LAW LIBRARIES AND LEGAL INFORMATION
INLS 229

Laura Gasaway and Anne Klinefelter
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
School of Information and Library Science
http://www.ils.unc.edu/
Spring 2000
Offered Biennially

 

Purpose of the Course:

To provide students with an overview of  law librarianship and administrative principles as applied to the functions, organization and procedures of the law library.  To offer an introduction to legal materials and legal databases as well as reference services in law libraries.

Course Objectives:

1.    To familiarize students with:

a.    The types and functions of law libaries.
b.    Important sources of legal information.
c.    Governance, standards and policies in law libraries.
d.    Legal databases and their use, and
e.    The unique features of law library administration.

2.    To provide students with:

a.    An overview of law library management approaches,
b.    Familiarity with legal resources and collections,
c.    Understanding of reference and other law library services,
d.    Knowledge of collection organization and technical processes,
e.    Awareness of trends and  developments in the legal world, and
f.    Enthusiasm for law librarianship.

Assignments:

The text for the legal resources part of the course is Fundamentals of Legal Research, 6th ed.  The problem booklet that accompanies the text also is required.  Assigned chapters in the text should be skimmed before class sessions.   Problems from the problem booklet are used for the research assignment.

There is no textbook for the law libarianship portion of the course; instead there is a coursepack.  A  few additional readings are on reserve in the Law Library and in the SILS library.  You are expected to read the assignment articles prior to the class session and come ready to discuss them.

Methods:

Class sessions consist of lectures, student discussions, guest speakers and laboratory sessions.  Students are expected to participate in discussions based on the reading.

Grades:

There are two exams, a mid-term and a final exam, plus a research assignment.  The research assignment consists of a series of assignments from the problem booklet including online problems.  The course grade is based on the following percentages:

LAW LIBRARIANSHIP & LEGAL RESOURCES

INLS 229
SCHEDULE & ASSIGNMENTS

Gasaway & Klinefelter                                                                                                                                                                           Spring, 2000

CLASS	DATE	TOPIC(S)	PRESENTERS(S)	READING ASSIGNMENT
1	Jan. 9	Introduction & Types of Law   Libraries	Lolly Gasaway	Coursepack, pp. 1-31
2	Jan. 16	Sources of Law	Lolly Gasaway	Scan textbook chapter 1
3	Jan. 23	Court Reports & Digests		Scan textbook chapters 3-6
4	Jan. 30	Statutory & Congressional   Materials		Scan textbook chapters 8-11
5	Feb. 6	Collection Development   Technical Services	Tom French   Carol Nicholson	Reserve materials   Coursepack, pp. 33-50
6	Feb. 13	Administrative   Regulations, Court Rules &   Citator Services		Scan textbook chapters 12-   13, 15
7	Feb. 20	Treatises & Secondary   Sources of Law		Scan textbook chapters ALR   7, 14, 16-19
8	Feb. 27	MID-TERM   Research Techniques &   Legal Citations		Scan textbook chapters 2,   23
9	March 6	Personnel & Personnel   Administration   RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT -  PART   1 - DUE March 6	Lolly Gasaway	Coursepack, pp. 51-90
	March 13	SPRING BREAK
10	March 20	Reference Services	Panel:   Pat Langelier   Connie Matzen   Tom Steele   Moderator:	Coursepack, pp. 91-114
11	March 27	Law Firm Panel	Carolyn Scott   Connie Matzen   Genene Uyesato   Moderator:   Lolly Gasaway	Reserve Materials   Coursepack, pp. 123-26
12	April 3	Reader's Services   CALR Hands-on	Martha Barefoot	Coursepack, pp. 127-35
13	April 10	Computer Assisted Legal   Instruction & Internet		Scan textbook, chapter 22   Coursepack, pp. 115-22
14	April 17	Law Library Management,   Networking & Professional   Associations	Laura Gasaway   Dick Danner	Coursepack, pp. 137-85
	May 1	FINAL EXAM