A Foreword for the North Carolina Libaries Journal on  Law and the Library

Coggins, Timothy L.

English

University of Richmond

University of RichmondUR Scholarship RepositoryLaw Faculty Publications School of Law1991Foreword: Law and the LibraryTimothy L. CogginsUniversity of Richmond, tcoggins@richmond.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/law-faculty-publicationsPart of the Legal Profession Commons, and the Legal Writing and Research CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Law at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in LawFaculty Publications by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contactscholarshiprepository@richmond.edu.Recommended CitationTimothy L. Coggins, Foreword, 49 N.C. Libraries 3 (1991).1.e 1.e :le iy a 1.e lg te ry ~e 1.s •n S-:lr se ly ~s t-ie h t-ll n )r y ). te 'e d y te l, n g .e g () h ., 1._ 1 l .. 1 61*4.\IWS*#b '1!"4 t;A--SifS· ~74 -4 ·4?£-+5·EW1·&&*·5&6f15 11 Yf@PHfffk4&M· 24r-,Ut K5. ff&f.,tf&£'&2¥M"'·&'· &J.a;st P.,?&f!fB A&·&· ~ 11.i1t; 1@f Bd--5 ;.-p19.gp,p;,~ #''' ·?·' A Foreword steady rise in criminal and civil litigation contin-ues to add to the backlog of cases in state courts, the National Center for State Courts reports. An awareness of legal issues, derived from "People's Court," "L.A. Law" and "Equal Justice," presents legal concepts and issues to the public and in-creases the potential for causes of action against neighbors, family members, and others. A significant economic downturn creates unemployment and other problems, causing potential financial ruin and bankruptcy for North Carolina and U.S. citizens and businesses. Law firms faced with the same economic environment cut staff (including attorneys) and no longer accept certain types of cases. What do all these issues have to do with libraries? Poten-tially, quite a lot. As society becomes more litigious, librarians will see more and more users seeking legal materials Timothy L. Coggins, Guest Editor This issue of North Carolina Libraries, "Law and the Library," presents an interesting and instructive collection of articles that should be helpful to North Carolina librarians. It includes articles discussing one traditional library issue, copyright law, but also addresses other relevant topics such as premises liability and sex discrimination that could affect librarians as managers and employees. Other articles focus on the unauthorized practice of law, how to help patrons compile the history of a Nortfz Carolina General Statutes section, the legal and other implications of dealing with the homeless and public library patrons with behavior problems, and the role of a private sector librarian functioning in the law firm environment. Three articles deal with the law in substantive areas affecting librarians, managers and employees: copyright, premises liabil-ity, and sexual harassment.James Heller's article on copyright law traces the devel-opment of copyright law in the United and assistance. As information special-ists, librarians must determine the types of information that the public needs and must attempt to provide the re-sources necessary to locate this infor-mation. Economic problems may result in more users attempting to handle legal problems without the assistance of at-torneys. With mounting financial obli-gations and the possibility of no jobs, citizens might turn to public and other libraries to research their legal rights, options, and obligations. In other in-stances, law firms may not be interested in accepting new clients, thereby leav-ing many citizens with no alternative except self representation. Library managers, on the other hand, must be-come knowledgeable of the legal impli-cations of library operations and their Library managers ... States and offers practical advice to librar-ians. Heller clarifies some 11 grey" areas of copyright law and delineates the rights of both copyright owners and users of copy-righted works, including librarians and educators. Thomas Steele provides an ex-tensive discussion of premises liability as applied to North Carolina libraries. He focuses on the liability of librarians and libraries for injuries sustained in the li-brary and presents a thorough analysis of negligence law and its implications. Steele also offers a checklist to be used in libraries to guarantee that premises problems are reviewed and repaired before subjecting the library to liability. Laura N. Gasaway describes one particular type of sex dis-crimination, sexual harassment, and its impact on library operations. She reviews a series of court decisions that have dt'· actions and must protPct lihrarles from must become knowledgeable of the legal implications of library operations and their actions and must protect libraries from negligence and other actions brought by employees and users. 1wgllg1•nn• and otlwr actions hrought hy employ1•es and users. l.lhrnrh•\ thrn11p,ho11t Nmth Carolina pn•s1•ntly addn•ss soml' of lht kg.II lnlorn1atlo11 d1•11ia111ls of m1•rs1 hut tht•y llkt•ly wlll ht• factd with 111t111y 111on~ kp,al lrn11•s and d1·111;11Hls Im kgal lnfor, 111at1011 l11 lhe lutme. U11lort1111atdy, 111a11y lllH•11frs an· not ahk to purchase necessary Iep,al re\ollrces or to hire stall' with kp,al research expertise lo assist these users. veloped standards 1·011n•rnln~ an employer's llahlllty for st•x1rnl lrnrnssnwnt. Shi• 1011t hult·s with'' dlsc11sslon of what a llllrnry 111111rnµ,1·r slwuld do 111 nv1ild wx tllsnl111lnatlon ch,11l\t'S 111 hh m h1•r lllm11y ;111d 1•11111111;1p,1•\ tl11· dt•wlop1111·11t of a Slllllld, wdtl1·11 s1•x11;1\ h;11t1\st111.•11t policy. i\nnllll'r a1tlrk addtesst•s a nl\k;1l lm1e lo lilln11lam: how 11111ch lt1fon11:1l1011 rnn a lllmnlan ptovlde and at what point doe~ amwerlnp, a rcfen_•nct' question hecome an unaulhotized pralllce l\ : Nonrl1 C11noliN11 Lih1t11nit~ SpniNq 1 991 - } oflaw? Janet Sinder's thorough analysis of this topic begins with a discussion of the relevant sections of the North Carolina Gen-eral Statutes and presents reasons why it is important that librarians not advise users regarding their legal rights. Sinder concludes that librarians should provide as much assistance as possible to patrons, including showing helpful and useful materials, recommending books, etc., but they should stop short of providing actual advice and interpreta-tion. Nina Lyon and Warren Graham of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County fol-low with an analysis of the security problems facing libraries in large urban centers. Behavioral problems identified by Lyon and Graham must be balanced with the library users' individual rights. The authors describe the use of security and safety officers in a public library and the development of rules and regulations governing conduct in the library. Their processes and conclusions should be instructive to other librarians facing difficult security and be-havioral problems. Librarians faced with questions about "legis-lative history" can find guidance in Louise Stafford's article about compiling legislative history about North Carolina General Stat-utes sections. Stafford discusses two aspects of compiling legisla-tive history: tracing legislation and determining legislative intent. She interprets the North Carolina Supreme Court's perspective about legislative history through an analysis of several court decisions. The final article in the series discusses the changing role of the Jaw firm librarian in today's law firms. Connie Matzen reveals a view of private sector librarianship that many librariarn have never seen. She presents the development of the law firrr librarian from a "collection keeper" and filer of looseleaf service~ to an information specialist, educator, and politician/public relations expert within the law firm. "Point/Counterpoint" focuses on the development of a county law library system in North Carolina. Many states have a detailed plan to provide law library services to thE public and members of the bar, but North Carolina does not. Although several county law libraries exist in North Carolina, no comprehensive and adequately funded plan exists. Anna Donnally presents the view of a public library librarian who is faced with ques-tions from users that require materials and expertise not available in her library. Harry Tuchmayer argues that county Jaw libraries are certainly valuable, but asks if it is a legitimate use of taxpayers' money to fund libraries for a specific (and relatively small) group of library users? The final installment of this theme issue is a bibliography of legal materials that should be beneficial to North Carolina librarians. The bibliogra-phy lists basic primary and secondary legal research resources, but concentrates on some helpful titles about North Carolina law. While these titles vary in quality, substantive content, value, and scholarship, some of the titles might be helpful for some public, school, and academic library clients. I thank the authors for their excellent contributions to this issue. I hope that all readers enjoy these articles and find some stimulating, practical, and beneficial information. The Librarians' Source for Non-Fiction Small Press •Fill Collection Gaps - 1000 Publishers - 6000 Titles • Professional Selection Tools • 95% + Order fill - 72 Hours • Special Interest Videos 1-800-323-4241 ° Toll Free• 312-295-2010 o Call Collect QUALDTV BOCDKS DNC .. ii a dawson company m11E1llDlllllEllEllfJllEJlll!lllllllfllllllllJllllllflllBll~!lll~~-·111a1fJ11D11m11m11E11m1111111en1m11EJBllilDIDlll!lllfJllfJ I --· ';pniNq I')') l Nontlt 0111oliN11 Lilm/\nii ~ 

Foreword: Law and the Library

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Foreword: Law and the Library

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