Map showing Republic of Georgia.

Georgia Law School Library Project

Professor John Christensen, Washburn Library Director, plays a leading role in an initiative started in 2012 to enhance law school library resources in the Republic of Georgia. Work began with a conference in the fall of 2012; a group of American, European, and Georgian experts discussed the challenges and opportunities of building a modern law library in a developing world law school. Washburn Law brings two decades of experience in technology (WashLaw Web) and interlibrary cooperation (Mid-America Law Library Consortium) to this initiative.

Professor Christensen traveled to Tbilisi in April 2013 and conducted library staff training at four law schools: Georgian-American University, Free University of of Tbilisi, Ilia State University, and International Black Sea University. On the last day of his visit, participating members of a newly formed Georgian Law Library Association met at Judicial Independence and Legal Empowerment Project (JILEP) headquarters to review a memorandum of understanding and discuss future plans. Training included: mailman software for managing listservs, creating simple web pages using html code, live demonstration of Adobe Connect software for online presentations at multiple locations, survey of selected web sites providing compilations of Georgian legal research resources, intro to WashLaw features, accessing online law library catalogs, and discussion of potential cooperative efforts between Georgian law libraries and Washburn Law Library.

Logos: USAID and East-West Management Institute.