Oh boy....let the flames begin....I am a legal secretary for a Fortune
500 corporation legal department. I have an AAS degree in legal
secretarial science and have about 10 years of legal secretarial
experience. Responsibility for the legal library is just one of the
many functions of my position. The suggestion that secretaries are not
"capable" of performing quality legal research is demeaning and
stereotypical.
My responsibilities initially began as performing the routine library
work--invoices, replacement pages, updates, shelving, ordering etc. As
I became more acquainted with the "workings" of the library I have
graduated into other areas of performing research including WESTLAW and
LEXIS. Fortunately, I work for supervisors and for a corporation that
support the notion that one should be challenged in their position and
encourage all levels of employees to seek further training and
instruction in their area of interest.
I agree that I do not have the level of expertise as an individual with
a MS in library science. But, I am capable of learning and would know
when I was "in over my head" and then request the assistance of an
attorney. Experience to me has been the best learning tool. It may
take me a little longer than someone with formal education but I usually
am able to come up with an answer. I get calls and requests from
individuals in all areas of our company. My work is usually received
with great appreciation and never with apprehension that an unqualified
individual located the information.
I realize, as well, that a legal librarian in a private law firm
functions quite differently than one in a corporate environment and
would be required to perform legal research in a greater degree. But,
I'm sure that if an efficient, intelligent secretary was put in the
position of having to perform legal research, with the proper training,
he or she would do just fine.
In the meantime, lighten up!!!! Most secretaries are doing their job
because they enjoy the type of work they do. The fact that they want
some research responsibilities is probably merely out of a desire to
have variety to their job. I doubt anyone is interested in taking over
your position.
Patty Campbell
Legal Department
Corning Incorporated
MP-HQ-E2-10
Corning, NY 14830
607-974-8188 (phone)
607 -974-8262 (fax)
campbell_pj@corning.com
----------
From: Barb Avery
To: 'law-lib@ucdavis.edu'
Subject: Secretaries doing library research
Date: Thursday, February 27, 1997 1:04PM
I am troubled by several recent instances of attorneys at our law firm
suggesting that their secretaries do library research to keep them
"challenged." I am about to communicate my concerns re: quality
control,
professional education and experience, the complexity of many library
materials, etc. to the attorneys. But I am wondering if anyone has been
through this before, and might have established some "boundaries" for
what
kinds of information requests can/should be handled by secretaries.
We have willingly trained our secretaries to do look-ups in
Martindale-Hubbell, the court directories, Switchboard on the Internet,
pulling and photocopying cases from the reporters, etc., but, beyond
this,
I get really nervous. I want to rein in this trend before it gets out
of
control.
At the most basic level, I guess I am just really annoyed that the
attorneys think just any Tom, Dick or Harry can do things like locating
parallel citations, Shepardizing, etc. Maybe I'm just being snobbish,
but,
as the one responsible for the quality of the information service, I've
got
a real problem with this--and it's not because I'm feeling threatened.
I'm
not.
Anybody have any sage advice for me? TIA
Barbara Avery, Librarian
Marshall & Melhorn
Four SeaGate, 8th Floor
Toledo, OH 43604
(419)249-7228
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