This thread parallels remarkably one that took place in CNI-COPYRIGHT
about a year ago, where someone in the list suggested it should be closed
to all but copyright attorneys. One attorney replied affirmatively that
what lay people thought about the issue, what they felt was right, was
irrelevant, that the law was what mattered.
I'd hate to see this great listserver, Law-Lib, diminished by such an
attitude directed towards nonlibrarians. You librarians are the last group
of people I would expect to hear this from. I guess the relentless,
day-in and day-out requests from people needing help in a library, many or
most the same questions over and over, can wear you down, and some of the
writers in this thread certainly seem tired of questions. The interchange
of novice and experienced, radically different viewpoints, people seeking
and successfully finding resources, makes Law-Lib a great service. The
very fact some are complaining about, that the number of requests for help
is growing so much, is the very fact demonstrating what a success Law-Lib
is! It's so easy for those that don't want to help anyone, or to talk to
a nonlibrarian, to simply not answer the mail. Isn't it? Does the idea
of a closed Law-Lib (or a closed law library!) sound ridiculous to anyone
else?
I guess if the folks that claim they would unsubscribe if we
nonlibrarians become too many were to actually found themselves a
private list so they can talk to themselves, they wouldn't be missed too
much. And I really doubt they'd quit listening in to all the fun and all
the successes of people needing help and finding it in Law-Lib, because
their private place would be so boring.
Dave Gowan
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Florida Taxpayer Assets Project Information, Tallahassee FL
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