CRIV CONNECTION

Author: Rebecca Bearden, Senior Continuing Resources Librarian, Fineman and Pappas Law Libraries, Boston University

Reposted with author’s permission: Rebecca Bearden, NASIG: Inaugural Report, Technical Services Law Librarian, Mar. 2026, at 1, 3.

I am pleased to write the inaugural NASIG column for the newly established liaison position between NASIG and Library Systems & Resource Discovery/Technical Services Special Interest Sections (LSRD-SIS/TS-SIS). Formalizing the connection between these groups has been a goal of mine since 2023, during my service on the LSRD-SIS Executive Board. I have been an American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) member since 2010, and have been involved with NASIG since my student membership in 2006–2007, returning as a professional member in 2014.

During the last five years in NASIG, I have also become a student ambassador and mentor, and attended several of their conferences, facilitated law library professional meet-ups, and reported back within Technical Services Law Librarian (TSLL) to the LSRD-SIS and TS-SIS membership. As a library professional who has worked with serials and continuing resources, as well as other technical services responsibilities nearly my entire career, I have seen the value of the NASIG community firsthand and hope to share that value more widely with law colleagues, as well as promote the law community back to NASIG.

The purpose of this liaison position is to increase the visibility and communication between AALL and NASIG by connecting the LSRD-SIS and TS-SIS community to the larger library community in similar work areas to share information, programming, and enhance professional development.

If you are not already familiar with NASIG, it is “an independent, nonprofit organization working to advance and transform the management of information resources. Established in 1985, NASIG (formerly the North American Serials Interest Group, Inc.) is an independent organization that promotes communication, information, and continuing education about serials, electronic resources, and the broader issues of scholarly communication. Our ultimate goal is to facilitate and improve the distribution, acquisition, and long-term accessibility of information resources in all formats and business models” according to their website.

The NASIG Executive board as well as the LSRD-SIS and TS-SIS Executive boards all voted in favor of the liaison position as of summer 2025, and the AALL Executive Board approved this liaison position in November 2025 as a formality, since the SIS’ are entities of AALL.

This liaison position will have the same three-year term and similar communication and reporting expectations as the other existing LSRD and TS-SIS liaison positions. I plan to include a quarterly NASIG column in TSLL to provide our membership with updates, as well as share relevant news over My Communities. Likewise, I will be writing a quarterly column in the NASIG newsletter, which will report on relevant SIS’ activities. By increasing communication between the groups, I would also like to help develop educational opportunities and identify speakers, to benefit members in both groups.

Duties and other information about the position are currently in the process of being finalized so that they can be included on the SIS’ websites. Please contact me with any suggestions or questions regarding this new partnership.

I encourage you to stay tuned and visit the NASIG website to see the most current webinars offered, which are generally open to non-member registrants.

Registration for the 2026 NASIG 41st Annual Conference is now open. It will take place from June 2-4, 2026, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Thank you again to everyone who helped make this possible!