My law library is an 8gb flash drive (with copies on several computers). It consists of cases (organized into folders by reporter) in PDF form; the filenames are XXX Reporter Series XXX. I don't remember why I got most of the cases. I also have folders with PDF files extracted from various encyclopedias and treatises. Then there is other random stuff such as record maps I have obtained and drawings I have done.
The encyclopedias are fairly easy; Am Jur Boundaries, I know why I have it. I also have a PDF of the outline view.
The cases are a bigger problem. Mostly I have California cases but I have a few out of state cases. The California cases are organized by Cal, Cal App, and Cal Unrep. My plan is to put the out of state cases into folders named for West's national reporters, such as Pacific.
I need to make a database of cases I have. One thought is to have up to, say, 5 fields for the West Key number designators (for example, Boundaries(key)Agreements). That could be useful. The other idea is to come up with a classification system more in line with Land Surveyor thinking, or maybe both. I have a list of California agreed boundary cases I made a few years ago with a one line description of things of interest to me in the case.
As I come up with articles, I could make a PDF with all the cases I cite in it. If I do that I think I need to extract the case text (no copyright) and make my own headnotes, maybe my headnotes would be more interesting to Surveyors than the typical lawyer type headnote. I have developed a preliminary template for my version of case delivery (see attached example but it has no headnotes). Then my headnotes would need to be classified with my system so eventually I have some sort of unified system that I own. I can't just deliver a Westlaw PDF with their headnotes because they copyright their materials (except they can't copyright the case text itself).
I tend to see a shiny object (old cases interest me) so sometimes I wind up with material I'm not sure what it's for or I read that in the past.
I've played a little bit with the West key number system recently, it looks very powerful.
Locally there are many deeds that are several hundred pages each that include hundreds of individual tracts and I use word association search with Adobe XI Pro.
The Digital Deed Records have an index in Word and the find a word feature works well.
I use the same find a word search pattern in Windows to find specific descriptions and other correspondence.
There is a program called ZTreeWin that is great to organize and find files.
😉
I've saved dozens of cases that I can't recall what was of particular value of each one. But being a digital hoarder of such info, I know that each one has something of importance. Many were cases referenced and linked by cases that I searched for particularly or found with a keyword search for particular topics. Many, I begin skimming, find some part of the discussion that piques my interest, so I save it thinking that I need to get back and finish reading it later. I'm not quite certain, but I think that I now have about a 40 year reading backlog of interesting stuff found online or at the law library.
I've only been to the Sacramento Law Library once since they've provided the ability to save so much great reference material to a flash drive. El dorado County's Law Library, which would fit in the lobby area of Sacramento's, has computers as well, but it seems like late 90s technology and access as compared to Sacramento's. Don't know why. Cheap, I guess.
eapls2708, post: 364819, member: 589 wrote: I've saved dozens of cases that I can't recall what was of particular value of each one. But being a digital hoarder of such info, I know that each one has something of importance. Many were cases referenced and linked by cases that I searched for particularly or found with a keyword search for particular topics. Many, I begin skimming, find some part of the discussion that piques my interest, so I save it thinking that I need to get back and finish reading it later. I'm not quite certain, but I think that I now have about a 40 year reading backlog of interesting stuff found online or at the law library.
I've only been to the Sacramento Law Library once since they've provided the ability to save so much great reference material to a flash drive. El dorado County's Law Library, which would fit in the lobby area of Sacramento's, has computers as well, but it seems like late 90s technology and access as compared to Sacramento's. Don't know why. Cheap, I guess.
Yes, the save to gig stick is great. The computers can be slow especially when a document I ask for is several hundred pages. Have to be patient. Don't touch it...leave it alone...don't touch it. Although you are supposed to be able to keep researching I find navigating around before the printer window pops up tends to kill the print job (it never pops up).
It must've been really difficult back before computers. Curt Brown must've lived in the law library. You pull the book (can't check it out), take notes, get reporters, take notes, etc, look in digests and indexes, etc. You would probably wind up with legal pads full of notes then you have to decipher all of it and hope you wrote the cite down correctly.
Now there are so many ways to quickly get piles of material, almost too much, it's so much more efficient. This is why I think every surveyor should get the materials, at least the encyclopedias and read them. You can do it at home on your tablet.
as students we took lots of photographs... the volume was horrendous and my eyes suffered
