Calling all law librarians! We are very excited to announce the launch of PLI Ever Current: The Practising Law Librarian, a new podcast for – and about – the law librarian community. Hosted by our very own Karen Oesterle, PLI’s associate director of legal research development, The Practising Law Librarian features interviews with movers and shakers in the law librarian field about new and emerging trends, useful resources, and legal developments, interspersed with tales and hard-earned advice from the storied careers of today’s leading law librarians.
The first four episodes are available now with more to come! Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify.
Episode 1: Cornell Winston’s 11th Commandment – Karen chats with Cornell H. Winston, the Law Librarian and Records Center Supervisor for the United States Attorney’s Office, Central District of California, as well as the incoming Vice President/President-Elect of AALL, about his career path from student worker at the Harbor-UCLA medical library, to circulation clerk at Whittier Law, to library roles at law firms, to his current home at the Department of Justice. Hear about the “11th Commandment” he applies to every class or presentation he leads, as well as a discussion about the enormous increase in the complexity and breadth of legal research today.
Episode 2: Gen Z Research With Olivia Smith Schlinck – As Head of Research Instruction and a reference librarian at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Olivia Smith Schlinck has some unique insights on Generation Z law students. She joins Karen to talk about her article “OK, Zoomer: Teaching Legal Research to Gen Z,” recently published in AALL’s Law Library Journal, as well as her tools for teaching introductory and advanced legal research at Columbia Law and Cardozo School of Law.
Episode 3: Music, Math, and More With Elaine Knecht – Elaine Knecht is not only the sole librarian for the 300-attorney firm Barclay Damon in New York — she is also a trained musician, opera singer, school librarian, and public radio classical music program host. In this episode, Karen explores the connections between music, mathematics, logic, and legal research with Elaine, and they discuss Elaine’s Summer Associate Research Academy and growing library of five-minute training videos on all matters library related.
Episode 4: Rebecca Katz on Access to Legal Research– Becky Katz’s lifelong commitment to serving those in need led her to found JusticeAccess, a free online law library for Washington, D.C. residents who need a law library but lack access to one. Among the library’s long-term plans is providing training to non-librarians so they can learn to do legal research and show others how to find the answers they need.