>
> The debate of vendor-neutral citation forms and ownership of case law led me
> to thinking about not only who owns the law, but who preserves the law. With
> the availability of legal materials in electronic format, we're tossing print
> copies of reports, selling or giving them to other libraries. Or because of
> budget or space crunches, we sell, give away, or toss (because it's much
> easier) materials that are not used or are out of scope for our collections.
>
> I'm concerned about what we're discarding. Is there a need for
> originals/print versions of materials? Should we be keeping some materials
> in print for legal history and other scholars? If so, who should be keeping
> print copies? And how do we educate each other to know when we have
> something that should be preserved and not tossed?
>
> Lyo,
>
> I'm currently reading a book that addresses the issue ... at
> least academically. Since I haven't finished reading it, I don't know
> if it offers any practical advice for weeding collections, but it
> does discuss the preservation of law.
>
> It is Ethan Katsh's _The Electronic Media and The Transformation
> of Law_ (1989). Katsh placed the introduction to his book on Internet.
> I found it via URL:http://freenet.vcu.edu/science/lawtech/lawtech.html.
> So far, I have found it to be quite interesting and thought-provoking.
I don't really have any practical advice about weeding collections or
discarding materials. It does seem to me, however, that whatever the
origin of the term "weeding," it may not accurately cover what transpires
in a forum such as this where discarded copies are picked up by others who
need them. If weeding implies throwing something out, the medium may be
encouraging new patterns of distribution. Were offers of unneeded books
circulated on other lists, new audiences might even be found for some
materials. If this were the prevalent model, I would feel pretty good
about libraries that "throw books out."
Having made this comment, forgive me for being unable to resist a
crassly commercial note. In addition to the Introduction to my last book,
I have also placed on the Internet (use either the above URL or
http://www.umassp.edu/legal/HYPER3.HTML) the Introduction to my new book,
Law in a Digital World. This is supposed to be out by March 1st. I am not
sure my publisher thinks anyone uses the Internet but they may be willing
to provide an advanced peek electronically at the whole thing and a
discount to any electronic purchasers. If this appeals to you, please send
me an e-mail message directly.
!~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~!
! Ethan Katsh Internet: Katsh@Legal.umass.edu !
! Professor VOICE: 413-545-5879 !
! Department of Legal Studies FAX: 413-545-1640 !
! University of Massachusetts !
! 216 Hampshire House !
! Amherst, MA 01003 !
`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~
>
> Enjoy!
>
> Genie
>
> Genie Tyburski
> Research Librarian Voice: (215) 864-8151
> Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll Fax: (215) 864-8999
> 1735 Market St.
> Philadelphia, PA 19103 tyburski@hslc.org
>
>
>
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