The Open Access Symposium 2019, organized by the University of North Texas (UNT) Libraries, was held on May 17–18, 2019, at the UNT Dallas College of Law. This annual event brought together legal scholars, practitioners, and information professionals to discuss the role of open access in promoting access to justice.
The symposium featured sessions on topics such as the impact of platform purchases by major vendors on open access scholarship, the role of law librarians in facilitating access to legal information, and the use of technology to engage the public in legal matters. Notable presentations included "Open Access to Primary Legal Materials and Their Impact on Access to Justice in Texas" and "A2J by Design: Prototyping Innovative Solutions with Open Legal Information."
Attendees had opportunities to network during scheduled breaks, lunches, and a reception. The event also showcased poster presentations, providing a platform for students and professionals to share their research and initiatives related to open access and access to justice.
The symposium was particularly beneficial for law librarians, legal scholars, and practitioners interested in leveraging open access resources to enhance access to justice. It offered insights into best practices, emerging technologies, and collaborative strategies to make legal information more accessible to diverse communities.
Speakers(18)
Agnes Gambill
Head of Scholarly Communications at Appalachian State University
Agnes Gambill is Head of Scholarly Communications for Appalachian State University. Her work involves matters pertaining to copyright, intellectual property, open access, open educational resources, scholarly publishing, and digital humanities.
Aizul Ortega
Head of Technical Services at Travis County Law Library and Self Help Center
Aizul G. Ortega received her Master's in Information Studies from the University of Texas School of Information in 2014 with a concentration on librarianship. She is the Technical Services Supervisor at the Travis County Law Library, where she has worked for three years.
Barbara Bintliff
Joseph C. Hutcheson Professor in Law; Director, Tarlton Law Library at University of Texas at Austin
Professor Bintliff is Director of the Tarlton Law Library/Jamail Center for Legal Research and the Joseph C. Hutcheson Professor in Law. Her research interests include studying the differences between print and electronic information retrieval and the ways in which these search methods yield divergent results.
Becky Moseley
Civil Justice Attorney, Legal Access Division at State Bar of Texas
As a Civil Justice Attorney in the State Bar of Texas’ Legal Access Division, Becky works to support legal aid and non-profit legal services organizations, as well as the broader legal community’s pro bono advocacy, to increase access to justice for all Texans, regardless of wealth.
Brea Lowenberger
Access to Justice Coordinator and Director of CREATE Justice at University of Saskatchewan
Brea Lowenberger is Saskatchewan's Access to Justice Coordinator; Director of CREATE Justice, an action-oriented access to justice research centre at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S); and an adjunct law instructor at the U of S.
Casandra M. Laskowski
Technology and Research Services Librarian at Duke University School of Law
Cas Laskowski collaborates with other innovators and technology centers at the law school to foster student engagement with technology through training, networking, and access to emerging technologies. She is also part of Law by Design, a law school initiative to help foster students' creative problem solving by teaching them design thinking methodology.
Heather Holmes
Assistant Law Librarian at Harris County Law Library
Heather joined the Harris County Law Library staff in 2016 after working in an academic law library setting for more than 10 years. She enjoys sharing information and helping library users locate the resources they need to address their legal concerns.
Joseph D. Lawson
Deputy Director at Harris County Law Library
Joe’s work is focused on removing barriers to legal information for everyone involved in the legal system. As Deputy Director of the Harris County Law Library, Joe led the initiative to create the Legal Tech Institute, offering learning opportunities designed to help self-represented litigants and small firm attorneys learn the tech they need to access and use digital legal information.
Kelli Raker
Coordinator, Entrepreneurial Law Program at Duke University School of Law
Kelli Raker supports the Duke Program in Law & Entrepreneurship and the Duke Center on Law & Technology as a program Coordinator at Duke University School of Law. She serves as the Managing Director of the Duke Law Tech Lab and provides student services for the LLM in Law & Entrepreneurship.
Kim Hebig
Library Director at Wheatland Regional Library
Kim Hebig has been the Library Director of Wheatland Regional Library for over 10 years. Prior to her time in regional libraries, she worked in municipal libraries. Kim did her undergraduate in Sociology/Criminology before moving on to the University of Alberta to complete her Masters in Library and Information Studies.
Kyle Courtney
Copyright Advisor at Harvard University
Kyle K. Courtney is the Copyright Advisor for Harvard University, working out of the Office for Scholarly Communication. He works closely with Harvard Library to establish a culture of shared understanding of copyright issues among Harvard staff, faculty, and students.
L. Kelly Fitzpatrick
Research Associate at Harvard Library Innovation Lab
L. Kelly Fitzpatrick is an open access and digital collections specialist living in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is a Research Associate at the Harvard Library Innovation Lab.
Lora Livingston
Presiding Judge of the 261st Civil District Court at Travis County
Judge Lora J. Livingston was sworn in as an Associate Judge for the District Courts of Travis County, Texas in 1995. After her successful election, Judge Livingston was sworn in as Judge of the 261st District Court in 1999, becoming the first African-American woman to serve on a district court in Travis County, Texas.
Melanie Hodges Neufeld
Director of Legal Resources at Law Society of Saskatchewan
Melanie Hodges Neufeld is the Director of Legal Resources at the Law Society of Saskatchewan. In addition to being responsible for the administration of the traditional library, Melanie is responsible for developing and recommending a strategic plan for the management of legal information within the Law Society and the province, and various access to justice initiatives.
Sarah Wipperman
Scholarly Communications & Digital Repository Librarian at University of Pennsylvania
Sarah leads the Scholarly Communication & Research Infrastructure Project (SCRIP), rethinking Penn Libraries' scholarly communication infrastructure, and the Scholarly Communication UnBoxed Activity (SCUBA), a blueprint for hosting events to build a shared understanding of scholarly communications.
Shivani Naicker
Master’s Student in Law Librarianship and Intern at University of North Texas College of Law
Shivani Naicker is a licensed attorney and graduated with her Master of Science in Library Science degree in May 2019. During her master's degree program, she worked as an intern at the University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law Library.
Yolanda Patrice Jones
Law Library Director and Associate Professor of Law at Florida A&M University College of Law
Yolanda Patrice Jones is the Law Library Director and Associate Professor of Law at the Florida A&M University College of Law, where she teaches Advanced Legal Research and Legal Bibliography.
Yvonne Chandler
Associate Professor, Department of Information Science, College of Information at University of North Texas
Yvonne J. Chandler is an Associate Professor in the Department of Information Science (DIS) in the College of Information at the University of North Texas, where she is the Director of the Law Librarianship program.
Event Details
- Date
- May 17-18, 2019
- 2 days
- Location
- 🇺🇸 Denton, United States
- UNT Dallas College of Law
- Pricing
- Free for students; others: $
- Audience
- Law librarians, legal scholars, practitioners, information professionals