Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T02:41:47.543Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The University Library: A Driving Force for Reform in Legal Education?†

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2019

Ben Beljaars  and
René Winter
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Information skills training offers opportunities for gradually embedding changes in legal education programs and to bring about the integration of legal knowledge, skills and experience. If shared goals are formulated in a spirit of close collaboration, curricular changes and revisions will potentially have a greater effect and be more likely to enhance long-term programs. The university library can serve as an ideal base for the use of information technology such as web portals and content integrated search engines, which in turn will help refocus attention on the use of library facilities. The harmonization and maintenance of this apparatus, however, requires both a new form of cooperation and a re-interpretation of the legal education curriculum. This article compares several library developments which could prove important for legal education from a Dutch perspective, and also examines library education in the law schools of the United States of America.

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Legal Information , Volume 40 , Issue 1-2 , Spring-Summer 2012 , pp. 1 - 21
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 by the International Association of Law Libraries. 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Kauffman, Blair Information Literacy in Law: Starting Points for Improving Legal Research Competencies, in: International Journal of Legal Information, Vol. 38.3, 2010, p. 339–351. On p. 342 Kauffman questions the use of such premature courses: ‘The advantage of such courses is that all students are exposed to legal research methodology at an early stage in their law school experience. However, the effectiveness of these courses in bolstering legal research competencies of law students is uncertain and uneven.'Google Scholar

2 Legal education in the U.S. is at the graduate level, which is very different from the Continental approach. In 1999 the EU introduced a standardized system to calculate the study load in higher education, called the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS). (Bologna declaration 1999). In 2002 the Netherlands higher education institutions adopted the ECTS system officially. One ECTS credit represents 28 hours of full-time study and 60 ECTS credits represent one year. In the Bachelor/Master structure means this, that a Bachelor's degree is awarded to students who have obtained 180 ECTS credits. The minimum number of ECTS credits needed to obtain a Master's Law degree is mostly 60 ECTS.Google Scholar

3 In the U.S. this happens as students start to write law review notes, or advanced papers for seminar.Google Scholar

4 Two examples in which the border area between ‘googling’ and academic research is explored: <http://www.learnthenet.com/how-to/researchonline/index.php>; <http://www.learnthenet.com/how-to/search-the-deep-web/index.php ;+Google Scholar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yd8U4d-GfE>>Google Scholar

5 Kauffman, Blairprovides curricular reasons for not including legal research in the law curriculum too soon. p. 343 ‘…legal research is taught too early in the law school curriculum, before students have sufficient knowledge of the legal system to fully comprehend what is taught these courses.’ The issues surrounding the transfer of knowledge on information skills is simply too complex to teach in a short period.Google Scholar

6 Although the universities of Leiden, Amsterdam (2x), Utrecht, Groningen, Nijmegen, Rotterdam, Tilburg and Maastricht have different organisational structures, they are comparable to each other on the point of a strategic library policy.Google Scholar

7 <http://www.stiftadmont.at/english/museum/bibliothek/stiftsbibliothek.php>>Google Scholar

8 Mostert, Marco The political theology of Abbo of Fleury. A study of the ideas about society and law of the tenth-century of monastic reform movement. Hilversum: Verloren, 1987, p. 32–34.Google Scholar

9 Rückbrod, Konrad Universität und Kollegium Baugeschichte und Bautyp, Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1977.Google Scholar

10 Rückbrod, Konrad 1977, p. 157.Google Scholar

11 Jackson, Darla W. Thinking About Technology… 2010: The Year of the Ipad', 102, Law Library Journal, 2010, p. 513–520.Google Scholar

12 Head, Alison J. and Eisenberg, Michael B., How College Students Seek Information in the Digital Age. Project Information Literacy Progress Report, December 1, 2009. The Information School, University of Washington.Google Scholar

13 Oblinger, Diana G. Editor, Learning Spaces, Educause E-book, 2006. <http://www.educause.edu/LearningSpaces>>Google Scholar

14 JISC, Libraries of the Future, Document No. 589, Version 1.1. June 2009, p. 3.: ‘Libraries are at a turning point. As technology rapidly transforms the way we access information, and resources are increasingly available online and in digital formats, the established role of the library as a physical space housing racks of books is looking increasingly out of step with the needs of students and researchers.'Google Scholar

15 Pieplow, Kathryn of the University of Colorado gives a lucid example: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yd8U4d-GfE;>>Google Scholar

16 The problem with Wikipedia is that the data it conveys is not reliable (not peer-reviewed) and subject to an anonymous editorial process.Google Scholar

17 For a comparable focus, see: Nicholas, David The Virtual Scholar: The hard and Evidential Truth, in: Ingeborg Verheul, Anna Maria Tammaro, Steve Witt (eds.), Digital Library Futures. User Perspectives and Institutional Strategies, IFLA Publications 146, De Gruyter Saur, 2010, p. 24–25.Google Scholar

18 Davidson, Cathy N. and Goldberg, David Theo, with the assistance of Zoe Marie Jones, The Future of Thinking. Learning Institutions in a Digital Age, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, England, Chapter 4, FLIDA 101: A Pedagogical Allegory, p. 83–123, esp. 107–110.Google Scholar

19 Id., p. 96–97.Google Scholar

20 http://www.jstor.org/ In the field of law are 76 titles to consult.Google Scholar

21 http://www.ebsco.com/index.asp or http://ebscohost.com/academic/subjects/category/law-legal Google Scholar

22 The summary is derived from the EUR portal of the library of Erasmus University Rotterdam.Google Scholar

23 Cohen, Moris L. and Olson, Kent C., Legal Research, in a nut shell, 10th edition, West 2010.Google Scholar

24 See ruling: Judge Denny Chin, United States District Court Southern District of New York, March 22, 2011 New York, New York; The Authors Guild et al., Plaintiffs, GOOGLE INC., - against – OPINION 05 Civ. 8136 (DC) Defendant.Google Scholar

25 <http://www.cs.cornell.edu/w8/~andru/cgiperl/civs/results.pl?id=E_055e27c6cf841db6>>Google Scholar

26 Barry, Margaret Martin Dubin, Jon C. & Joy, Peter A., ‘Clinical Education for This Millennium: The Third Wave', 7 CLINICAL L. REV. 1 (2000).Google Scholar

27 Rowe, William V. ‘Legal Clinics and Better Trained Lawyers - A Necessity', 11 Ill. L. Rev. 591,591 (1917)Google Scholar

28 Stuckey, Royet al., ‘Best Practices for Legal Education: a vision and a road map'. 2007.Google Scholar

29 Barry, Magaret ‘Clinical Legal Education in the Law University: Goals and Challenges', Int'l J. Clinical Legal Educ, 2007, p. 27–46.Google Scholar

30 Sullivan, William M. Colby, Anne, Wegner, Judith Welch, Bond, Lloyd, & Shulman, Lee S., Educating Lawyers: preparation for The profession of Law, 2007.Google Scholar

31 Abdullahi, Ismael(ed.), Global Library and Information Science. A Textbook for Students and Educators. With Contributions from Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Latin America and the Carribean, The Middle East, and North America, IFLA Publications 136-137, K.G. Saur Munchen 2009. The contribution ‘Academic Libraries’ by Frederic Blin p. 329–342, is of importance to Europe. For the United States (USA) Barbara I. Dewey provides a thorough general insight into developments under the same title ‘Academic Libraries’ (p. 505–513.)Google Scholar

32 Head, Alison J. and Eisenberg, Michael B., How College Students Seek Information in Digital Ages, Project Information Literacy Progress Report: ‘Lessons Learned', The Information School, University of Washington, 1 December 2009. The research conducted by Head and Eisenberg shows that there is a considerable discrepancy between the different types of information gathering that are used by students in practice: ‘everyday life research’ or ‘course-related research'. The switch to academic sources still seems to depend upon the context in which the information must be used. The extent to which a library can offer online databases significantly increases the use of academic sources. The user friendliness of the access to the information will certainly be a positive aspect therein.Google Scholar

33 <http://www.law.harvard.edu/academics/clinical/students/curriculum.html>>Google Scholar

34 Davidson, Cathy N. and Goldberg, David Theo, with the assistance of Zoe Marie Jones, The Future of Thinking. Learning Institutions in a Digital Age, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, England, Chapter 4, FLIDA 101: A Pedagogical Allegory, p. 115.Google Scholar

35 <http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/law_librarian_blog/2010/12/the-most-important-factor-in-evaluating-law-schools-is-us-the-law-faculty.html>>Google Scholar

36 <http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leiter/2010/11/the-most-important-characteristics-in-evaluating-law-schools.html> This mentions the following characteristics: 1. Scholarly distinction/quality of the faculty; 2. Students’ numerical credentials (LSAT, GPA); 3. Emphasis on legal doctrine & analytical skills; 4. Emphasis on legal research & writing skills; 5. Small class sizes.+This+mentions+the+following+characteristics:+1.+Scholarly+distinction/quality+of+the+faculty;+2.+Students’+numerical+credentials+(LSAT,+GPA);+3.+Emphasis+on+legal+doctrine+&+analytical+skills;+4.+Emphasis+on+legal+research+&+writing+skills;+5.+Small+class+sizes.>Google Scholar

37 John Palfrey, ‘Cornerstones of Law Libraries for an Era of Digital-Plus', Law Library Journal, Vol. 102, 2, p. 177.Google Scholar

38 Kim-Prieto, Dennis 'How Law Student Information Literacy (LSIL) Standards Address Deficits Identified by the MacCrate Report and the Carnegie Report, and What They Can Contribute to Legal Research Education & Training'; <http://ssrn.com/absract=1678146>>Google Scholar

39 The standards concern references to the objectives that an individual needs from ‘information skills': Know, Access, Evaluate, Use, & Ethical/lLegal; later the AALL Joint-SIS Committee developed this further to: Identify, Access, Evaluate, Apply and Ethical/Legal Issues of Use. For the detailed elaboration, see the attached Appendix in the article by Kim-Prieto.Google Scholar

40 IJzermans, M. G.en van Schaaijk, G.A.F.M. Oefening baart kunst. Onderzoeken, argumenteren en presenteren voor juristen, Boom Juridische Uitgevers, 3rd edition, Den Haag, 2007. I. Curry-Sumner, F.G.H. Kristen, M. van der Linden-Smith, H. Tigchelaar, Onderzoeksvaardigheden - Research skills, Nijmegen: Ars Aequi, Juridische Uitgeverij / September 2010.Google Scholar

41 Holland, James and Webb, Julian, Learning Legal Rules. A Students’ Guide to Legal Method and Reasoning, Seventh Edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, p. 38–68. (Finding the Law)Google Scholar

42 Holland, James and Webb, Julian, Learning Legal Rules. A Students’ Guide to Legal Method and Reasoning, Seventh Edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, p. 38.Google Scholar

43 Cohen, Morris L. and Olson, Kent C., Legal Research in a Nutshell, 10th, West, Thomson Reuters USA, 2010, p. 1–2.Google Scholar

44 Cohen, Morris L. and Olson, Kent C., 2010, p. 9–13.Google Scholar

45 http://www.colorado.edu/law/events/legalResearchEducation.pdf; also <http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/law_librarian_blog/2010/11/boulder-statement-on-legal-research-education-signature-pedagogy-statement.html>..>Google Scholar

46 <http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Search-Engines.html#How;>>Google Scholar

47 <http://www.ppl.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&lay-out=blog&id=54&Itemid=133>>Google Scholar

48 <http://www.ppl.nl/>>Google Scholar

49 This subject is taught at the law faculty at the University of Amsterdam (UvA).Google Scholar

50 This subject is taught at the law faculty of Utrecht University (UU).Google Scholar

51 This subject is taught at the law faculty of Leiden University (UL).Google Scholar