by Jeanne Rehberg
New York University Law Library
Radu Popa of New York University Law Library moderated a meeting of the working group concerned with collection and research issues in the Commonwealth of Independent States and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The highlight of the meeting was a fascinating report from Kent McKeever of Columbia Law Library on his trip to Kazakhstan. There, he examined the status of legal research, scholarship, publishing, and current law-drafting efforts in support of the "rule of law."
Other business consisted of information sharing, including the following [Disclaimer by the reporter: this information was current as of the time of the meeting; check with individual librarians for current status]:
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by Jeanne Rehberg
New York University Law Library
With Chris Corcos of Case Western Reserve serving as moderator, the Working Group on Teaching Foreign and International Legal Research met in Seattle to discuss methods for teaching United States legal research to foreign law students, experiences with upper-level foreign and international law courses, and ways to make our teaching materials available electronically.
Chris reported that Case Western Reserve is creating a hypertext/gopher site. All FCIL librarians are invited to submit guides, bibliographies, practice exercises, and other teaching materials for the site. Hypertext also allows us to load course syllabi and link them to the text of course readings. The site increases the potential for coordinating with other groups such as the Research Instruction Caucus of AALL, sponsor of the annual National Legal Research Teach-In. You may send materials to Chris in print or electronic format, but ASCII is preferred. Please contact Chris for more information.
Elena Gonzalez, librarian at the newly established Hostos Law School in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, was a welcome contributor to the discussion on teaching American legal research skills to foreign students. Elena's school has encouraged her from the beginning to be involved with the teaching faculty in planning the curriculum of their new law school. In this way, she has had the opportunity, not always afforded to most of us, to tell the faculty whether the library can support a particular new course or not. If you are interested in contacting Elena, she can recommend legal research textbooks for teaching U.S. and Puerto Rican legal research to Spanish-speaking students, and she can provide copies of her own syllabus and exercises. Her address is Elena Gonzalez, Hostos Law School, P.O. Box 1900, Mayaguez, PR 00681.
Various members of the group reported that they are supporting upper-level courses, such as international environmental law, comparative civil procedure, and a seminar in the enforceability of the decisions of international tribunals. These efforts often result in an "inventory" of the library's collections of not only books, but also articles and chapters in books, to support highly specialized courses. Presenting a lecture in research methods is only the first step. The librarian often becomes a mediator between faculty and students as students refine their research topics to match the available resources.
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by Sandy Beehler
Cornell University Law Library
The annual meeting of the FCIL Working Group on Processing Issues was held on Sunday, July 10, at 8:30 a.m., with around eight members attending. There was a brief discussion about sharing local authorities work who would participate and how it could be done.
Jolande Goldberg then described the new "catalogers' desktop" being developed at LC. It will contain LC rule interpretations, cataloging and classification manuals, and USMARC formats. She also noted that, now that JX is no longer being used, Berkeley and LC are working together on reclassifying all JX materials into JZ and KZ. Classification numbers will be available on CD-ROM and tapes only, with the paper version being produced every other year. Call number access to library materials could well replace subject access once the LC classification tables are more widely available. Public services librarians would have to be trained to use the tables a possible program for AALL in the future.
The meeting ended with a proposal to add a column on technical processing to the FCIL Newsletter. Ken Rudolf, the editor, supports the idea. It was agreed that some of the information that appears in TSLL (the TS SIS newsletter) might be used. Jolande Goldberg suggested Aaron Kuperman, who works with her at LC, as a good person to write the column. She offered to ask him when she returns to Washington.
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by Marylin Raisch
Columbia University Law School Library
The meeting was moderated this year by Marylin Raisch, the author of this report, at the request of Lyonette Louis-Jacques; past moderators have been Lyonette and Paul Zarins of George Washington Law Center. The purpose of this working group is to discuss and assess the impact on international and foreign law research of electronic formats and the Internet.
I chose to begin the discussion with a brief description of steps taken this year at my institution, Columbia Law School Library, to involve the entire library staff in considering the impact of electronic sources. In particular, the library needed to look at user awareness of, and access to, material in electronic formats. While CD-ROM products can be cataloged (often as serials, with updates) and provided to users at a work station or via a local area network (LAN) as at Columbia, so-called "e- journals" and "e-texts" available via Internet pose a more difficult set of challenges.
A committee was set up at Columbia to consider several issues relating to electronic sources (excluding Lexis and Westlaw) of legal material, but using Lexis and Westlaw (and an earlier trial loading of records for one of these services onto the catalog) as a reference point.
Four main topics were discussed by the library staff: 1) electronic versions of, or access to, texts located at remote sites on the Internet (e.g., bibliographic recording and collection development issues); 2) enhancement of traditional tools of access, particularly the computerized card catalog; 3) scanning projects and the problems of copyright; and 4) training of faculty and students in the use of the Internet and other electronic databases.
The committee at Columbia made several recommendations to the group responsible for long-range library planning, and I shared some of these with the working group. One suggestion was that e- journals should be subscribed to very selectively and downloaded by a library staff member onto disk for ease and fairness of patron use (the LAN is only for our current faculty and students). Note of electronic texts or text copy, including the gopher or World-Wide Web site, should be made in the notes field of the bibliographic record. As for training, both group and one- to-one strategies were deemed necessary. Intellectual property issues remain under continuing careful consideration as the Janus scanning project goes forward at Columbia. There was an exchange of information about the publisher Basil Blackwell and its willingness to work with Innovative Interfaces to provide a link to a table of contents for its titles when a patron calls up that record. This is an enhancement our library has decided to try.
Several librarians described what their libraries are doing to provide similar kinds of access to electronic materials. These strategies included downloading texts or journals to disk and creating MARC records for them. Use of this technique for certain types of materials as a preservation tool was also mentioned. The Library of Congress World Law Index project will go well, it is hoped, and provide foreign law in an electronic format that may increase its availability to a wide range of institutions and businesses via the Internet. The Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals is now available via RLG's CitaDel.
The meeting was a productive exchange of information in this ever-changing area, but there was also a sense that available resources relevant to international and foreign law are becoming better known to librarians and more accessible to all users of electronic information.
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by Telle Zoller
University of Wisconsin Law Library
In 1993 Margareta Horiba initiated an international survey of law libraries willing to host exchanges or/and visitors. I expanded her survey and sent out over 100 questionnaires with the FCIL SIS brochure and my business card for a more personal touch. As the base for my selection of the institutions, I used the 1994 "World Law School Directory" volume of the Modern Legal System Cyclopedia. I selected larger law schools in all continents. They all had to 1) have a law librarian, 2) accept foreign students, 3) have advanced degrees in law. All in all, I sent 112 questionnaires early in 1994. So far I have received 11 responses. I was quite pleased with this number.
Last year I was contacted by two companies about posting job opportunities. One of them was with a major Washington D.C. law firm: a one-year appointment to set up a library in London. The other was a short-term technical assistance position to establish a Pilot Law and Democracy Resource Center in Kazakhstan. I posted these on Internet. I have no knowledge whether anyone was able to take advantage of these opportunities. I also posted two large scale placement information notices on INT-LAW. After all this activity on my part on INT-LAW, a few librarians looking for a job contacted me thinking that the Clearinghouse was a placement service. In the summer of 1994 a German library and information studies graduate was looking for an American academic library for a practicum in automation. I sent him the list of the U.S. libraries which had expressed willingness to host an intern. After a short while I received an E-mail message from him stating that he had found a place.
Committee membes for the FCIL Clearinghouse in 1994-95 are Suzanne Thorpe (University of Minnesota Law Library), Catharine Krieps (University of Pennsylvania Law School, Biddle Law Library), and Telle Zoller, chair (University of Wisconsin Law Library).
Our discussion focused on three main topics:
The committee decided to contact Renate Weidinger in Germany to see if she would be willing to post the questionnaire on EURO- LEX. This way we would also reach librarians and other information specialists who are not working in an academic setting (the focus of the survey so far).
We also decided to post information about the Clearinghouse activities on Internet to reach students of library and information sciences, a group more likely to be able to take time off for an educational opportunity like this.
Internet would also be an appropriate place to send out information on the Clearinghouse for the non-library type of institutions.
For results of the survey on U.S. institutions willing to host interns, contact Telle Zoller, University of Wisconsin Law Library, phone 608-262-7761, fax 608-262-2775, e-mail zoller@vms.macc.wisc.edu or zoller@wiscmacc (Bitnet).
Of the 112 surveys mailed out to foreign law libraries, the Clearinghouse received eleven in return. Positive responses were received from eight. Three libraries sent their regrets.
A summary is given below of the responses indicating some options offered by these librarians. Interested individuals should address inquiries for more detailed information to the contact person at each library.
Information included:
College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium), Library. 1) Dyver 11, B-8000 Brugge, Belgium. 2) Phone: (+32) 50 335 334. Fax: (+32) 50 332 426. 3) Ms. Kris Clara, Head Librarian. 4) Visitor. 5) Three weeks to two months. 6) Housing. 7) Desk place and assigned duties; depends on experience. 8) Public services. 9) Dutch, French, English. 10) European integration. 12) The library has had many trainees from library schools.
Juridische Bibliotheek Jur.II, Juridische Bibliotheek Jur.St (Gravensteen). 1) Postbus 9520 2300 RA, Leiden, Nederland. 2) Phone: 071-277515. 3) Mr. J Bakker. 4) Exchange or visitor. 5) Three to six months. 6) Housing. 7) Desk place and assigned duties. 8) Technical services and optional. 9) Dutch and English. 10) Law; Dutch law, human rights. 11) Better contact with US law libraries. 12) No/a little experience. They have had visitors from Indonesia.
Hochschule St. Gallen for Business Administration, Economic, Law and Social Sciences, Library. 1) Dufourstrasse 50, CH-9000 St. Gallen, Switzerland. 2) Phone: +4171/30 22 70. 3) Xavier Baumgartner. Phone: +4171/30 22 71. E- mail: baumgartner@sgcl1.unisg.ch 4) Exchange and visitor. 5) One month. 6) Housing. 7) Supervisor/mentor. 8) Optional. 9) German and English. 10) Business administration, economics, Swiss and German laws. 11) Different background and personal relationship. 12) A visitor from Japan, trainees from Switzerland and Germany. Expecting visitors from Helsinki Business School.
Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Lisboa, Bibliotaca. 1) Almeda da Universidade, 1699 Lisboa Codex, Portugal. 2) Phone: 797 7051, ext. 204/205. Fax: 795 0303. 3) Mr. Jose L. S. Antunes, Librarian. 4) Exchange and visitor. 5) One to four weeks. 6) No support. 7) Supervisor/mentor, desk place, and assigned duties. 8) Optional. 9) Portuguese, English, French. 10) All areas of law. 11) To exchange other points of view and experiences. 12) Erasmus project, from Sweden and France.
Glasgow University Library. 1) Hillhead Street, Glasgow, G12 8QE. 2) Phone: 041-339-8855, ext.6722. 3) Mrs. Heather Worlledge-Andrew. E-mail: gxlr30@uk.ac.glasgow.cms 4) Exchange or visitor. 5) Two or three weeks. 6) Housing, possibly. 7) Supervisor/mentor, sharing office of mentor. 8) Public services. 9) Multi-lingual staff overall, but law librarian speaks only English. 10) European law, history of law with a good general law collection. 11) Insight into different work practices, learn of overseas sources, and gain a fresh perspective on their own collection. 12) Much experience with visitors. Any visitors would be welcomed, but the number of them and time span would be restricted due to housing limitation.
European University Institute, Badia Fiesolana, Library. 1) Via dei Roccettini, 9, 50016 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI), Italy. 2) Phone: (055)4685-340. FAX: (055) 4685-283. 3) Ms. Machteld Nijsten. Phone: (055) 4685-278. E-mail: nijsten@datacomm.iue.it 4) They would like to start with a visitor and envisage an exchange for a later period. 5) One to two months. 6) No support. But they help find accommodation. 7) Supervisor/mentor, desk place, and assigned duties. 8) Optional. 9) English, French, German, Italian, Dutch. 10) Almost exclusively in the field of social science, particularly law, economics, political science, sociology, and history. 11) Their law collection could benefit very much from the advice of a specialized librarian, especially in the field of comparative law and the law of the European Communities. 12) The EUI Library has hosted a considerable number of visitors from EC countries. Normally these visitors have worked in various sections of the library and have acquired considerable experience in working with the advanced technical facilities offered by the library.
University of Sydney, Library. 1) University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. 2) Phone: (02)692- 4294. Fax: (02)692-2890. 3) Kerry Taylor. E-mail: kerryt@exho.ucc.su.oz.au 4) Exchange or visitor. 5) Six to twelve months. 6) No support. 7) Supervisor/mentor, desk place, and assigned duties. 8) Optional. 9) English. 10) Academic research collection. 11) Exposure to new ideas and work methods. 12) Six to twelve months exchange/internship students or librarians. They have requests for exchange on a regular basis from a wide variety of countries. Their exchange program is well established.
Universität Giessen, Juristisches Seminar. 1) Licher Strasse 68, 35394 Giessen. 2) Phone: 0641-702-5070/5005. Fax: 0641-702-5097. 3) Prof. Dr. Diethelm Klippel. They will send questionnaire back soon and hope to be exchanging library personnel.
Universitätsbibliothek Innsbruck. 1) A-6010 Innsbruck, Innrain 50. 2) Phone: (0512) 507-2070. Fax: (0512) 507-2307.
University of Uppsala. Law Library. Juridiska Institutionen. 1) Bos 512, S-75120 Uppsala, Sweden. 3) Birgitta Kohler. 4) Exchange or visitor. 5) Negotiate time. 6) Help to find housing. Perhaps some financial support. 7) Supervisor, desk place, and assigned duties. 8) Optional. 9) Swedish and English. 11) Would like to develop personal and professional relationships with foreign law librarians and to get help to use foreign materials in a better way. 12) No foreign visitors but Swedish librarians and library students.
Bibliothèque Cujas. 1) 2, rue Cujas, 75005 Paris, France. 3) Mme Carpentier, Mme Ferrier. 4) Exchange or visitor 5) Any length of time. 7) No administrative support. 9) French and English. 11) Visitors give the opportunity to gather information on foreign law systems, foreign law materials and permit sometimes to set up a cooperation between libraries. 12) The library has experience with visitors.
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by Susan Van Syckel
McGeorge School of Law Library
The Special Committee to Develop Means to Coordinate Responses to Third-World Libraries' Requests for American Legal Materials (AALL Strategy II.B.7), formed in June of 1992, currently has five members representing private firm and academic law libraries in Texas, Massachusetts, California, Kentucky, and Washington, D.C. The committee understood its charge to be: 1) to advise AALL (through the FCIL Special Interest Section) about its potential roles in responding to requests from academic libraries in developing countries for U.S. law books; 2) to recommend (on the basis of fact-finding) which of these roles is most appropriate/realistic; and 3) to suggest and (with the approval of the Special Interest Section members) to undertake implementation strategies. Initially, the committee identified three possible roles for AALL (from most to least ambitious/costly):
Last year, the special committee recommended to the AALL Foreign, Comparative, and International Law Special Interest Section (FCIL) that the committee continue its work for an additional year in order to collaborate with the International Relations Committee of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) in the development of resource materials and selection criteria for libraries interested in donating books abroad. The special committee had established liaison with this body and was already exchanging information. The special committee also wished to continue liaison with the LAWS Project and ABA's CEELI Project: both projects intended to distribute donated U.S. law books/materials to libraries and information centers in emerging Central and Eastern European countries. The special committee now requests FCIL approval for continuing its work with these organizations over the next year and, with reference to the options above, makes the following specific recommendations:
AALL as Clearinghouse. This would be a costly and unnecessary undertaking. There are roughly three dozen major U.S. private, voluntary organizations already engaged in acquiring and distributing American donated books abroad. A few ship worldwide, most serve targeted areas, and some provide assistance/guidance in identifying potential recipients and in selecting appropriate titles (i.e., function as clearinghouses). These organizations have the capability to store and ship large quantities of books (thereby mitigating cost), and some will incorporate or "piggyback" smaller collections of library books destined for libraries abroad. There are drawbacks in relying on these organiztions: books can be held in storage for some time, and it may be several months before books transported by these organizations reach their destinations. Often, these organizations ship to dockside only overland transport must be provided by the recipient library. These organizations do not have the expertise to advise potential donors about selection of law books/materials.
A more appropriate role for AALL would be that of facilitator: to make potential donors and recipients aware of these organizations--their services and shortcomings--and to provide information and liaison services that would mitigate the shortcomings (see discussion of "AALL as Resource and Referral Service" below). More importantly, AALL could privide AALL donor libraries with guidelines for selection of materials and could facilitate establishment of "twinning" relationships between donor and recipient libraries. The literature addressing book donations abroad suggests that the most successful book donation programs involve recipients in the selection process.
AALL as Resource and Referral Service. The special committee recommends that AALL consider providing referral services, i.e., matching donor and recipients libraries. This could be facilitated with maintenance of an online database at AALL Headquarters or at an AALL member site. A special committee member is interested in developing such a database. Further, the committee recommends AALL act as resource to potential donor and recipient libraries by:
AALL as Publisher of Handbook. The special committee has sufficient information (thanks in part to work already done by the International Relations Committee of ACRL) to prepare a handbook for AALL members and potential recipient libraries. The special committee recommends that consideration be given to two publications:
AALL as Partner in Joint Venture. All of the
above activities entail collaboration with other
organizations/professional associations. Continued cooperation is
recommended.
Should the FCIL approve continuation of the special committee, committee member Margaret Aycock at the University of Houston Law Library is prepared to assume the position of chair, and all current members will remain on the committee. Other committee members are Ernestine Chipman, Hazel Inglis, and Susan Van Syckel.
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by Dan Wade
Yale Law School Library
The Editorial Advisory Committee for the Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals welcomed two new members, Claire Lee of the University of Minnesota Law Library and Judy Stinson of the Washington and Lee School of Law Library, at its meeting in Seattle on July 10. Tom Reynolds, IFLP general editor, informed the committee that the index is now available and regularly updated on RLIN's CitaDel and is also available on CD- ROM from Silver-Platter. West is working to add it to Westlaw. In time Innovative may be able to make it available on its online library catalogs.
Because alternate indices are already available, the committee decided to cease the indexing of Japanese legal periodicals in the vernacular. The foreign law librarians at the University of Washington had been doing this in the past. The indexing will terminate with issue 1994:2.
The committee agreed to add the following journals to the indexed journals: American Review of International Arbitration, Anuario mexicano de historia del derecho, East African Journal of Peace and Human Rights, Italian Yearbook of Civil Procedure, Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law, Spanish Yearbook of International Law, Tilburg Foreign Law Review, Wirtschaft und Recht in Osteuropa, Zbornik znanstvenih razprav (a yearbook from the law faculty of the University of Ljubljana), and Zeitschrift für europäisches Privatrecht.
Finally, the committee concurred with the general editor's suggestion to add three new subject headings: European Free Trade Association, European Economic Area, and European Union. The general editor said he would welcome further suggestions for heading changes by the readership.
FORWARDto next article: International (Commercial) Arbitration and Law Libraries: A View from The Hague.
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