Alex Zhang is the Archibald C. and Frances Fulk Rufty Research Professor of Law, Associate Dean of Information Services, and Director of the J. Michael Goodson Law Library. She is also a co-founder of Chinalab@DukeLaw. Before joining Duke Law, Alex was the Assistant Dean for Legal Information Services, Professor of Practice, and Director of the Wilbur C. Hall Law Library of Washington and Lee University School of Law. She previously held positions at the University of Michigan Law School and Stanford University Law School.
Alex's research interests include legal information and law library management, interdisciplinary research methods, and comparative lawmaking and rulemaking. Her articles appeared in scholarly journals such as Legal Information Management, Law Library Journal, International Journal of Legal Information, and Chinese Journal of Comparative Law. She is a co-editor of Global Animal Law Research (Carolina Academic Press, 2022). Featuring 12 research experts specializing in U.S., foreign, international, and comparative law research, Global Animal Law Research collects these experts' perspectives, knowledge, and experiences researching various animal rights and welfare topics. Global Animal Law Research won the 2022 Reynolds & Flores Publication Award from the American Association of Law Libraries.
Alex's next book, Chinese Legal Research in a Nutshell (under contract with West Academic, forthcoming 2025) will cover legal framework, resources, and strategies for researching the Chinese legal system and pertinent legal and political authorities. Alex is the Editor-in-Chief of the Legal Reference Services Quarterly and a member of the Advisory Board for Foreign Law Guide.
Alex is active in regional, national, and international legal information associations. She is the Secretary and a member of the Executive Board of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). She is a past chair of AALL's Foreign, Comparative, and International Law Special Interest Section, Indexing of Periodical Literature Committee, and Innovations in Technology Award Jury. Alex is currently a co-president of the Chinese American Forum on Legal Information and Law Libraries, an international organization striving to promote intellectual exchanges among law librarians and legal information professionals in the U.S. and China. She is also a past chair of the International Legal Research Interest Group of the American Society of International Law.
Alex received her J.D. from the University of Kansas and M.S.I. from the University of Michigan. She is a member of the State Bar of New York.
