OLIS: A Digital Library of Judicial and Legislative Information

Resources in India

Raj Kumar Bhardwaj, Ph.D. Librarian

St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, &

Commonwealth Fellow

raajchd @gmail.com +91 9711508289

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

Michael Hart (left) and Gregory Newby (right) of Project Gutenberg

Stevan Harnad

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

OLIS: An Introduction

• The main aim of legal information retrieval systems is to locate relevant documents related to the search query as defined by the user.

• Major litigation in India consists of three stages (i) pre-trial (ii) trial and (iii) appeal, but information sought by the litigants is same in nature at each stage.

• The first stage i.e. pre-trial stage involves intensive document discovery while in the trial (second) stage the main focus is on providing fast retrieval, and tracking of various documents that have been introduced in evidence.

• At the appeal stage, the main focus is on record of trial and case law.

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND

TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

Statement of the Problem

• Computerization of legal information has changed the management of case laws and information seeking habits of the legal community.

• Lawyers who wish to solve problems are not aware of the detailed applicable rules.

• Therefore, these rules have to be identified and presented before Court. Interpretation of statutory provision may yield one or more rules and one rule is usually based on more than one legal source. Therefore, lawyers have to identify the relevant legal sources.

• No open Access Legal Information System is available in India which suit the Indian environment. The proposed model will help to identify relevant source.

• Commercial legal information databases are very expensive and incomplete. Google, Yahoo missed important information. Lawyers need more refined tool to identify primary sources.

• Hence, an urgent needs to design and develop a model online legal information system to cater to the legal community.

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND

TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

Objectives of the Study

(i) to ascertain existing legal information e-resources;

(ii) to identify the different problems faced by legal community while accessing the existing online legal information resources;

(iii) to know the legal information requirements of legal community for developing the proposed online legal information system;

(iv) to design an online legal information system to suit the legal information requirements of legal community in the Indian environment;

(v) to develop effective searching features for efficient retrieval of information; and;

(vi) to compare the features of existing legal e-resources with the proposed online legal information system.

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

Scope of the Study

The scope of the study identifies the needs of working lawyers, LL.M students, research scholars, faculty members and expert users.

The scope is confined to the users in following institutions:

(i) Supreme Court of India, New Delhi;

(ii) High Court of Delhi, New Delhi;

(iii) National Law University, Delhi;

(iv) Faculty of Law, University of Delhi;

(v) School of Law, Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi;

(vi) Indian Institute of Law, New Delhi;

(vii) Centre for Legal Studies, JNU, New Delhi;

(viii) Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi.

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

Methodology

Phase I

Phase III

Phase II

Phase IV

Phase V

Testing &

Implementation

OLIS

Maintenance

Development of

OLIS

Designing &

Planning

Preliminary

Preparation/ Needs

Assessment

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

Review of Literature

Review of Literature : 150 Articles, 15 Books, Websites Bibliography

Literature Review is categorized in following sections:

1. Online Legal Information System

2. Legal Information Resources in Legal Research

3. Lawyers’ Information Seeking Behaviour

4. Search and Retrieval of Legal Information

5. Design and use of Legal Information System

6. Open Access Legal Information System

7. Electronic Judiciary: An International Scenario

8

Need Assessment Survey - Questions

Awareness of open access legal information resources.

Rating of existing online legal information resources.

Level of satisfaction in existing online legal information resources.

Problem (s) being faced in using the online Legal Information resources including open access and commercial.

Type of legal materials to be incorporated in the proposed OLIS: Case Laws, Acts and amendments, Ordinance, Rules and Regulations, Notifications, Circulars, Parliamentary debates, Commentaries, Speeches, Videos, Research Article, Legal News, Book Reviews.

Kind of Case Laws to be incorporated in proposed OLIS.

Search type and parameter (s) to search information in the proposed OLIS.

Potential help features.

Citation Search Facility including national and international.

Features in the proposed OLIS.

Social Networking Tools integration in proposed OLIS.

Online training. Online Questionnaire

9

User’s

Questionnaire

Statistical Tools used for Need Assessment Survey

• Simple Percentage Analysis Method

• Univariate ANOVA

• Chi-square test

• Duncan’s Mean Test

• Z-test

• Spearman's rho to know correlation between options.

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

Questionnaires Distribution and Demographic Characteristics : Total 750

questionnaires were distributed in eight institutions in Delhi. However, only

397 received. Therefore, response rate was 52.9 percent (Table 5.1.1-T1).

Total 149 (19.8 percent) lawyers practicing in High Court of Delhi and

Supreme Court of India participated in the study. A substantial number 165

(22 percent) LL.M students were participated in the needs assessment

survey. Besides this, expert user 32 (4.3 percent), faculty members 34 (4.5

percent) and research scholars 17 (2.3 percent) responded to the

questionnaire (Figure 5.1.1-F1 ).

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Questionnaire Distribution & Demographic Characteristics

12

Institution-wise Share of Responses

Institution-wise responses were calculated and found that highest

number of responses i.e. 104 (26.2 percent) were received from

Supreme Court of India, followed by High Court of Delhi 76 (19.1

percent), Indian Law Institute 45 (11.3 percent), National Law

University, New Delhi 43 (10.8 percent), University of Delhi 43 (10.8

percent), Jamia MIlia Islamia 40 (10.1 percent), GGS Indraprastha

University 37 (9.3 percent) and Jawaharlal Nehru University 9 (2.3

percent). (Figure 5.1.1-F2 )

Out of the 397 respondents 246 (62 percent) are male and 151 (38

percent) are female.

13

1. Rating of Online Resources

Maximum respondents 110 (27.7 percent) rated the online

resources good, followed by very good 92 (23.2 percent), poor 73

(18.4 percent), fair 65 (16.4 percent). However, only 57 (14.4

percent) stated that legal information resources are excellent (Table 5.1.3-T1). Univariate ANOVA (Table 5.1.3-T2), Duncan’s Mean

Test (Table 5.1.3-T3)

2. Awareness of Open Access Resources

It was found that 329 (82.9 percent) respondents are aware of

open access legal resources (Table 5.1.4 ).

3. Level of Satisfaction in Using Open Access Resources

Total 124 (31.2 percent) respondents stated they are somewhat

satisfied in using open access legal information resources. A large

number of respondents 87 (21.9 percent) expressed that they are

very dissatisfied and 84 (21.2 percent) reveled they are

completely dissatisfied using open access resources (Table 5.1.5-

T1).

14

3A. Large number of respondents 218 (54.9 percent) stated they are

somewhat satisfied using commercial legal information

resources. However, 85 (21.4 percent) revealed that they are

very dissatisfied using commercial legal information resources

(Table 5.1.5-T2). Correlation between OA & CR (Table 5.1.5-

T3).

4. Problems in Using Online Legal resources

A majority of respondents 198 (49.9 percent) revealed that

arrangement of information in legal resources are the major

hindrance in usage of online resources. A large number of

respondents 182 (45.8 percent) stated they lost during the search.

A considerable number 172 (43.3 percent) revealed lack of

online help is major problem, followed by description of legal

information sources 153 (38.5 percent), search screen too

confusing 149 (37.5 percent), and 140 (35.3 percent) revealed

poor website design is the problem in usage of online legal

resources. In addition, too many login required during the access

process is also major problem being faced by 134 (33.8 percent)

respondents (Table 5.1.6), (Z-Statistics, Figure 5.1.6)

15

6. Problem in Searching Open Access Resources

Overall, 215 (65.3 percent) respondents stated that open access

resources are less user friendly, followed by 197 (59.9 percent)

revealed these are not organized properly. Total 161 (48.9 percent)

revealed these are not updated on regular basis and 160 (48.6

percent) expressed that interface of open access resources are not

well (Table 5.1.7).

OLIS Work flow Model

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

OLIS- Homepage

Source: http://www.olisindia.in LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

Architecture of Admin Module

Acts (Central/State)

Parliament Bills

Lok Sabha Debates

Rajya Shaba Debates

Circulars

Treaties

Trade Notices

Press Release

Notifications

Rules & Regulations

OLIS

Admin

OLIS

Courts

Events

Report

Web

Parliaments

Assembly

Ministry

Gazette

Newspapers

Web

2.0

Open

Access

Link

Judicial

Information Legislative

Information

Judgments

Evidence Inf. Sys

Citations

Articles

Form

Speech

Audio/Video

Commentaries

Websites

Audio Video Text

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

Testing Of OLIS

Online Legal Information System (OLIS) Testing Cycle

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

Advance Search

Search

Additional

Search

Basic Search

OLIS Search: Basic. Advanced and Additional

OLIS Search Form

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

Case Law

Party Name

Basic Search in Case Law

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

Results in Basic Search

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

Metadata Record of Item

Full text

Case Note

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

Results Retrieved in Audio-Video Database

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND

TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

CONTRIBUTION OF CONTENTS BY USERS

Figure 5.5.9-F1:Snapshot of Contribute Page for Legal Article

Contribute Page for Legal Forms LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND

TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

LinkedIn

Facebook

twitter

Google +

Web 2.0 Tool in OLIS

Web 2.0 Tools in OLIS

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

DISQUS Panel

Share Discussion on Facebook & twitter Comments

DISQUS

DISQUS Integration in OLIS

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

RSS Feed

Login & register

New Topic

Online Discussion Forum

Online Discussion Forum

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

2. E-mail and Discussion Forum

3. FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

4. Tutorials

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

Comparative Study of Features in Legal Databases

(Commercial & Open Access)

(a) Coverage (Table 5.6-T1)

(b) General Features (Table 5.6-T2)

(c) Search Fields (Table 5.6-T3) Detailed Fields Table

(d) Citation Search (Table 5.6-T4)

(e) Web 2.0 Tools Integration (Table 5.6-T5)

(f) User Interface (Table 5.6-T6)

(g) Bibliographic Display (Table 5.6-T7)

(h) Text Display (Table 5.6-T8)

(i) Session Filtering (Table 5.6-T9)

(j) Output Services (Table 5.6-T10)

(k) Online Help Features (Table 5.6-T11)

(l) Provision to Contribute the Contents by Users (Table 5.6-T12)

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

Comparative Study of Features in Legal Databases

(Ranking of Online Resources)

Online legal information source Total Score % of Features

Rank

OLIS-Proposed Model 182/189 96.3% 1

Manupatra 75/189 39.7% 2

SCC Online 65/189 34.4% 3

LexisNexis India 52/189 27.5 % 4

Westlaw India 47/189 24.9% 5

e-Jurix 45/189 23.8% 6

IL 43/189 22.8% 7

L.P 42/189 22.2% 8

AIR 32/189 16.9% 9

Chawla’s Law Finder 29/189 15.3% 10

JUDIS 22/189 11.6% 11

SUPLIS 20/189 10.6% 12

I Kanoon 19/189 10.1% 13

OPEN JUDIS 15/189 7.9% 14

LII of INDIA 15/189 7.9% 14

India Code 9/189 4.8% 15

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

Publications

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

Bhardwaj, Raj Kumar and Margam, Madhusudhan, “Metadata Framework for Online Legal Information System in Indian Environment”, Library Review (Emerald), 66.1/2 (2017): 49-68

Bhardwaj, Raj Kumar, “Gender Perception in the Development of Online

Legal Information System” The Bottom Line (Emerald) (In Press) Bhardwaj, Raj Kumar and Margam Madhusudhan, “Online Legal

Information System: A Users’ Perspective.” Library Review (Emerald), 65.8/9 (2016): 593-624.

Bhardwaj, Raj Kumar and M. Madhusudhan. “Comparative Analysis of Online Legal Information Sources in Indian Environment” New Library World (Emerald), 117. 3/4 (2016): 251-278.

Bhardwaj, Raj Kumar "The Indian Judicial System: Transition from Print to Digital." Legal Information Management (Cambridge University Press) 13.03 (2013): 203-208.

P. Kalyanasundaram

“We cannot sustain ourselves, unless we contribute to the society in someway or the other. I strongly feel if even one person does his bit towards social good, there will be some change.” P. Kalyanasundaram

Conclusions

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017

Thanks!! Any Question

LEGAL EDUCATION, LEGAL PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY, June 16-17, 2017