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ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF JUDICIAL BRANCH LAW LIBRARIES

NCJ Number
142009
Journal
State Court Journal Volume: 17 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1993) Pages: 18-21
Author(s)
S D Conti
Date Published
1993
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The tasks facing judicial law librarians include shaping a new understanding of information storage and retrieval and devising management structures to enhance services; organizational and managerial changes must be made so that such libraries can continue to serve the courts and court users.
Abstract
The first National Conference on State Court Libraries, held in November 1992, gave librarians the chance to explore organizational and management issues within the larger judicial administration community. Questionnaire responses submitted for the conference revealed a range of organizational, supervisory, staffing, and funding arrangements for libraries serving the courts and the public. The responses indicated that libraries may be part of the judicial branch or they may be operated by the legislative or executive branch or by the bar association. Libraries may be governed by bar or judge committees, elected boards, individual judges, or court administrators. They may be staffed by trained librarians or by volunteers with no formal library science training. Several models of library location within the judicial organization exist, but the placement of law libraries within the organizational structure is generally related to three factors: level of court, source of funding, and tradition. Trial or appellate judges may be provided with library collections in their chambers or at home. Libraries for appellate courts are less subject to the organizational diversity noted in trial courts. Funding and integration aspects of law libraries are discussed, as well as the need for cooperative agreements among libraries. 1 note