I get a big kick out of folks who assure me I don't need to worry about running out of space in the law library because any day now "everything will be on the Internet." Those folks are dead wrong, but you sure can't convince them of that. One professor from another department actually cited Star Trek as his authority for the proposition that books will disappear! I didn't have the heart to tell him Star Trek is fiction.
The fact is, book collections in academic law libraries are continuing to grow, although the rate of growth has slowed somewhat in recent years. And I do need to worry about space, because our library is already out of space. Lack of space is not just a problem for those of us who work in the library, it affects library users too. Have you ever searched several different locations for a book before giving up and asking a reference librarian to help you find it? [Author's note: you should have asked a reference librarian earlier, but that's a subject for another column.] One reason finding books in our library is so difficult is that keeping them in logical sequence on the shelves requires more staff hours than we can afford to devote to shelving, because the shelvers must move old books, sometimes whole sections and ranges of old books, to make room on the shelves for new books. As a result, over the years the shelving plan of the library has become ever more confused. A KF classified book may be on the balcony or in the basement; a bar journal may be in one of three locations; state secondary materials are in the basement, while state primary materials are in the Annex; and so on. The student who described our shelving plan as "Byzantine" was right.
So what can we do? Well, we are already doing it. The last couple of years have been spent in a deaccessioning project. That's "library-ese" for getting rid of books we don't need. About 20,000 volumes of duplicates and superseded materials have been deaccessioned. It's important to note that the deaccessioning project did not remove unique information from the collection; we have added to the total number of titles but reduced the total number of physical volumes. Now that we have some room to maneuver, we are creating a shelving plan that will put materials in more logical relation to each other. In all likelihood, we will move nearly every book in the collection. This reshelving effort will be planned for a time when it will not interfere with classes, and we'll give you plenty of notice, but steel yourself for some frustration until you figure out the new plan. To quote another student, "You need to shelve books in this library so mere mortals can find them." Good advice. That's just what we're aiming for.
Since last month's issue of Amicus Briefs, Fran Norton has jumped from looseleaf filing to a permanent, full-time position in the Circulation Office. For a little more about Fran, please see the August 1997 issue of the newsletter.
The computers in the computer lab are not turned off. Touch any key and the power on the monitors will return. As many of you know, we've recently installed several lab computers with 17 inch monitors. The energy saving features of these monitors suspend and turn off the monitor power when the computers are not being used.
Free Laser Prints
All currently enrolled law students, including LLM students, are eligible to receive 200 free laser prints for Fall Semester and 200 free laser prints for Spring Semester. To receive your prints:
Web Site of the Month
The University of Georgia School of Law, http://www.lawsch.uga.edu
If you have ever used Netscape from any of the Law Library computer labs, you have no doubt seen the University of Georgia School of Law Web page. Some of the items that you can find on the Law School web page include: the Student Handbook, links to Internet legal resources, articles from the Georgia Law Review and Journal of Intellectual Property, links to law student web pages, the Law School Bulletin (a calendar of current law school related events), and student organization web pages such as WLSA and the Intellectual Property Club. Pay us a visit if you haven't already.
Oyez, Oyez, Oyez, A Supreme Court WWW Resource, http://oyez.at.nwu.edu/oyez.html
As we look forward to the beginning of a new Supreme Court session, you might wish to pay a visit to the Northwestern University's Oyez web site. Oyez provides information about major constitutional cases heard and decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. In addition to details about the questions and opinions in these cases, one of the most unique features of this site is that it provides digital recordings of the Court's proceedings. The recordings include digitized oral arguments and opinion announcements from sources in the National Archives.
Lexis Lab Updated
Stop by the newly updated Lexis Lab and give one of the seven new Compaq 166 MHz Pentiums a try. The new computers are loaded with Windows95 and Lexis/Nexis 7.0 software. Free packets of the new software are available in the lab (please note: requires Windows95).
Fall 1997 Law Student Assistants: