Flip Sides of the Coin: Reconciling Law Librarianship and Christian Legal Education

Virginia Association of Law Libraries (VALL) Newsletter, p. 4, Spring 2000

4 Pages Posted: 24 Feb 2012

See all articles by Charles Harmon Oates

Charles Harmon Oates

Regent University

Sam Menefee

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: 2000

Abstract

Few people query how law librarianship can be squared with Christian faith. Some, however, have no problem questioning in the alternative; can a Christian truly be a law librarian? To be honest, the problem may not be phrased so bluntly, but the import is the same. How is it possible to believe in the Gospel and still be an academic? And what “strange customs” and "savage rites” do you Christians practice behind closed library doors? Stated this way, the search for “understanding” can be viewed as shorthand for a rubric of exclusion. Do we wonder what novel characteristics affect other schools that serve specific groups or limited constituencies? But, in a larger context, such questions are driven by an academic - and some of us would say spiritually - inspired desire to understand. The purpose of this study is to examine several of the conceptions (and misconceptions) surrounding Christian law librarianship as applied to Regent University Law Library. While there is room for differing opinions, it is our general brief that Christian legal education and law librarianship are really flip sides of a single coin.

Keywords: law librarianship, christian, christian librarian, librarian, librarianship, Regent University, Regent law, regent, christian legal education

Suggested Citation

Oates, Charles Harmon and Menefee, Sam, Flip Sides of the Coin: Reconciling Law Librarianship and Christian Legal Education (2000). Virginia Association of Law Libraries (VALL) Newsletter, p. 4, Spring 2000, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2010011

Charles Harmon Oates (Contact Author)

Regent University ( email )

1000 Regent University Drive
Virginia Beach, VA 23464
United States
(757) 352-4866 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.regent.edu/acad/schlaw/faculty_staff/oates.cfm

Sam Menefee

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

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