<p> This dissertation proposes, exemplifies, and validates the usage of course-subject co-occurrence (CSCO) data to generate topic maps of an academic discipline. CSCO is defined as course-subjects taught in the same academic year by the same teacher. This work is premised on the assumption that in the aggregate and for reasons of efficiency, faculty members teach course-subjects that are topically similar to one another. To exemplify and validate CSCO, more than 112,000 CSCO events were extracted from the annual directories of the American Association of Law Schools covering nearly eighty years of law school teaching in the United States. The CSCO events are used to extract and visualize the structure and evolution of law for the years 1931-32, 1972-73, and 2010-11&mdash;roughly, forty year intervals. Different normalization, ordination (layout), and clustering algorithms are compared and the best algorithm of each type is used to generate the final map. Validation studies demonstrate that CSCO produces topic maps that are consistent with expert opinion and four other indicators of the topical similarity of law school course-subjects. Resulting maps of the educational domain of law are useful as a reference system for additional thematic overlay of information about law school education in the United States. This research is the first to use CSCO to produce visualizations of a domain. It is the first to use an expanded, multi-part gold-standard to evaluate the validity of domain maps and the intermediate steps in their creation. Last but not least, this research contributes a metric analysis and visualizations of the evolution of law school course-subjects over nearly eighty years.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Drexel University, 2008. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 351-370).

<p> The purpose of the research is to explore the cultural intelligence (CQ) of law firm librarians in the United States. This dissertation is motivated by three research questions: (a) What is the overall level of CQ of participating law firm librarians? (b) What variations among participating law firm librarians, if any, exist among the four capabilities of CQ?; and (c) What viewpoints do the librarians have about the value and importance of CQ within their law firms? This research contributes to the limited amount of empirical literature on CQ. Officially defined in early 2000s, the CQ framework is what guides this study. The research extends the application of the CQ framework by applying it to an area not formerly studied, law firm libraries.</p><p> A concurrent nested strategy model was used in order to gain a broader perspective of CQ. The researcher conducted a mixed-methods study using a web-based survey process incorporating the CQS, an instrument that measures CQ level, demographic and open-ended items. The target population consisted of librarians within the United States who currently work in private law firm libraries. Of the initial 170 individuals who responded to the request, 70 provided survey responses. The sample was based on self-selection from those that were members of two professional associations. </p><p> Based on a triangulation of the findings, four conclusions were made: (a) law firm librarians have a strong sense of value and importance of CQ to their law firms, (b) law firm librarians have varying levels of CQ within each of the four CQ factors, (c) the librarian's feel valued and appreciated within their law firm, and (d) law firm librarians cope with cultural challenges and have to adapt to unfamiliar environments. The findings support the research questions and prompt thinking of how to incorporate CQ into training, maximize the benefits of CQ with stakeholders that utilize the library services, and how law firms may use CQ to help with industry changes. This research provides a glimpse into CQ and additional important issues to law librarians within law firms in the United States including their value within a law firm.</p>

Passed in May 19, 1977, House Bill no.92 of the 99th General Assembly provides ongoing funding from Washington County, Tennessee for the establishment and maintenance of the Washington County Cooperative Law Library. Located in East Tennessee State University's Sherrod Library, the Cooperative Law Collection provides an openly accessible and free law library to the citizens of Northeast Tennessee.