SENYLRC is sponsoring Legal Resources — Ready Reference and More on October 6, 2011, 9:00 am — 12:00 pm. There is no charge to attend. This workshop is designed to introduce librarians and interested library staff to legal research for non-lawyers and online sources for primary and secondary law. The three speakers are experienced law librarians who will explain how to structure basic queries and develop legal research strategies for readily available and free legal databases.

By attending this workshop, participants will become familiar with a multitude of court services and user-friendly resources for the lay public such as federal and state information gateways and topical legal research pathfinders. These resources can be used for the following:

• to answer reference questions,
• as recommendations to patrons for answers to legal questions,
• as recommendations to patrons of forms for a variety of legal actions,
• to make an informed local referral. Continue reading this post…

SENYLRC is sponsoring Access to Justice workshops. The program is designed for librarians and library staff who work with the public. There is no charge to attend. Two sessions will be held at SENYLRC on September 13, 2011 and at the Finkelstein Memorial Library in Spring Valley on September 27, 2011. Each session is a complete two hour workshop. You only need to attend one session.

Especially in today’s difficult economy, many patrons facing legal problems are under-represented. When they turn to their library for help, do library staff know where to direct them? This workshop will enhance librarians knowledge about the court system and allow them to guide their patrons more effectively.

The workshop will open with an overview of the New York State Courts “Access to Justice Program” which ensures access to justice in civil and criminal matters for New Yorkers of all incomes, backgrounds and special needs, through resources such as self-help, pro bono programs, community outreach and technological tools. The balance of the workshop will focus on how to locate content and tools on the UCS Public Website and CourtHelp. Law librarians will also attend and give a brief overview of the New York State law libraries including their services and access to the public.

People who attended Access to Justice workshops earlier this year commented:

• Good information — valuable info about law libraries as well.
• I feel more confident using these websites and showing the patrons what is available to them.
• The websites are comprehensive and user friendly; they will make it easy to present this info to my patrons.
• Did not know about this programs — extremely useful for the kinds of questions we get from our patrons Continue reading this post…