You wrote:
> I will have to confess that I do not think that the often irrational
> attachment of lawyers to the looseleaf format has much to do with
> what they were taught in law school legal research courses. In my
> own case, now 13 years out of law school, I have difficulty
> remembering anything from my legal research course. Certainly I did
> not pick up my current beliefs about the winsome ways of legal
> publishers there. Rather, it is part of the lawyer culture, absorbed
> more than taught. I mention this only because I do not think we can
> deal with it by a slight change in emphasis in legal research
> courses. ^^^^^^^^^ Joe K. Stephens Law Librarian
>
I agree. I think the attachment to looseleaf's comes from the very
real fear that lawyers have of out of date information. A book in
published form is inherently out of date, because nothing can be added
to it. Pocket parts help, but have to be checked separately.
Looseleafs integrate new matierial with the old, thus implying
currency within the flow of text.
The reality, as we all know, is far different. While the potential for
currency is indeed there, that potential is usually not realized. Add
to this the other problems with the physical format and you have a
librarian's nightmare (just one of many, to be sure) and not the dream
vehicle attorneys visualize.
How to educate users about these problems is a thornier issue. Their
feelings about looseleafs are intuitive, and quite logical on a
surface level. explaining the deeper issues may be a hard task.
Just my thoughts...
Paul D. Healey, M.A.(LIS), J.D.
Reference/Instructional Services Librarian
Warren E. Burger Library
William Mitchell College of Law
871 Summit Ave. St. Paul, MN 55105
Phone: 612.290.6306 Fax: 612.290.6318
e-mail: phealey@wmitchell.edu
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