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True Values and Justification of Law Libraries: Application of U.S. Law Library Values to Law Libraries in Korea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2020

Extract

U.S. law librarians are formal sources of information to information-seekers in the United States. U.S. law librarians are approachable and visible assets of law libraries within institutions. They also act as gatekeepers of legal information, preventing information corruption and spearheading research into new frontiers of information.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2020

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Footnotes

This article was initially presented orally at the 11th Annual Seminar of the Korean Law Library Association in Songdo, Korea on October 24, 2019.

**

© Jootaek Lee 2020. The author is Assistant Professor/Law Librarian, Rutgers Law School, Newark, New Jersey, USA.

References

1 “Formal sources” include information sources regularly and systematically used within a system by the information seekers. Lee, Jootaek, Frontiers of Legal Information: The U.S. Law Librarians of the Future, 43 Int'l J. Legal Info. 411, 412 (2015)Google Scholar.

2 This article focuses on reference law librarians working in academic law libraries.

3 Facts & Figures: 2017–2018 Year-End Membership Report, AALL, https://www.aallnet.org/community/membership/by-the-numbers/.

4 AALL Biennial Salary Survey & Organizational Characteristics 2017, https://www.aallnet.org/wp-content/uploads/_mediavault/2018/08/2017-AALL-Salary-Survey-web.pdf. at 38.

5 Id.

6 Id. at 26.

7 Id. at 23.

8 Id. at 24.

9 Id. at 33.

10 Id. at 18.

11 Id. at 19.

12 The American Association of Law Libraries (“AALL”)12 defines law librarian as “a legal information professional, who works in various legal settings, including law schools, private law firms, and government libraries.” AALL, Careers in Law Librarianship, available at http://www.aallnet.org/ mm/Careers/lawlibrarycareers/Careers-in-Law-Librarianship-Brochure.pdf (last visited June 1, 2015). In reality, law librarians work in a much wider variety of legal settings, such as colleges and universities, law firms, legal publishers, insurance companies, sports franchises, not-for-profit organizations, state, country, and municipal court libraries, federal court libraries, and executive agencies. Id.

13 See generally Lee, Jootaek, Gatekeepers of Legal Information: Evaluating and Integrating Free Internet Legal Resources into the Classroom, 17 Barry L. Rev. 221 (2012)Google Scholar.

14 Lee, Jootaek, Frontiers of Legal Information: The U.S. Law Librarians of the Future, 43 Int'l J. Legal Info. 411, 412 (2015)Google Scholar.

15 Id.

16 See Jootaek Lee, Gatekeepers of Legal Information: Evaluating and Integrating Free Internet Legal Resources into the Classroom, 17 Barry L. Rev. 221, 228–42 (2012).

17 AALL, Advocacy, available at http://www.aallnet.org/mm/Advocacy (last visited June 2, 2015).

18 See Boulder Conferences on Legal Research Education, available at https://lawlibrary.colorado.edu/boulder-conferences-legal-research-education (last visited June 2, 2015).

19 See Richard A. Danner et al., The Durham Statement Two Years Later, 103 Law Libr. J. 39 (2011).

20 See Economic Value of Law Libraries Special Committee: AALL, The Economic Value of Law Libraries: A Report of the American Association of Law Libraries (Jan 2015), https://www.aallnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/EconomicValue-ofLawLibrariesFinalReport.pdf.

21 Koeher suggests that “values are a subset of morals” (quoting Rokeach offering “a value is an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end state of existence.”) Wallace Koehler, Professional Values and Ethics as Defined by “The LIS Discipline,” 44 J. of Educ. for Libr. and Info. Sci. 99, 100 (2013).

22 Economic Value of Law Libraries Special Committee: AALL, The Economic Value of Law Libraries: A Report of the American Association of Law Libraries (Jan 2015), https://www.aallnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/EconomicValue-ofLawLibrariesFinalReport.pdf. The report emphasized appropriate communication to stakeholders as well as values created. Id. at 5.

23 Id. at 7.

24 AALL, Competencies of Law Librarianship (Apr. 2010), https://www.aallnet.org/about-us/what-we-do/policies/public-policies/competencies-of-law-librarianship (This was replaced by the Body of Knowledge in 2017).

25 Id.

26 Id.

27 Id.

28 See generally Jootaek Lee, Gatekeepers of Legal Information: Evaluating and Integrating Free Internet Legal Resources into the Classroom, 17 Barry L. Rev. 221 (2012).

29 Id.

31 Id. at 21.

32 See e.g. Carol A. Parker, How Law Schools Benefit When Librarians Publish, Teach, and Hold Faculty Status, 30.3 Legal Ref. Serv. Q. 237–53 (2011).

34 See generally Economic Value of Law Libraries Special Committee: AALL, The Economic Value of Law Libraries: A Report of the American Association of Law Libraries (Jan 2015), https://www.aallnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/EconomicValue-ofLawLibrariesFinalReport.pdf. The report emphasized appropriate communication to stakeholders as well as values created.

35 Id. at 7.

36 Id. at 8–9.

37 Id. at 9.

38 Id.

39 See id at 10.

40 The KALL was organized in November, 2008 just before the launch of the current law school system in March, 2009. Through the KALL, Korean law libraries have been cooperating together in an organized way and made efforts to increase its quality of service. The National Assembly Library also participates in this seminar and shares information. Every year KALL hosts a seminar where law libraries share issues and trends of law library services.

41 There is no faculty law librarian in Korea.

43 See Jootaek Lee, The Crisis and Future of Korean Legal Education: Compared with the American Legal Education System, 2017 Korea U. L. Rev. 41 (2017).

44 Act on the Establishment and Management of Professional Law Schools [법학전문대학원 설치 및 운영에 관한 법률], Act No. 8544 (July 27, 2007) (amended by Acts No. 8852 (Feb. 29, 2008), No. 10866 (July 21, 2011), No. 11690 (Mar. 23, 2013), No. 14152 (May 29, 2016)) [hereinafter Law School Act].

45 Law School Act art. 2.

46 See generally Jootaek Lee, The Crisis and Future of Korean Legal Education: Compared with the American Legal Education System, 21 Korea Univ. L. Rev. 41 (2017).

47 See Economic Value of Law Libraries Special Committee: AALL, The Economic Value of Law Libraries: A Report of the American Association of Law Libraries 22–23 (Jan 2015), https://www.aallnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/EconomicValue-ofLawLibrariesFinalReport.pdf.

48 I recently observed one case in Ehwa University Law School where the legal research skill course is being taught by a librarian from the judicial branch.

49 See Lee, Jootaek, Frontiers of Legal Information: The U.S. Law Librarians of the Future, 43 Int'l J. Legal Info. 411, 431 (2015)Google Scholar.

51 See Oliver R. Goodenough, Stages of Technological Innovation in Law: A Conceptual Frame, Presentation at the National Summit on Innovation in Legal Services (May 2015), available at http://perma.cc/JS5E-J7LV (last visited July 15, 2015).

52 See Lee, Jootaek, Frontiers of Legal Information: The U.S. Law Librarians of the Future, 43 Int'l J. Legal Info. 411, 428–29 (2015)Google Scholar.

54 Id. at 48.

56 Nicolas Henckes, Update: Luxembourg – Description of the Legal System and Legal Research (July 2015), https://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Luxembourg1.html#_Toc422932324.