Annual Report 2005-2006 - Osgoode Hall Law School - York ...

Law Library
Key Accomplishments of 2005-06
1. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
The position of Chief Law Librarian was advertised in April 2005 as a result of the review of the Law
Library undertaken by Ann Rae and Roger Jacobs. Nicholas Pengelley was appointed to the position in
September 2005 and immediately began consultations with members of the Law Library Committee,
faculty members, students and staff, with a view to developing a Plan for the Law Library covering the
period 2005-2010.
The Plan for the Law Library was completed and accepted by Faculty Council in November 2005. Its
principal proposals concern the re-establishment of the pre-eminent status of the collection, re-building of
the professional librarian cadre and expansion of service offerings to a level commensurate with the
Library’s status as the leading legal research library in the Commonwealth, and with a view to
approaching the collection, staffing and service levels long accepted as the norm in U.S. law schools.
Significant steps, some of which are outlined below, have already been taken in pursuit of the goals put
forward in the Plan.
2. STAFFING AND RECRUITMENT
A major recruitment process was initiated in late 2005 with a view to renewing the depleted professional
librarian establishment. Four new librarians were appointed, to start in June 2006: Tim Knight (Head of
Technical Services), Yemisi Dina (Head of Public Services), Daniel Perlin (Reference Librarian) and Sharon
Wang (Reference Librarian).
3. LIBRARY USE
Over the course of the last year, we have sought to improve services in several ways to the user
population. Opening hours have been increased on Fridays and weekends, 20 ‘loaner’ laptop computers
may now be used outside of the Library and power outlets have been installed at over 160 study desks on
the main floor of the Library to address the single biggest cause of student complaints, insufficient outlets
for laptop computers.
Library use has remained constant for the last few years; however borrowing by LLB students and
research assistants has dropped, reflecting the widespread trend that undergraduate students prefer
online materials. With respect to interlibrary loans, the drop in purchasing of new monographs over the
past decade is reflected in the fact that books borrowed by us from other institutions has increased by
over 200 per cent since 1995 and there has also been a significant drop in the number of books lent by us
to others. It should also be mentioned that there has been a significant shift in the type of request made
over the past decade, reflecting the increasing inter and cross-disciplinary nature of research at Osgoode.
In 1995 nearly all requests were for legal materials while in 2005, 60 per cent of requests were for
materials in subject areas other than law. Since 9/11 there has also been an increase in requests covering
issues in international law.
4. THE COLLECTION
The Rae/Jacobs Review and other reports have emphasized that the budget for Library acquisitions is
seriously inadequate and by any comparison with other law schools in Canada and the U.S. that is readily
apparent. If not reversed, this decline will see the loss of Osgoode’s prestige status as the premier legal
research library in the Commonwealth. Compounding the situation is the recruitment of six new faculty
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