TERRY:
The biggest threat we face from the Internet is the public perception
that anyone can now do our jobs. Every computer jockey with a modem
thinks he/she is a master researcher.
USAA Legal opened up desktop access to the Intenet to all our staff late
last year. Before we turned them lose, I taught a class that explained
what the Internet was and was not in relation to the types of legal
research databases they were used to. We also trained each person on
using search engines and set up legal bookmarks tailored to the
individuals area of practice. All during the training period I was
constantly asked what was I going to do with myself now that each person
in Legal could do my job.
One year later I am happy to report that the volume of research requests
that come through the library has not diminished but increased. It did
not take our "guys" long to come to the conculsion that it was easier to
turn to Wexis for information than it was to try and track it down on
the internet. Even more enlightened individuals discovered that it was
far easier to just call the library than try to track it down
themselves.
Each step we take that brings us closer to a "virtual library" I find
the more important it becomes to have a librarian around.
Nancy S. Hurt
USAA Law Library
San Antonio Texas
"opinions expressed are mine and not those, blah, blah, blah"
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