Sherri Thomas Joins Library, Utton Center Staffs


When Sherri Thomas came to the UNM School of Law, she al- ready knew that what she enjoyed most about the field was the


opportunity to help people find what they need. By the time she graduated last spring, she was just as certain she wanted to be a law librarian or a policy analyst, building on her pre-law career. Prior to law school, she had worked as information manager for


Environmental Risk Analysis in San Mateo, Calif., where she was the firm’s only librarian. She organized their collection of 1,000 books, conducted research and restructured and maintained their database. Before that, she was a cataloguer and database analyst for a large Palo Alto law firm. Last October, she returned to the UNM law school as a visiting


law librarian and lecturer, with a one-year position divided between the library and the Utton Transboundary Resources Center. At the library, she helps out on the reference desk and with collection development, which involves assessing how the library can most effectively spend its resources. A member of Taos Pueblo, Thomas, who grew up on the edge of the Navajo Reservation in Fruitland, N.M., is especially interested in building up the Indian Law collection. Thomas also helps the law library manage its large collection


of databases and she serves as web coordinator – updating links and consolidating resources to make it easier for people to find information. At the Utton Center, Thomas is building a comprehensive database for water law policy research as part of the center’s role in Sandia National Laboratories’ Energy-Water Nexus project (See page 15). Faced with creating a database that includes research from around the world, broken down by minute categories, she feared she would be overwhelmed, considering the time constraints of her one-year part-time appointment. That is, until she thought of using an existing law library database with a capacity to link to annotations, books, films, articles and dissertations. She discovered that the Utton Center database could be built with the law library database, which would provide a framework for Thomas to build upon. This would save her countless hours of work and the Utton Center thousands of dollars in database consultant fees and main- tenance costs.


Staff on the Move


Beth Gillia (`97) has been promoted to senior attorney at the Institute of Public Law. In her new position, she will conduct a feasibility study for the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division to determine where there is justification for the Taxation and Revenue Department to rewrite and reorganize the state Motor Vehicle Code. Tom Huesemann has retired from the staff of the UNM Law


Library after 27 years. Most recently, he has been a member of the technical services staff, working behind the scenes to purchase, receive, catalog, file, process and preserve materials for the library’s collection. Carolyn Johnson has been promoted to program specialist at the


Institute of Public Law. Through a contract with the New Mexico Department of Transportation’s Traffic Safety Bureau, she develops programs, plans of action and materials relating to the control and prevention of drinking and driving in New Mexico.


WINTER 2006 Pam Lambert (`84) has been named director of the Judicial


Education Center at the Institute of Public Law. She has been with the center for eight of her 18 years with the Institute of Public Law, the public service arm of the UNM law school. Among her many accomplishments, Lambert has written judicial benchbooks, developed online resources and training and overseen legal writing projects. Michelle Rigual has been promoted to assistant director for collections, electronic resources and technical services at the UNM Law Library. In her new position, she manages the library’s electronic resources and plays a key role in library collection development. Ron Wheeler has been promoted to assistant director for fac-


ulty, research and instructional services at the UNM Law Library. He oversees library archives and directs library outreach and instructional programs.


UNMLAW 17 Sherri Thomas enjoys helping people find what they need. “Sherri’s ability to arrive at such a brilliant solution for the


Utton Center database project is very impressive,” says Carol Parker, director of the law library. “She was only charged with assembling the database content, but far exceeded expectations and came up with a cost-effective technical solution for the actual database construction, saving the Utton Center literally thousands of dollars in consultant fees.” Thomas also is helping organize information-gathering


regional workshops for the Utton Center on the Energy-Water Nexus project. “These workshops will give me insight into how people conduct


their research and their research needs, which will be helpful in how I determine what to include in the database,” she says. Thomas, who is completing a master’s in library science, has


enjoyed being at the law school as an employee, rather than a student. “It feels good to be asked for my input and to feel like I’m adding


value to the library and the Utton Center,” she says. “And it’s much more relaxing than being a student.”


LAW SCHOOL NEWS


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