April 05, 2010
Each year since 1986, the Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) has paid tribute to its outstanding alumni by recognizing an alumnus who has made significant contributions to the field. This year, SLIS acknowledges the achievements of James E. Duggan for his “exceptional leadership in [his] respective areas of librarianship”.
Duggan, who serves as the director of Tulane Law School’s library, is the current president of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). This prestigious organization represents a formidable constituency of library and information professionals with “over 5,000 law librarians and related professionals who are affiliated with a wide range of institutions: law firms, law schools, corporate legal departments, courts, and local, state and federal government agencies."
A native of Roanoke, VA, James E. Duggan graduated with a BA in Education from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1983. He earned his Juris Doctor from Ole Miss in 1986, and his MLIS the next year. While at LSU, Duggan worked in the Paul Hebert Law Center Library, both as a graduate assistant and a library associate, but he then left to become a reference librarian and assistant professor at the Southern Illinois University School of Law Library in Carbondale, IL. After twenty years at SIU, where he worked as a reference librarian, the computer services librarian, the director of information technology, and finally as associate law library director, Duggan was invited to take over the directorship of the Tulane University Law School Library in July 2008.
Duggan has taught several courses on legal research, computers and the law, and “lawyering skills” at Tulane and Southern Illinois law schools. He’s published in the Illinois Bar Journal, the Law Library Journal, and most recently contributed a chapter to The Law School Librarian’s Role as an Educator (2008).
An active member of the AALL since 1985, Duggan has served on innumerable committees, presented regularly at national and regional conferences, and routinely contributes to AALL’s newsletter Spectrum. As AALL president, one of his major responsibilities is the organization of the 2009 annual meeting, which convenes in Washington, D. C., July 25-28. The theme of the meeting is Innovate!, which epitomizes Duggan’s positive attitude towards today’s challenges: “As we work in a continually changing profession, we must constantly innovate to stay current while coping with flat budgets, increased workloads, and other challenges. New obstacles and opportunities appear on a daily basis, requiring us to regularly innovate, inspire and build.”
A Welcome from the President, AALL
“SLIS Recognizes 2009 Outstanding Alumnus,” VOL. 33, Spring 2009