Roger,
I agree with Penny's comments that this information should
be taken directly from the annual ABA questionnaire. Why should
the ABA be devising a second survey?
I also agree with Steven Perkins comments about devising a
suitable framework for interpreting this information. He raises a
question which has been in the back of my mind (you know, the "attic")
for some time: how do we determine how many copies of a title to
acquire? I know that a lot of this depends on how heavily a work is
used or cited by a faculty member or members--at Colorado we use
Clark on Domestic Relations a whole lot, because Clark is here and
all our faculty use the work heavily. But, in general, does anyone
have even any general guidelines on how many copies of a specific
title they will acquire? We have found that five copies of most
hornbooks (with the above notable exception) is sufficient for a student
body of 475. We subscribe to two copies of the national reporter system,
and three copies of the Pacific Reporter 2d because Colorado is in that
reporter. Other than that, we use a very Boulder-ish test: how many
copies would feel right?
Roger, I don't think that this is a question that is really
within the scope of your committee's charge, but it certainly is crucial
to a student's ability to make an informed choice as to which law school
to attend. I would appreciate comments from you or other readers of the
law-lib list on this.
And, yes, we really did get two feet of snow Sunday night and
it will be 65 degrees today (Wednesday). 'Tis a strange climate in
the foothills of the Rockies!
Barbara Bintliff
Law Library
University of Colorado at Boulder
Boulder, Colorado 80309
(303) 492-1233
bintliff_b@cubldr.colorado.edu
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