LIT-SIS 2025-2027 Strategic Plan – “What’s Past is Prologue”

By Michael Robak, Chair, LIT-SIS Strategic Planning Committee
(Committee Members: Patricia Barbone, Will Monroe, Susan Azyndar, Teresa Myers, and Victor Chavez)

The first prompt to our AI Co-Pilots about the combined 2001 – 2024 CS/LIT – SIS Strategic plans asked to analyze for common themes across the plans. We started with GPT-4o and then to Boodlebox and Claude Sonnet 3.7 and Llama 4 Maverick (and I did not ask for it to be in the voice of Tom Cruise). Here are the responses:

GPT-4o

Common Themes & Ideas in Past Strategic Plans

1. Education & Professional Development

Across all years:

• Strong commitment to continuing education, including webinars, online learning modules, and in-person sessions.
• Emphasis on aligning educational content with member interests and professional bodies like AALL’s Body of Knowledge.
• Frequent mention of technology competencies and best practices (e.g., accessibility, privacy, teaching tools).

2. Innovation & Technological Advancement

• Continued focus on emerging technologies: digitization, online tools, databases, instructional tech.
• Desire to make CS-SIS/LIT-SIS a thought leader in law and technology.
• Ongoing exploration of technologies that support access to justice and law practice modernization.

3. Community Engagement & Membership Growth

• Repeated efforts to recruit new members, especially early-career professionals.
• Strong social/community components (e.g., Karaoke with Ken, social meetups, mentoring).
• Online and offline engagement strategies to build a cohesive professional community.

4. Governance, Succession, and Organizational Continuity

• Formalized succession planning.
• Emphasis on archiving institutional knowledge and creating onboarding documentation.
• Structured committee leadership, goal setting, and recordkeeping.

5. Outreach, Advocacy, and Collaboration

• Partnering with other organizations (CALI, ABA TECHSHOW, AALS, ILTA).
• Developing shared programming to extend reach and influence.
• Advocacy for tech use within AALL and the legal profession at large.

The same prompt was provided to Claude Sonnet 3.7 and Llama 4 Maverick.  We found that Claude and Llama (via Boodlebox) provided somewhat similar responses (very close language choices) to each other and to GPT-4o.

Claude Sonnet 3.7

Overlaps:

## 1. Educational Programming and Professional Development

## 3. Member Engagement and Community Building

## 4. Outreach and Collaboration

## 5. Governance and Organizational Effectiveness

Differences:

## 2. Technology Leadership and Expertise

The SIS consistently positions itself as a leader in legal technology:

– Serving as a forum for exchange of ideas about technology

– Promoting the role of law librarians as technology leaders

– Investigating and reviewing emerging technologies

– Creating resources for technology competencies

– Supporting innovation in legal education and practice

## 6. Evolution of Focus Areas

The strategic plans show an evolution in technology focus:

– Earlier plans (2001-2010): Basic computing services and competencies

– Middle plans (2011-2019): Web technologies, digitization, and teaching technology

– Recent plans (2019-2024): Legal innovation, practice technology, digital accessibility, and diversity/inclusion

## 7. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

More recent plans (particularly 2022-2024) explicitly address DEI:

– Formulating and implementing a DEI plan

– Considering accessibility in instruction

– Broadening outreach to diverse populations

And a summary:

This analysis shows how the SIS has maintained core commitments to education, technology leadership, and community building while evolving its specific focus areas to address emerging technologies and professional concerns.

 

Llama 4 Maverick Overlaps and differences –

Overlaps:

## 2. Education and Professional Development

## 3. Member Engagement and Community Building

## 4. Outreach and Collaboration

## 5. Governance and Organizational Effectiveness

Differences:

## 1. Consistent Mission Focus

Throughout all strategic plans, the core mission has remained relatively consistent:

– Providing a forum for exchanging ideas about technology among law librarians

– Serving a leadership role in the professional development of law librarians regarding technology

– Evolving from “computer-related technology” to “technological advances in law librarianship and the practice of law”

## 6. Technological Evolution

The plans reflect the changing technology landscape:

– Early focus on basic computing services and internet technologies

– Later emphasis on Web 2.0, digitization, and presentation technologies

– Recent focus on legal innovation, practice technology, and digital accessibility

## 7. Emerging Trends and Adaptation

The SIS has consistently adapted to emerging trends:

– Early adoption of web-based education and technology reviews

– Recent incorporation of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives

– Continuous evolution of educational content to address current technology issues

And a summary:

## Key Observations

1. The SIS has maintained its core mission while adapting to technological changes
2. There’s a consistent emphasis on education, community building, and outreach
3. Governance practices have become more formalized over time
4. The organization has successfully evolved its name and focus to remain relevant
5. There’s a strong commitment to serving both member needs and the broader AALL community

This analysis demonstrates how LIT-SIS has balanced continuity in its core mission with adaptability to changing technological landscapes and professional needs.

 

There is much fodder here for the Strategic Plan.  But let us know your thoughts.  Next post: The Mission statement.