Associate Professor of Law Librarianship; Research Support and Reference Librarian
BSE, 2003, Missouri Southern State University; J.D., 2008, UA Little Rock Bowen School of Law; MLS, 2011, University of North Texas
Room 133 | Phone: 501-916-5470 | Email: jbwoodmansee@ualr.edu
Curriculum vitae | Bowen Law Scholarship Repository
While pursuing his Juris Doctor degree as an evening student at Bowen, Jeff Woodmansee joined the law library staff in 2005; he would later earn promotion to the faculty in July 2011. In his role as research support & reference librarian, “Prof. W” teaches both introductory and specialized legal research courses, including Specialized Legal Research in Criminal Law and other topical guest-lectures, creates and distributes numerous research guides and presentation materials, manages online course administration software, serves as a liaison for faculty members, provides training for student research assistants, supervises library staff, and oversees interlibrary loan services. He also serves the library’s larger community by leading other instructional sessions and library tours for local undergraduate programs and providing assistance with legal reference questions from area attorneys, paralegals, students, and pro se litigants seeking access to the courts. He takes pride in practical approaches to research, embracing new technology, and by drawing on his background in pedagogical methods and educational psychology as he engages others with his lively communication style and passion for his work.
An emerging leader in his field, Professor Woodmansee is active in several national and regional law library organizations and was one of twenty faculty nationally selected for participation in the 5th Boulder Conference on Legal Information: Scholarship & Teaching, a forum to workshop ongoing scholarship and develop “signature pedagogy” practices for legal research as suggested by the Carnegie Report. He also participated in the Legal Research Training Academy at Harvard Law School in 2012 and again in Philadelphia in 2015, and has attended numerous other seminars regarding best teaching practices for legal research. He remains active as a National Business Institute lecturer, demonstrating research skills for Arkansas practitioners in the Continuing Legal Education seminars Attorney’s Guide to Legal Research Strategies On- and Offline (October 2010) and Find It Free and Fast on the Net: Strategies for Legal Research on the Web(May 2014 and June 2015).
With an interest in First Amendment analysis for public speech and information access issues, his recent publications include: Promoting Access While Restricting Access at Public Law Libraries (SWALL Bulletin, Spring 2012); When Soldiers Go Social on Politics, (National Law Journal, April 2013); The Pro Ses Are Coming (Arkansas Journal of Social Change and Public Service, December 2013), in addition to providing commentaries to local media regarding Arkansas government and politics. He has also served as a library consultant for Saint Edward’s Catholic School in Little Rock since 2014. His other interests include copyright law, legislative process and documentation, online legal marketing, “open government” initiatives, photography, law practice management, resource sharing, social media use, U.S. history and foreign policy, and is an avid baseball fan.
