The 2022 Judith M. Wright Fellowship
Applications Now Open for Summer 2022
The D'Angelo Law Library at the University of Chicago is accepting applications for the 2022 Judith M. Wright Fellowship. This Fellowship develops promising new professionals in academic law librarianship by supporting a career training program at the D'Angelo Law Library. The Judith M. Wright Fellowship provides $4,000 to a law school or library science student or a recent graduate selected for training at the D'Angelo Law Library for a Fellowship as described below.
Fellowship - Summer 2022 - The 2022 Fellowship will be conducted onsite or remotely to be determined by the preferences of the Fellow and the D'Angelo Law Library and the University of Chicago's policies at the time.
The Fellowship is intended to give candidates interested in law librarianship as a career an opportunity to apply their skills and knowledge in an academic law library setting. Fellows working in the D'Angelo Law Library under the guidance and supervision of the Law Library Director and other librarians will learn about the overall functions, policies and practices of the D'Angelo Law Library in both the collections services and user services departments. In addition to participating in the daily work of a premier academic law library, Fellows will undertake and complete a project based on the needs and capabilities of the D'Angelo Law Library and the interests and prior experience of the Fellow. As a requirement for completing the Fellowship, the Fellow will write and submit a report summarizing and reflecting on their experiences working at the D'Angelo Law Library.
The project for Summer 2022 will be one of the following:
1) The D’Angelo Law Library supports the scholarship of the University of Chicago Law School faculty, including research that utilizes data and empirical information. In furtherance of its services to faculty, the D’Angelo librarians have developed a collaborative working relationship with the Law School’s Coase-Sandor Institute for Law and Economics (CSI) and engaged in discussions with the CSI research professionals on data-driven projects. Working with the D’Angelo librarians, the CSI and other campus partners, the 2022 Wright Fellow will develop a set of recommended tools and best practices for managing and archiving data materials acquired and curated for the University of Chicago Law School’s faculty scholarship. This work will include evaluating the tools and resources that the D’Angelo Law Library and other campus partners provide to support empirical research, such as the Empirical Legal Research Guide. Upon the completion of this project, the Wright Fellow will have learned about law faculty scholarship using empirical research and developed valuable knowledge about the tools and principles for working with data created in academic research.
2) Like most academic libraries, the D’Angelo Law Library uses the LibGuides platform to organize and highlight information and resources. The 2022 Wright Fellow will work on a focused cleanup and improvement project for D’Angelo’s LibGuides. Under the supervision of the Reference Librarians, the 2022 Wright Fellow will audit the existing LibGuides by updating links, adding additional resources where appropriate, and evaluating the guides for gaps in content (in comparison to other institutions). Additionally, the Wright Fellow will create a procedural plan for how to better incorporate this work into D’Angelo’s regular operations. Upon the completion of this project, the Wright Fellow will have learned how to navigate an important tool utilized by academic libraries and will have gathered a wealth of knowledge about resources and databases used and promoted by legal reference librarians.
3) The D’Angelo Law Library historically has developed a robust and expansive law collection in support of the research, teaching and learning of faculty and students at the University of Chicago Law School and the broader University of Chicago community. In its collection development policy statement, D’Angelo has articulated a commitment to supporting broad and inclusive scholarship to enable learning about topics and perspectives less represented in the traditional discussion of law. Working with the law librarian subject specialists, the 2022 Wright Fellow will create a list of suggestions for D’Angelo’s collection development that will further research, teaching and learning in diverse legal topics, and build materials inclusive of underrepresented individuals, groups, and perspectives. Upon the completion of this project, the Wright Fellow will have learned about collection practices in academic law libraries and will have developed an understanding of broader and inclusive ways of developing law school collections.
4) As other academic libraries, the D’Angelo Law Library uses various platforms and tools to enable faculty, students, and other researchers to effectively and efficiently access collections and electronic resources. Under the guidance of D’Angelo’s collection services and reference librarians, the 2022 Wright Fellow will review the discoverability of law digital holdings, determine improvements necessary to ensure that patrons can discover these e-resources, and develop workflows for ongoing maintenance. Upon the completion of this project, the Wright Fellow will have learned how to assess and navigate important tools utilized by academic libraries and will have gathered a wealth of knowledge about electronic resources used by legal researchers.
The Judith M. Wright Fellowship provides $4,000 for a minimum of six consecutive weeks of temporary, full-time work to occur between June 6 and September 2, 2022. The candidate selected will be paid hourly at 40 hours per week, for six weeks.
Eligibility and Requirements:
The Fellowship is open to recent graduates or currently enrolled students of an accredited library science or information science program, or to recent graduates or currently enrolled students in a J.D. program at an ABA-accredited law school. Applicants must demonstrate an interest in academic law librarianship through appropriate coursework or previous experience.
Applicants should submit a letter of application expressing their interest in this opportunity and their commitment to a career in academic law librarianship. In addition, applicants should submit a resumé including a description of their library or information science graduate program and/or J.D. degree program, including any coursework in law librarianship or legal information resources; the names and e-mail addresses of three professional references; and an indication of which of the proposed projects would be of interest to them. Applicants must be eligible to work in the United States. The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
The deadline for applications is March 21, 2022. The successful applicant will be selected in April 2022.
Send applications (email submission only) to:
Sheri Lewis
Director of the D'Angelo Law Library
University of Chicago
1121 E. 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60637