Leveraging Foreign Law with Electronics
Using a fulcrum to move a heavy object is a principle of physics. In libraries, budgets and curricular demands might be at odds with regard to the weight given foreign collections. I wonder if anyone wants to ponder this idea: that if there are jurisdictions of perhaps only transient interest, see if electronics will not cover it. If there are core jurisdictions for teaching purposes, then those would be held in both formats and brought to a research level. So for example in our library, we "missed" PL 480 and do not have print for India. But we now have Indlaw and need only occasional help with images of actual text. Also, you can "get in and get out" and while there is little to show of your ever having taught, say, Chinese law, there is also not a spotty or useless collection when that faculty member moves on or that soft money dries up.
What do you think? Sound management or superficial scholarship?
What do you think? Sound management or superficial scholarship?
posted by Marylin Johnson Raisch at 11:34 AM
2 Comments:
This is exactly our plan with respect to our general LL.M. program for foreign lawyers. If a student needs access to the law of his or her home country, we plan to purchase online access rather than acquiring print materials
I know this approach makes some librarians' skin crawl, but as I worry about my budget, it appeals to me. And the point about spotty collections makes sense; we have a few patches that reflect the research interests of long-departed professors.
But I would like to think some libraries will continue to collect these foreign law materials in print. What if the materials I don't buy aren't available electronically later; for example, if I don't buy codes now, will historical versions be available? It's almost a free-rider problem.
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