Public Services Issues with Rare and Archival Law Materials

“Rare books and archives come alive when consulted by readers and researchers.” —from the Introduction

In the administrative and budgetary environment of law librarianship, outstanding reference service is crucial to the survival and growth of special collections. Public Services Issues with Rare and Archival Law Materials offers practical suggestions for putting these valuable special collections to work. Each chapter gives clear, proven advice on making the most of rare book sections and archives to contribute to the mission of their libraries and parent institutions.

Public Services Issues with Rare and Archival Law Materials provides a comprehensive overview of issues in using these special collections. It begins with an original study of the research habits of legal historians, which can help you plan a strategy for making your collection more accessible to scholars. It concludes with thoughtful consideration of the ethical issues of using archived papers, balancing the scholar’s need to understand the inner workings of the legal system against the need for private court deliberations and attorney-client privilege.

This wide-ranging book provides the tools you need for keeping archives in active service, including:

• detailed instructions for the care and use of rare legal materials
• ideas for creating exhibits and outreach activities, including Web sites
• suggestions for working with early books on Roman and canon law
• practical techniques for using archives in litigation and cooperating with attorneys
• a bibliography of law-related archives and rare-book librarianship

  This essential book will assist rare book librarians and archivists to provide better reference service by providing examples of best practice and solutions to common problems. Public Services Issues with Rare and Archival Law Materials is an indispensable resource for law librarians, archivists, and scholars.

Law librarians and archivists, as well as contributors from law and history, demonstrate the importance of the survival and growth of special collections in academic law libraries and provide examples of best practices and solutions to common problems. Focus is on aspects of public services that are peculiar to these collections. Some topics discussed include rare and archival material on the Web, Roman and canon law research, and accessing the working papers of State Supreme Court justices. This work has been co-published simultaneously as Legal Reference Services Quarterly, vol. 20, nos. 1/2 2001. Widener is the rare books librarian at the Tarlton Law Library, University of Texas-Austin. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

John N. Jacob

Impressive . . . surveys the state of research in legal history,provides practical advice for those charged with the care of legal research materials,and lays out sound guidelines for improvement in the education of legal curators and archivists. There is much to be learned from this volume.