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the The Law Librarian as Catalyst in System Commonwealth Caribbean Legal Paula Jordon University of Gu yan a A catalyst, then , is a subwhe n the reac tion is com plet ed'. of role the at look is er pap . W ha t I inte nd to do in this which catalyzes a chem ical reac tion legal cont ext. In doin g stan ce an ihbe given the task Car on the pers in n any n aria mea libr l law shal r the By law libra rian , an ibbe Car the by n mea I t wha n coll ecti on of legal mat50, I shal l elab orat e upo of orga nizi ng and /or supe rvis ing a exthe ess proc the in show to to dev elop men t of that lega l con text and atte mpt eria ls in the Car ibbe an, with a view yet have are, they as even es, tanc orm an info rma tion tent to whi ch our circ ums coll ecti on in orde r that it may perf elop dev our , first of, ge anta adv text of the Car ibbe an lega l systo be exp loite d to the full of giving func tion in the con s term in n aria libr law the nd, ing legal syst em and , seco tem. dev elop men t within the real ized that in orde r his/ her func tion and prof essi ona l As I set dow n thes e defi nitio ns, I ussi on I wou ld nee d to defi ned con text . to give clarity to the following disc ne the defi first can We ws, follo t wha As a basi s for and thos e rela tion ship s upo n which system, isol ate thos e elem ents l lega an ibbe t, Car ect: subj my ope rati ve wor ds in to con cen trate . So, as a star ting poin the wor d I inte nd specifically ne defi to first that in wish I with . rian from libra and catalyst, and law we hav e the Car ibbe an legal system, er it is imp orta nt to bea r pon ents and char com ain cert ated 'sys tem ', for thro ugh out this pap isol e hav J em legal syst a disc iplin e both s odie emb law of ect all them e. The se subj over in min d that the acte risti cs that have a bear ing on my is in part an e ther e sens r latte the pris ing: in com m and yste and a syst em, I hav e iden tifie d as part of a subs that is wholone from inct dist as it, to c insi intr ord er that is Cha ract eris tic ly exte rnal ly imp osed . Com pon ent prin cipl es, facts, of y bod ated rdin co-o 'a is em A syst grou ping , a met hod or (a) Jaw and libr ary qua lific atio ns theo ries , doc trin es, etc.; a logical 1. 771e law libra/ian nge men t or orarra ated rdin co-o a n; atio sific (b) libra ry qua lific atio ns plan of clas for wor king tos part or gs thin of tion bina ( c) no form al qua lific atio ns gan ized com tion , etc. ; any func ar icul part a ing form per geth er, etc. ' We know, ther ecom plex and co-o rdin ated whole; 2. 771e law libra/Y system we are assu ml abse nce of app ropr iate or fore, that whe n we spea k of a lega (i) as legal archive ble com pon ents and tifia iden ain cert e hav to it rele van t system by whi ch to ing er intr insi c or extrinsic. eith be can ch whi tics eris ract mea sure this func tion cha to affect the ope rathat me assu bly ona reas also func tion can be mea sure d in We can (ii) as supplier of char acte risti c is to hav e or ent pon com one any of s term s of user sati sfac tion tion immediate/sholta whole. By Car ibbe an as em syst the n upo act imp e som needs collective exp erie nces , lega l syst em, ther efor e, I mea n the of the Eng lish -spe akin g low acad emi c outp ut - i.e., in a hist oric al and actu al sens e, 3. 77le law librmy user ninta and e gibl (tan ents und erde velo ped pote ntia l as Car ibbe an in term s of thos e elem e mak , ruct inst , port sup ate, evid ence d by the qua ntity and gibl e) that can be take n to initi ce. qua lity of rese arch outp ut up its laws and its juri spru den , lysis cata d wor the from The term cata lyst is deri ved rdat ion of a chem ical whi ch is 'the acce lera tion or reta f und ergo es 110 peritsel ch reac tion by a sub stan ce whi may be reco vere d ch whi or man ent ch~micnl chan ge,