Academic Law Libraries Research Articles

Law School Libraries and the U.S. News & World Report Rankings: An Empirical Defense of Library Investments in the Era of the Rankings Regime

Using both simple correlation and multiple regression analyses, this paper explores how measures of academic law library quality, like materials expenditures and number of librarians employed, have significant positive effects on law school rankings outcomes – an important point to make in this era of law schools’ collective obsession with the U.S. News & World Report rankings.

SLS/BIALL Academic Law Library Survey 2010/2011

AbstractThis is the latest report analysing the results of the Academic Law Library Survey conducted on behalf of the Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) and the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians (BIALL). It has been written by David Gee, Deputy Librarian at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London.

British and Irish Association of Law Librarians (BIALL) Legal Information Literacy Statement

The Association hosts an annual conference which features a members’ ‘Have your say’ session. At the 2011 session, a BIALL member based in the commercial sector voiced their concern at the legal research competency of recent joiners to their firm, stating that senior partners were asking in-house law librarians to verify the research presented by new trainees. This member also queried the role of academic law librarians, questioning how legal research skills are being taught at academic and vocational level and stating clearly that the legal research skills of new joiners are not meeting the expectations of employers. The following debate prompted one of the authors to propose that BIALL should investigate the issue in depth, with the aim of producing legal IL guidance in the form of a toolkit, similar to legal IL guidance devised in the United States and IL initiatives within the NHS (Choolhun 2012).

The Public Mission of the Public Law School Library

This article explores the evolving public mission of the public law school library. Following a brief overview of the history of the public university and its public mission, the article examines the mission of state-supported law schools — particularly those affiliated with public research universities — and explores how that mission is affected as those law schools transition to a model of greater financial self-sufficiency. This consideration of the public mission of the public law school is crucial to understanding the public mission of the public law school library, as the library exists to support the law school’s mission. The article next reviews the public law school library’s traditional public mission and the unique challenges the public academic law library now faces in fulfilling that mission. The article concludes by encouraging public law school libraries to examine and, as necessary, redefine their public missions and to take a broader view of their role in supporting their law schools’ public missions. Public law school libraries also are encouraged to collaborate with one another and with state-supported university libraries to fulfill their public missions on a national basis.

The Rise and Fall of Academic Law Library Collection Standards

This article provides a history of the American Bar Association (ABA) Accreditation Standards for law library collection development from a simple standard, “adequate for the use of the students,” to a more detailed list of requirements, and back again to simpler mandates. ABA standards are currently under review, and the author argues it is time to end the collection requirements in the ABA standards.

Cloudy with a Chance of Open Source: Open Source Integrated Library Systems and Cloud Computing in Academic Law Libraries

Integrated library systems (ILSs) have been fundamental to library workflow in both technical services and public services for decades. However, many of the proprietary ILSs currently on the market do not provide law libraries with the flexibility and adaptability necessary to keep pace with advances in technology. Some law libraries are considering abandoning proprietary ILSs and implementing one of the nascent open source ILSs that have sprung up in the last few years. As the lines blur between hardware and software, many organizations are trading in-house information technology infrastructure and personnel for full-service cloud hosting. This article examines these trends for those contemplating a move to an open source ILS and/or cloud computing.

How Law Schools Benefit When Librarians Publish, Teach, and Hold Faculty Status

Many nondirector academic law librarians publish and teach legal research classes. Some hold faculty status as well. Law librarians have expertise in the development and delivery of legal research instruction methodologies and are developing a body of literature documenting their efforts to create and share a pedagogy of legal research instruction. Principles of shared faculty governance entitle library faculty to contribute to the development and delivery of a curriculum of legal research instruction. Encouraging law librarian participation in the shared governance of law schools should lead to increasing opportunities for the successful reform of legal education curricula with respect to legal research instruction.

The Academic Law Library and the Prospects for Diversity in the Legal Profession

AbstractThis study examines the interpretation of the American Bar Association's accreditation standard for law schools in the United States and the effect it could have on minority students studying in such law schools. It shows how such students will be greatly disadvantaged. It also shows the principle underlying the solution and how academic law libraries can aid in solving the problem and make a diverse bar a reality.

The Need for Faculty Status and Uniform Tenure Requirements for Law Librarians

This article examines tenure requirements currently in use in academic law libraries in the United States. It is one of two articles examining the effect of tenure opportunities on rank-and-file academic law librarians, their law libraries, and the profession of law librarianship. Its intended audience is library directors and other leaders within the profession of academic law librarianship. article reports data gathered in an August 2009 survey of law libraries that currently provide tenure or continuous appointment opportunities for academic law librarians. To provide context, this article revisits faculty status and how it can naturally lead to law librarians having opportunities to attain tenured status. article also considers the ideal of tenured status - what benefits are gained by the tenure system and what is meant by the concept of academic freedom which underpins justification of tenure generally. It identifies various tenure tracks for librarians and the standards for performance under which law librarians are currently reviewed, promoted to progressively higher rank, and awarded tenure. Finally, it recommends that library directors and other leaders within the profession make a concerted effort to encourage law libraries to employ more uniform and consistently rigorous standards for assessing law librarian performance for tenure or continuous appointment, and to develop more robust programs for encouraging librarian scholarship. Failing to do so can only weaken arguments that law librarians should continue to hold faculty status, and be able to attain tenured status, well into the future. An earlier draft of this article entitled, The Need for More Uniform and Consistently Rigorous Standards for Assessing Law Librarian Performance in Tenure and Continuous Appointment Policies, received the American Association of Law Libraries' LexisNexis® Call for Papers, Open Division award for 2010. A companion piece, “Challenges Associated with Providing Tenure and Continuous Appointment Opportunities for Academic Law Librarians,” may be found at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1490113.

The Development of the Skills Curriculum in Law Schools: Lessons for Directors of Academic Law Libraries

Recent challenges to the status and tenure of law library directors has questioned their role law as teachers and scholars. This article analyzes the development of the legal research, clinical, and legal writing curriculum in U.S. law schools and identifies strategies that law librarians could choose to employ to bolster their status as the preeminent teachers of legal research in the academy.

40 Years On – Ensuring an Academic Law Library is Fit for Purpose

AbstractThe Kent Law School at the University of Kent celebrated its 40thAnniversary in 2008 and Diane Raper, the current law librarian, reviews the changes that have taken place over the years in relation to user comment and feedback, and external drivers which have ensured the provision of a first-class library and information service for staff and students. She also considers the major changes in the modus operandi of the service over the last 40 years.

Commentaries on Hicks' ‘Teaching Legal Bibliography’: With an Addendum by Robert Berring

In an attempt to write a history of legal research in law schools, Chiorazzi and Esposito found that very little has been written to chronicle the history of this important function of academic law libraries; but they did rediscover a gem written by Frederick Hicks, the godfather of law librarians, almost 100 years ago. Much of that which he speaks is still relevant. The authors decided that there was no better way to begin a discussion of the history of legal research instruction than the text of Hicks’ article. The authors have reprinted the entire Hicks article and have added their own comments throughout. And, of course, they knew no discussion of Hicks would be complete without the comments of Bob Berring on one of his personal hero's work. No law librarian has followed more closely in the intellectual footprints of Hicks than Professor Berring.

Meeting Evolving Research and Curriculum Needs: A Survey of Interlibrary Loan and OhioLINK Borrowing at an Academic Law Library

The research goal was to study the law faculty's interlibrary loan and OhioLINK borrowing activity to assess current subject gaps in the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Library's collection. The authors analyzed and collated faculty research interests. The results indicate that additional purchases are required to support international law and health law, two curriculum areas currently under development at Cleveland-Marshall.

Preserving and ensuring long-term access to digitally born legal information

Written laws, records and legal materials form the very foundation of a democratic society. Lawmakers, legal scholars and everyday citizens alike need, and are entitled, to access the current and historic materials that comprise, explain, define, critique and contextualize their laws and legal institutions. The preservation of legal information in all formats is imperative. Thus far, the twenty-first century has witnessed unprecedented mass-scale acceptance and adoption of digital culture, which has resulted in an explosion in digital information. However, digitally born materials, especially those that are published directly and independently to the Web, are presently at an extremely high risk of permanent loss. Our legal heritage is no exception to this phenomenon, and efforts must be put forth to ensure that our current body of digital legal information is not lost. The authors explored the role of the United States law library community in the preservation of digital legal information. Through an online survey of state and academic law library directors, it was determined that those represented in the sample recognize that digitally born legal materials are at high risk for loss, yet their own digital preservation projects have primarily focused upon the preservation of digitized print materials, rather than digitally born materials. Digital preservation activities among surveyed libraries have been largely limited by a lack of funding, staffing and expertise; however, these barriers could be overcome by collaboration with other institutions, as well as participation in a large-scale regional or national digital preservation movement, which would allow for resource-sharing among participants. One such collaborative digital preservation program, the Chesapeake Project, is profiled in the article and explored as a collaborative effort that may be expanded upon or replicated by other institutions and libraries tackling the challenges of digital preservation.

Job Descriptions for Interlibrary Loan Supervisors: Core Functions and Best Practices

The author compares interlibrary loan supervisors’ job descriptions for various types of libraries. The include a large university library, a small university library, a large public library, a small public library, and 12 academic law libraries. Job description topics discussed include purposes, qualifications, typical duties and responsibilities, variations by different types of libraries, collection of interlibrary loan statistics, the best ways to include technology in a job description, relationships among librarians, responsibility for copyright compliance, and ethics. The appendix includes a model job description for an interlibrary loan supervisor.

Web‐based legal information services and academic law libraries in Nigeria

PurposeThis article seeks to discuss the need for a web‐based information delivery system in academic law libraries in Nigeria. It highlights the benefits of harnessing interactive web technologies to provide the kind of information which legal scholars and researchers need to find the law, interpret the law and apply the law to solve societal problems.Design/methodology/approachA literature survey was carried out to support the proposal for a web‐based legal information service in Nigerian academic law libraries; visits to the websites of universities that have law faculties were also made.FindingsMost of the libraries in law faculties, law schools and legal institutes are not utilizing web technologies such as blogs, Wikipedia, really simple syndication feeds, instant messaging, streaming media, podcasting and tagging. Lack of IT skills, finances, and government support are the major problems facing these libraries.Practical implicationsIt should sensitize Government, library schools, library associations and information professionals to the challenges of ICTs.Originality/valueWeb‐based information delivery is relatively new in Nigerian libraries. This work will serve as a reference source.

Innovations in Providing Access to Research and Knowledge: Directions for Systems Improvement in the Law Library

ABSTRACT In this article, the authors explore the future of legal reference services, continuing the discussion raised in their previous article, at 26 LRSQ 57 (No. 1/2, 2007). Again considering examples of popular and effective services from the non-library (commercial) world, they examine underlying trends and suggest points for improvement in library systems. They concentrate their focus on the academic law library, and on the changing role of the reference librarian.

Law Library Director—Scholar: Writing for Tenure

ABSTRACT Publish or perish? What are the pressures on modern law library directors to publish? Must they? Should they? These issues are discussed along with the competing interests of running a successful academic law library and the pressures of tenure and scholarly expectations.

Getting the Picture: UK Academic Law Library Standards

AbstractThis is an edited version of the presentation given by Peter Clinch to the 40th BIALL Annual Study Conference held in Dublin in 2008. It helps to set in context the surveys he conducted on behalf of the Society of Legal Scholars. The results of one of the surveys are reported as part of the Annual Academic Law Library Survey elsewhere in this issue.

Staying Vital to the Virtual Learner – What Role for Future University Law Librarians?

AbstractNicola Wakefield and Emily Allbon are academic law librarians. They offer their thoughts on the future that all academic law librarians may face as we move further into the 21st Century. They look at the key issues and examine possibilities for the future role of law librarians, considering how changes in technology, library spaces, study habits and the pressures of time and funding could affect us as a profession.