LAW LIBRARY JOURNAL CENTENNIAL FEATURE : The Essential Law Library Journal

Introduction As you picked up this issue of Law Library Journal, did you happen to notice its volume number? Yes, with the publication of this first issue for 2008, LLJ's volume number has moved to triple digits--100!--truly a remarkable milestone for both the publication and the law library profession. 1 As a kickoff to the celebration of Law Library Journal's centennial which will ultimately cover the entirety of volume 100, this article takes on the task of culling from the preceding ninety-nine volumes a handful of pieces that collectively constitute the "essential" Law Library Journal. To put the task in perspective, since that very first issue in 1908, the Journal has published 45,291 pages in 99 volumes; by my count, these pages have included 2,368 separate articles (plus many pages devoted to Annual Meeting proceedings, reports of various AALL entities, and other similar non-article material). Singling out a few "essential" articles from this total is a monumental if not impossible task, but the unique opportunity presented by LLJ's centennial cannot be ignored. So this article accepts the challenge by offering an annotated compilation of thirty articles--"The Essential LLJ." Think of CDs such as The Essential Bob Dylan 2 or The Essential Frank Sinatra 3 and you'll have an idea of what is intended--to choose the cream of the crop from a vast output of outstanding achievement. But in the context of Law Library Journal, this means identifying not only articles that are well written, thoughtfully presented, properly documented, and ...