Illinois Legal Aid Online (ILAO) recently re-designed their directory of legal self-help centers. Site users in need of legal help should now be able to better understand what each center does and doesn’t offer. The ILAO network includes 173 legal self-help center (LSHC) locations in 99 counties, and they organized the information on the site in a way that […]
Category Archives: Best Practices
Round-Up: What I’m Reading
How Do We Engage with Ideas that Make Us Uncomfortable from the RIPS Law Librarian Blog Digital Divides and Justice Gaps from Ex Libris Juris, a blog publication for the Harris County Law Library Legal Reference for Public Libraries from the Maryland State Law Library 2013 National Self-Help in Libraries Survey by the Self-Represented Litigation Network’s Library Working Group […]
Resource Highlight: Arizona’s Handbook for Self-Represented Litigants
I came across this helpful guide through the Self-Represented Litigation Network‘s listserv. I think it’s well-written, concise, and clear, so I wanted to save a copy here on the blog. I’m actually not sure if any actual law librarians worked on this, but I’d imagine it’s incredibly useful at legal self-help centers. I really like […]
Madison County Law Library (IL) Receives Grant to Expand & Coordinate Services for Self-Represented Litigants
The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice and the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts Civil Justice Division recently awarded grants to eight circuits, including Madison and Bond counties. The larger Madison County will be using the $15,000 grant to expand their services into Bond County. In addition to adding computer terminals, Madison […]
I Need Your Voice!
Are you part of a law library that helps self-represented litigants in unique ways? Innovative assistance can come in the form of programs, events, published materials, protocols, workshops, tutorials, online help, and more. If you’re interested in sharing these methods, please email me at matthewsa@cua.edu, drop a comment below, or click “Contact” in the header […]
Law Library Makerspaces
The Cochise County Law Library in Tucson, Arizona recently told a local news outlet that they’re renovating their building for the first time in about 50 years. From Tucson News Now: For decades, the Law Library has housed thousands of books, which were available to both the public and legal experts looking for information or […]
Paradigm Shift: Focus on what we *can* do as Law Librarians, and not on what we can’t
This post will be quick since I’m swamped (in a good way, I suppose!) with work at the law library, library school finals, group projects, research, and way too many other things. Found this older article by A2J lawbrarian Shawn Friend on the RIPS Law Librarian blog, and this paragraph jumped out at me: For dual-degreed […]
“Eliminating Barriers to Justice” Con: Teach pro se litigants to D-I-Y
The “Eliminating Barriers to Justice” conference at Georgia State University School of Law gathered A2J experts together to discuss access to justice for Georgia’s rural population, specifically for those who speak limited English or have a disability. During the event, Georgia Supreme Court Justice Nels Peterson noted that access to justice means more than having access to […]
New Self-Represented Litigation Network Brief on Legal Design
Last week, the Self-Represented Litigation Network (SRLN) released a brief on legal design thinking 101. Really interesting, especially since I’m learning about design thinking and human-computer interaction (HCI) in library school. A message from SRLN head Katherine Alteneder noted that the SRLN Brief introduces the commonly-used terms “design thinking,” “legal design,” and “agile development”. The […]
#TBT: Inspiring 2015 Article on Georgia A2J Lawbrarian Laureen Kelly
I was recently accepted to present research on law librarianship and self-represented litigants at a library and information sciences symposium next year. I’ve already started reading more academic research on legal self-help centers and law libraries, but I also like searching for background info in older news articles and archived web content. That’s how I […]
