[Prodev] Question 3- Biggest obstacles- open on weekends/even
ings
Lester, Lorraine
prodev@aallnet.org
Wed, 5 Feb 2003 11:33:45 -0700
Yes Martha ... the door is open to them and we will refer people who live in
the area to them. However their budget is very limited and their collection
is specific to the needs of the Supreme Court first and foremost. Their
staff is extremely helpful and kind and we have a good working relationship
with them.
Lorraine Lester
Univ. New Mexico Law Library
-----Original Message-----
From: Campbell, Martha [mailto:martha.campbell@state.co.us]
Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2003 11:22 AM
To: prodev@aallnet.org
Subject: Re: [Prodev] Question 3- Biggest obstacles- open on
weekends/evenings
Hi, Lorraine,
I know you're not in Santa Fe, but does your Supreme Court library get many
SRLs? Is the library open to them?
"Lester, Lorraine" wrote:
> Hi Amy -- the document in WORD didn't come through -- only the title and
the
> first line or so.
>
> As to hours of reference service ...
> We are practically the only public law library in the state and certainly
> the largest. I can't imagine trying to get more SRL's into the library --
> they come in droves as it is ... and we do have a split mission to serve
our
> faculty and students at the law school, then the university community, the
> legal community and the public. I don't think there are many SRL's who
> don't know we're here . Our hours are 7:30 to midnight M-Thursday with a
> Reference Librarian from 9:00 to 9:00. On Fridays, we close at 9:00 and
> have a Reference librarian until 6:00. The library is pretty dead on a
> Friday night, we've found. Saturdays we are open from 9:00 to 6:00 and
have
> a reference librarian there the whole time with the exception of lunch
1-2.
> On Sundays we are open from noon to midnight and have a reference
librarian
> from 2:00 to 6:00 (but we're actually there at noon so do a kind of
informal
> reference from noon to 2). It's hard to predict what are dead times --
they
> come in spurts ... I would say that Saturday morning until 11:00 AM is
> almost completely dead. For some reason there seems to be an invisible
> magnet that draws people to the library with a reference question just at
> the closing minute. If the reference librarian is supposed to finish at
9,
> wouldn't you know... someone turns up at 8:58 with a hum-dinger of a
> question and you are there until 9:20 or 30, trying to wrap it up.
> Lorraine Lester
> Univ. of New Mexico Law Library
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Amy Hale [mailto:ahale@sdcll.org]
> Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2003 10:01 AM
> To: prodev@aallnet.org
> Subject: Re: [Prodev] Question 3- Biggest obstacles- open on
> weekends/evenings
>
> Whoops- forgot to attach the documents. Here is the handout we use when
> talking to court clerks.
>
> Amy
>
> "Debora A. Person" wrote:
>
> > Amy,
> > Even our main library on campus does not have a reference librarian
> available during all of their open hours. I agree that it would be very
> nice, but it is probably not necessary after 9:00p.m. Our law library has
> reference librarians available until 5:00. Students man the reference
desk
> until 8:00. Our library, though, is open until midnight Monday through
> Thursday. Overall, we have very few SRLs, but among those, I have had
very
> favorable reactions to the assistance the students have given. One
problem
> is keeping them from giving legal advice. We discuss this among our
> reference assistants, with the typical warnings, but sometimes they can
get
> overzealous.
> > We haven't really tried to actively bring SRLs into the library.
> Those who come are often sent by the clerk's office. I did invite their
> staff over for a tour of our facilities so they could see what we can and
> can't offer to patrons. They brought us some frequently-used forms that I
> am incorporating into a book. For university students with legal
problems,
> I refer them to the student's attorney here on campus who supposedly has
> forms for family law, financial problems, and assists in various other
legal
> aspects.
> >
> > Deb Person
> > George William Hopper College of Law
> > University of Wyoming College of Law Library
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Amy Hale [mailto:ahale@sdcll.org]
> > Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2003 12:33 PM
> > To: prodev@aallnet.org
> > Subject: Re: [Prodev] Question 3- Biggest obstacles- open on
> weekends/evenings
> >
> > OK- haven't seen a lot of action on what some of the biggest obstacles
> are, so I'll start and
> > maybe others will join in.
> >
> > A couple of years ago I went to the annual meeting of SWALL and gave a
> program on giving classes
> > to SRLs. One of the things I talked about is having the classes at times
> that SRLs can actually
> > attend (i.e. evenings or weekends). This made many people uncomfortable
> b/c they still have
> > traditional hours of service (8-5) and don't want to extend services
into
> evening hours or on
> > weekends as that means working evening and/or weekend shifts.
> >
> > For some law libraries, it is impossible to extend hours because they
are
> in courthouses and the
> > courthouses aren't open in the evenings or weekends. However, law
> libraries that "stand alone" do
> > have the option of having extended hours, and it truly makes your
> collection accessible to the
> > public.
> >
> > We used to be open from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m Monday through Friday until
> budget cuts forced us to
> > only have extended hours on Monday nights. We are also open from 10-5 on
> Saturdays and we find
> > quite a few SRLs in our library on that day as they have full time jobs
> from 8-5 during the week
> > and can't get to the law library any other time. Most of our classes
for
> the SRLs are also on
> > Saturdays and that has proven to be an effective way to get them into
the
> law library and using
> > the collection.
> >
> > There are some libraries who only have reference service from 8-5 during
> the week and the rest of
> > the time they use paraprofessionals, students, or clerical staff for any
> reference needs. I
> > personally feel that a reference librarian should be available all hours
> that the law library is
> > open. We are an essential part of the law library experience and SRLs
are
> especially in need of
> > our expertise and abilities as instructors.
> >
> > What about the rest of you? Do you think there should be a reference
> librarian available all the
> > hours the library is open? Do you see any particular times that you see
> more SRLs than others?
> >
> > Amy
> >
> > Amy Hale wrote:
> >
> > > Welcome to Day 2 of the Professional Development Listserv on dealing
> with Pro Pers and Pro
> > > Ses. Remember that we discussed yesterday that for simplicity's sake,
> for the duration of this
> > > listserv discussion, let's refer to pro pers/ pro ses as
> self-represented litigants (SRL) so
> > > that we are all using the same terms no matter what they are called in
> our respective states.
> > >
> > > Today's question is this: What do you find are the biggest obstacles
in
> serving SRLs? What are
> > > you doing to try to overcome these obstacles?
> > >
> > > If you are having trouble thinking up what is your biggest problem,
here
> are some ideas from
> > > articles and yesterdays discussions:
> > > -lack of training on how to serve SRLs
> > > -necessity for staying open late and/or on weekends to accomdate their
> work schedules (lack of
> > > qualified staff who want to work evenings and/or weekends)
> > > -lack of understanding on the part of the SRLs of what we can/can't do
> > > -don't speak English very well (few law books in other languages)
> > > -have false expectations of what we can/can't do
> > >
> > > C'mon let's get chatting!
> > >
> > > Amy
> > > --
> > > __________________________________
> > > Amy Hale-Janeke, J.D., M.L.S.
> > > Reference Librarian/Media Coordinator
> > > San Diego County Public Law Library
> > > 1105 Front Street
> > > San Diego, CA 92101-3904
> > > (619) 531-4437
> > > ahale@sdcll.org
> > > http://www.sdcll.org
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > prodev mailing list
> > > prodev@aallnet.org
> > > http://aallnet.org/mailman/listinfo/prodev
> >
> > --
> > __________________________________
> > Amy Hale-Janeke, J.D., M.L.S.
> > Reference Librarian/Media Coordinator
> > San Diego County Public Law Library
> > 1105 Front Street
> > San Diego, CA 92101-3904
> > (619) 531-4437
> > ahale@sdcll.org
> > http://www.sdcll.org
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > prodev mailing list
> > prodev@aallnet.org
> > http://aallnet.org/mailman/listinfo/prodev
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > prodev mailing list
> > prodev@aallnet.org
> > http://aallnet.org/mailman/listinfo/prodev
>
> --
> __________________________________
> Amy Hale-Janeke, J.D., M.L.S.
> Reference Librarian/Media Coordinator
> San Diego County Public Law Library
> 1105 Front Street
> San Diego, CA 92101-3904
> (619) 531-4437
> ahale@sdcll.org
> http://www.sdcll.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> prodev mailing list
> prodev@aallnet.org
> http://aallnet.org/mailman/listinfo/prodev
--
Martha Campbell, Acting Supreme Court Librarian
Colorado Supreme Court Library
2 East 14th Avenue / Denver, CO 80203
Phone: 303-837-3720 / E-mail: martha.campbell@state.co.us
Fax: 303-864-4510
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