Zimmerman's Research Guide
About Zimmerman's Research Guide
Andrew Zimmerman
The Guide began several years ago when I
was visiting a senior law librarian at her office. In the middle
of our conversation she opened a drawer and pointed to a black ring binder
stuffed with paper. This was her "black book." She said
the binder held twenty-odd years of her accumulated wisdom. Then
she closed the drawer, and I never saw the book again.
That afternoon I started my own black book.
Mostly I just took notes on anything I learned in the library. At
first I kept my notes to myself, but soon I started printing out copies
for other librarians. I called the manuscript "A Reference
Guide." I considered it a work-in-progress, and that was as
far as I ever expected things to go.
In the winter of 1999, Marsha Pront suggested
I publish the Guide. I was skeptical at first, but the prospect
of posting the Guide on the Internet won me over. I liked the idea
of having the Guide accessible to all researchers at no cost.
Yet the Guide is still a work-in-progress,
partly because the field of legal research is still a work-in-progress,
and partly because there are always more notes to take. I expect
to be adding, editing and correcting entries as long as the Guide is on
the Internet.
What's more, the Guide is a collaborative
effort. If you have suggestions, additions, comments or criticisms,
please let me know. My e-mail address is zimmermansguide@yahoo.com.
I will try to incorporate your input as soon as possible.
Also please let me know if you are interested
in writing or revising an entry, or if you might like to work on the Guide
in any other way. I am especially eager to work with librarians
interested in developing the entries for their home states or their subject
specialties.
******************
I would like to thank the following librarians
who have already made outstanding contributions to the Guide.
Marsha Pront, Librarian for the New York office of Heller Ehrman
White & McAuliffe, encouraged the project from the start, edited
several drafts of the Guide and ultimately connected me with LLRX.com.
Without her efforts, inspiration and good advice the Guide would probably
be a Word document on the C:\ drive of my home computer.
Gitelle Seer, Director of Library Services
at Dewey Ballantine LLP, helped me work through many of the toughest conceptual
issues and edited a hefty draft of the Guide even before publication was
a possibility. Most important, Gitelle allowed me to expand the Guide
as part of my responsibilities at Dewey. If you know Gitelle, please tell
her it was worth it.
Cindy Chick, Information Resources Systems Coordinator for Latham & Watkins,
converted the Guide from a word processing file to a user-friendly,
Internet-compatible electronic database. Her ingenuity and determination
trurned a possibility into a reality. I am particularly grateful to Cindy
and to Sabrina Pacifici for hosting the Guide on LLRX.com from 1999 to 2003.
Special thanks are due to Steve Anderson, Steve Bruno, Giuliano Chicco,
Dorothea Clarke, Shirley Diamond, Esther Eastman, Rhonda Ebert, Donna
Griffin, David Irwin, Atif Islam, David Johnson, Ellen Kaufman, Eric
Kaufman, Barry Kelley, Diane Langan, Robert Lansden, Rosemarie Lauletta,
Sally Munson, Rob Myers, Jan Novak, James O'Meara, Nathan Rosen, Sharon
Schmedicke, Roger Squillante, Maria te Brake and Ben Toby for their
valuable editorial contributions, and to Arthur Jenkins for his invaluable
technical assistance.
In addition, I would like to thank Mark Gerlach
of Westlaw, Suzanna O'Donahue of Lexis and the crack Lexis team who meticulously
annotated the Guide in four different colors.
A special thanks is due to Cindy Spohr, Director of the Lexis Librarian
Relations Group, for finding the Guide its current home.
Finally, I would like to thank my friends
and family for their support and encouragement. Most of all, I would like
to thank my wife, Randi, whose love and kindness make each day a delight.
Andrew Zimmerman
Andrew Zimmerman
Andrew Zimmerman
has over ten years of research experience in large law firms including
Dewey Ballantine LLP, Proskauer Rose LLP and Arter & Hadden LLP. He
previously worked as a legal writer in the Tax and Professional Practice
division of Prentice Hall and served as Associate Editor of The Manhattan
Review. He holds a B.A. (English) from Vassar College, a J.D. from
The Dickinson School of Law and an M.L.I.S from the Pratt Institute.
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