by Kristine Lloyd
There are those of us who are merely curious about the subtle differences between caselaw research on Lexis and Westlaw, and then there are others who are fascinated, nay, obsessed by those differences. So much so that they spend hours pouring over results sets to analyze the differences. If you have the time and the inclination, I say go for it. If you do not, then I say take advantage of others’ scholarly pursuits. If you can get past the first sentence, then you’ll find some interesting tidbits in this article by Dennis Crouch about how coverage differs between the two systems. And then see if you can tell them apart in a blind search test.
by Jill Allyn
In 2009, Jan Lawrence, Beth Morey and I resolved to try and reuse as much material as possible from the former Heller Ehrman Library. Since the space had been leased by Dorsey Whitney, Jan generously invited LLOPS members to visit and take whatever they wished. The leftovers were boxed up and taken to an empty floor in the building so Dorsey could remodel the offices and move in.
After moving to her new space, Jan wanted to give our state’s county librarians a chance to have any titles left. We asked the LLOPS board for assistance with shipping costs, and they gave us a budget. We began inventorying the collection. Many volunteers showed up during lunch hours to go through boxes, make lists of what was inside and then sort the boxes into broad subject areas. The “no one is going to want this” pile was distressingly large, reinforcing how quickly law libraries go out of date and how different a county collection is from a law firm’s collection. We finished the inventorying effort last October, sent the list out and four county librarians asked for titles. Whatcom County requested many titles, while the other three county librarians had very modest requests. As it happens, the Social Security Administration moved into a new space over the summer in the same building as the project. For the first time in many years they had offices with book cases and contacted Penny Hazelton regarding possible sources to fill their shelves. Penny emailed the LLOPS list serve. They were happy to give the federal reporters a new home.
Many thanks to all of our volunteers who gave up their lunch hours to help. We enjoyed spending time with all of you, although it was a little strange to be in such stark surroundings with a million dollar view. We consider this project a success.
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There are those of us who are merely curious about the subtle differences between caselaw research on Lexis and Westlaw, and then there are others who are fascinated, nay, obsessed by those differences. So much so that they spend hours pouring over results sets to analyze the differences. If you have the time and the inclination, I say go for it. If you do not, then I say take advantage of others’ scholarly pursuits. If you can get past the first sentence, then you’ll find some interesting tidbits in this article by Dennis Crouch about how coverage differs between the two systems. And then see if you can tell them apart in a blind search test.
Themocracy