The seeming hypothesis that CanLII can replace
a law firm library collection — including the texts and other resources necessary for lawyers to competently address legal issues for their clients — is simply absurd.
Your remarks about
law firm library collection decisions compared with those in a law school library decisions, I believe, apt.
Not exact matches
This only stands to reason: our courthouse
libraries are the oldest
law libraries in the country; they were developing extensive
collections of Canadian and English
law long before any of today's
law firms and
law schools had been founded.
When the
library proposed to digitize its slide
collection, the university sought legal advice from two highly regarded
law firms.
I wonder if you would have the same concerns for all
libraries: should
law firm libraries for example maintain large print
collections just in case?
Given that
law libraries, whether academic, courthouse or private
law firm, are constantly under space pressures, does this mean that we should be discarding the other 80 - 94 % of the
collection and using the space for something else?
Every week, I receive calls from
law firm and courthouse librarians, asking if our
library will take the historical
collections they are being asked to dispose of.
When I was in a
law firm library, we refused to buy casebooks for the
collection.
The traditional
law firm is a
collection of sole practices and small
firms that hang out together under the same letterhead and share a
library and kitchen, delivering legal services through the ongoing application of lawyers» efforts.
Consequently, as a
law school
library, we have an obligation not only to the School but to
law firm libraries and the profession to maintain our extensive print
collections of primary legal materials and
law journals.
Still, I remember a
law firm library in Toronto that had a beautiful
collection of extremely detailed maps of Ontario bound in large format.
My
law firm library will never be empty since even if the
collection were digitized and housed on some post-silicon ephemera there would still be a librarian (or several) in the room.
When I look at my own
law firm library budget, the cost of
collection items that are not available on CanLII is 88 % and the cost of decsions and legislation makes up only 11 % of my budget — though these are not necessarily availabe on CanLII.
Law Library Management, Incorporated (LLM) was engaged by an AM
Law 25
firm to complete a
library collection audit and analysis.
Traditional
library metrics are less helpful for
law firm libraries compared to public or academic
libraries; for example, circulation statistics are often used as an indicator of
library usage and what parts of the
library collection are in highest demand.
In large
law firms that have one, lawyers and students still use the
library; with a good
collection and capable staff, word spreads.
As a
law firm librarian, I rely on
law society
libraries, locally and in other jurisdictions, their services and
collections, to supplement and augment what my team and I provide to our lawyers.
My
law firm library has a lot of baskets: print
collection, database access, items used for current awareness, Canadian content, foreign content, things that are available to borrow locally, things that we can share between our offices, things used by each practice group, things that people need at their desk.
Most
law firms are
collections of affiliated
law practices that share physical premises, a brand, a knowledge
library, and an internal referral system.
For example, one
law firm was able to slash its
law library budget in half over a two year period by offering its
collection in e-book format and making it available through a digital
library solution.
Law libraries were mostly indistinguishable in their
collections; precedents varied so little as to be virtually copies of one another; workflow and operational procedures were standard across almost every type of
firm.
Some of these options are easier to achieve than others: for the
libraries internal to a
law firm to agree to supplement each others»
collections is quite straight forward, but reciprocal agreements across organizations are more difficult.
Pressed by both real estate and subscription costs, many
law firms have disposed of their print
collections, keeping only a bare minimum of hard - copy resources in a traditional onsite
library space.
I'm using it to catalogue a small
library collection for one of the
law firms at which I work.
While the copies of early (pre-1930)
law reports and statutes in both academic and private (
law firm)
libraries are disintegrating from age and overuse, mint - condition copies of them will be preserved in Osgoode's special
collections.
As a
law firm librarian, I rely on
law society
libraries, locally and in other jurisdictions, their services and
collections, to supplement... [more]
Which
collections shouuld be able to offer the deep dive question —
law firm, courthouse or barristers
library, a university
law faculty question, a
law library accessible to the public?
Should a
law firm library be able to answer 80 percent of the deep dive questions within its
collection or just 80 percent of the questions?
My
law firm library has a lot of baskets: print
collection, database access, items used for current awareness, Canadian content, foreign content, things that are available to borrow locally, things that we can share between our offices,... [more]
This policy was my project for the class, in which I attempted to create a
collection of legal materials for a private
law firm library in Wisconsin and was...