MASSACHUSETTS TRIAL COURT LAW LIBRARY IN FRANKLIN COUNTY

Kathy LayerFall Semester 2011Collection Development-266

PATRONS WHO USE THE LIBRARY

Who comes: Judges and their law clerks Court clerks and others send non-attorneys with questions Attorneys from county and boarder states People who work in the courthouse The non-attorney public—BUT JUST A FEW

Why they come: Legal research To draft court documents on one of two computers Questions about public services Help with legal questions To check their email and socialize while in the courthouse

THE UNDERSERVED PUBLIC

HOW TO CLOSE THE GAPOutreach and collaboration

Outreach and collaborate with stakeholders and user groups: Public libraries and service centersPro se usersSolo practitioners and other lawyersOther non-attorneysTeaching opportunitiesMarketingSocial networking sites

Continue focus and expand on being a portal to legal resources

Core Collection15147

FRANKLIN COUNTY LAW LIBRARYCOLLECTION MAP

Materials for Non-attorneys

Materials in alternative

formats

FRANKLIN COUNTY LAW LIBRARYCOLLECTION MAP

FRANKLIN LAW LIBRARY PRINT HOLDINGS

Massachusetts Materials - 205.275 linear feet

Publ ished decis ions-complete set

Annotated s tate and loca l rules -current

Statutes-annotated

Sess ion laws, inc. current sess ion law service

State Consti tution, including various his torica l vers ions

Local , county and municipa l codes , charters , by-laws or

ordinances within are served (Too costly to mainta in;

Most current information ava i lable onl ine; Help patron

find info onl ine or by ca l l ing town/county; Contact a

l ibrary or other source for his torica l materia l )

State adminis trative codes

Publ ished decis ion of s tate admins i trative agencies

Attorney Genera l opinions - complete

N/A State lega l encyclopedia

State digest

Citation service

State-orientated reference tools

Signi ficant s tate court publ ications

FRANKLIN LAW LIBRARY PRINT HOLDINGS

Federal Materials

U.S. Supreme Court decis ion - officia l

U.S. Supreme Court digest

U.S. Code

U.S. Statutes at Large

U.S. Dis trict Courts , U.S. Courts of Appeal , and U.S.

Banruptcy Courts publ ished decis ions

Federa l court rules and loca l rules

Federa l case digest

Federa l Regis ter and Code of Federa l Regulations

Citation service

U.S. Government Manual

COLLECTION MAP: TREATISES COMPARING GENERAL VS.

MASSACHUSETTS MATERIALS

TREATISE - LEGAL RESEARCH TOPIC

MA- 183 Linear feet General/not MA -428 linear feet

# Materials # Materials

Agriculture 0 17

Bankruptcy 0 70

Business/ Securities 0 68

Credit, consumer protection, insurance 230 591

Children/Education 20 49

Criminal 250 471

Employment law 90 512

Family Law 120 212

Immigration 0 34

Library Administration 0 60

Medical issues/health care 112 129

Probate, estate planning 140 60

Real estate/zoning/environmental law 145 376

Taxes 20 110

FRANKLIN COUNTY LAW LIBRARYCOLLECTION MAP: AUDIO, VISUAL

AND MATERIALS FOR NON-ATTORNEYS

TREATISES -

Other Languages (1%

pop) - <1 linear foot

Audio - <1 linear feet

DVD/VHS - <1%

Written for non-attorneys

- <2 linear feet

Agriculture 0 0 0 0

Bankruptcy 0 0 0 1

Business/ Securities 0 0 0 0

Credit, consumer protection, insurance

0 0 0 48

Children/Education 0 0 0 1

Criminal 0 4 0 0

Employment law 0 0 0 14

Family Law 0 0 0 26

Immigration 0 0 0 6

Library Administration 0 0 0 0

Medical issues/health care 0 0 0 1

Probate, estate planning 0 0 0 12

Real estate/zoning/environmental law

0 0 0 10

Taxes 0 0 0 5

COLLECTION GOALS

Meet the needs of the underserved public – the

pro se litigants and general public by adding more

legal resources

Diversify collection to include more audio and

visual legal resources

Cancel subscriptions to costly treatises that are

available online on Westlaw

Makes sure the Massachusetts collection is strong

even at the expense of the general law treatises

Collection Segment Current Size Decision #s to Add Estimated Cost

The Core Collection 34,081 De-emphasize

(ALR’s, etc.)

50 ($15,000)

Current Emphasis Collections

Agriculture 17 Build 3 $60

Bankruptcy 70 De-emphasize 0 $0

Business, securities 68 Build 10 $200

Credit, consumer protection,

insurance

869 Maintain 10 $200

Children, education 70 Build 10 $200

Family law 368 Build 10 $200

Immigration 40 Maintain 4 $80

Medical issues, health care 242 Build 10 $200

Probate, estate planning 212 Build 10 $200

Real estate, zoning, environmental

law

530 Build 5 $100

Taxes 135 Maintain 2 $40

Proposed Collection Segments

Guides and brochures for non-

attorneys re legal procedures and

legal information summaries

2 Build 100 $0

Legal resources written for non-

attorneys

123 Build 100 $2000

Legal treatises in audio form 2 Build 25 $500

PR

OP

OS

ED

CO

LL

EC

TIO

N M

AP

De-emphasized Collections:• Bankruptcy (0 items; $0)

• Core Collection components (cancel

subscription to ALR, etc.; ($15,000))

Building Emphasis Collections:• Agriculture (3 items; $60)

• Business, securities (10 items, $200)

• Children, education (10 items, $200)

• Family law (10 items, $200)

• Medical issues, health care (10 items, $200)

• Probate, estate planning (10 items, $200)

• Real estate, zoning, environmental law (5 items; $100)

• Guides/brochures (100 items; $0)

• Non-attorney legal books (100 items; $200)

• Legal treaties in audio form (25 items, $500)

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

Proposed Addition

Currently Owned

HOW IT ALL BALANCES OUT – FOUR YEAR PLAN

FRANKLIN LAW LIBRARY'SSELECTION CRITERIA

BEST PRACTICES CRITERIA FRANKLIN LAW LIBRARY’S CURRENT PRACTICES

AUTHORITY AND ACCURACY Only acquires material that a current and from authorized primary source or reputable author or source

RELEVANCE Effort to acquire materials relevant to patron’s legal research needs; Follows guidelines set out by AALL; Needs more materials created for non-attorneys and audio and visual content

CONTENT Limits acquisitions to sources with authority with coverage over broad area of legal subject; Must limit number of resources due to costs of legal materials

USEFULNESS Primary concern is that content targets patron needs and is authoritative, accurate, and current

TECHNICAL QUALITIES On-line resources include Westlaw and other databases; Trial Court Law Library website is excellent and continually updated and expanded

PATRON APPEAL Not applicable beyond making sure materials available for non-attorney patrons; Librarian will consider acquisition of material recommended by patron and also ensure patron has material ASAP for research through ILL or other source

APPEAL OVER TIME Not applicable – Minimal collection content mandated by AALL guidelines, thereafter priority is to insure materials current

FORMAT Collection has few materials in audio or visual format; Patrons reluctant to ask for alternative formats in law library

COST Attempts to get best product for best price; Negotiates with jobbers and publishers; Costs are great due to limited life of legal resource requiring buying new editions or loose-leaf subscriptions

Finding Sources:

Consideration File:

Processing Materials:

Overall Acquisition Score

IMPLEMENTING THE COLLECTION GOALS

• New court house 2015 with bigger space

• ---but less stacks

• Over the next five years many subscriptions to non-Massachusetts treatise up-dates will be cancelled

• The good news! More money for materials for non-attorneys – these are much cheaper