Teach-In

Annual Campaign for Sharing Ideas & Materials

The National Legal Research Teach-In, sponsored by RIPS-SIS, is an annual campaign to give law librarians the opportunity to share materials and ideas for legal research instruction. Each year the RIPS Teach-In committee solicits contributions from the law library community to create a compilation of materials for use in developing and advertising educational programs and events for our institutions. These materials are distributed several weeks prior to National Library Week in April to anyone interested in legal research instruction.

The initial idea for a teach-in sprang from several “Bridge the Gap” programs designed to bolster the sagging research skills of students and new lawyers. It soon became apparent that law librarians were in a unique position to effectively and economically meet the research instruction needs of the legal community. So, in 1993 the first Teach-In event was created to celebrate legal research instruction and to demonstrate the importance of involving more law librarians in teaching these skills. In essence, by sharing the excellent resources designed by individual librarians, we empower all librarians to implement high-quality training programs. When more and more librarians around the country become visible as highly competent and capable instructors, it then becomes easier for others to assume that role in their own institutions. This simple act of sharing has enabled law librarians to satisfy a genuine need within the legal community while positioning our profession as a proactive resource rather than a reactive one.

The Teach-In kits on the following pages are organized first by topic (e.g. Administrative Law, Case Law, Statutes); and then by type of material (e.g. assignment, handout, syllabus); and finally in reverse chronological order on the page itself. We welcome your suggestions and contributions to this cooperative venture as we strive to keep our instructional initiatives relevant to our ever-changing research environment. Information about the current Teach-In and former campaigns is available below. Or you may contact the project co-chairs with your comments or questions.