Elaine Knecht is not only the sole librarian for the 300-attorney firm Barclay Damon in New York — she is also a trained musician, opera singer, school librarian, and public radio classical music program host. In this episode, we explore the connections between music, mathematics, logic, and legal research with Elaine, and discuss her Summer Associate Research Academy and growing library of five-minute training videos on all matters library related.
The Practising Law Librarian, part of the PLI Ever Current podcast, brings you conversations with — and for — the law librarian community. PLI is proud to offer resources to support the essential work of law librarians and practitioners including PLI PLUS, the award-winning legal research platform, and the PLI Librarian blog.
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Featured in this Episode
Elaine Knecht
Elaine Knecht has been the Director of Information Resources at Barclay Damon LLP since 2006. Her responsibilities include both legal and extra-legal research, vendor relations, training attorneys as they join the firm, and collection development and management.
Elaine came to librarianship through an interest in computers. As a volunteer at her son’s high school, she helped create the online public access catalog (OPAC) for the school after learning a software package that the school’s librarian purchased with a government grant. She received her MLS from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2005.
Prior to her work as a librarian, Elaine had a 29-year career as a program host on a public radio station that played classical music. With earlier degrees in music performance, she also spent time as a music teacher and opera singer. Elaine and her husband Don, who plays all the reed instruments as well as the piano, sing and play together — Cole Porter, Frank Sinatra covers, Broadway show tunes. She has been married for nearly 46 years, and has four children and seven grandchildren.
