Author archives

Sarah Gotschall, J.D., M.L.I.S., is a dedicated law librarian and professor at the University of Arizona's James E. Rogers College of Law Library. With over 18 years of experience in legal research and librarianship, Sarah has made significant contributions to the field through her work in reference services, legal research instruction, and collection development. Sarah's expertise spans a wide range of areas, including administrative law, environmental law, and government documents. She actively participates in professional organizations such as the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) and the Research Instruction & Patron Services Special Interest Section (RIPS-SIS), where she has held various leadership positions. A prolific writer and presenter, Sarah has authored numerous articles, blog posts, and research guides on topics related to legal research, technology, and librarianship. Her passion for teaching and mentoring is evident in her work with law students, faculty, and library fellows. Sarah holds a Juris Doctor from Emory University School of Law and a Master of Library and Information Science from Kent State University. Her diverse background and commitment to excellence make her an invaluable asset to the legal research community. [Note - Claude 3 wrote this new bio for Sarah.]

Move Over Law Professors? AI Likes to Write Law Review Articles Too!

Sarah Gotschall describes this deep dive into how AI is used to write law review articles, with illustrations that detail the complexity and limitations of the effort. Claude (aka the illustrious author Claudia Trey) penned a 77-page extensively footnoted law review article on SSRN entitled “Bloodlines Over Merits: Exposing the Discriminatory Impact of Legacy Preferences in College Admissions.” Though not setting the world on fire in the sense that the article is interesting or that anyone wants to read it, it showcases Claude’s abilities. Now, we all know that AI text generators can churn out an endless stream of words on just about any topic if you keep typing in the prompts. However, Claude can not only generate well-written text, but it can also provide footnotes to primary legal materials with minimal hallucination, setting it apart from other AI text generators such as ChatGPT-4. And, although Claude’s citations to other sources are generally not completely accurate, it is usually not too difficult to find the intended source or a similar one based on the information supplied.

Subjects: AI, Education, Legal Education, Legal Profession, Legal Research

Keep Up With Claude 3: It Reads and Analyzes So You Don’t Have To!

Discover the power of Claude 3, the AI-powered news analyst that can help you stay on top of the news without spending hours sifting through articles and podcasts. Sarah Gotschall recently put Claude 3 to the test by asking it to analyze the controversy surrounding Fani Willis and her prosecution of Donald Trump, and the results were impressive – a comprehensive summary, detailed timeline, and categorized evidence, all in just a matter of minutes. Gotschall says Claude 3 is definitely worth checking out at just $20 a month for access to the most intelligent Opus model.

Subjects: AI, Legal Research

Harness the Melodic Robotic Voices of Our Eventual Overlords Now to Improve Your Proofreading!

As writer/editor for more than two decades, Sarah Gotschall’s article immediately piqued my interest. Gotschall writes that when she proofreads her own work product, she is doing so with what she think she wrote in mind, rather than than focusing specifically on the words on the page. The addition of Speak command to your Quick Access Toolbar in Microsoft Word will be of interest to writers, editors, researchers, librarians, InfoPros, students, and marketing folks too.

Subjects: Communication Skills, Communications, Grammar, KM, Legal Marketing, Software, Technology Trends