How Does it Really Work;
or is it Possible To Serve two Masters?
Making the Case for the Dual Reporting Structure in Academic Law Libraries
Presented by Joyce McCray Pearson
Director of the Washington University in St. Louis
School of Law Library
MAALL ANNUAL MEETING 2015
OCTOBER 22–24
KANSAS CITY, MO
Washington University
Law Library
Law Library
Interior
Report on the Benefits and
Risks of a Dual System
 Benefits of Collaboration with or
reporting to a central university
library system
 Risks of Collaboration with or
reporting to a central university
library system
Advantages of a
Dual System
More opportunities are available to
both staff and students.
 Asset based thinking
Leadership
Training Exercise
Washington University Libraries
 Art and Architecture Library
 Business Library
 Chemistry Library
 Digital Gateway
 Earth & Planetary Sciences Library
 East Asian Library
 GIS
 John M. Olin Library
 Music Library
 Special Collections & Archives
 West Campus Library
 Law Library
Existing relationships

Gov docs (Depository Library)

ILL (Interlibrary Loan)

Reference, training & many others
Law Libraries with Similar Structure

SUNY Buffalo Law School

University of Chicago Law School

Cornell University Law School

University of Illinois College of Law

University of Kentucky College of Law

University of Oregon School of Law

Washington University in St. Louis School of Law

Wayne State University Law School

Vanderbilt University School of Law
“…value of autonomy…”
“…meet all the information
needs of the academic legal
community…”
Collaboration

Law School’s 150th anniversary in 2017
 digitize archival materials for use in digital and physical
exhibits, including photos, blueprints, objects, etc.

Digitization of the Law School bulletin
(dates back to 1867)

Digitization of Law’s rare book collection
 2-3,000 volumes of legal materials dating from the 16th
century
Basic Message:
Collaboration and Sharing
Sharing Resources
Coordinated Planning
Exploring New Territory
Matthew Henson, Explorer
Robert Peary was one of the
first men to visit the North
Pole. He planted the US flag
on “top of the world” and
was the first African
American to join the
prestigious Explorers Club.
by Charles Henry Alston, 1907-1977, Artist (NARA record: 3569253) - U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Ambitious Goals
Initiative 1:
Open Access
Initiative 1:
Open Access
Initiative 2:
Transfer Political Science Collection
Initiative 3:
Government Documents
Law Library Staff
Joyce McCray Pearson
Director of the Law Library
Senior Lecture in Law
Assoc. University Librarian
Hyla Bondareff
Electronic Res. Librarian
Lecturer in Law
(Access Services)
Dorie Bertram
Wei Luo
Director of Public Services
Lecturer in Law
Director of Tech. Services
Lecturer in Law
Mark Kloempken
Tove Klovning
Anne Taylor
Frederick Chan
Public Services Librarian
Lecturer in Law
Foreign, Comparative and
International Law Librarian
Lecturer in Law
(Government Documents)
Reference Librarian
Senior Cataloging Librarian
(Monograph Acquisitions)
Kathie Molyneaux
Yelena Fish
Susan Mueller
Barbara Hoffman
Josh Zink
Interlibrary Loan Assistant
Stack Maintenance &
Updating Assistant
Circulation Manager
Government Publications
Assistant for Federal
Documets
Administrative & Integrated
Library System Assistant
Questions?