Abstract

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

The University of Georgia School of Law Library has a long and proud history. Its primary mission is to support the research needs of the faculty and students of the School of Law, but as one of the largest and richest collections of legal materials in the Southeast, it is also a valuable resource for the State of Georgia and the entire region. State-of-the-art technology and a library staff who are determined to bring the world's information to our doorstep, or perhaps I should say to our computer screens, make this truly a "library without walls".

The Law Library occupies some 45,000 square feet in two buildings that are connected by an aerial bridge. The most striking feature of the library building is the magnificent reading room with its wall of floor-ta-ceiling windows looking onto ancient oak trees, ivy, and rhododendrons. The prime location on the North Campus, the oldest and most beautiful part of UGA's campus, makes coming to the library a positive inspiration, and its proximity to the main University library makes research convenient as well.

People from many different constituencies use the Law Library. In addition to law students and faculty, the clientele on any given day may include alumni/ae of the School of Law, attorneys from Georgia and surrounding states, students and faculty of other University departments, members of the community or the general public, and visiting scholars from anywhere in the world.

The Law Library is one of only 11 law school depositories for European Union documents in the United States. In addition, the library maintains an extensive collection of United Nations documents. The EU and UN documents complement a well-developed collection of foreign and international law designed to support the LLM program, the Rusk Center, the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, and the work of several internationally acclaimed scholars who are members of the law faculty. Collections of domestic law, both state and federal, are quite comprehensive. The Law Library is a selective depository for United States government documents. Three computer labs permit law students to use a variety of networked electronic resources. The Law Library web page provides links to hundreds of web databases of use to legal researchers, and the library also provides four GALILEO (GeorgiA Library LEarning On-line) terminals for use by the general public. The on-line catalog, GAVEL, allows library users and potential users to search Law Library collections from any computer with a modem or Internet access.

The single greatest asset of the Law Library is its capable, dedicated staff. Among them there are seven law degrees, eight master's degrees in Library Science (plus two more in progress), three master's degrees in other subjects, familiarity with seven languages (Chinese, English, French, German, Latin, Russian, and Spanish) and 180 years of experience in this law library. Whether they are on the front lines at the reference desk or secreted away in the halls of Technical Services, staff members share one common goal: to provide our library users with the most complete, accurate, and timely information available.

E. Ann Puckett, Director of the Law Library and Professor of Law

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