In traditional libraries, it doesn't make sense to browse the stacks; it's faster to pinpoint exactly what you're looking for by using the electronic card catalog. Law libraries are different: they become a hundred times more useful when you browse the stacks--using your feet, not a computer--to see what's available.
Until you browse, you can't get a good idea of what you might be missing. For litigators, a half hour spent among the trial practice shelves can yield a wealth of tips and ideas. In the law library beneath the Madison County courthouse, for example, you can find the following multi-volume treatises, among many others: Trial Handbook for Illinois Lawyers; Nichols Illinois Civil Practice; The Attorneys' Dictionary of Medicine; Federal Trial Handbook; Weinstein's Federal Evidence; and AmJur Trials.
Until you see these treatises spread out in front of you on a shelf, you won't get a sense for how much useful information might be contained inside their covers. Using a computer do this? Forget it . . .
I am amazed every time I go to my alma mater's library, John Marshall, at how much trial info there is.
Posted by: Ben Crane | March 01, 2006 at 08:54 PM
Yeah, I'm amazed that JMLS even has a law library. *rimshot*
Posted by: heynow | March 03, 2006 at 03:15 PM