Cornell Law Library Myron Taylor Hall Ithaca, New York 14853 (6 0 7 ) 266-7gÂťfr
255-5857
LAW LIBRARY ANNUAL REPORT 1986/87
Law Library operations continued with little change this year, except for some improvements designed to enhance the computer literacy of the law school community. Management focused on planning for new space and new automation and on coping with the existing situation until the plans are transformed into reality. As the collection filled more and more crevices in the building, more microfiche had to be purchased to replace existing hard copy. The fiche then exceeded the storage capacity of the microform room, so this spring a very large portion of the microform collection was moved into the Reading Room using three new storage cabinets and shelves in one alcove. Technical Services is still struggling to withdraw and dispose of the replaced volumes and to change all the records to reflect the changes. The library had an extensive collection of uninventoried gifts, many from recently retired faculty. A temporary, part-time clerk worked twenty hours a week during the last half of the year, processing more than 2,300 items, preparatory to adding them to the collection or otherwise disposing of them before the library move in the Summer of 1988. About 200 serials are being offered for sale as unneeded duplicates. Every attempt is being made to dispose of all extraneous materials before next summer's moves. The Cataloging Department, in addition to processing all new acquisitions, worked to make some existing parts of the collection more accessible, specifically the trials collection, South Asian serials and materials in the JX classification. Practice Training I was taught this year by John Hasko, Bruce Kennedy and Alan Diefenbach who planned and executed an entirely new format and schedule for the course. The restructuring resulted in a course which was shortened to six weeks from twelve, provided a more unified series of library exercises, allowed for more review of the material using quizzes, and eliminated the final exam, heretofore the sole measure of success in the course. For the first time all first year students were trained on both LEXIS and WESTLAW during the first semester. To overcome some problems encountered by students in using the personal computers available in the Law Library, those five machines were connected by a local area network this year. A dedicated server contains all of the software programs so the circulation desk is no longer responsible for distributing software to users.