On March 1, Lucille Stewart Beeson Law Library celebrated its 10th Anniversary. It was on that day ten years ago that the present library facility opened for student and faculty use.

To fully appreciate the magnitude of this milestone, one has to understand the conditions in which students and faculty studied in the previous location, Cordell Hull Law Library. The library was contained in Memory Leake Robinson Hall. Initially, the library public area consisted of only the current “Great Room” and the mezzanine above it. Later, two more reading rooms were added behind the mezzanine and “Great Room.” Unlike the current facility, there was very little natural lighting. Because computer technology had not developed to its current state, print resources were much more in demand by students and faculty, and as a result, study space was at a premium by a law student population that numbered over 600 in some academic years. The Lexis laboratory amounted to one computer terminal (about the size and shape of a small organ) in a room the size of a janitor’s closet. The Westlaw laboratory consisted of 3-4 stations in a room similar to the size of our current conference rooms used for student study. Lexis and Westlaw printing was quite primitive; the print quality was undesirable for researchers and, for many years, a button had to be pushed every time you wished to print a page (full document printing commands did not exist). As a result, students en masse saw the advantages of photocopying cases (at 10 cents per page). The hallway in front of the current Great Room held four photocopy machines when the Law Library was in its old location. Students would stand in line for their turn to use the machines, hoping the machines would not jam before they were finished copying.

This front hallway was also where all patrons of the Law Library were required to leave backpacks and brief cases, due to the lack of a book theft detection system at the library doors and the lack of space at tables and in aisles. Unlike our current facility with restrooms on every floor, Cordell Hull Law Library had no women’s restroom within it confines, though there was a small men’s room in the front hallway. Temperatures were predictable in the old facility–hot in the summertime, hot in the winter. Hard rains also provided challenges to the library staff; ceiling leaks would prompt employees to quickly cover some reporter stacks with plastic sheeting on a fairly regular basis.

Given the circumstances, it was quite understandable that the librarians were regularly confronted with questions from law students about when a new facility was to be built. As far as the library staff knew, there was little hope of a new library because there was no known money for such an enormous project.

Fortunately, President Thomas Corts found the funding by approaching Mrs. Lucille Stewart Beeson with this tremendous need. Her generous gift to Samford University made it possible for the university to commence construction on a project that would take over a year to construct.

Once the project was made public, there was much anticipation by the Cumberland community but also much work to be done. Dean Parham H. Williams, Jr. stated, “When it opens, this will be the best-equipped law library in the Southeast.”1 As soon as the gift was announced, the Law Library’s director, Laurel R. Clapp, and architects worked long hours to develop a functional plan that would meet the needs of the Cumberland community as well as create an ambience that students and faculty would appreciate. Carolyn Featheringill, a Cumberland law professor (retired), and Linda Jones, Acquisitions Librarian (retired), spent a great deal of time and energy providing guidance on choosing appropriate interior furnishings and carpeting.

During the year of construction, law school students and faculty would peer out the Second Floor east windows of the law school to watch the construction. Students gave advice on what they wanted in the new library. More specifically, they were very concerned about the type of study chairs to be purchased. Prior to the building project, Samford University Library had just completed a library addition with beautiful new furniture -unfortunately, the law students thought the new chairs were very uncomfortable and were determined to get that message across to this librarian (I was even approached in a shopping mall with this complaint). In order to purchase chairs that students would find comfortable, Miss Clapp brought in a sampling of various chairs, lined them up, and asked law students to sit in them all and fill out a comfort survey. The survey findings led to our choice of the Bank of England chairs for the reading rooms and Windsor chairs for the conference rooms.

Toward the end of construction, preparations were made for the big move. Shelf-by-shelf plans were created to move the collection from the old facility to the new. After construction was complete, carpeting and shelving was installed. During the last week of February 1995, all Law Library staff, along with contracted library movers, vacuumed and moved the book collection in a five day period. During that time, a small basic collection of law reference materials was temporarily placed in a secured room in the basement of Samford University Library for law student and faculty use.

On the date of opening, many of the long reading room tables and chairs had not arrived; the middle of the First Floor reading room was a vast, open area covered in bright, natural sunlight that seemed quite remarkable to this librarian used to working in rather dim, close surroundings. Soon after opening, this First Floor open area was used in an informal reception for visiting U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. On February 15, 1996, the facility was formally dedicated by former President Gerald R. Ford.

At the Beeson Law Library, many students have successfully studied to become lawyers in the past ten years. It is the mission of its current staff to continue to maintain Cumberland’s library facility in a manner that will allow future law students and lawyers to enjoy its beauty as well.

1 Milam Saxon, Work on New Law School Library Set to Be Finished Late Next Year, SAMFORD CRIMSON, October 13, 1993, at 1.

The Future of Law Libraries

Law Librarians Grace Simms (Computer Services) and Brenda Jones (Reference) attended a symposium on The Future of Law Libraries held March 10 - 11, 2005 at Amelia Island, Florida. Sponsored by Florida Coastal School of Law, Thomson/West, and the InfiLaw System, the conference explored the impact of technology on law libraries and law classrooms of the future.

Featured topics included: Information Resources: Accessibility in the Future, Law Classroom Technologies, The Need for ABA/AALS Standards to Address Technology Infrastructure, Collection Economics, Oil & Water? Can IT & Library Staffs Work as One?, and Configuration of the Law Library of the Future.

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Celebrating the 10th Anniversary

Seven current Law Library staff members were part of the move to the new Law Library on March 1, 1995. They are Becky Hutto, Alice Bullington, Becky Clapp, Ed Craig, Paula Tillery and two of the Part-time Desk Attendants, Vance Wesson and Jim McAlister.

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Gauer Distinguished Lectures

By Brenda Jones,
Reference Librarian
bljones@samford.edu

The National Legal Center for the Public Interest is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to fostering education and debate about law and the administration of justice. In serving its mission, the Center sponsors the annual Gauer Lecture series each fall in New York City. The lectures are endowed by Edward and Marion Gauer, San Francisco philanthropists. Prominent speakers, including U.S. Presidents and Supreme Court Justices, offer scholarly insight on constitutional, legal, and policy issues.

The Law Library holds the full printed, bound series of the Gauer Distinguished Lecture in Law and Public Policy. All are located in the Treatises section on the Second Floor, shelved in call number order. To pique your interest, following each item is a brief quotation or paraphrased excerpt from the distinguished speaker.

Kennedy, Anthony M. THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SPIRIT OF FREEDOM. KF4550/.Z9/K46. “Our fascination with constitutional protection for the individual is understandable, for individual liberty is the first mark of any free society.” (at 18).

Reagan, Ronald. THE PRESIDENCY AND SEPARATION OF POWERS. KF5053/.P63. “The Founders never envisioned vast agencies in Washington telling our farmers what to plant, our teachers what to teach, and our industries what to build.” (at 14).

Thatcher, Margaret. THE RULE OF LAW IN A DANGEROUS WORLD. K3171/.Z9/T53. “The Rule of Law . . . exists in only a small part of the world of which your country and mine are the centre. Our greatest wish is to extend it as far as possible. For it is the key to liberty.” (at 12).

Boutros-Ghali, Boutros. THE UNITED NATIONS AND DEMOCRACY. JX1977/.B68/1995. “Today, democratization is not only an imperative, it is, for the first time in history, possible to foresee on an international scale.” (at 7).

O'Connor, Sandra Day. THE LIFE OF THE LAW : PRINCIPLES OF LOGIC AND EXPERIENCE FROM THE UNITED STATES. KF352/.A73/O26. “At the time of its founding, the United States struggled to set out the logic of a system that could ensure liberty, and our experience in the last two hundred years has shown that it can be done.” (at 24).

Rehnquist, William H. CIVIL LIBERTY AND THE CIVIL WAR. JC599/.U5/R44. “Perhaps it may be best that the courts reserve their serious consideration of questions of civil liberties which arise during wartime until after the war is over.” (at 23).

Bush, George H. W. THE AMERICAN PRESS AND THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY. PN4888/.P6/B87. “As President, you have to develop and preserve a thick skin.” (at 8).

Powell, Colin L. PRESIDENT TRUMAN AND THE DESEGREGATION OF THE ARMED FORCES : A 50TH ANNIVERSARY VIEW OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 9981. UB418/.A47/P69/1998. “The story I will tell is, at the end of the day, a very good story. It’s a beautiful story. But it is an unfinished story, and in America we are having a little difficulty writing the ending.” (at 9).

Starr, Kenneth. JURIES AND JUSTICE. KF9680/.S72. “Americans will never abolish the jury. It is too thoroughly intertwined with our history, our character, and our Constitution.” (at 12).

Breyer, Stephen G. THE LEGAL PROFESSION AND PUBLIC SERVICE. KF297/.B73. “I am not concerned when I read that fewer Americans can name three Supreme Court Justices than can name the Three Stooges. But it does bother me that more teenagers can name the Three Stooges than can name the three branches of government; or that three times as many know that ‘90210' stands for Beverly Hills than know that ‘Philadelphia’ stands for ‘The birthplace of the Constitution’, or that only half as many know the first three words of the Constitution, ‘We the people,’ as know the first three letters after ‘http:’.” (at 22-23).

...

“Finally, I want to report that my law clerk has checked with Amazon.com. The Federalist Papers ranks number 2,453 on Amazon’s best seller list. That is not bad. Lawyers and Other Reptiles ranks number 107,916. Now if that isn’t cause for real optimism, what is?” (at 26).

Watson, Peter S. THE ECONOMIC ARSENAL IN THE WAR AGAINST TERRORISM. KF9430/.W37. “Indeed, the strongest weapon we have is the ongoing durability of the U.S. economy itself.” (at 8).

Webster, William H. "NO TIME TO BE WOBBLY" : PROTECTING OUR HOME- LAND, PRESERVING OUR VALUES. HV6432/.W53/2003. When Saddam Hussein challenged the U.N. embargo in 1990, Prime Minister Thatcher said to the President: "'Now George, this is no time to be wobbly’.”(at 9).

Rice, Condoleezza. A SAFER AND BETTER WORLD. KF9430/.A75/R53/2004. “It always has been America’s way to try and leave the world, not just safer, but better.” (at 11).

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New Book by Cumberland Professor

The Law Library has received three copies of the book: The Prosecution and Defense of DUI Cases : a Practitioner's Handbook written by Professor Brad Bishop. Two copies are shelved in the Reference area (KFA297.8/.B56/2004) and one copy is shelved in the Friendship Room.

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Who Was Mrs. Beeson?

Lucille Stewart Beeson was the person responsible for the beautiful Law Library that we have enjoyed for the past ten years. Portraits of Mrs. Beeson are hung in the Friendship Room and on the First Floor near the Reference Section and a bust is displayed across from the Circulation Desk. Below is a brief biographical sketch of Mrs. Beeson that can be found online at: www.women-philanthropy.umich.edu/donors/#b.

Mrs. Beeson was a resident of Birmingham, AL who died in January 2001 at the age of 95. She made an $11 million bequest to Samford University in Birmingham to endow scholarships at the university's nursing school and to establish the Dwight and Lucille Beeson Exceptional Scholars Program named for Mrs. Beeson and her later [sic] husband, a retired insurance executive. The scholars program will provide scholarships for 30 to 50 graduates of Alabama high schools each year. Mrs. Beeson also bequeathed an estimated $150 million to benefit 13 Birmingham-area charities, ranging from the Salvation Army to the Baptist Hospitals Foundation, the Birmingham Humane Society and the Alabama Zoological Society. In her will, she directed that the donation be used to endow a perpetual trust, which will pay out a portion of its interest to each of the groups.

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Protect Your Laptop

By Grace Simms,
Computer Services Librarian
glsimms@samford.edu

Law students frequently ask me what they need to do to make their laptops safe to use on the Internet at home or on campus.

Virus Protection

The first step is to be sure a current virus protection program is installed on the computer. There are free ones available such as:

Panda ActiveScan

www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm

AVG

free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2

Norton and McAfee require a yearly fee. However, Samford does offer a free version of McAfee to all students. I can help with the installation, provide a CD, or it may be downloaded while on campus at:

www.samford.edu/busafair/cts/support/windowsvirus.htm

Free virus protection, Virex, is available for Mac users at:

www.samford.edu/busafair/cts/support/macvirus.htm

Virex will work with Mac OS 7, 8, 9, and X.

I recommend that any previously installed virus protection be removed before installing a new virus protection program.

Firewall

The second important step to protecting your computer is to activate a Firewall. If the computer has XP Service Pack 2 installed, a firewall is available. I recommend that anyone with a Windows XP computer install Service Pack 2. This service pack not only provides a firewall, but also patches several holes which viruses, hackers, etc. could exploit.

McAfee (www.mcafee.com), Norton (www.symantec.com) , and ZoneAlarm all offer firewall protection for a fee. ZoneAlarm does offer a free firewall for home users: www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp.

Microsoft Windows Updates

It is necessary to keep Windows updated. This will help fight holes in Microsoft that may be exploited by viruses, trojans, spyware, and more. You can do this manually by going to the Windows update page: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com or by having Microsoft automatically install updates.

To activate automatic updates : Click on Start, Control Panel, then choose Performance and Maintenance. If Performance and Maintenance is not visible, click Switch to Category View. Then click System, then Automatic Updates, and then select Keep my computer up to date.

Updates may be downloaded at a specific time or the user may receive notification first and then choose to download the updates.

When updates are ready, a small earth symbol with the Microsoft flag will appear in the computer’s system tray in the lower right corner of the screen.

Spyware

Spyware scanning software can easily be obtained for free. Many paid products such as McAfee and Norton will come with spyware scanning as well. I recommend the following free programs:

Ad-Adaware

www.lavasoftusa.com

Spybot

www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware

www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=321cd7a2-6a57-4c57-a8bd-dbf62eda9671&DisplayLang=en

All of these suggestions will make for much safer computer use.

If help is needed with any of the above recommendations, please contact Grace Simms, Computer Services Librarian, via e-mail: glsimms@samford.edu or by phone: 726-2687, or in the Law Library (room 251A).

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Library Design

The architectural firm responsible for the design of the Lucille Stewart Beeson Law Library was Woollen, Molzan and Partners, Inc. Their headquarters are located in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Beeson Law Library is featured on their web site at: http://www.woollenmolzan.com.

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From the News

Dictionary Update

Webster’s New World College Dictionary will be in the bookstores in May. This new edition will contain 20 new senses of existing words and 58 new words. Every 10 years the dictionary undergoes a major revision that provides the chance to add 5,000 to 7,000 new words. The last such review was in 1999. New words being added to the updated dictionary include: blog, Botox, digital camera, chad, e-commerce, identity theft, Megan’s Law, webcast and WMD.

Source: Dictionary Update Gives Street Cred to New Ideas, Posted Online at http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer (March 15, 2005).

‘Decay’ of Citations

While using the Internet today, it is often found that Web links stop working or “decay” as those sites change addresses or shut down. Michael Bugeja and Daniela Dimitrova, both professors from Iowa State University have analyzed more than 1,126 citations that make reference to Web addresses, taken from online versions of five communication studies journals. Of the citations checked, 373 links, or 33 percent, were found dead. Of the 753 of the links, only 425 pointed to information pertinent to the citation. Mr. Bugeja says that the erosion of footnotes will make us wonder whether we have a fair copy of a journal article or a foul copy. Anthony T. Grafton, professor of history at Princeton University and author of the book, The Footnote : a Curious History (PN171/.F56/G73/1997-Samford University Library), agrees that citation decay is “a real problem.” He says: “My students come to college less and less able to negotiate a book landscape and more and more adept at negotiating the Web.”

Source: Scholars Note ‘Decay’ of Citations to Online References, Posted Online at http://www.chronicle.com (March 16, 2005).

Death of 1929 Cumberland Graduate

David Lockmiller, Cumberland class of 1929, died on February 2. Dr. Lockmiller was the author of several books, including Sir William Blackstone (KD621/.B5/L6/1970) and Scholars on Parade (LA226/.L54). He was also president of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, from 1942 to 1959. Most prominent among his many donations to the Law Library are the Blackstone collection and the Blackstone portrait in the Reading Lounge.

Source: Lockmiller Dies; Served 17 Years as UTC Leader, Posted Online at http://www.commercialappeal.com (February 5, 2005).

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This is the last issue of CHECK IT OUT for this semester. Three issues will be published during the Fall Semester beginning in August 2005. If you have any ideas or suggestions as to ways we can improve, contact Becky Hutto via e-mail at
rmhutto@samford.edu. We look forward to the Fall Semester and new issues of the newsletter.

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