Participants at the AALL Education Summit in September 2005 thought it'd be useful to have a directory of good speakers to draw on when planning continuing education events outside the AALL Annual Meeting. Claire Germain appointed a task force to look into issues related to creating a Speakers' Bureau at AALLNET and the present Speakers Directory database was created as a result of this EduSummit initiative.

For each speaker entry, here are the following fields:

Speaker Name
Area(s) of Expertise
Topics
Websites
AALL Member Profile
BioInfo
Presentations
Comments/Notes

Topics can include areas of expertise and/or areas that a speaker is good at speaking about, but is not necessarily an expert at.

The established menu has the following options:

Administration/Management
Area of Law (please specify below)
Cataloging and Classification
Collection Care and Management
FCIL Librarianship
Law Librarianship as a Profession
Librarianship Skills
Other (please specify below)
Reference
Research
Technology

You can specify areas of law or other areas of expertise in a free text "Please Specify" box.

Any topic a speaker is good at speaking about that would be of interest to AALL members can be entered into the database. A list of suggested topics is provided in the Post New Speaker form.

No, only AALL members and the Speakers Directory Administrator (Raquel Ortiz).

You need your AALL member password and approval in any form (verbal, via e-mail, via phone, in person, on paper) from the speaker and then fill out the Post New Speaker form.

Sample Speaker Approval Letter

No, we trust that members have obtained approval first before adding a speaker. Using the Speaker Approval form letter is optional. Approval can be obtained verbally in person, by phone, via e-mail, by snail mail. You can keep the approval information yourself. You might want to run the entry by the speaker to make sure they don't have changes or additions.

No, the Speakers Directory database is AALL member-owned, so AALL members only are accountable for the content. When a member adds a speaker, the member's name is automatically added to the "Referred By" field in the entry for that speaker. And the entry is automatically submitted to the database. Other AALL members seeking more information about a speaker can contact the AALL member "Referrer" about the speaker.

Yes, but only the member adding/posting a speaker and the Speakers Directory Administrator can edit the speaker's entry.

Yes, but only the member adding/posting a speaker can do so.

The Speakers Directory is intended to be a database that enables AALL members to share information among each other about good speakers they have heard. We trust that members entering a speaker's name vouch that they are good speakers. See more information in the Disclaimer page of the Speakers Directory.

See also Additional Resources on Finding Speakers

Raquel Ortiz (Speakers Directory Administrator and AALLNET Content Coordinator) and Chris Siwa (AALL Web Administrator) are the contact persons for the database. They can be reached via the Contact Us form.

No, the sky's the limit. Post away! If you know a good speaker, let other AALL members know via the Speakers Directory database.