Spring 2022 Hearsay

HEARSAY News from KU’s Wheat Law Library | Spring 2022

THIS ISSUE National LIbrary Week

KSCRP enjoys successful fall 2021

Teaching ALR using VARK modalities

Green Hall | 1535 W. 15th St. Lawrence, KS 66045-7608 law.ku.edu/library lawref@ku.edu

DIRECTOR’S CORNER Your favorite library newsletter, Hearsay, is back again for the spring 2022 semester. With warmer weather on the horizon and the cautious optimism of improved conditions related to the pandemic, there is a shared sense of renewal and rejuvenation within the law library and Green Hall. We hope this issue of Hearsay shares that positive spirit with all of our readers at KU, throughout the nation and around the globe.

The Wheat Law Library staff has compiled an interesting collection of updates for you to browse, and there is no due date – you can enjoy this edition indefinitely. Among the features you will find in the following pages is a recounting of the 2021 Barber Emerson Bluebook Relays. This special KU Law tradition returned with much fanfare in 2021, and Jeff Montgomery, circulation and serials department manager, has all the details for you. Another longstanding tradition is the celebration of National Library Week, and Pam Crawford, assistant director for public and technical services, highlights this event in an insightful article detailing the important role that libraries have played in her life, along with an impressive collection of facts about the profession.

Technical Services Manager Brenna Truhe offers a change of pace, sharing some information about what is on our librarians’ current reading lists. An eclectic mix of books, both fiction and non-fiction, is offered for your consideration. In that spirit, I would add Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari, and Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth, by Sarah Smarsh, as additional titles worth reading when you need a break from case law and statutes.

If you are interested in more traditional legal scholarship, Library Assistant Melissa Doebele offers insight about the Wheat Law Library display showcasing faculty publications.

Found near the law library entrance, this display is periodically updated with the latest books and articles authored by KU Law faculty members.

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Shifting gears to talk about innovative new approaches to legal research instruction, Assistant Director for Instructional & Faculty Services Blake Wilson recounts his experience teaching Advanced Legal Research in recent years. His article highlights efforts to transform the challenges of the pandemic into pedagogical improvements, illustrating how we are working to ensure KU Law students graduate prepared to conduct legal research in a rapidly evolving information environment.

Additional items of interest in this issue include the return of the Kansas Supreme Court Research Practicum and a successful annual meeting of the Mid-America Association of Law Libraries. We hope you enjoy catching up on our latest efforts and initiatives in this issue of Hearsay, and we look forward to seeing you in the library.

Christopher L. Steadham, JD, MLIM Wheat Law Library Director

Student in the Wheat Law Library copying down information during the 2021 Bluebook Relays.

Open and Shultz Case team crowned as 2021 Bluebook Relays champions Jeff Montgomery Circulation/Serials Departments Manager After a hiatus last year due to COVID-19, another raucous edition of the Barber Emerson Bluebook Relays enlivened Green Hall over the lunch hour on Oct. 29, 2021. Organized by the library’s own Jeff Montgomery and sponsored by the Lawrence law firm Barber Emerson LC, the 32nd annual Bluebook Relays were a smashing success. The 2021 title was ultimately captured by Ashlyn Shultz’s (L’22) Open and Shultz Case team, which joins a long line of proud Bluebook Relays champions. Madison Moore’s (L’22) team, Moore’s Groovy Goobers, won the 2021 Spirit Award.

The relays are a special and cherished tradition for KU Law that provides first-year law students with a brief respite from memo writing and puts their newly acquired legal citations skills to the test. Each small section competes with a team of 10 members, including one Bluebook “expert.” Usually held around Halloween, the relays feature outrageous costumes and spirited but friendly competition.

Ashlyn Shultz’s Open and Shultz Case team (top) won the 2021 Bluebook Relays, while Madison Moore’s team, Moore’s Groovy Goobers captured the coveted Spirit Award.

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In celebration of libraries Pam Crawford Assistant Director for Public & Technical Services In early April, National Library Week recognizes the enormous value we receive from our libraries every day. Not only do libraries provide us with books to read, but they are valuable tools and resources. They are continually changing to meet the demands of today’s technology and ever-expanding volumes of knowledge. In honor of the occasion, I’ve reminisced about my “library story” and how libraries played a huge part in my own life.

The first librarian I remember was Mrs. Cooper, the children’s librarian in my hometown of Independence, Kansas. She “lived” in the upstairs of the library where the children’s collection was located. Honestly, I believed she lived there! She was always so kind and helpful, soft-spoken and knowledgeable. Note: she actually lived in William Inge’s old house on 4th Street.

use the lower level of the library where rows of books awaited us.

That old Carnegie building had a big fireplace, tables and chairs.

We felt so grown up.

Fast forward to young adulthood. I had gotten married, graduated from college and hoped to land a teaching job.

However, I ended up at the Topeka Public Library, driving a bookmobile and loving every minute of it. My boss took me over to the fairgrounds to learn how to maneuver the HUGE bus.

After I had mastered the starts and stops, occasionally running over curbs and having books fall onto the floor, I was on my own.

I’d restock the bookmobile shelves each morning, then set out for that day’s stop. After a few years in the bookmobile, I worked in public libraries, a school library system headquarters and a four-county system in upstate New York, then back to Topeka to work at two of Washburn’s libraries. After getting my MLS, a librarian position opened at the KU Law Library, and I’m still here nearly 27 years later.

Being a librarian truly suits me. I like interacting with all types of people, assisting them with a search or introducing them to a new resource. When I came to work here in 1995, we were just beginning to design basic sites on the World Wide Web (WWW). We marveled at the colorful twisting borders and flashing icons. I had the fastest computer in the place, a Pentium(!), and a small group of us set out on our wild adventure. We never looked back.

Enough of my story. Now, let’s move on to what libraries and librarians do for all of us.

Rita Cooper ( far left) in the mid-1960s.

As I got older, I would visit her in the library while I waited for a ride home. I would look through the books and talk with Mrs. Cooper, always checking out some to take home. If the weather was warm (pre-AC), she would open the door to the fire escape and let in a cool breeze. My proudest moment was when she allowed me to stamp the due date on the card in the book pocket.

I believe I fell in love with books and libraries in those childhood years.

During our junior high years, my friends and I would often walk to the library after school. By that time, we were old enough to 4

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1. Serve more customers than your local movie theater Nearly 1.3 billion people visit public libraries every year. There were more than the 1.24 billion movie theater admissions in 2017.

2. They help spies Your library degree (and the ability to pass an intensive background check) may be what you’re looking for. At the CIA, you can earn up to six figures, maybe more by now.

3. There are more of them than you might think There are about 126,800 librarians in the U.S. New York has the most, with 12,360 librarians.

4. Preserve your favorite music The Library of Congress has been preserving recordings since 2002.

Hip-hop group Run-DMC’s 1986 album Raising Hell, Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 album Rumours and the soundtrack to The Sound of Music are just a few of them.

5. Job prospects are on the rise Employment of librarians is expected to grow 9% by 2026. Some 12,000 jobs are projected to open as communities look to librarians for a variety of information services.

6. Have left their mark on history

Former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, author Lewis Carroll, former first lady Laura Bush and China’s Mao Zedong all worked as librarians or in libraries.

7. Watch over historic artifacts The New York Public Library contains around 46 million items, though not all of them are books: a 16th-century globe, an original copy of the Bill of Rights and a Honus Wagner baseball card largely considered to be one of the rarest in the world.

8. Library work was once considered too intense for women At the end of the 19th century, library

work was considered to be too overwhelming for women, and in 1900, the Brooklyn Public Library Association proposed building “a seaside rest home for those who had broken down in library service.” Melvil Dewey, who invented the Dewey Decimal System, also believed women would have a hard time working in libraries because of their supposed poor health. Thankfully, these ideas began to disappear around the 1920s.

Thanks for reading and Happy National Library Week!

KSCRP enjoys successful fall 2021 Christopher L. Steadham Wheat Law Library Director The Kansas Supreme Court Research Practicum (KSCRP) returned for another successful semester last fall.

Students enrolled in the KSCRP spend the semester researching topics provided by the Kansas Supreme Court and Office of Judicial Administration (OJA), writing informative papers based on that research and preparing presentations that summarize their findings. Taught by Wheat Law Library faculty Chris Steadham and Blake Wilson, this unique course offers students an opportunity to gain valuable research, writing and presentation skills while also serving the State of Kansas.

The semester typically begins with a

visit to the Kansas Judicial Center in Topeka to observe oral arguments and enjoy a lunch with the justices and judicial staff. Pandemic precautions required the meeting to be held virtually this year. The virtual meet and greet session allowed students to converse with members of the court and OJA and also provided an opportunity to ask questions related to the assigned research topics. As the semester concluded, the students had the privilege of presenting their research findings to the court and OJA in another virtual meeting. As has been the case every time the course has been offered, the KSCRP students rose to the occasion and represented KU Law exceedingly well.

In between the two events held with the court and OJA, the students worked tirelessly to gather relevant research, draft and revise outlines and papers and rehearse their presentations. They also enjoyed an in-class visit from Justice Keynen Wall, who provided encouragement and valuable insight on topics related to the course and legal practice in general.

For interested prospective students, the course is an upper-level elective and will be offered again during the fall 2023 semester.

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What the librarians are reading Brenna Truhe Technical Services Manager I am currently reading two books, The Dutch House by Ann Patchett and Hounded by Kevin Hearne.

The Dutch House was chosen as the book of the month for my book club. It was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

This book follows the lives of two siblings, detailing their sibling bond and how they rely on each other in the midst of their mother leaving, their father remarrying and the rocky relationship with their stepmother. I am enjoying Patchett’s astute observations about human nature, especially surrounding familial relationships. Hounded is a stark contrast. I picked up this book on the recommendation of a friend. This book blends Celtic mythology and urban fantasy. Previously knowing nothing about Celtic mythology, this book introduces characters that feel similar to Greek or Roman mythology but with their own spark. This book has proved to be a quick read but only because it captures my attention with its wit and battle scenes.

Blake Wilson is currently reading Where the Deer and the Antelope Play by Nick Offerman. This humorous, nonfiction, travel-focused memoir was found via social media recommendations; however, Blake has read one of Offerman’s other books, Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man’s Fundamentals for Delicious Living. In Where the Deer and the Antelope Play, Offerman recounts stories from trips that have had a significant impact on his life, causing him to reflect on our relationship with nature and the healthy building of both local and national communities. This book is a celebration of the land we all love, and while this isn’t a typical read for Blake, he does give it a good recommendation.

Melissa Doebele is currently reading Cold Fire by Dean Koontz. A long-time Koontz fan, this book is actually being re-read during lunch breaks as more of a leisure read. Melissa is drawn to Koontz’s style of writing and has read most of his works, including the Odd Thomas series. This book is described as suspenseful with a supernatural element. This fictional tale follows a reporter who discovers a man with an unusual hobby of saving people from horrific deaths. The reader is led on a mission to discover the hidden truth behind his powers with just a dash of romance along the way.

Pam Crawford is currently reading Scarlet Carnation by Laila Ibrahim. After reading the paragraph description, she found it compelling enough to download and read on her phone. Pam enjoys a good historical fiction book, especially when the characters come across as believable, and she can get lost in the story, which she says this book does. With a sense of resiliency coming through, this book is set in the early 20th century and follows the lives of two women poised to take on their lives amongst the social transformation and equal opportunity happening at the time.

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Cover art ( from left to right and top to bottom) for the books Where the Deer and the Antelope Play, Cold Fire, The Dutch House, Scarlet Carnation and Hounded.

Collection Spotlight: Faculty Publications Melissa Doebele Library Assistant Have you ever wondered what law faculty do when they’re not teaching? Play croquet?

Assemble jigsaw puzzles?

Binge British baking shows?

One thing they’re certainly doing is writing, and from the looks of the faculty publications display, they’re writing quite a bit. The case that holds new faculty publications is updated periodically by Blake Wilson, assistant director for instructional and faculty services, who also puts together a list of materials in the case.

tour given to prospective law students. Please stop by the Wheat Law Library and take a look at the displays that showcase all of the hard work that KU Law faculty have put into their publications.

The list for the current display, as well as listings for previous displays, can be found by going to the About the Library section of the Wheat Law Library’s homepage and clicking on Law Faculty Publications Display. Visitors can also find KU Law faculty publications on KU ScholarWorks and the Social Science Research Network (SSRN). The display case for new faculty publications is located just inside the front doors of the library and celebrated its 15th anniversary in that location in fall 2021. KU Law alumnus Robert W. Loyd, L’62, who passed away last October, donated the display case.

After being rotated out of the new faculty publications case, a faculty member’s materials go one of two places. Items may go into the faculty publications space in the reference area of the library. Depending on the subject matter, materials may also be housed in the International and Comparative Law display located on the fourth floor in the International Corridor. While the shelving for faculty publications in the library’s reference area has been there for quite some time, the International and Comparative Law display is a fairly recent addition. It was established in April 2008. The cases currently housing that collection are even newer than that. The library purchased and installed new cases in January 2015.

The faculty publications display case is located just inside the front doors of the library and is a popular attraction for staff, students and visitors at Green Hall.

The faculty publications areas are popular attractions. The collections located on the main floor of the library are often the first things visitors see when they come through the front doors. The new faculty publications case is even a stop on the

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Teaching ALR using VARK modalities Blake Wilson Assistant Director for Instructional & Faculty Services This spring celebrates the second anniversary of our last normal week. Two years ago, I was teaching Advanced Legal Research (ALR).

Two years ago, I scrambled to put into place an effective learning path using nothing but online resources.

And it worked. I even saw some improvements in certain areas with the new model of learning. Not one to squander an opportunity to improve, I decided to reevaluate how I teach ALR. The first issue was delivery of content. Of course, the class would be in person. But I would also stream each class via Zoom, allowing remote students to join and participate in class in real-time.

Next, I looked at the best methodology for delivering the course material to the students. For this, I decided to incorporate Fleming and Mills VARK Modalities (Neil D. Flemming & Colleen Mills, Not Another Inventory, Rather a Catalyst for Reflection, 11 TO IMPROVE THE ACADEMY 137 (1992)). The acronym VARK stands for Visual, Auditory (or Aural), Read/Write and Kinesthetic.

Visual

Visual learners are better able to retain information when it’s presented to them in a graphic depiction, such as arrows, charts, diagrams, symbols and more. Visual learners thrive with clear pictures of information hierarchy. Legal research lends itself to diagrams, and it’s easy enough to create and embed them into PowerPoint presentations.

Auditory

Also known as “aural,” auditory learners thrive on information that is delivered to them vocally. Group settings where vocal collaboration is present, such as classroom lectures, would be a good example. To cover auditory learners, we, of course, have the lecture. I also make sure to include collaboration in class.

I use group assignments, quizzes and even games to engage aural students. For those who have tuned in via Zoom, 8

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I will create a breakout room where they can work together.

My ALR students are required to give presentations on their chosen topics at the end of the semester. The opportunity to have students openly discuss their research not only gets them comfortable with public speaking but also gives auditory learners a chance to shine.

Reading & Writing

Focusing on the written word, reading and writing learners succeed with written information on worksheets, presentations and other text-heavy resources. These learners are note-takers and perform strongly when they can reference written text.

How I incorporate readers and writers into my lectures is by using PowerPoint and later uploading my slides. I also require a written pathfinder on a subject of their choice at the end of the semester. This is the same topic as their presentation.

Kinesthetic

Taking a physically active role, kinesthetic learners are hands-on and thrive when engaging all their senses during course work. These learners tend to work well with simulated experiences and tend to thrive when they can relate their task to something personal or of great interest. The more hands-on tasks you can provide students, the better off they will be. I accomplish this by providing graded research assignments throughout the semester. On top of that, the final paper is a pathfinder, focusing on a topic of the student’s choosing.

Summary

Advanced Legal Research’s move back to a regular classroom this semester opened some interesting opportunities for me to use the technology and methodology I learned while teaching remotely. Zoom lets me easily record lectures, allowing for visual and auditory learners to have an easily accessible means for reviewing material, where in the past all they would get would be class notes and a copy of my PowerPoint presentations. My past usage of in-class collaborative assignments can even continue for those who must be remote through the use of Zoom’s breakout rooms. And continuing the use of presentations and final papers brings in every modality to cover each student’s natural learning preference.

MAALL Annual Meeting 2021 Christopher L. Steadham Wheat Law Library Director The Mid-America Association of Law Libraries (MAALL) 2021 Annual Meeting was a great success. In total, 131 law librarians from over 50 institutions across the nation attended the virtual conference, which spanned over five days in late October and early November. The program included 24 scholarly presentations, panels and workshops on a variety of topics related to law librarianship, legal research and technology. Chris Steadham, director of the Wheat Law Library, coordinated the conference as MAALL vice-president/president-elect and chair of the Education Committee. MAALL gratefully acknowledges critical support for the conference provided by KU Law and KU Professional & Continuing Education.

UPCOMING EVENTS Media & the Law Seminar April 28-29, 2022 Hooding Ceremony May 14, 2022 University Commencement May 15, 2022 Recent Developments in the Law CLE May 19-20, 2022

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The Wheat Law Library team celebrated the arrival of a new reader in 2022!

Photos featuring Marshall Phoenix Rubow, Pam Crawford’s grandson, at a week old.

Open and Shultz Case team (top) cheering on a teammate during the 2021 Bluebook Relays, while the Bluebook expert (right) for Moore’s Groovy Goobers waits in anticipation.

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Library staff directory OUR MISSION

Christopher L. Steadham Director csteadham@ku.edu 785-864-9242

Pam Crawford Assistant Director, Public & Technical Services pcraw4d@ku.edu 785-864-9264

Melissa Doebele Library Assistant mdoebele@ku.edu 785-864-3360

Jeff Montgomery Circulation & Serials Department Manager jmontgom@ku.edu 785-864-9252

As the largest and oldest law library in Kansas, the Wheat Law Library is an integral part of the School of Law. It serves the law school and university community in legal and interdisciplinary scholarly pursuits and provides attorneys, judges and the general public with access to legal information. Key components of this mission include collecting and preserving Kansas, national and international legal documents, teaching legal information literacy, and serving as a legal information gateway by providing access to sources beyond the scope of the physical collection.

LIBRARY HOURS March 30 - April 15, 2019 Mon - Thur 7:30 am - 11 pm Friday 7:30 am - 5 pm Saturday 9 am - 5 pm Sunday 10 am - 11 pm

Brenna Truhe Technical Services Manager btruhe@ku.edu 785-864-3168

W. Blake Wilson Assistant Director Instructional & Faculty Services wilsonwb@ku.edu 785-864-9253

EXAM HOURS April 16 - May 5, 2022 Mon - Fri 7:30 am - 11 pm Saturday 9 am - 11 pm Sunday 10 am - 11 pm Friday, May 6 7:30 am - 5 pm

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