Abstract

The objective of the study is to bring the academic world more closely into alignment with the realities of the practical library, and to enable librarians at both types of institutions to make collection development and management decisions with a full understanding of the needs of the other. Authors used two surveys to collect data from law firm and academic librarians: one to examine the materials that are routinely used by legal practitioners at their law firm libraries, and another to collect general information from academic law libraries about their collection development and management practices.

The study found that law firm libraries and academic law libraries have different collection development decisions regarding secondary sources and practitioner-oriented materials, and that there are differences in the cancellation or removal of form books from their collections.

Firm and academic librarians should be working together when discussing collection development to see how best to transition students from school to job.

The study suggests that academic law libraries are increasingly favouring electronic resources over print resources, leading to cancellations of practitioner-oriented print materials. Library size and practitioner usage are factors influencing collection development decisions.

The study concludes that there is a gap in the education of law school graduates and their preparedness for the practice of law due to the differing needs and realities of law firm and academic libraries.

Document Type

Article

Publication Information

102 Law Library Journal 399-439 (2010)

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