Increasingly, as one colleague recently remarked, "[l]aw school libraries across the nation ... have either hired or actively sought to hire an empirical research librarian, often a MLS holding librarian with a masters or Ph.D. in one of the social sciences, to assist law professors with data retrieval and analysis." Such law libraries include: University of Texas, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Fordham, to name but a few. I know that I benefit from tremendous research and library support at Cornell (and am grateful for it). I'd be interested in hearing from others about what ELS-specific library research support they receive or would like to receive.
Finally, to this end, I want to draw those interested to Fordham Law School Library's current search for a Reference Librarian/Empirical Research Specialist. Those interested should contact the Head of Reference, Karin Johnsrud, at [email protected]
UPDATE: Loyal ELS Blog readers noted that opportunities exist at more than the Fordham Law School Library for a specialist in empirical legal studies. Duke Law School's library is also actively looking for an Empirical Research Associate (see job posting at: http://www.law.duke.edu/jobs/index). Those interested should contact Richard Danner directly (at: [email protected]).
Empirical legal research can not be accomplished without considerable institutional support. The supporting institution provides software, access to data sets, funds for research assistants, etc. The library seems to me to be the perfect unit of the law school for locating data gathering and study design expertise for use by faculty members who are not themselves experts in those areas or simply need assistance.
Posted by: Todd Melnick | 10 May 2010 at 09:26 AM