Law Library to Participate in Creation of Print Repository of New Mexico Legal Material
The University of New Mexico Law Library is a member of the Desert States Law Library Consortium. Other members include the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, Phoenix School of Law, University of Colorado, University of Denver, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Brigham Young University, University of Utah, and University of Wyoming. The member law libraries work to foster cooperative collection development, resource sharing programs, and other collaborative programs.
In 2007, Consortium members undertook an ambitious project to inventory and preserve the pre-statehood and primary legal materials from their six states (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming). Ultimately, the Consortium members seek to use this information to establish print repositories of primary legal material which will allow member libraries to safely lease electronic access to these materials without also having to individually maintain print copies. Such a repository would ameliorate the risk of loss of access to materials associated with relying solely on commercial database vendors for access. Alternatively, as greater numbers of law libraries move toward electronic access at the expense of print, the creation of print repositories of primary legal material will also help ensure the preservation of original material that is at risk of being discarded in the rush to online access.
