LexisNexis® Librarian Relations Group ... Celebrating a Milestone - 15 years!
By Cindy Spohr
Where were you in 1993?
Were you working in the information profession 15 years ago?
Did you realize you were right in the middle of a major knowledge revolution?
It’s fun to look back now (with hindsight’s perspective) at that time period. If you take a glimpse at the information-related events from 1993:
- CERN announced that the World Wide Web would be free to anyone with no fees due.
- Mosaic was introduced. Mosaic is credited as the first popular Web browser.
- Intel® introduced the Pentium® processor.
- The first issue of Wired was published.
The AALL Annual Meeting was in Boston, and, I believe, there was an Internet Room for the very first time. The program summary of the room included this thought, “The Internet, and the access to the resources it affords, cannot be ignored, not by librarians and not by anyone with a need for information.”
Truer words have never been spoken. And as information professionals and as private citizens, we’ve ridden the rapid information evolution. (I know sometimes it seemed more like a flash flood than an evolution.)
In 1993, LexisNexis introduced its Librarian Relations Group as a bridge that information professionals could rely upon. And, though information resources have changed greatly through the past 15 years, the focus and mission of the LexisNexis Librarian Relations Group has remained vital: To provide you with expert training and personalized support to help you succeed, and to represent your interests and concerns to LexisNexis management, sales, marketing and product development.
The 1993 LexisNexis Librarian Relations Group also formalized the company’s recognition of the importance of librarians in the information industry and in the organizations of our customers, giving one centralized channel for our support of the American Association of Law Libraries and the Special Libraries Association (at the national and regional levels), a newsletter for librarians, professional development programs, and special training.
I was a founding member of the LexisNexis Librarian Relations Group. I was proud of that in 1993, and today, I’m still extremely proud, and feel privileged to manage a dedicated marketing team and a nationwide network of Librarian Relations Consultants.
We’ve grown. There are now 14 Librarian Relations Consultants across the country, working with our law librarian customers on a daily basis. Access to the LexisNexis® services has evolved from searching via LexisNexis proprietary software to using lexis.com where content and functionality enhancements are too numerous to mention. In fact, LexisNexis has expanded beyond research to include client development, practice management and litigation solutions for attorneys and law firms.
So our support has broadened as well. For example, now the LexisNexis InfoPro Web site is home to news and details on LexisNexis products and librarian programs. It’s also an archive for the LexisNexis Information Professional Update newsletter, weekly e-mail updates and training and marketing resources. Plus it highlights the expanding Librarian Relations Consultants calendar that includes programs:
- on Teaching Research, Advanced Management and Technology.
- tailored to regional/practice area information needs.
- LRCs provide in their roles as officers and committee members in regional and national associations.
And the LexisNexis Librarian Relations Group’s 15th anniversary includes a tradition of supporting AALL missions and programs through:
- AALL/LexisNexis John R. Johnson Memorial Scholarship: The AALL Executive Board accepted funding from LexisNexis in 1994 to establish the first AALL named and endowed scholarship fund in honor of John Johnson. John, who died in 1994, was the first Director of the Librarian Relations Group at Mead Data Central, the previous owner of LexisNexis. He believed librarians are “the only ones who know how real users use real information.”
- AALL Research Fund: LexisNexis endowed the AALL Research Fund in 2000, permanently securing a financial base so the AALL Research Committee could carry out the association’s research agenda.
- AALL Grants Program: LexisNexis supports the law librarian profession through participation in the AALL Grant Program. The original program was initiated in 1953, when Matthew Bender® sponsored grants for four law librarians to attend the association’s annual meeting. Matthew Bender is now a part of LexisNexis, and this tradition of sponsoring the profession continues.
- Opening Events of the AALL Annual Meeting: Since 2000, LexisNexis has sponsored this important ceremonial launch event.
It has been a fulfilling, interesting and successful 15 years, and the LexisNexis Librarian Relations Group looks forward to our continued partnership with our law librarian customers. Thank you for the privilege of serving you.
