Caroline Osborne

Biography

Caroline L. Osborne is a Professor of Law and the Director of the George R. Farmer, Jr. Law Library at West Virginia University School of Law. Professor. Osborne has over a decade of experience in law libraries at Washington & Lee University School of Law, the University of Richmond School of Law, and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law. She is active in national, regional, and international library associations as well as the Southeastern Association of Law Schools and The Order of the Coif. She is the Book Review Editor for the International Journal of Legal Information.

Her research interests include the intersection of scholarly impact metrics and open access, the pedagogy of research, and copyright. Her first book Sources and Strategies of Legal Research is published by Carolina Academic Press and available in May of 2023.

Professor Osborne received her M.S.L.S. and B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, her J.D. from the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond, and her L.L. M. in Taxation from Emory University School of Law. Before becoming a librarian, she practiced law in North Carolina, Georgia, and New York in the areas of leveraged finance and commercial real estate.

She is admitted to the practice of law in North Carolina (active), Georgia (inactive), and New York (retired).

Education

• M.S.L.S., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2003
• LL.M. in Taxation, Emory University School of Law, 1992
• J.D. University of Richmond, 1991
• B.A. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1988

Publications

Articles

• Caroline L. Osborne, Copyright, Pandemics, and Emergencies: When Desparate Times Dictate Contextual Responses , 24 SMU Sci. & Tech. L. Rev. 200 (2021).
• Caroline L. Osborne and Stephanie Miller, The Scholarly Impact Matrix:  An Empirical Study of How Multiple Metrics Create an Informed Story of a Scholar’s Work,  39 Legal Ref. Services Q. 283 (2020). 
  
• Caroline L. Osborne, A Research Tool is Not Law:  A Response to Code Revision Commission v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc. ,  28 Texas Intell. Prop. L. J. (2019).  
  
• Caroline L. Osborne and Stephanie C. Miller, Curricular Changes in Legal Research Instruction: An Empirical Study, 37 Legal Ref. Services Q. 97 (2018).
  
• Caroline L. Osborne, International Investment Laws and Alternative Dispute Resolution:  A Guide to Web Based Resources, 46 Int'l. J. Legal Info. 181 (2018). 
  
• Caroline L. Osborne, Programming to Promote Information Literacy in the Era of Fake News, 35 Int'l. J. Legal Info. 46 (2018). 
• Caroline L. Osborne, The Legal Research Plan and the Research Log: An Examination of the Role of the Research Plan and Research Log in the Research Process, 35 Legal Ref. Services Q. 1 (2016).
• Caroline L. Osborne, The State of Legal Research Education: A Survey of First Year Legal Research Programs or ‘Why Johnny and Jane Cannot Research,’ 108 Law Libr. J. 403 (2016).
• James M. Donovan, Carol A. Watson, and Caroline L. Osborne, The Open Access Advantage for American Law Reviews, 1 JPTOS 1 (2015).
• Caroline L. Osborne, A Methodical Approach to Legal Research: The Legal Research Plan, an Essential Tool for Today’s Law Student and New Attorney, 32 Legal Ref. Services Q. 54 (2013).
• Caroline L. Osborne, Annex 1 – Pathfinder on International Investment Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution Web-Based Resources to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Investor-State Disputes: Prevention and Alternatives to Arbitration II (Susan D. Franck & Anna Joubin-Bret eds.) (2010) (available at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1625763).
• Caroline L. Osborne & Jennifer Rinalducci, Evaluation of Web-Based Resources within the Art History Discipline. Technical Report, School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2002) (available at http://sils.unc.edu/research/publications/reports/TR-2002-04.pdf).
• Caroline L. Osborne, Identification of Trends in the Teaching of Legal Research (unpublished Master’s Thesis, U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2003) (copy on file with the School of Information and Library Sciences, available at http://ils.unc.edu/mspapers/2902.pdf).

Book and Book Chapters

• Caroline L. Osborne, Sources and Strategies of Legal Research (2023).
• Caroline L. Osborne and Stephanie C. Miller, The Scholarly Impact Matrix: An Empirical Study of How Multiple Metrics Create an Informed Story of a Scholar's Work, in Citation and the Law: A Yale Law School Symposium (Michael Chiorazzi, ed., AALL Publication Series No. 86) (2022).
• Caroline L. Osborne, Chapter 8, Legal Periodicals, Indexes, Directories and Statistical Information, in A Guide To Legal Research In Virginia (Virginia CLE Publications 8th ed. 2017).
• Caroline L. Osborne et al., Appendix C to The Boulder Statements on Legal Research Education: The Intersection of Intellectual and Practical Skills (Susan Nevelow Mart ed. 2014).

Presentations, Workshops, Conferences, & Other Invitations

• Creating the Scholar’s Narrative Using Impact Metrics, Lillian Goldman Law Library Speaker Series, Yale University School of Law, Invited Workshop, Virtual, April 26, 2023.
• Assessment Methods as Decision-Making Tools, American Association of Law Libraries Academic Law Libraries Special Interest Section Webinar Coffee Talk sponsored by the ALL-SIS Continuing Education Committee, Zoom, April 24, 2023.
• The Evolution of the Flipped Classroom: Lessons Learned Through a Pandemic, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, Richmond, Virginia, March 10, 2023.
• Building an Advanced Scholarly Communications Program, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, Richmond, Virginia, March 10, 2023.
• Preparing for the NextGen Bar Exam, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, Richmond, Virginia, March 11, 2023.
• Status and Tenure: Understanding Status, American Association of Law Libraries Academic Law Libraries Special Interest Section Webinar Coffee Talk sponsored by the ALL-SIS Continuing Education Committee, December 5, 2022.
• Writing Connections Workshop: Collaboration and Creativity: First-Year Legal Research in 2022 , Invited Panelist, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, Destin, Florida, July 31, 2022.
• Challenges and Opportunities: Hot Topics Facing Today’s Law Library, Discussion Group, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, Destin, Florida, July 31, 2022.
• Academic Support and Technology: Online Technology: Who Should Own the Course Content Created for Online Delivery/ Copyright Issues Part II American Association of Law Schools 2022 Annual Meeting, Virtual Meeting January 7, 2022.
• Lessons Learned from the Pandemic, Discussion Group, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, Amelia Island, Florida, July 29, 2021.
• Citation and the Law Symposium, Yale Law School,  Virtual Conference, April 22 - 23, 2021.
  
• West Virginia Law Review Symposium 2021, Artificial Intelligence and the Law, Day Two Introduction, Virtual Conference, February 26, 2021.
  
• Future-proofing the Law Library – Effectively Incorporate future-proofing into Strategic Planning, Discussion Group, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, Virtual Conference, August 8, 2020.
  
• Problematic Collections:  Digitization Surprises, Access, and Privacy, American Association of Law Libraries, Virtual Conference, July 2020.
  
• The Scholarly Impact Matrix: An Empirical Study of How Multiple Metrics Create an Informed Story of a Scholar’s Work, KRELL Workshop Series University of North Carolina, Virtual Workshop, April 6, 2020.
  
• Fake News, Post-Truth, and Information Literacy, Panel, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, Nashville, TN, April 13, 2018.
• Information Literacy in a False/Fake News World, Panel, International Association of Law Libraries, Atlanta, GA, October 25, 2017.
• Legal Research and Law Practice Technology Pedagogy, Discussion Group, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, Boca Raton, FL, July 31, 2017.
• Maximizing Scholarly Impact, Discussion Group, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, Boca Raton, FL, July 31, 2017.
• Show Me the Money: Funding Professional Development, American Association of Law Libraries, Austin, TX, July 17, 2017
• An Inspired Classroom or Meeting: Re-inventing Yourself and Your Approach, Southeastern Chapter of American Association of Law Libraries, Raleigh, NC, March 31, 2017
• The Alchemy of Your Career: Turning Straw into Gold, Virginia Library Association, Hot Springs, VA, October 27, 2016
• Law Practice, Legal Technology, and Law Libraries, Panelist, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, Amelia Island, FL, August 9, 2016
• Law Libraries and Legal Education – Financial Drain or Transformational Resource, Discussion Group, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, Amelia Island, FL, August 8, 2016
• Accreditation Under the New ABA Standards, Society of Academic Law Library Directors, Northwestern Law School, Chicago, IL, July 7, 2016
• Isn’t This Class Just Dicta? Making Legal Research Relevant and Things You Wish You’d Have Known, Southeastern Chapter of American Association of Law Schools, Dallas, TX, April 14, 2016
• Libraries Adding Value: The Potential of the 21st Century Law Library, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, Boca Raton, FL, August 2, 2015
• Privacy and the Digital Collection: Lessons Learned and Best Practices, Virginia Library Association, Richmond, VA, October 22, 2015
• University of North Texas 2015 Open Access Symposia: The Open Access Advantage for American Law Reviews, University of North Texas, Dallas, TX, May 19, 2015
• Privacy and the Digital Collection: Best Practices, Southeastern Chapter of American Association of Law Libraries Institute, Lexington, KY, April 16, 2016
• Open Access Institutional Repositories and Promotion of Faculty Scholarship, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, Amelia Island, FL, August 5, 2014
• The Risk, the Plan, the Payoff, Webinar, bepress, April 29, 2014
• New Frontiers in Legal Research Education: Implementing Alternative Methods of Legal Research Instruction – One Year Later, Southeastern Chapter of American Association of Law Libraries, Knoxville, TN, April 5, 2014
• Job Satisfaction: What Each of Us Do to Put it in Reach at Washington and Lee, Southeastern Chapter of American Association of Law Libraries, Knoxville, TN, April 3, 2014
• The Necessity, the Plan, the Payoff: Implementing a Law Repository at Washington and Lee, Virginia Association of Law Libraries, October 25, 2013
• The Risk, the Plan, the Payoff: Implementing a Law Repository at Washington and Lee , American Association of Law Libraries, Seattle, WA, July 14, 2013
• Something Borrowed, Something Blue: Student Services for the Millennial Generation, Southeastern Chapter of American Association of Law Libraries, April 20, 2013
• Bespoke Librarian: How to Craft Made-to-Order Faculty Services, Southeastern Chapter of American Association of Law Libraries, Decatur, GA, April 19, 2013
• Finding Common Ground to Produce Practice Ready Graduates, Southeastern Chapter of American Association of Law Libraries, Institute, Decatur, GA, April 18, 2013
• Boulder Conference on Legal Information: Scholarship and Teaching 2012, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, July 19-21, 2012
• Lexis Legal Research & Writing Summit April 25-26, 2011
• Faculty Panel, Lexis-Nexis Law School Team Meeting, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, June 20-23, 2011

  Professional, University, Community Memberships and Boards

• American Association of Law Libraries
  Academic Law Libraries Special Interest Section,                                    Chair 2017 – 2018, Vice Chair 2016 – 2017
  Bylaws Presidential Task Force, 2015 – 2016
  Chapter Summit Planning Committee Task Force, 2015 – 2016
  Chair, Bylaws Committee, 2010-2011; Vice-Chair, 2009 – 2010
• Southeastern Chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries
  Chair, Bylaws Committee, 2016-2017
  Board Member, 2014-2017
  President, 2015-2016; Vice President, 2014-2015; member, 2004 to present
• Legal Information Review, Board of Editors, 2016 to present
• Washington and Lee University
  University Intellectual Property Standing Committee, 2015 to present
  University Art Collections Committee, 2012 to present
  Student Affairs Committee, 2017- 2020 Lectures and Awards Committee, 2016 to present
  Post Graduate Fellowship Committee, 2016 to present
  Faculty Library Committee, 2007 - 2016
  Self-Study Committee, 2014 - 2015
  Law Building Committee, 2013 - 2015
  Law Commencement, 2014 Provost Search Committee, 2012 - 2013
• University of Richmond School of Law
  Career Services Search Committee, 2007
  Curriculum Committee, 2004 - 2007
• Virginia Continuing Legal Education Board, Washington and Lee Law School member to board governing Virginia CLE, a non-profit educational division of the Virginia Law Foundation, 2009 to present
• American Bar Association Site Visits
  Fordham University School of Law, February 2016
  Creighton School of Law, September 2016
• COSELL, Board of Directors, Secretary, 2008 - 2010
• United Way of Lexington-Rockbridge, Virginia, Board of Directors, 2008 - 2012 2015 COSELL, Board of Directors, Secretary 2008 to 2010

  Awards

• 2023 American Association of Law Libraries Special Interest Section Frederick Charles Hicks Award for Outstanding Contributions to Academic Law Librarianship
• 2020 American Association of Law Libraries Academic Libraries Special Interest Section Outstanding Article Award
• 2016 American Association of Law Libraries Law Library Publications Award, Print Division – The Library at Washington and Lee University School of Law Lexington, VA, Celebrating Scholarship at W&L.
• 2015 American Association of Law Libraries Academic Libraries Special Interest Section Outstanding Article Award – James M. Donovan, Carol A. Watson, and Caroline L. Osborne, The Open Access Advantage for American Law Reviews, 1 JPTOS 1 (2015).