There’s an interesting article today on Law.com about what impact the recession is having on the situation of law librarians in the United States. “Law Librarians: ‘No More Sacred Cows’ [1]” by Alan Cohen is based on the 2009 American Lawyer survey of law librarians. To see the actual findings of the full survey [2] you’ll have to be a subscriber, but Cohen hits the high spots for you.
Library budgets have shrunk in 46% of cases, compared to 9% in 2008 / The expectation from the firms is that every resource must show a decent ROI. / New software to track resource use can help libraries become more efficient. / There’s a significant rise in librarian dissatisfaction — this in a profession that is famously content. / The effort continues to “market” the library to the firm, to show what it really can do. / Librarians are getting tougher with publishers and suppliers, and they are getting breaks. / The usefulness of technology for KM is “finally getting through” to firms.