Artificial Intelligence, Opportunities, and Advancement
The goal of this collaborative initiative is to provide guidance to law libraries across the country as we work to strategically incorporate artificial intelligence into our operations and plan for the future of our profession.
The keystone of the initiative is a series of regional roundtables on Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Law Libraries taking place during the 2023-2024 academic year. Each day-long roundtable event will bring together law library stakeholders, advocates, and community partners to discuss both the risks and opportunities presented by AI technologies.
Roundtable participants will use scenario-building methodology to consider potential AI impacts on key areas of law librarianship such as services, collections, instruction, training, space, and staffing. We will uncover mistakes to avoid (vicious cycles) and opportunities we cannot afford to miss (virtuous cycles) as we work to leverage AI for law libraries in the future.
Scroll down for the Roundtable Schedule and Location Information.
Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Law Libraries Regional Roundtables
Mid-Atlantic Roundtable
Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. at the University of Arizona Washington, D.C. Center for Outreach & Collaboration
Midwest Roundtable
Friday, Nov. 3, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Chicago, IL
South Central Roundtable
February 9, 2024, organized by the University of Oklahoma, co-sponsored with and hosted by SMU Dedman School of Law, Dallas, TX
Southeast Roundtable
March 1, 2024, at Georgia State University College of Law, Atlanta, GA
Northeast Roundtable
April 26, 2024, at Suffolk University Law School, Boston, MA
West Coast Roundtable
Friday, May 10, 2024, at Stanford Law School, Palo Alto, CA
Project Team
In addition to the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, this initiative is sponsored by Georgia State College of Law, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Stanford Law School, Suffolk University Law School, and the University of Oklahoma College of Law.
Cas Laskowski is the project founder and co-sponsor of the roundtables. She is a veteran, librarian, gamer, teacher, Latina, techie, comic book nerd, and empiricist in perpetual beta. Currently the Head of Research, Data, & Instruction at the University of Arizona, she regularly engages in AI initiatives nationally. She was a founding fellow of the inaugural Fellow in the University of Tennessee Library’s 2021 IDEA Institute on Artificial Intelligence, and the only librarian of any type to be selected for the 2022 Summer Conference on Applied Data Science, at North Carolina State University, where she leveraged machine learning summarization methods to design a prototype system that would aid intelligence analysts in efficiently identifying relevant audio files. She is currently part of the University’s AI Access and Integrity Working Group co-leading the Access & Equity team and co-lead of the Making AI Generative for Higher Education project team, a national two-year cross-institution research project with Ithaka S+R.
Teresa Miguel-Stearns is Associate Dean of Legal Information Innovation, Director of the Daniel F. Cracchiolo Law Library, and Professor of Law at the University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law. She is Affiliate Faculty at the University of Arizona School of Information and the Center for Latin American Studies. Teresa teaches Law Library Practice & Administration, and in the UA-UNAM Diplomado in Mexican Public Law & Policy program. Teresa writes in the areas of legal and library science education, with a focus on the future of law librarianship, legal history, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Her most recent project, in collaboration with Cas and others, utilized 21st technologies to explore how the University of Arizona's land-grant status is intertwined with the 19th c. dispossession of Indigenous peoples' land in Arizona: University of Arizona Land-Grant Project.
Kenton Brice
Kenton Brice is the Director of Technology Innovation at theUniversity of Oklahoma Law Library. He joined the Law Library in 2015 as its first Digital Resources Librarian. In addition to teaching legal research in the Legal Research, Writing, and Advocacy Program, Kenton also assists in administering the Digital Initiative at the College of Law. Prior to joining the College of Law, Kenton practiced as an associate attorney with the firm, Christman Kelley & Clarke, PC, where he gained extensive experience in the trial and appellate courtrooms and the boardroom, handling various litigation and transaction matters for the firm.
Richard L. Buckingham
Professor Buckingham is the Director of the Law Library and Information Resources, Associate Professor of Legal Research at the Suffolk University Law School. He joined the Moakley Law Library as a legal reference librarian in 2002. Before becoming a librarian, he worked in housing and residence life at several institutions, including Boston University and Emerson College. While obtaining his degree from Simmons College he worked part-time at the Harvard Law School Library.
Kristina (Kris) Niedringhaus
Kristina Niedringhaus, associate dean for library and information services and associate professor of law, has written and presented on topics including legal research, teaching methods and law library management. She joins the College of Law from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University, where she was director of the law library and associate professor. Niedringhaus is on the board of directors of the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI); vice chair/chair-elect of the Society of Academic Law Library Directors and has served as chair of the Computing Services Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries.
George H. Pike
George H. Pike is the Director of the Pritzker Legal Research Center and Senior Lecturer at the Northwestern University School of Law. He teaches legal research, privacy and copyright courses at the School of Law, and is a frequent lecturer on issues of First Amendment, copyright, and Internet law for library professionals. He is also a regular columnist for Information Today, publishing a monthly column on legal issues confronting information producers and consumers. Previously, Prof. Pike was Director of the Law Library at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Associate Law Librarian at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, OR, Reference Librarian at the University of Idaho School of Law, and was a practicing attorney in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
Beth Williams
Beth Williams is Associate Dean of the Robert Crown Law Library and Senior Lecturer in Law at Stanford Law School. She teaches courses in legal research and her research interests include the intersection of access to information and access to justice; digitization and preservation; and open access publishing, particularly as these subjects apply to libraries and legal information management. She has also taught courses in foreign and international legal research, knowledge management, and ethics.
Tina Ching
Tina Ching is the Associate Director for Technical Services at Stanford Law School, Robert Crown Law Library. Prior to joining the Stanford law library, she was Law Reference Librarian and Pro Tem Instructor at the University of Oregon where she taught courses including Technology Competence for the Practice of Law. She is the current Editor and Editorial Board Chair of AALL Spectrum, the bimonthly publication of the American Association of Law Libraries.
Sean A. Harrington
Sean A. Harrington, the Director of Technology and Innovation at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, combines a profound background in law and technology, rooted in a lifelong passion for computer science. Sean earned his JD from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, followed by a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Arizona, and a Master of Science in Data Analytics from Arizona State University. This foundational knowledge positioned him to be a frontrunner in incorporating technology within the legal sphere. In recent years, Sean has focused on authoring works discussing the intersections of AI in legal research and its integration within law school curricula.
Taryn Marks
Taryn Marks serves as the Associate Director of Research & Instructional Services. Prior to joining Stanford’s law library, she was the Faculty Services Librarian at the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law. Her research and teaching interests include international and business law. Previously, Taryn was the inaugural Judith M. Wright fellow at the University of Chicago, a clerk on the North Carolina Supreme Court, and a special prosecutor in Decatur, GA. She earned her M.L.I.S. from the University of Washington, and both her J.D. and LL.M. in International Law from Duke University School of Law.
Patrick Parsons
Patrick Parsons is the associate director for Legal Technology & Innovation and executive director of the Legal Analytics & Innovation Initiative (LAII ) at the Georgia State College of Law Library. In his current role, Patrick oversees LAII programs and projects, including curricular development and outreach activities. He also manages and teaches in the Legal Analytics and Innovation certificate program. Alongside his work with LAII, Patrick also works in the law library, providing reference and legal research instruction to the Georgia State College of Law.
Additional Roundtable Information
Sample Roundtable Schedule
8:30-9:00am - Optional Continental Breakfast onsite
9:00-9:30am - Introductions & Logistics
9:30-11:45am - Scenario 1: Law Library Services
- Introduction to theme
- Vicious cycle
- Group playback and discussion
- Virtuous Cycle
- Group playback and discussion
Break - 10 min. (11:35-11:45am)
11:45am-2:20pm - Scenario 2: Law Library Collections
- Introduction to theme
- Vicious cycle
- Group playback and discussion
Lunch Break - Catered - 30 min. (12:50-1:20pm)
- Virtuous Cycle
- Group playback and discussion
2:20-4:35pm - Scenario 3: Law Library Staffing
- Introduction to theme
- Vicious cycle
- Group playback and discussion
Break - 10 min. (3:25-3:35pm)
- Virtuous Cycle
- Group playback and discussion
4:35-4:50pm - Recap & Open Discussion
4:50-5:00pm - Conclusion & Next Steps