But the original posting queried demands for
commonly-held items such as the Columbia Law Review.
At least two law librarians of major law libraries
with document delivery services have made similar
comments to me in the recent past.
I usually respond only to list requests for European,
Asian and African items likely to be found in
specialized law libraries I use, and almost nowhere
else. Notwithstanding offers to pay for postage or
fax, I have yet to be reimbursed for anything (in
fact, if the offer were repeated after delivery, I
wouldn't bother claiming the money but suggest it be
given to charity) and now I only scan and send in
Adobe Acrobat *.pdf format, paying only for the
library photocopying.
Academic librarians (almost) always send an effusive
thank you. Law firm librarians virtually never do.
(And given that I personally have justs received an
itemized bill from a law firm in connection with a
real estate conveyance, I am a bit dubious about a law
firm librarian who asks "who isn't under pressure to
keep costs down?", but that's another story.)
My experience is not, of course, a statistically
reliable sample: just a few dozen incidents.
Andy Grossman
Univesity College London, SLAIS
--- krupka@whad.com wrote:
> 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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