In what way does the law library play a role in the work of Cumberland School of Law students and faculty?

The law library is absolutely crucial for a legal education, legal scholarship and lawyers once they graduate from law school. The goal of our library is to put together a collection of core materials that students need to be good legal researchers, which faculty need in doing their scholarship and scholarly research, and which lawyers in the community and alumni need to conduct the work for their practice of law. Law largely is applying legal information to factual circumstances to try to argue for a solution. The library is absolutely crucial for that.

The library is a resource not only for faculty and students, but also alumni. What library services are available to alumni?

We provide a full range of legal information and resources for alumni. They can do case law research, statutory law research and regulatory law research. We have the tools available, and the public service staff is here to help. I’m involved in negotiations to provide citation checking stations for computers in the law library so that the alumni no longer have to pull the Shephard’s books off the shelves to do their citation checking. They can just plug in the citation for a case after signing on and receive the history of that case on the computer screen. It should be a much quicker and easier method of checking citations for the materials they are considering using.

Describe the most rewarding part of your job as director of the law library.

I really enjoy the opportunity to provide services to people and meeting their information needs. It’s very satisfying to have people come in and have staff able to provide them with the information that they need to solve their problems. Students come in who don’t know the first thing about conducting legal research, and the role we play in helping them learn how to do that is very satisfying. It is also satisfying to help faculty members and alumni who have cases or research projects, and to play an important part in helping them solve that problem. In addition, the staff here is absolutely wonderful. They really know their job very well. Professor [Laurel “Becky”] Clapp brought together a great group of people, and it is very satisfying to work with them.

Technology is becoming an integral part in student studies and practice.  What technology does the law library feature, and how do students incorporate it into their work?

First, we have subscriptions to Westlaw, LexisNexis, HeinOnline and other databases that students may use to do their research. Second, Grace Simms of our staff provides troubleshooting for the students with technology issues, as does Jeff Whitcomb in the law school. Third, we are a wireless environment. Students can use their technology to do research and preparation anywhere in the law library. We provide information resources, assistance with the technology and a place for them to use the technology.

The law library advanced a great deal under the direction of Professor Clapp. As the new director, what advancements do you hope to bring in the upcoming years?

The media by which law is conveyed has changed a lot over the last quarter century. More and more lawyers are using online resources to do their research. One of my big goals is to identify those areas where we need to add online database subscriptions so that we can provide a greater range of information, and so students can learn how to use those databases, because that is what they are going to be using for their practice. The other is to make the law library a very welcoming place where students, faculty and alumni can do their work. One of the changes we have made already is to allow food and drink in the law library. We just added vending machines so that beverages and food are available to students right here. Longer term, we are trying to come up with some other ideas—perhaps putting a coffee shop in the library. We may need to replace some of the furniture to make it a more comfortable, welcoming environment.  As far as the way the staff relates to the patrons, nothing needs to change there.