Our library is investigating the purchase of some North Carolina legal
materials on CDROM, but are faced with the problem of whether to retain the
paper copies of those titles in view of the usual questions of user (especially
traditionalists) preference for paper, the ability to follow some assign-
ments that seem to be designed with the mechanics of searching in mind
instead of the actual content of the material, and the occasional need to
find material that may have been dropped from the CDROM for reasons such as
a law that was declared unconstitutional or recodified. We think that we
may be able to network the title(s) under consideration, so we do not
expect that multiple access would be a problem. We are not a law school, but
our university offers courses in perhaps 10 departments and schools
that use the North Carolina General Statutes, Supreme Court Reports, and
Administrative Code, plus serves a large number of the public.
I would appreciate hearing your comments on the CDROM/paper question (yes,
we are doing some reading and discussing about this). [I had thought that
we could order the CDROM on a trial basis, during which time we'd remove the
paper copies from the shelf to see the reaction.]
The major vendor in the running is CASEBASE, from Lawyers Coop, which gave
us a very convincing demonstration on the flexibility and ease of use of
their product. It was even more convincing by the salesman's statement
that CASEBASE has become the standard of use in this state, by virtue of its
use by the N.C. Supreme Court, most of the top 25 law firms, etc etc.
all documented in his notebook.
I'd appreciate comments on the ease of use and other criteria of CASEBASE.
Our library has the West Reporters and CJS rather than the Lawyers Coop
series; I don't know whether that would be a consideration.
Sorry to run on so long, but I've tried to condense my query. Thanks.
Michael Cotter
Documents Librarian
Joyner Library
East Carolina University
Greenville NC 27858
919/757-6533
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