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SCENARIO #5: ACADEMIC
- ACADEMIC LAW LIBRARY AS PLACE
Rationale
The academic law library has traditionally
served as the center of intellectual life of the law school,
the place where faculty and students obtain legal information
and assistance with research projects. Even in the fast changing
world of digital legal information, where remote access to
library resources and services is common, the law library
continues to house significant print collections, to develop
facilities for access to electronic resources, to provide
on-site services, and to accommodate library staff and infrastructure.
Another important traditional role for the academic law library
is to provide space for group and individual study and research.
Accreditation standards demand, and legal
educators agree, that legal education requires a residential
component that includes significant interactions with instructors
and classmates in and out of the classroom. While the proposed
revisions regarding distance education provide more flexibility
in this regard, they still emphasize this value - see proposed
Interpretations 306-3, 306-4. Accreditation standards also
continue to require library facilities to accommodate research
and study space, and space for collections, services, staff
and equipment.
Thus the academic law library as a continuing
institutional presence and a place in the law school prompts
this vision of the future.
Vision
This conception of the academic law library contemplates an
institution with a proverbial foot in both the physical and
the electronic worlds. As changes in library usage and the
ways that patrons access its information sources have accelerated,
the academic law library has re-examined its mission and redirected
its focus towards maintenance of its vital institutional presence
within the law school. The physical plant is designed and
arranged for flexibility and to accommodate changing use patterns,
technologies, programs and services. The library's collections
and services are available remotely and on site. Library service
desks serve as a central point of access and user support.
Librarians with expertise in print and electronic legal research
provide instruction (individual and group) and technical support
to students and high level scholarly research support to faculty,
and they also promote an overall environment of intellectual
inquiry. This library is a central gathering space for student
collaborations as well as quiet study.
Implications/Strategies
Facilities:
The academic law library building is designed for flexibility
and functionality, to respond to and accommodate technologies
and applications over time. The building design reflects a
redirected mission of the library to promote community and
the learning environment contemplated by accreditation standards.
Ample study spaces are available at carrels and tables, with
laptop access (wired or wireless) to library, law school and
other resources. Conference rooms, computer labs and library
classrooms feature functional furnishings and the latest technologies.
Comfortable lounge seating arrangements are strategically
located to promote collaborative conversation without disturbing
quiet study and research spaces, and in many institutions
a café is located within the library. Service desks
equipped with latest technologies offer functional on-site
research and other support. A substantial proportion of the
print collection - no longer a prominent and primary feature
and not growing as fast as in the past, but nevertheless an
important facility requirement -is stored on compact shelving
or at a remote storage facility for the historical and less
used print materials. Some stack spaces have been converted
to new uses: computer clusters, conference rooms, lounge areas,
service desks and staff offices and workstations. The library
facility contains spaces for other law school programs such
as legal research and writing, journals, clinics, (see Partnering
scenario).
Collections:
The collection is a hybrid of print and digital resources.
The print collection consists of historical legal texts, and
the monograph/ treatise collection continues to grow in this
format. Because the treatises are heavily used in print form,
this collection is housed on the main floor where browsing
and retrieval is convenient. The treatise collection is accessed
through the library's OPAC which is incorporated into the
research portal described below and in the Virtual scenario.
Print versions of primary law sources and finding tools have
been decreased substantially if not totally eliminated (perhaps
the only remaining primary sources in print are the sets of
codes).
The digital content is accessed through a
research portal that searches across sources, from library
computers and connections or remotely. It consists of legal
and non legal databases, links to web sites, and a vast array
of other commercial and non commercial sources. (See Virtual
scenario for more information.)
Services:
Library reference, document delivery, circulation, technical
support and other services and support are available on site,
where patrons receive personalized and hands-on assistance
with research and technical questions. Service areas provide
easy access to professional assistance all hours that the
library is open. Instructional sessions are provided to law
students in the library's electronic classrooms. A faculty
assistance center provides in depth reference support for
research projects and instructional support. Librarians may
be engaged in collaborative services and programs with other
law school units - eg, Career Services, legal writing, clinics
(see Partnering scenario).
Staff:
Staffing levels are maintained to meet the demand for on site
assistance as well as remote access by faculty and students.
Service desks are staffed all hours the library is open. New
service models have been developed to promote the redirected
mission of the library. Technical processing staff, reduced
in number due to the decrease in print sources acquired, nevertheless
continue to perform acquisitions, cataloging and serials processing
functions.
Librarians with a high level of expertise in print and electronic
formats provide support and instruction to onsite and remote
users, and are actively engaged in development and maintenance
of the library's digital resources and its research portal.
Collaborative initiatives within the law school and across
campus keep librarians actively involved in the institutional
enterprise, and bring a variety of people into the library.
Budget:
A commitment to transforming and enhancing the role of the
academic law library as a vital presence within the law school
does not, for the most part, achieve financial savings. Facilities
renovations, maintenance of print collections while moving
forward with digital collections, the need to staff service
desks for on-site services, all carry budget implications.
Law school administrators are convinced that these commitments
are worth the expense, however, as the library retains its
important role in the institutional life of the law school
and promotes the educational experience of its students.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths:
- Academic law libraries have long served
as an environment for research and study
- Academic law libraries have substantial
dedicated space within the law school that can be adapted
to changing roles
- Academic law library staffs with strong
service orientation can provide incentives to come into
the library for assistance
Weaknesses:
- Decline in on-site traffic; faculty and
student increasingly not coming to the library to take advantage
of on-site resources, services, opportunities
- Adaptation of library facility, designed
primarily to house print collection, for a refocused mission
may not be feasible
Opportunities:
- The academic law library as the interactive
and intellectual "center" of the law school
- Development of high level technological
expertise and support centers
- The law library with a refocused and revitalized
mission, developing new resources and services for faculty
and students on-site
Threats:
- Law school administrators unwilling to
invest in transforming the traditional role of the law library
- Technological advances undermining the
library as place
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