The ongoing transition from traditional print information to a predominantly electronic system is having unexpected effects on libraries and access to the law. The rapid changes bring exciting new capabilities, but also have unforeseen consequences, some negative, for the core missions of law libraries. Books have many positive attributes that have been taken for granted; only appreciated now that they are threatened.

Digital resources and the URL links to them lack permanence and stability. Sources that disappear cannot be reviewed by scholars or courts later for verification, as with books. The less privileged lose access to the law that governs them when libraries license electronic databases under restrictive licenses, excluding the less affluent outside the in-group. Two large multinational corporations now own the major publishers of US law, leading to monopolistic conditions and rapidly escalating prices. Information or subtle wording changes appear without notice to users, including government information that vanishes under a new administration. It isn't possible to preserve the law for future use if sources vanish and can only be "rented" a year at a time from a vendor. On the Web, anyone can publish anything. Authority to issue documents cannot be relied on in the same way.

These are new problems for law libraries, which have relied on large collections of books to accomplish library core missions such as stability of access, preservation of authoritative legal sources, or public access to the law. In the past, the bigger a library's collection, the better it accomplished these goals, thus big volume counts equaled quality library. What constitutes a "quality" law library now if it can no longer count on compiling large print collections to accomplish its core missions? My article looks at alternative measures of library quality. It argues that the American Bar Association, the accreditation authority for US law schools, should revise its quality standards to measure law libraries' efforts to meet these core missions in a new age, rather than continue to count volumes added to academic law libraries.

Survey on Access and Teaching of Alternative Legal Research Using Internet Portals and Gateways, in the American Association of Law Libraries' Briefs in Law Librarianship Series, Vol. 12 (AALL Publications Series No. 56, 2006)

How extensively are law school librarians providing and teaching their library patrons about the many "alternative" Internet-based legal research sources that have developed with the growth of this medium? Important electronic resources now include more than LEXIS and Westlaw. This study surveyed US law librarians twice, at a three year interval, to look at which Internet sources were offered, and which were taught to students and others. Trends of use and teaching were also examined.

Inflexibility or Complexity? A Response to Sid Kaskey's View that the Profession Defines Qualified Law Librarian Too Narrowly, AALL Spectrum, June 2006 at 20.

An article in the American Association of Law Libraries' journal asserted that libraries' desire to hire professional law librarians with JD degrees, as well as master's of library science degrees, stemmed from inflexibility and, perhaps, snobbery. My article refuted that view, arguing that this growing preference for law librarians with dual degrees is caused by the increasing complexity of the law and electronic information access that law librarians are expected to know.

I practiced briefly, but the cases were not extraordinary, although it was exciting every time I stood up in front of a judge. However, a law degree can be used in many ways, and my most interesting position was as legal counsel to the Maine Legislature. Our "cases" consisted of writing statutes and providing advice to legislators on political and legal issues, usually in proposed legislation. Every day brought something and someone new to the State House.

My biggest challenge was to work with legislators and re-write the state's workers' compensation laws, as it was very high profile and lobbyists surrounded us constantly. I locked the documents in my car trunk for night security! The most interesting part of working for a Legislature was to see people of every philosophy and of every type of work descend upon the State House when bills affected them. We saw lobstermen and fishermen at war over state regulation of fisheries, hard-faced insurance lobbyists and fast-talking liquor lobbyists, kids lobbying to put the lobster on Maine's license plates, and somber, black-clad morticians who descended on the hearing room like a flock of crows. We even hosted the national Elvis Presley fan club, lobbying to make Elvis's birthday an official holiday! There is no more interesting place to work than with the legislative branch of government

In the too-scarce time I have beyond reading for work and reading advice books on raising teenagers, I read Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert. As the title says, it is about everything, and a woman re-inventing herself after her previous life collapsed. Really enjoyable.

Spending time with my family, gardening, baking and, of course, reading.

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