Comments on: Spinning Straw into Gold

By: anwar

anwar — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 07:49:31 +0000

I am poor person, I need some law books for knowledge about humain rights.

By: Concurring Opinions

Concurring Opinions — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 21:07:47 +0000

History of the Book

Folks here at concurringopinions have been talking a lot about books recently–Nate Oman’s had posts on the appeal of law books (particularly old ones) and law reviews and Dan Solove’s posted about the open library. I find student-edited law…

By: Concurring Opinions

Concurring Opinions — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 21:07:38 +0000

History of the Book

By: Greyhame: Law and Law School

Greyhame: Law and Law School — Sun, 23 Oct 2005 22:58:01 +0000

Old Law Books

At Concurring Opinions, there is a nice little tribute to old law books. Personally, I think the entire West and Lexis systems should probably be abolished in favor of a free research system operated by the federal government. (Heresy,…

By: madisonian.net

madisonian.net — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 05:41:11 +0000

The Smell of Law in the Morning

At Concurring Opinions, Nate Oman posts about the romance of old law books. (I’ll ride my argument about the significance of “things” as long and as far as I can.) Every Fall, early in the semester, I bring in a volume from the Wes…

By: Nate Oman

Nate Oman — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 19:49:24 +0000

“As Giles says, in defense of books over computers, in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: “knowledge should be smelly!”"

Indeed. One of the wisest lines in a show filled with wise lines.

By: Simon

Simon — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 02:47:36 +0000

It’s true that being able to search word-by-word online is very helpful, but I agree with the previous posters, that there is something irreplacable about holding this material in your hands, or looking at a wall of books (Daniel’s polite euphemism about a “set” of U.S. reports – which, these days, arrives in the mail in its own handy presentation wall o’ shelves) and realizing what you’re looking at. As Giles says, in defense of books over computers, in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: “knowledge should be smelly!”

By: Daniel Solove

Daniel Solove — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 00:25:29 +0000

Ah, the beauty of old books . . . definitely, there’s something wonderful and irreplaceable about the physical book. Part of me loves the fact that now we can access all the cases electronically, but part of me laments the fact that law books may soon be entirely replaced by electrons. The computer doesn’t capture the magic of a set of the U.S. Reports or F.3d. I wonder how many growing up today will speak fondly of the mustiness of Westlaw or the leather of Lexis. Alas.

By: Hedgehog

Hedgehog — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 00:14:30 +0000

My grandmother was the County Law Librarian (and the Draft Board) in the 50’s and 60’s. She’d occasionally take me to work with her and pay me (a quarter or two) to update the pocket parts in all those glorious volumes. As an L1 as the rest of my class struggled with the vagaried Am Jur and Fed 2nd and Pac Rep I was at home – they were old friends from my childhood. And while I still had to learn all the “magic words”, that familiarity stood me in good stead.

By: Kaimi

Kaimi — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 23:19:24 +0000

Well, we lawyers certainly take straw and turn it into . . . something.

Whether your own straw-to-gold metaphor is the most appropriate metaphor, or whether a more apt description might discuss the start-to-finish transformation that horses and cattle commonly effect on straw — well, it’s possible that reasonable minds might differ on the outcome of that particular question.