Much effort over the years has been spent on planning the programs for the annual meeting. A wide variety of topics have been presented. It is time for the SIS to refocus and concentrate on a coordinated educational program designed to meet the specific needs of foreign and international law librarians at their various stages of development and levels of concentration. Whether such a program, ideal in theory, would meet demands on a sufficient basis and whether it would be supported by the AALL and most importantly by the FCIL SIS members are open questions at this stage. A fundamental issue, therefore, is whether the SIS is going to continue to work towards a coordinated educational program to be outlined and adhered to for the next five years, or longer.
Suggested outlines follow below.
The varying professional or educational needs of the around 400 members at different stages in their careers are not easily pinpointed, nor assuaged. For the purpose of addressing educational needs it is useful to identify a few categories of librarians. There are the traditional full-time foreign and international law specialists, relied upon by other librarians, by faculty, students, and the practicing bar, who need to stay on top of the profession and the developments of law around the world. These librarians may constitute a minority but they are in need of continuing education at an advanced level. There are also the part-time specialists and reference librarians who dedicate part of their time to foreign and international law.