Black's Law Dictionary

Today I had a phone reference question asking about the definition of per stirpes. I put them on hold and consulted the trusty reference desk copy of Black's Law Dictionary. I couldn't find an entry, which I thought odd. The patron agreed to call back while I consulted with the reference librarian and other sources. It turns out that Black's is arranged letter by letter, not in true alphabetical. (For example, per stirpes comes after personal, not before as one would expect.) D'oh! I can't remember if I knew that and forgot, or if it was completely new to me.

Another problem arose in this interaction. When the patron called back, I read him the definitions he asked for. It didn't seem like he was quite understanding the differences. Because I adore Wills & Trust law and also because I cannot stand to see people struggle to understand something when I know the answer (aka I'm a Little Miss know-it-all), I was dying to explain it to him. But that would cross the fine line bewtween "providing legal information" and "practicing law". And that's a line you can bet I do not want to cross. I have an article about that very issue which I will soon abstract and post.