Quote:
Originally Posted by looneycat
this all seems moot. with the advent of the internet a simple query would make this info available. why would I go to a library first when I can seek the info directly...this sounds like a cervantean quest to me....
|
Many are missing the point. Libraries still play a vital role in the control of information as well as its access. There are many documents in the legal area that are way too difficult to manage by most readers on the Internet. If a survivor/victim is involved in a legal situation, she/he will need the best access to this information.
I wrote 4000 victim/assistance providers in every US state in 1992-2002 via snail mail and asked them what they would like to see in libraries. Ft. Myers Rape Counseling Center had suggested the paper bound version of The Florida Victim Services Directory. If a woman or man is having domestic violence problems, you do not want your abusive mate seeing your internet search history. The Florida AG's office when I wrote them about the Florida Victim Services Directory and putting the paper version in Florida libraries, they said that it changes too frequently so that the libraries should get the link to the electronic version. You can go to a library and view things without a possible abusive mate looking over your shoulder or researching your internet searches.
Put yourself in the shoes of the victim/survivor? Where would he/she feel the most safe gathering information? It depends a lot on their situation. I have lived in some neighborhoods where the library would be the safest place or the police station.
My 224 613 Project is international in design. I have put a huge amount of work into it.
I had a stalker while at the University of Minnesota Law Library while I was on the reference desk over the 1989-1990 academic year. She had locked herself to a Math Professor's desk because she was obsessed with him. She came into the Law Library to prepare her defense. Quite a lot of work involved in preparing a legal defense PRO SE (without a lawyer's help usually) and for my troubles trying to help her, my live-in girlfriend Jennifer V., and I became her next obsessions. There was not much neither Jennifer nor I could do to stop this woman's obsession as she had a right to prepare her defense in the case against her from the Math Professor.
There are survivors/victims now using law libraries and other libraries for their legal matters. Some of these would even be in the news somewhere.
Believe me as a trained law librarian, it is not easy to get all the legal information you would need for a legal matter on the Internet. And even if some of the people have a lawyer, it gives the survivor/victim a sense of control if he/she knows what is going on through doing legal research.
I prepared myself for instance when I had Jury Duty last May 2014 by doing many searches online but would have been able to find a lot more if I had traveled to the University of Florida Law Library. I did look at things like this--
What Should I Know About Serving on a Jury? I would have had an easier time though of researching what I might want to tell a lawyer/judge doing voir dire, if I had made a trip to a law library.
Here's a fellow U of MN Law Grad's site which makes the law more accessible. It would be easier though when using his site if also had access to the physical books involved.
Minnesota's First Stop for Legal Advice