VOLUME 30
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Message from the Chair Jack McNeill “You never step into the same river twice.” Heraclitus said this about 2,500 year ago setting off a philosophical debate that has continued to this day. We cannot “know” a thing because, as soon as we perceive it, it changes. Plato responded to this dilemma by developing his theory of forms. There are ideal forms of things that never change but we cannot fully understand them. In his dialog, the Republic, Plato gives us the analogy of the cave. The forms of things are paraded in front of a fire but we have our backs to the fire. All we can see are the silhouettes of the forms reflected on the wall of the cave. Aristotle countered that we can know something of the forms or essences of things but we need to examine many instances of the object until we come up with a sense of what characteristics are consistently present and what are only passing. Some philosophers today believe that we can never understand the essence of things and we simply impose our own definitions of things upon them. This leaves the opposing theories of there being a true essence of things or an imposed essence. “What does all this have to do with law libraries?”, you might ask. Law libraries are changing, dramatically. For many years law libraries were simply places where the books lived. Librarians did their job by shushing noisy patrons. Today, law libraries are dynamic places where books are only one of the services provided and quiet is only sometimes desirable. At the same time, outside perceptions define the law library solely as an information source and everything is on the internet. Since those outside the library do not understand the essence of the law library, to them that essence does not exist. The law library is thus perceived by some as an expensive relic of a bygone era. Law librarians must look to the constant features of the law library and not be defined by what is simply passing. We must not let others define our mission or the parameters of our jobs. The constants of collection selection and management, patron services and instruction, and the application of technology to legal knowledge need to be understood by us, marketed, and defended. Every day we need to define the essence of law libraries by our actions. If we fail in this, someone else will define us and they will define us out of existence.
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Deadline for Next Issue: May 20, 2011 |
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Last updated: March 17, 2011