Law Library News for the Week of Oct. 6, 2008
Cheryl Nyberg, editor
The Story of Goldilaw & the Three Bears
![IMAGE [140k]](bears.jpg)
Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Goldilaw. She went for a
walk in the forest to find a fulfilling career. She decided to enroll in law
school.
Pretty soon, she discovered that she needed some help in understanding
what her teachers were talking about. So she went to the biggest tree in the
forest, where a Wise Owl managed a great law library.
�Wise Owl,� said Goldilaw, �I need something with just a little bit of
information to help me understand my teachers.� The Wise Owl knew just what
to give Goldilaw. �You need one of Baby Bear�s books,� said the Wise Owl.
�One that has just a short discussion of things like torts, property, or
constitutional law.� And the Wise Owl gave Goldilaw some books called
Nutshells and Outlines.
�Nutshell
is a very funny name,� giggled Goldilaw. But it was just the right amount of
information she needed.
Several weeks passed and Goldilaw again sought the Wise Owl�s help. �I
need something with more information than a Nutshell or an Outline.� The
Wise Owl nodded. �Mama Bear has a collection of books called Hornbooks,� she
said. �They are bigger than Baby Bear�s books and have more information.�
Goldilaw laughed. �Hornbook is a very silly name.� But the Wise Owl was
right: the Hornbook
had more information than a Nutshell and was just right for Goldilaw now.
Goldilaw enjoyed law school and all of the interesting creatures in it.
She read the Nutshells, Outlines, and Hornbooks whenever she needed help.
Then she signed up for a seminar. Goldilaw heard that she would have to
write a 50-page paper. �Oh my!� exclaimed Goldilaw. �I don�t think that Baby
Bear�s or Mama Bear�s books have enough information to help me this time!�
So
Goldilaw visited the Wise Owl�s library one more time. �Wise Owl,� she
sighed, �I have outgrown the books from the Baby Bear and Mama Bear
collections. But I need more information than ever before!� The Wise Owl
smiled. �I think Papa Bear would let you use some of his books.� And the
Wise Owl gave Goldilaw many volumes of a Treatise.
Golidlaw was tickled. �What is a Treatise?� she wondered. The Wise Owl
explained that a Treatise was a comprehensive, scholarly work on one
specific area of law. Treatises were the biggest books in the great library
and had the most information of all. The Wise Owl was right again; the Wise
Owl was always right.

The moral of the story is that the great law library has all kinds of
books with just the right amount of information you need: Baby Bear, Mama
Bear, and Papa Bear.
Moral number 2: the Wise Owl is always right.