Law Library Journal Spring 2011 Issue

The Spring 2011 issue of Law Library Journal is out. It is a publication of the American Association of Law Libraries.

Among the articles I found interesting are:

• Database Ownership: Myth or Reality? (Sallie Smith, Susanna Leers, and Patricia Roncevich): "Full-text electronic databases are problematic for librarians because of the way they are marketed, using distribution models that separate the rights of access and owner-ship. The authors describe their experience with a 'purchase plus access' distribution model and the in-house system they created using their purchased content."
• A Response to The Durham Statement Two Years Later (Margaret A. Leary): "This response to The Durham Statement Two Years Later, published in the Winter
  2011 issue of Law Library Journal, addresses that article’s call for an end to print publication of law journals and its failure to sufficiently consider the national and international actors and developments that will determine the future of digital libraries."
• Practicing Reference . . . Relevance, Choices, and the Goldilocks Problem (Mary Whisner): "Ms. Whisner ponders a core question in answering reference queries: How can we know whether what we find is relevant to what the questioner wants? Her article provides criteria to consider and some guidelines for choosing sources in response to a query. "
• The Role of Conferences (Christine Sellers and Phillip Gragg): "The authors discuss and debate the role of conferences in the professional life of a law librarian."