Week in the Law Library Life: Dean Ortiz

This week, we start a new blog series, Week in the Law Library Life.  While you may know some of the full-time library staff members, 8 in total, you may wonder what exactly we do in the library.  Some things are visible, like help at the circulation desk or legal research instruction, but much of our work is not as obvious.  This series is from the point of view of each staff member, and we hope this gives you some insight into what exactly we do.

Here’s our “tl;dr” version because ChatGPT did not "understand the assignment".

• Monday: managing the collection.
• Tuesday: textbook reserves project.
• Wednesday: Windows 11 update, instruction, and weather delay planning.
• Thursday: teaching Advanced Legal Research.
• Friday: fun, but first, class prep.
• Every day: meetings, faculty/student/staff questions, vendor communications, budget, and working with the library staff.

Monday
Like most Mondays, my Monday started with a law library staff huddle. We connect for 10-30 minutes every Monday to inform each other about schedule changes, upcoming events, visitors, etc. This quick meeting always reminds me of the different kinds of work we do in the library!

I then worked on collection services tasks: acquiring, processing, and making library resources accessible to our patrons.  This year, we are renegotiating several contracts, so I spent time reviewing the contract business terms--what is included, the cost, etc.—which precedes the legal terms review by the University’s General Counsel. A vendor contacted me about a meeting with several staff members about their product, so I asked the relevant staff to find a mutually agreeable date and time.  I also reviewed materials we ordered but have not arrived, entered claims for those materials, and met with a vendor to discuss their platform for selecting and buying print materials. 

Other work included reviewing and purchasing book suggestions for our Blind Date with a Book event. I also answered emails from my students. Lastly, I met with the University Library dean to discuss our upcoming retreat for all university library employees.  After our call, I distributed a book and assessment to the law library staff in preparation for the retreat.

Tuesday
On Tuesdays, I work on projects. Before I started, I answered a few emails from colleagues and follow-up emails from Monday. I reviewed our library budget to ensure our spending is on track for this year while minimizing unnecessary expenses. I received a renewal notice and next year’s pricing information from a vendor, so I entered that into my budget management spreadsheet. 

I met with Dean Lalli as my first “dean meeting” this week. These are regular meetings with each dean to discuss library initiatives, how the library can contribute to law school initiatives, etc.  Dean Lalli and I discussed various law school and library programs, including the textbook reserve program.

After this meeting, I reviewed the tasks and projects on my agenda for the next few months. I use Trello to keep my to-do lists, so I cleared completed tasks and added and organized projects and tasks by deadline and priority. Every few months, I do this to ensure that I work on the right thing at the right time. 

Today’s project was our textbook reserve program. The program began in the fall of 2021 to ensure that all students, regardless of economic means, can access the texts for their required courses and bar-tested electives.  I am collecting cost and usage data on the program to report to the law school administration.  I am always excited to see that our students are using these textbooks!

Wednesday
This morning, my computer was updated to Windows 11, so I spent several hours ensuring that all my programs and data were restored and that I could log into the various systems I use for my daily work. In addition to research databases and office programs, we have a sophisticated library system for purchasing and cataloging materials, tracking expenses, checking out books and study rooms, and much more. 

Once my computer was restored, I spent the afternoon reviewing our teaching materials for LP III. Next week, the research librarians and I will teach a class on drafting resources for every LP III section. We review our teaching materials every semester to ensure they are current with the latest tools the research vendors offer. I also answered questions from more vendors, one from a faculty member, and emailed some of my students. 

Late in the day, the University announced a delayed start to operations on Thursday, and that law school classes would move online for Thursday.  I contacted library colleagues to adjust the library hours accordingly.  Because law students staff our library outside business hours, we needed to remain closed until full-time staff were required to report to work, and we would close at the end of business hours.  Each colleague contacted our newest staff members, notified the University locksmith about our adjusted schedule, and contacted student workers to ensure they stayed home safely.

Thursday
Our workday started at 9:30 when the University had moved back to Level 1 operations. The four library staff members who braved the weather met quickly to arrange desk coverage, ensuring everyone could take a lunch break.  
I met with Dean Bowman and Dean Brown today. Dean Bowman gave me exciting news, and Dean Brown and I discussed research instruction. After the meetings, I set up meetings with relevant library staff to discuss what the deans communicated and make implementation plans. 

This semester, I am teaching Advanced Legal Research to 2Ls and 3Ls. On Thursday, I complete any class-day tasks, which include assigning students to hands-on workshop teams, preparing Zoom breakout rooms, reviewing the workshop exercises, ensuring that instructions are updated, etc.  Today, we covered advanced case law research, and students completed exercises on Lexis and Westlaw and explored Google Scholar as a case law tool.  

After class, I answered a few more emails before heading home. As a faculty member, I serve on several faculty committees, and one of the emails was about visiting adjunct-taught classes.  This is an excellent opportunity to see other courses in person and meet our talented adjunct faculty.

Friday
Although I am technically on vacation today, I have a few work things on my agenda. I replied to several emails and followed up on my dean meetings this week.  I answered a reference question from a faculty member and a question from our LP III colleagues about the classes next week.  One of my library colleagues asked me to look at a draft communication to the faculty, and I gave feedback.  

Another colleague reminded me that this blog post is due TODAY, which I knew earlier this week but completely forgot in the lead-up to yesterday’s snow delay. At 10:34 a.m., I said it would take me about 15 minutes, but it is now 12:01 p.m., and I’m not done. I am not a fast writer, but sometimes I forget…

After I submit this blog post, I will record next week’s Advanced Legal Research video and post it on Bridges. Rather than ask my students to purchase an expensive textbook for class, I record video lectures about the material we will cover in our workshop.   I have other classwork to do this weekend (mostly grading), but I am taking the afternoon off to check out the Lego store Valentine’s Day promotion and then attend a Providence Bruins hockey game. 

Have a great weekend all!