Julian > Why should it be added to the load-path?
Because many emacs functions depend on emacs having access to the .el files. M-x find-function and M-x find-variable come to mind. If .el is not in the load-path, emacs will take you the the nearly-unreadable .elc file when you M-x find-function. Also, most authors write documentation in the .el file---in fact, it is an accepted standard to have a large ;;; Commentary section near the beginning of the .el file--which people can read and learn about the file and its usage. Finally, people rely on being able to read the .el file to see how a function is implemented. Emacs is all about having access to the source-code :)
