I think it's interesting that the responses to this post have been quite
different depending on the responder's type of library. Those in firm and
court libraries obviously have a different take (use of this type of request
and response to it) than those in academics.
Anne
-------
Anne Myers
Head of Technical Services
Boston University Law Library
765 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 02215
Ph: 617-353-8877 Fax: 617-353-5995
Email: amyers@bu.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu [mailto:owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu]On Behalf
Of krupka@whad.com
Sent: Friday, March 31, 2000 4:27 PM
To: law-lib@ucdavis.edu
Subject: RE: Please send a copy of X
Donna said exactly what I was going to while I was thinking of how to
word it succinctly.
Karen Krupka
Wildman Harrold Allen & Dixon
Chicago
krupka@whad.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Cavallini, Donna [mailto:dcavallini@kilstock.com]
Sent: Friday, March 31, 2000 3:03 PM
To: law-lib@ucdavis.edu
Subject: RE: Please send a copy of X
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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