The 117th AALL Annual Meeting & Conference will be held this summer in Chicago, July 20-23, with the theme “Lead.Innovate.Transform.” We hope you will find the following list of programs recommended by CRIV helpful for their relevance to the publication, presentation, or purchasing of legal information and related vendor products.
Program titles below are linked to more information on the Conference website. Please note: The information below is from the Conference agenda/schedule published on the AALL website as of early June. If we become aware of any changes to these programs, the information below may be updated accordingly. Events are presented in order of their scheduled time (CDT/local time in Chicago).
Sunday, July 21, 2024
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CDT
Location: Regency Ballroom D
Speakers will give a succinct review of Hatchette v. Internet Archive and controlled digital lending (CDL) in light of the section 107 fair use factors. The program will consider: 1) whether the holding only applies to books and electronic copy if available for purchase or license; 2) whether Authors Guild v. HathiTrust can be distinguished based on fair use grounds because HathiTrust had distinct, legitimate reasons to copy its holdings; 3) how lending practices under section 108 may provide an opportunity to continue digital lending; 4) responses and advice to members of library organizations like ALA, ACRL, and AALL; and 5) what a legislative solution might look like to permit CDL to facilitate libraries’ in the future, inspired by the state legislative work resulting from the Association of American Publishers, Inc. v. Frosh outcome in Maryland.
Target Audience
Library policymakers at all types of law libraries.
Learning Objectives
- Participants will determine library policy for e-lending considering the outcome of Hatchette v. Internet Archive.
- Participants will determine library policy for e-lending considering 17 § U.S.C. 108.
- Participants will take up librarian e-lending rights by proposing federal legislation for the Copyright Act.
Summoning the Magic Words: Crafting Prompts to be an AI Wizard (Sponsored by Thomson Reuters)
Sunday, July 21, 2024
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CDT
Location: Grand Ballroom
This program will supply you with essential knowledge about how the language you use influences the output you receive from AI products. Our expert presenters will break down prompt engineering’s practical applications and purpose in AI, provide best practices in creating your own queries for generative AI products, and clarify the limitation of AI today that not even prompt engineering can overcome (yet). You will leave with valuable insight, practical tips, and a glimpse into how to be a linguistic sorcerer with AI!
Target Audience
Any researcher curious about AI prompting.
Learning Objectives
- Participants will acquire a solid understanding of prompt engineering and its application by different AI users.
- Participants will learn best practices for crafting prompts in legal AI products, like Westlaw’s AI-Assisted Research and CoCounsel.
- Participants will gain awareness and appreciation for the current limitations of AI and prompting.
Generative AI and Law Firms: A ROI Reality Check
Sunday, July 21, 2024
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CDT
Location: Regency Ballroom B
Generative AI is the current buzzworthy phrase in the legal industry. Products promise to revolutionize the way lawyers draft contracts, research cases, and automate tasks, while reports claim the eventual elimination of various legal jobs and finally ending the billable hour. But is it worth the hype? What is the current ROI of these tools for law firms? Realistically, legal GenAI is still in its infancy and has many limitations and challenges. For it to work well, it requires a lot of data, training, and supervision to produce reliable and accurate outputs. This program will discuss how GenAI is faring in law firms so far and what is likely to happen in the coming year(s).
Target Audience
Law librarians of any level from any library type interested in learning how law firms are implementing and training lawyers and staff on GenAI tools.
Learning Objectives
- Participants will understand the current state of GenAI adoption and ROI in law firms.
- Participants will discover how law firms are currently using GenAI tools and how it is impacting budgets, staffing, and workflow.
- Participants will gain practical tips and best practices for assessing and implementing GenAI legal tools.
Generative AI: Revolutionizing Efficiencies for Law Librarians
Sunday, July 21, 2024
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. CDT
Location: Regency Ballroom C
The rapid advancement of generative AI offers law librarians unprecedented opportunities to enhance productivity. This program brings together academic, firm, and government librarians to discuss transformative and practical uses of generative AI for research, organization, content creation, resource management, and workflows. Embracing AI not only catalyzes daily operations but fosters innovative service delivery. Join us to unlock the full potential of generative AI, ensuring that law libraries remain at the forefront of technological evolution and service excellence.
Target Audience
Legal Information professionals seeking to incorporate Generative AI to handle discrete tasks to improve overall efficiency and work product.
Learning Objectives
- Participants will learn how generative AI can reduce the time and effort involved in library services through concrete examples implemented in a variety of law library types.
- Participants will learn how generative AI can auto-generate tailored content, training, and course materials that are up-to-date, relevant, and catered to specific objectives.
- Participants will discover how incorporating generative AI can optimize library operations to enhance and innovate library service models.
Sunday, July 21, 2024
3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. CDT
Location: Grand Hall LMN
If your law firm has a commercial litigation practice, getting visibility into new state court filings is an essential ingredient for business development, client service, and practice management. Join litigation experts from Law.com and law firm knowledge and research managers for an open conversation.
Learning Objectives
- Learn how to access quality state court data and use it to power business development, competitive intelligence, and client service.
- Learn where to expect challenges and find opportunities as your firm builds or expands a litigation alerting program.
- Learn the pros and cons of centralizing your firm’s response to new litigation opportunities.
- Learn how emerging technologies are changing the landscape for litigation surveillance.
Free PACER, Free the Law: The Past, Present, and Future of Public Access to Court Electronic Records
Sunday, July 21, 2024
3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. CDT
Location: Grand Ballroom A
This program will provide a deep dive into PACER’s past, the tools that enable better access, and the future of PACER. We will hear from an empiricist who uses court records in his research, a nonprofit director whose organization has developed many of the tools that enable this work, and a librarian who assists students and faculty in projects using PACER data. Panelists will address questions surrounding IT safety, sealed documents, and privacy issues and will provide best practices and examples of uses.
Target Audience:
Law librarians working in a variety of settings—law schools, government, and law firms—who are interested in enhancing access to legal information.
Librarians who teach law students and lawyers about legal research and legal technology. Managers and librarians who assess software and data sources for their institutions.
Learning Objectives
- Participants will be able to describe the impact PACER’s history has on today’s technical and political difficulties, and how a free PACER would make the legal ecosystem more equitable.
- Participants will be able to identify and evaluate multiple free and low-cost ways to access, store, and analyze PACER data, including via web scrapers, APIs, and search engines.
- Participants will be able to design instruction to help students or attorneys engage with and use PACER data.
Unlocking the Power of Generative AI in Legal Information Management and Business Intelligence
Sunday, July 21, 2024
3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. CDT
Location: Grand Ballroom B
Generative AI has the potential to transform the way legal information professionals work. With that comes opportunities to leverage their unique skills and expertise to create the next phase of the knowledge age. This interactive program will equip participants with a deeper understanding of generative AI terminology and explore real-world legal use cases, including extracting business intelligence insights and identifying trends, risks, and opportunities within minutes. Do not miss this opportunity to expand your AI knowledge, elevate your skills, and equip yourself with the tools to lead in this new terrain to make a substantial impact on your organization’s success.
Target Audience
Law Librarians, KM Professionals, Competitive Intelligence Analysts, Legal Information Managers, Marketing & Business Development Research Analysts, Business Intelligence Specialists
Learning Objectives
- Participants will master Generative AI fundamentals: its terminology, principles, and implications in the legal domain.
- Participants will explore real-world use cases of Generative AI, with hands-on experience using tools like ChatGPT to efficiently analyze vast amounts of legal and business news data. This program will empower you with the knowledge to leverage these revolutionary technologies to deliver actionable insights to your internal and external clients.
- Participants will learn to assess the ROI of Generative AI implementations, effectively communicate its value to stakeholders, and navigate the marketplace to select the right AI vendor. Gain a structured approach for evaluating, choosing, and deploying generative AI solutions that align with your organizational objectives.
Hot Topic: AI: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly–60 AI Websites, Tools, and Apps in 60 Minutes
Sunday, July 21, 2024
3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. CDT
Location: Grand Ballroom
Artificial Intelligence has impacted every aspect of our culture—or will, shortly. Join us for a fast-paced review of AI websites, tools, and apps—from the sublime to the ridiculous. An AI-powered stuffed cat or a self-driving bicycle? Sure, why not? An app that summarizes case law in seconds and explains it to you “like you were five”? Sounds perfect. Every profession, every hobby, every aspect of our physical, emotional, and even spiritual lives is being transformed. But what makes a “good” application of AI, and what is just silly? By reviewing a wide range of applications (the good, the bad and the ugly), attendees will see just how far AI is infiltrating our collective experience and walk away with some practical applications—and a few laughs as well.
Target Audience
Anyone from any type of library.
Learning Objectives
- Participants will learn how Artificial Intelligence is impacting both popular culture in general and our industry specifically.
- Participants will see a number of practical applications that they can implement in their own personal and professional lives.
- Participants, by seeing a wide range of applications of AI, will get a sense of the best uses of AI rather than just AI for AI’s sake.
Artificial Intelligence in the Library Workflow: Improving Efficiencies (Sponsored by LexisNexis)
Monday, July 22, 2024
9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. CDT
Location: Grand Ballroom
The program will show how law librarians are integrating artificial intelligence into their daily workflow and tasks. The panelists will discuss how they use AI outside of research to create more efficient workflows and automate tasks; and will provide specific examples and answer audience questions.
Target Audience
Librarians in all types of libraries who might use AI to assist in their daily tasks to make them more efficient.
Learning Objectives
- Participants will learn ways to integrate AI into their daily workflow and processes.
- Participants will understand how other law librarians are using AI.
- Participants will gain ideas for their own AI implementation.
Developing Generative AI Tools in Smaller Organizations
Monday, July 22, 2024
1:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. CDT
Location: Regency Ballroom B
Much of the discussion around Generative AI tools revolves around large disruptive, and expensive, tools like ChatGPT-4 or the AI components to the major legal research platforms. This program is for anyone interested in developing a smaller tool for their organization. The panelists are developing tools in different contexts: academic, nonprofit, and commercial. They will address the answers to these questions: Where do I start? What free or low-cost tools are available? Am I going to need to build a data center? Can I build a data set with my organization’s data while keeping the data within the organization?
Target Audience
Librarians who want to learn the basics of building a Generative AI tool. Librarians who want to understand the process of developing and implementing a Generative AI tool.
Learning Objectives
- Participants will describe the different types of Generative AI models.
- Participants will identify freely available Generative AI models and training data sets.
- Participants will describe methods for tuning and training Generative AI models to interpret and respond to legal questions in ways useful to lawyers.
Making It “Count”: Collecting Electronic Resources Statistics in Law Libraries
Tuesday, July 23, 2024
8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. CDT
Location: Regency Ballroom A
When library budgets are flat or shrinking, assessing the value of e-resources becomes especially important. Usage statistics are necessary to help assess strategic planning and collection development goals, as well as to meet the ABA standards for law library collections. However, obtaining statistics for electronic resources can be difficult. At present, four types of e-resource usage statistics exist: COUNTER-compliant, vendor-defined, self-generated, or no statistics. This presentation will have three librarians describing how they use three different methods to collect statistics for electronic resources and use them to promote their libraries.
Target Audience
Collection Development Librarians, Electronic Services Librarians, Access and Reference Services Librarians, Outreach Librarians, Technical Services Librarians, Library Directors, Vendor Partners.
This program is sponsored by the Library Systems & Resource Discovery SIS (LSRD-SIS).
Learning Objectives
- Participants will be able to define three methods of compiling statistics for electronic resources and identify advantages and disadvantages of each.
- Participants will transform usage statistic to strengthen collection development policies, effectively promote the value of library resources, and implement training.
- Participants will develop skills to cooperatively engage vendors in the process of obtaining usage statistics.
A History of Legal Publishing: Let’s Review the Past to Safeguard Our Future
Tuesday, July 23, 2024
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m CDT
Location: Grand Hall LMN
Have you ever heard of Clark Boardman Callaghan? How about Lawyers Co-op, Butterworth’s, or Bender? New librarians will learn about the legal publishing world from the early days to the present from members of the professional community who have “spent time in the trenches,” and not-so-new librarians may recall the older ways of doing business. We will review the many changes in formats and publishing trends over the past 150 years: what led to those changes, discuss as a group the ways libraries have had to adapt as a result of those changes (and will have to continue to adapt), the pros and cons of a more concentrated publishing field, new technologies, how this has affected different types of law libraries, and how these and new developments may impact the future direction of legal publishing.
Target Audience
Newer law librarians, acquisitions librarians, library managers in all types of law libraries, vendors, publishers, and professionals who have “been around for a while!”
Learning Objectives
- Participants will be able to sum up and follow the progression and summarize the changes in the legal publishing world over the past 150 years in terms of technologies and trends.
- Participants will be able to describe and assess the pros and cons of the concentrated legal publishing industry we have today. Participants will utilize historical knowledge to better understand and manage the future of legal publishing and its effect on our libraries.
A Tangled Web: Artificial Intelligence, Legal Research, Copyright, and Terms of Use
Tuesday, July 23, 2024
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. CDT
Location: Regency Ballroom C
In the past year, law librarians have been bombarded with the promise of new artificial intelligence systems revolutionizing the way that legal research is done. Although these systems are still in their infancy, seemingly almost weekly publishers and legal information vendors offer new talking points regarding how their electronic systems will utilize AI to save legal researchers time and energy and find better results more quickly. Many products have already been rolled out to the market. However, as quickly as these products have been released, important questions remain regarding copyright and terms of use for AI systems. Who owns the information that AI systems use to produce results? Who owns the information that these systems produce? Do systems violate copyrights of authors? What about when primary law is restricted by terms of use that do not allow it to be used in more publicly accessible AI systems? This program, sponsored by AALL’s Copyright Committee, will attempt to untangle some of these thorny questions in the realm of legal information and legal information systems, and will approach these questions from diverse perspectives of the law firm world, the academic world, and the world of those who provide legal information to the public.
Target Audience
Anyone who teaches legal research or engages with AI as a part of legal research, those who purchase legal research tools with AI those who are concerned about information access issues, and advocate librarians who want to be engaged with issues surrounding AI and copyright.
Learning Objectives
- Participants will expand their understanding of the current copyright disputes involving AI and apply this understanding to the particular context of AI applications in legal research and law libraries.
- Participants will consider how their institution or employer’s use of AI and how their IP may be used by AI, with or without their consent, with particular discussion of the use of AI in the private law firm market. This discussion will be framed within the larger context of copyright conundrums with the use of AI tools.
- Participants will be able to contemplate the future of legal information access for the broader public after learning about the intersection of copyright, privately owned legal information (including terms of use restrictions on privately published official primary law), user-generated content, and AI systems.
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