Andrew Zimmerman is a Research Analyst in the Baltimore Office of Hogan & Hartson LLP. He previously worked as a reference librarian for Dewey Ballantine LLP, as a legal writer in the Tax and Professional Practice division of Prentice-Hall and as the Associate Editor of The Manhattan Review. He holds a B.A. from Vassar College, a J.D. from The Dickinson School of Law and an M.L.I.S. from the Pratt Institute.
About Zimmerman's Research Guide
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@hotmail.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.
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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 short 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.
LLRX.com undertook the project to convert the Guide from a word processing file to a user-friendly, Internet-compatible electronic database. Cindy Chick, Information Resources Systems Coordinator for Latham & Watkins in Los Angeles helped edit the current California entry. I am particularly grateful to Sabrina I. Pacifici, the owner/editor of LLRX.com, for hosting the Guide on this site.
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, 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.
Jan Novak, Director of the Cleveland Law Library Association, and Rob Myers, Director of Library Services at Arter & Hadden LLP, provided extensive edits of the Cleveland and Ohio entries. These entries benefited tremendously from their wisdom and generosity.
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.
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