I agree with Dave's assessment that turnaround is usually better on the
list. I would also point out that posting to a listserv often is more
efficient dollarwise than using a document delivery service, and who isn't
under pressure to keep costs down? So too, in sending requests to the list
at large, a user in need gets the widest possible distribution audience, so
that the request fill rate is demonstrably higher than for a
limited-subscription listserv, such as needs and offers.
However, most important, in my opinion, is that, among the many ways of
serving the profession, the ability to quickly come through for a colleague
in a pinch is incredibly valuable and laudable. We are members of a service
industry in a service economy, and I think that those who regularly come to
the aid of others in need ought to be honored by AALL as exemplars of best
practice.
Donna F. Cavallini
Manager of Competitive Knowledge
Kilpatrick Stockton LLP
dcavallini@kilstock.com
-----Original Message-----
From: DAVID CLARK [mailto:DAVIDC@lfwlaw.com]
Sent: Friday, March 31, 2000 2:10 PM
To: law-lib@ucdavis.edu
Subject: Re: Please send a copy of X
Mary,
¯ This is what my experience has been:
Do requests like this end up with multiple copies being sent? Does the
requestor happily pay the charges to each library that sent a copy?
¯ No. Usually a few librarians who have the document very handy anyway will
send a private message along the lines of, "I have it. Do you still need
it?" The requester usually ends up sending a half-dozen "No thanks"
messages to those whose help he or she does not need.
¯ I understand your complaint, and perhaps such requests should more readily
go out over the "needs and offers" listserv (or maybe not), but all-in-all I
would say that it's a lot faster than official document services (and
usually these things are needed in a real hurry, through no fault of the
requesting librarian) and it also seems to foster camaraderie and goodwill
amongst us.
Thanks.
Dave C.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
David C. Clark, JD, MLIS
Law Librarian
Lightfoot, Franklin, & White, L.L.C.
The Clark Building
400 20th Street North
Birmingham, Alabama 35203
davidc@lfwlaw.com
(205) 581-0768
(205) 581-0799 (FAX)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Opinions are solely my own.
I think it might be more efficient -- both for the people who need copies
and for those of us who read law-lib regularly -- if librarians became
aware of institutions that are set up to provide copies. For example, our
library has a Copy & Send service that is set up to do just that (for a
fee). (See http://lib.law.washington.edu/copy&send/copy&send.html.)
There are many others -- see "Law Library Document Suppliers" (a list
compiled by AALL's Document Delivery Caucus in 1998),
http://www.aallnet.org/chapter/caucuses_document_suppliers.asp
If requestors contact one document supplier, then they will get what they
need without all of the readers of law-lib needing to read their requests.
Law-lib will still be available to them when they have requests for
hard-to-locate items, puzzling citations, and other mysteries.
Yes, I understand that I can use my delete key when I see requests for
photocopies or faxes. I do. I'm actually posting this in an effort to be
helpful to requestors (as well as in the hope that I will need to delete
fewer messages of this genre).
-- Mary
__________________________________________________________
Mary Whisner, Assistant Librarian for Reference Services
Gallagher Law Library, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
whisner@u.washington.edu library's website: http://lib.law.washington.edu
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