Our Foundations 

The mission of the Arthur Neef Law Library is to advance scholarship, student learning and success, and faculty innovation through thoughtful development of a library that serves an urban research university. The library also supports members of the greater Metropolitan Detroit community and our colleague institutions across the State of Michigan who seek legal or government information.

In support of our mission, we develop collection guidelines and practices that embrace the principles and the spirit of the following documents:

• The WSU Libraries Collection Development Policy
• The WSU Libraries Strategic Directions
• The ABA Standards and Rules of Procedure for Approval of Law Schools

General Principles 

A set of general principles provides guidance for collection building and shaping decisions:

• Core Collection. We provide a core collection of legal resources in full compliance with ABA Standard 606 (Collection). The Core Collection represents an appropriate balance of print, digital and microform formats that support the Law School’s program of legal education.
• Specialized Collections. In addition to the Core Collection, we collect and make accessible resources that meet the curricular, research and educational needs of the Law School’s students (ABA Standard 606(c)(1)); support law faculty teaching, research, scholarship and service interests (ABA Standard 606(c)(2)); and, serve the Law School’s unique educational, scholarly and service objectives (ABA Standard 606(c)(3)). We stay in tune with changes in these areas through the Faculty Library Committee and the Law School Leadership Team, and through other communication channels including Law Faculty Meetings, librarian liaison interactions and Law Faculty requests.
• Michigan Law Collection. We collect historically and comprehensively the primary law of our home state and maintain a collection of court decisions, legislative materials and regulations in the Law Library reading room for easy reference. We augment that collection with secondary sources such as treatises, form books, court rules, jury instructions, encyclopedias and other publications pertinent to the law of the state.
• Rare Books. The Law Library holds a small number of rare or antiquarian print publications. We house publications in the Special Collections Room and provide restricted and monitored access to them. We do not actively collect rare books but are open to receiving gifts of this nature. All gifts are acknowledged, however, as a matter of policy, we do not provide appraisals for gifts in kind.
• ICLE Publications. Michigan’s Institute for Continuing Legal Education (ICLE) publishes numerous authoritative books and other practice- materials in print and electronic formats. As one of the two original founders of ICLE, Wayne State receives two free copies of every ICLE print publication. These titles are in high demand and so are maintained in the library’s Reserve Collection to make them more accessible
• Law Textbooks. We purchase one copy of each textbook required for each law course in the semester the course is taught. We keep the latest edition of these textbooks in the Reserve Collection and move the prior edition to the library’s circulating collection. Earlier editions are withdrawn from the collection. Law Faculty are invited to place personal copies of additional materials in the Reserve Collection for the use of their students.
• Federal Depository Library Status. The Law Library was designated a selective Federal Depository Library (0289A) in 1970 by virtue of its congressional district location. We currently select approximately 3.5% of available Items. We prefer to receive these materials in electronic format with the exception of primary legal materials and other publications designated as reference resources.

Selection Goals & Practices 

• Selection/Deselection Process. The Law Library Director has primary responsibility and authority to make collection-related decisions and to allocate funds. She welcomes and solicits suggestions from her colleague librarians who are informed by their liaison roles within the Law School and by remaining attentive to trends and developments in the legal literature. Law Faculty and students are encouraged to submit requests as well. We are also responsive to recommendations from community patrons. Items requested
• by Law Faculty members for personal or individual use are funded by the Law School. Deselection decisions are increasingly data-driven and consider, for example, use statistics, alternate format availability and cost. We seek advice from Law Faculty and students through the Faculty Library Committee. We also consult individual faculty and librarian colleagues across campus, as appropriate.
• Maximum Flexibility. It is our goal to retain the greatest flexibility possible in using our acquisitions funds. For that reason, we are not engaged in Library Maintenance Agreements or long-term contracts that commit resources for extended periods of time without the ability to make adjustments as needed. Along these lines, we have adopted a “just-in-time” approach to acquisitions which ensures use of the requested item, as opposed to selecting resources “just-in-case” they may be used.
• Formats. Our goal is to transition the library from a primarily print environment to a primarily digital environment (including multimedia) – at an appropriate pace, and to the extent that it makes sense to do so. We opt for digital ownership or reliable access, depending on what is available. To that end, we no longer subscribe to a number of continuations such as West’s National Reporter System and state digests, statutes and regulations with a few exceptions. We still maintain print subscriptions to primary sources and finding aids for Michigan. The library does not subscribe to law reviews and other legal periodicals in print, provided 1) we have reliable access to the title 2) in high-quality PDF format (e.g., HeinOnline, JStor) 3) with no embargo on its current issues. If the periodical is not available under those protocols, we will subscribe to and maintain the print version until successive issues are available digitally. We usually defer to a faculty member’s choice of format for treatises. Although the library holds substantial collections of materials in microform, we opt to update or convert such collections in digital format where possible.
• Duplication. We will not purchase duplicate copies of a single work unless it is requested by Wayne Law Faculty or otherwise needed to support the Law School’s educational programs. We rely on the holdings of the other University Libraries for resources in disciplines other than law.
• Languages. The library selects only English language resources unless a member of the Law Faculty specifically requests the item in another language.

Review and Updating

These guidelines and practices will be adapted to developments in the Law School’s program of legal education and changes in how legal information is presented.