Here's a new online community for folks who want to re-connect with books they've read in the past, but can't remember the author or title.
What Was That Book? is a livejournal community where people can describe a book they've read and can't remember fully, and others try and identify the book for them. Maybe law profs could set up a similar community for forgotten law review articles?
Anyone looking for obscure books might also check out the BookSleuth forum at Abebooks (http://forums.abebooks.com/abesleuthcom). I've had amazing luck there in the past, including finding an obscure children's book about which my wife could only remember "a mouse family misses the train." I haven't asked about any academic books, though, so not sure how good they are on that front, but most other genres seem to be pretty well represented on the forums.