In last week’s class we discussed teaching legal research and whether librarians should start by teaching print or electronic resources. When I started law school ten years ago we learned print first and I believe that for us it was the best way to start. However, does this hold true for today’s new students who grew up on computers?
There is logic to starting with print, because it allows the student to actually see the rationale behind how the information is organized. As an example, if someone was looking for a case with the following citation: 123 N.E.2d 456, they would walk to the Northeast Reporters, find volume 123 and turn to page 456. By learning print the students learn the logic behind the organization of legal materials and understanding how information is organized is extremely important when looking for that information.
On the other hand, students who grew up with computers are more comfortable with them and learn to use them with relative easy. So if they understand electronic resources better, then why not capitalize on that? In my opinion, teaching print first makes more sense, but I can understand the logic of starting with electronic materials.
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