In an effort to address issues that affect many academic law librarians, three new task forces have been formed for the 2001-2002 year. These are the
On a regular basis librarians raise the issue of the "proper" level of library support for law journals on law-lib. Many of us discuss this issue among ourselves. This Task Force will be charged with developing guidelines for library support for law journals, including interlibrary loan services and document delivery.
The Task Force will have wide latitude to define the type of support and to develop a frame of reference with regard to levels of support. For example the Task Force may want to consider the following variables in drafting guidelines:
Of course, no library would be required to adopt guidelines developed by the Task Force. Some schools may want to use these guidelines and their underlying reasoning as a starting point to review their current policies. Other schools might decide to adopt the guidelines as they are developed with little modification. No matter what individual law libraries decide to do with guidelines developed by this Task Force, library support for law journals is a subject which is perennially discussed and worth some serious consideration.
This Task Force will consider the various components involved in administering an advanced legal research course. In particular the Task Force will review and identify model course proposals, law school course descriptions, methods of evaluation, pathfinders, research guides, class exercises, and course syllabi. The Task Force will also review course content, and the wide variation in topics included in ALR courses. Finally, the Task Force will consider appropriate methods to develop a web sourcebook that addresses these various issues and cumulates sample materials.
This Task Force will work to identify and evaluate commonly used tools for selections and to identify and evaluate tools for collection evaluation in the wake of the cessation of AALS Recommended Law Books & RLG conspectus. The Task Force will also consider methods of making this material widely available to academic law librarians.
If you are interested in being involved in any of these Task Forces, please identify the Task Force you are interested in and give your contact information in an e-mail that should be sent to Rosalie Sanderson at rsander@law.emory.edu.