the Uniform Electronic Legal Materials Act.  Profile page.

Elizabeth Manriquez is the Head of Reference & Scholarly Support at the University of Wisconsin Law School Library.  In this role, she supervises an incredible team of reference librarians, oversees project planning for the UW Law School Digital Repository and works with faculty to improve the discoverability of their scholarship.  Elizabeth is always on the hunt for new collections and content featuring UW Law and the greater Wisconsin legal community, so please contact her if you have ideas!  Profile page.

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Expertise: Legal Research; Media Law; Internet Law; Technology Law; Legal research & writing; Law librarianship; Web design and development.
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Sarah Woloschuk joined the Law Library as the Scholarly Publishing Librarian in August 2021. She assists with scholarly publishing and open access initiatives for law faculty and students, including the institutional repository and the faculty publications project.  Profile page.