Stuart-
What's the difference? Lots and lots and lots of money. In my law firm
experience, I found that even a negotiated flat fee of $1,000 per year per
attorney cost me nearly as much as my entire print library and that there
was very little that you could do online that couldn't be done in print,
but not visa versa. At that rate, it was economical to pay as you go for
the online stuff; after all, you are absolutlely right: more efficient IS
more efficient no matter what you use. As a firm librarian I'd much rather
have $200,000 per year to spend on print sources than that amount to spend
on Lexis or Westlaw only. The proper ratio should probably be a maximum of
about $50,000 (only about fourteen hours a month) in CALR and $150,000 in
print to create a realistic library/information center. The thing is, I'd
be curious to see how many people's bills actually went down after signing
on to a flat fee arrangement. My bet is that after a year, you probably
ended up paying the same or more, AND using it more. I've never known a
company to voluntarily make less money if they could avoid it. Thanks for
your comments.
As for my blanket statement, true, its a generalization, but I
can back it up with some pretty good research and logic. I feel very
confident about that. Sorry to disagree.
Rich
On Tue, 7 Jun 1994, it was written:
>
> Rich - How is a flat fee for online use different than paying for a book
> and its supplement(s)? As a firm librarian, there should be a bigger deal
> made of inefficient use of research tools regardless of format.
> Inefficient is inefficient. Also, a blanket statement claiming as
> "reality" that CALR is cheaper and more efficient for substantive research
> and more efficient for ready reference seems a bit glib and mis-guided.
> This is not ALWAYS the case. A little more care on your generalizations,
> please.
>
> Stuart Zimmerman
> Stoel Rives
> srb-lib@wln.com
> (206) 386-7502
>
> On Sun, 5 Jun 1994, Rich Leiter wrote:
>
> > Heather-
> >
> > I'm not sure that I agree with Anna, either, BUT I'm not sure that
> > screwing up on CALR is much different than they way that looseleafs,
> > treatises and digests are misused. It's just too bad that all the other
> > vendors of looseleafs, treatises and such don't charge by the minute (or
> > through the nose, in the case of flat fees). Then there'd be a much
> > bigger deal made regarding the use of these important print resources....
> > One thing I know is that we need to do whatever we can to educate the kids
> > about reality: CALR is cheaper and more efficient for substantive
> > research and more efficient for fact-specific types of research.
> >
> > Perhaps we should make the students pay for use.
> >
> > Richard Leiter
> > richlei@beacon.regent.edu
> >
> >
> > On Sat, 4 Jun 1994, Heather Simmons wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > I must disagree with Anna Cherry's comment that having a password
> > > with out training will demonstrate to students that CALR does not
> > > always save time or give better answers.
> > >
> > > My experience is that students don't care if it takes longer on
> > > the computer. They are happy to sit and stare at a screen for
> > > hours rather than have to get up and find a book. They also
> > > assume that if they were not able to find it on the computer,
> > > then it must not exist.
> > >
> > > Rather than showing them that computers aren't always the best
> > > research method, having an ID will give them a false sense of
> > > security that they REALLY understand how the computer works
> > > because they were able to figure it out for themselves. The
> > > whole law school experience encourages students to be independent,
> > > If you don't know the answer by all means make something up,
> > > but NEVER admit that that you don't know what you are doing!
> > >
> > > I can't actually prove this scientifically, it's just a gut
> > > feeling.
> > >
> > > Heather Braithwaite Simmons
> > > Wayne State University Law Library
> > > hsimmon@cms.cc.wayne.edu
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
>
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