Law library recommended as a regional depository

Jennifer Knight

Monday, Dec. 16, 2002 | 9:16 a.m.

Libraries at UNLV could be offered one of the most definitive collections of federal documents in the region, but university officials said they probably don't have space for all of the material.

U.S. Public Printer Bruce James, who was sworn in at UNLV's Boyd School of Law 10 days ago, has proposed that the law library be a regional depository, officials said. All material printed or funded by the federal government is copied and sent to the regional depository libraries for free.

"It's a very nice suggestion made by the U.S. printer and it deserves serious consideration," Richard Morgan, dean of the law school, said.

Such a distinction not only adds prestige to a school, it also extends a library's collection. But it may be too much for the law school to handle alone, officials said.

Since the law school would likely want only legal material, most of the left-over government documents -- which include census materials, journals and books -- would have to be sent to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas's main collection at the Lied Library.

Ken Marks, UNLV's dean of university libraries, said the library may not want the material since a lot of the information would not be relevant to the region.

"We are a selective depository already, which means we pick and choose the things that have the greatest potential to add to the development of the citizens of Nevada," Marks said. "With a regional depository, space is a big concern."

The state's only existing regional depository is at the University of Nevada, Reno. The library receives five shipments each week full of information that must be cataloged and put away.

"It is a lot of work," UNR librarian Pat Ragains said. "At present we have three full-time staff directly involved with that."

Although Lied Library may not want to participate in handling such a large volume of information, other options are available. The law school could partner with a Clark County library or decide to be what is called a selective depository, where it can pick and choose which publications to keep.

Since the offer means the school would get all of its federal publications for free, Bobbie Studwell, the law school's library director, said she is not ruling anything out yet.

"It is a plus in many ways," Studwell said. "We are definitely going to give it some more exploration."