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Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 1
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Law Library
Helen Busness
Digital Libraries-e553
November 29, 2015
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 2
Abstract
Law libraries have been slow to make the shift from print to digital resources, but it is
undeniable that reliance on digital legal research is growing and here to stay. As law firms, law
schools, lawyers, and researchers are fast discovering, subscribing to the two leading fee-based
digital law libraries, Westlaw and Lexis/Nexis (collectively referred to as Wexis), is not always
ideal from a usability or economic perspective.1 Other digital law libraries have evolved to meet
user needs, but are these digital law libraries a good alternative? Do they provide the authority,
accuracy, currency, coverage and usability required for a digital law library? (Jootaek, 2011-
2012, p. 228) Are they efficiently and effectively providing the information that legal
constituencies need? This paper will endeavor to answer these questions by examining the shift
from print to digital in the law library context with a special emphasis on Wexis. Next, the paper
will explore how best to evaluate a digital law library, and then evaluate a number of no cost
digital law libraries based on the criteria selected. The paper will conclude by recommending
best practices for a better digital law library to meet the legal needs of a diverse user community.
The best answer for digital law libraries might reside in collaborative efforts that maximize ever-
decreasing financial and staff resources and spread the increasing costs of collection
development.
1 An evaluation of Wexis is beyond the scope of the paper, but the Appendix does include a brief overview of Westlaw Next which is available at many state and law school libraries. Also included is a price chart of charges that may occur outside of contract for use of Westlaw Next in private practice.
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 3
Introduction to the law library and its foray into the digital world
Print vs. Digital
Law libraries have been among the slowest libraries to embrace the move from print to
digital resources. While there are undoubtedly those who still prefer to conduct legal research in
print, “the reality is that there is no longer a high demand for these items, requiring library
administration to think about collection analysis and development in an entirely different way.”
(Chase & Barnes, 2014, p. 196) Despite this growing preference for digital legal research,
certain resources such as monographs, treatises, and legal dictionaries do and probably always
will have a place on the library shelves. (Chase & Barnes, 2014). As with other libraries,
however, preferences for print over digital, or digital over print, vary greatly from user to user.
With this relatively new preference for digital legal research, as Danner, Kauffman, and
Palfry (2009) suggest, comes a “growing role for the academic law librarian” (p.146) rather than
a diminished one. Kaufman, a law librarian at Yale, advocates for “assertive reference” where
librarians think “strategically about where we can intervene and get those teachable moments to
show students that in reality doing legal research is more complicated today than it’s ever been
before.” (p. 146). Many students, including law students, overestimate their ability to conduct
digital legal research and think they can “find it all by going on to Google”. (p. 146). Law
librarians of today need to bridge the gap between technology and the user, and a large part of
this new role will be to understand, evaluate and assist users with navigating digital law libraries.
Westlaw and Lexis Nexis—fee-based digital law library
Digital law libraries have long been dominated by Wexis. When I graduated from law
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 4
school in 1994, we were taught how to conduct legal research through both print searches and
digital searches on Wexis. At the start of my career, I utilized Wexis as my first research tool to
identify case law applicable to my client’s situation. I remember vividly the sticker shock when
I first saw how much my non-school supported research on Wexis cost my firm, or to be more
exact, what the firm passed along to the client.2 The practice of teaching digital research on
Wexis and no other digital law libraries caused many “law students [to] fall off a cliff the
moment they graduate[d], without adequate preparation for their future work and without access
to expensive proprietary systems on which they have come to rely.” (Palfrey, 2010, p. 184).
Both Westlaw and Lexis/Nexis have complex fee structures. There are flat rate contracts
available where the user purchases access to certain portions of the legal database. There are
also options outside of the contract where the user is billed hourly or by transaction. If you are
being billed by transaction, it is especially important to be precise (i.e. you have a citation for the
document you want) to avoid large, often unexpected charges. (Aycock, 2013). Both Westlaw
and LexisNexis offer reduced, flat fees for law schools with no hourly or transactional fees, so
new attorneys are often totally unaware of the fee structure for using these databases. Many new
attorneys (me included) developed poor research habits with the free Wexis that can translate
into costly mistakes in private practice.
LexisNexis has been around since 1973, when it was used to index judicial opinions of
the Ohio Supreme Court, but by 1980, it was expanded to include all U.S. federal and state
jurisdictions. West Publishing wanted to get in on the digital legal revolution, and thus
established Westlaw in 1975 to compete directly with LexisNexis. A bitter and profitable rivalry
ensued, whereby “The Big Two” battled for supremacy. (Aycock, 2013). Westlaw sued
LexisNexis in 1986 for copyright infringement and won. A decade later, however, Westlaw’s 2 This is an uncomfortable conversation to have with one’s boss.
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 5
pagination system and structure were deemed too basic and simplistic to invoke copyright
protection. (Aycock, 2013).
The “new” players—government (state and federal), law schools, etc.
Although still the biggest players in the digital law library arena, Westlaw and
Lexis/Nexis are now facing considerable competition; digital law libraries exist in abundance.
There are federal and state law libraries (see for example Library of Congress Law Library and
the State of Iowa Law Library ) , digital law libraries for each law school in the United States (see
for example Seton Hall University Rodino Law Library and University of Iowa Law Library),
many law firms have their own digital law libraries, and there are some “free” digital law
libraries geared toward legal practitioners and some geared toward the public (see for example
Findlaw for professionals and Findlaw for the public. )
Evaluation—Literature Review
Why Evaluate?
Evaluating digital libraries, or any library system, is critical to keeping it current; despite
the importance of evaluation, there exists a paucity of data on how best to accomplish such a
feat. Establishing the criteria on which a digital library will be evaluated is an important first
step. “Criteria are then used to develop measures.” (Saracevic, 2004, p. 5). It is important to
keep in mind when evaluating any digital library that the user’s perspective can vary greatly
from the design perspective; “in use, more often than not, DL users and digital libraries are in an
adversarial position.” (Saracevic, 2004, p. 9).
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 6
What to Evaluate--Criteria
Although no specific criteria have been agreed upon for a digital law library, there are
some general agreed upon goals of digital library evaluation. Saracevic (2000) suggests that
providing standards and criteria for digital holdings over the internet establishes “trust, validity,
and authority…thus promoting access with user confidence, a highly important thing on the
otherwise value-neutral Internet.” (p. 357) Zhang (2010) posits that digital library stakeholders
are concerned about “being able to access high-quality content and service.” (p.104) Xie (2008)
offers that “an evaluation is a judgment of worth. The objective of DL evaluation is to assess to
what extent a digital library meets its objects and offer suggestions for improvements.” (p. 1348).
Finally, Palfrey (2010) believes “it is not enough merely to make information available in the
public domain; it needs to be accessible, in a timely and understandable fashion, to those who
need it.” (p. 184).
More specifically, Saracevic (2000) presents seven levels of evaluation, four of which are
user-based and three are system-based. The four user-centered levels are social, institutional,
individual, and interface. The three system-based levels are engineering, processing, and
content. Xie (2008) presents five types of criteria: interface usability, collection quality, service
quality, system performance and user satisfaction. Each criteria has a set of variables upon
which to test or evaluate its success. (p. 1357).
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Xie’s criteria are illustrated in the chart below:
Interface Usability Collection Quality Service Quality System performance
User Satisfaction
Search and Browse Function
Scope Mission Efficiency and Effectiveness
User Feedback
Navigation Authority Targeted User Community
Relevance Contact Information
Help Features Accuracy Traditional library service
Precision and recall
View and output options
Completeness Unique Services
Accessibility Currency Usefulness
Zhang (2010) elaborates on Saracevic’s evaluation levels and provides a “holistic DL evaluation
model.” (p. 90). She mentions six levels of evaluation found in LIS literature: content,
technology, interface, service, user and context. (p.88) Zhang’s model presents 19 core and 18
group-based criteria on which to evaluate a DL. The below table represents the core criteria
within the six levels of evaluation. In red are criteria identified as important to librarians
(administrators, developers, and librarians) that seem key to digital law library evaluation.
Holistic DL Evaluation Model
Content Technology Interface Service User Context
Accuracy Reliability Ease of use Integrity Efficiency Sustainability
Accessibility Ease of Use Effectiveness Reliability Successfulness Managerial Support
Usefulness Security Consistency Responsiveness Satisfaction Collaboration
Appropriateness Effectiveness Interaction support Accessibility Acceptance Copyright
Ease of Understanding
Interoperability Appropriateness Usefulness Use/Reuse
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There is a dearth of literature specifically on evaluation of digital law libraries. Jootaek
Lee (2011-2012) focuses specifically on digital law libraries, and he has suggested the following
criteria to assess legal information services available on the internet: authority, accuracy,
currency, coverage, and usability.
How to Evaluate?
Once criteria have been identified, the question then becomes how to use these criteria to
assess the digital library. What are the key benchmarks or measurements to employ to judge
overall success or determine what constitutes a “good” digital law library? These questions do
not have universally agreed upon answers, but this is an area ripe for further exploration and
research. It is crystal clear, however, that these questions need to be addressed in order to build a
better digital law library.
Analysis
Selection of Evaluative Criteria for Digital Law Libraries
Below is a chart of the criteria selected to evaluate some of the more prominent digital
law libraries in the United States for purposes of this paper. Please note, not all criteria will be
discussed for each library evaluation but all were considered in providing the overall rating.
Usability Interface ContentSearch and browse function Relevance ScopeNavigation Effectiveness AuthorityHelp features Consistency Accuracy
Efficiency Ease of Use CompletenessUse/Reuse Currency
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 9
These were selected based upon the evaluative criteria put forth by Saracevic, Xie, Yang
and Lee. Further research in this area would involve vetting and perhaps expanding these criteria
with law librarians and other legal and technology experts to establish what criteria and
measurements are most suited to the digital law library.
Findlaw
According to their Facebook page, Findlaw for Legal Professionals’ mission is “to
provide attorneys and other legal professionals with up-to-date news and information that affects
the legal profession uniquely, including legal technology news, practice tips and firm
management information.” Findlaw, owned by Thomson Reuters (also the owner of Westlaw),
was started in 1996, and claims to be the “world’s leading provider of online legal information.
(Bowers, 2011, p.2) Based upon review of usability and content criteria, as well as adherence to
its mission and goals, this digital legal library would rate a “C”. Findlaw would benefit from a
reduction in scope so that it can be effectively maintained to ensure current information and
working links. Also, the advertising element of Findlaw, although no doubt an economic
necessity to maintain free access, does detract from its effectiveness as a digital law library.
Findlaw effectively provides networking opportunities for legal professionals. By taking out the
library function (offering current legal research resources), Findlaw may find a more reasonable
and effective and manageable niche market as a legal marketing and networking site.
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 10
Usability and Interface
Response times were slow to access information and several times “timed out” prior to
reaching the content, perhaps because the webpages contain a considerable amount of scrolling
content and advertising. Find an Expert and FindLaw Career Center were two areas that “timed
out” on my laptop. The advertising also visually confuses the user and impedes visual
identification of content. Having too much content and distractions negatively impact usability
as a whole. Given that a lawyer’s time is billable, efficiency is critically important to keep prices
low. If, for instance, Westlaw or LexisNexis can get a user the information he needs faster, it
may be worth the money to invest in these fee-based digital libraries rather than “wasting time”
on a less efficient, yet free, digital law library. A customer satisfaction survey “pops up”
repeatedly on the Findlaw professional site. Although a link to a survey might be less obtrusive,
the idea of including an option for feedback is an excellent idea to foster continuous evaluation
and improvement of the digital library. There are no help features to guide users, which might
improve functionality. There is a general search function, as well as an advanced search option
available both from the home page and the Cases & Code page. The advanced search uses a
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 11
Boolean search with “operators AND, OR, and NOT and the proximity locator NEAR, which
searches for terms within fifty words of one another.” (Bowers, 2011, p. 1). Boolean searches
are familiar to attorneys since they are taught in law school and an integral part of Westlaw and
Lexis/Nexis searching. In addition to searching, there is also considerable browsing that can be
accomplished on Findlaw by jurisdiction and subject.
Content
Perhaps the most prominent content issue of Findlaw is its vast scope which is too large
to ensure the site’s accuracy is maintained. Findlaw’s main navigation bar has six tabs: Cases &
Codes, Practice Management, Jobs & Careers, Legal News, Blogs, and Service Providers.
Secondary navigation provides “Quick Links” to Forms, Law Technology, Lawyer Marketing,
Corporate Counsel, Law Students, JusticeMail, and Newsletters. There is also a general and
advanced search of FindLaw. Next, one sees the scrolling list of featured blog posts, which is a
nice feature to highlight Findlaw’s legal blog. Moving down the page, one finds “Research the
Law” both by search and browse, find an expert, legal forms both for purchase and for free, and
news headlines with two tabs: FindLaw Answers and Legal News. Under legal experts, I
selected ADR professionals in Ohio. I was surprised to find “Arlington Kung Fu & Tai Chi”
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listed.
Another content issue involves the Findlaw Answers section. The questions I reviewed did not
properly belong on a professional practice site since they were client questions. The advice
offered was not consistently provided by a legal professional, which calls into question the
authenticity, authority and overall completeness of the response. Providing legal advice though a
digital library seems unwise because these criteria cannot be met. The home page does link to a
Facebook page geared toward professional networking.
Although a nice inclusion, the law student section of Findlaw would perhaps be better served by
a more narrow scope to ensure accuracy and currency of the information presented. For
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example, on the Academic Law Journals and Law Review page (image above), many of the
journal links were not current, which brings into question currency, accuracy, completeness, and
authority.
Law School Digital Law Libraries
Legal Information Institute at Cornell Universit y
Legal Information Institute’s (LII) mission in simple terms is to provide open access to
law. More specifically, LII is “a not-for-profit group that believes everyone should be able to
read and understand the laws that govern them, without cost.” Bowers (2011) calls LII “one of
the best sites” with a home page that is “clutter-free and easy to navigate due to its simplicity.”
(p.2) As with Findlaw, economics are clearly at issue, and LII has a unique funding model for a
university-sponsored digital law library. Twenty percent of its funding comes from private
donations and 65% from advertising, sponsorships, and projects like the lawyer’s directory
where a fee is charged for appearing in the directory. When first logging on to the site, a pop up
window appears asking for a donation. It states that “last year, 94 cancer research hospitals
relied on us for free legal information. We think that is important. Your support makes it
possible. Please give generously today.” There is also a link to a donation page, which should
be enough to encourage donations without the interruption of the pop up window. The site does
have a considerable amount of advertising, as well as space dedicated to funding. The help out
section gives a list of six funding options that allow the library to provide information at no cost
to the user.
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Based upon a review of content and interface, as well as fulfilling its mission and vision, LII
receives a rating of “A”.
Usability and Interface
Although the interface is not fancy, it works well and is easy to navigate. It is uncluttered
and effective. Visually, the banner listing LII and Cornell was cut off by the pop up donation
box, even when this was minimized. It seems like a simple fix, and would go a long way to
improving the appearance and minimizing the disruption for the user. Although the donation
requests and advertising are somewhat distracting, it is an economic necessity which is well
explained on the site. The internal links could be improved upon, as well as ensuring that one
can easily toggle between links. There is no advanced search option, and no indication on how
to use the search feature of the site to maximize relevant results. Bowers (2011) points out that
“when searching within LII, use the operators AND, OR, and NOT. If an operator is not
indicated, the default is AND. The asterisk (*) acts as the truncation symbol and finds multiple
roots of the search term.” (p.3). This search type is familiar to attorneys, yet other users may be
more familiar with keyword searching so a user guide would be helpful. There is an LII
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reference desk, but it requires a user name and password, so it would not be available to the
general user.
Content
The rich content of LII is truly what earns its place on the A list of digital law libraries.
The scope of LII is large but not so large that the quality of the site is compromised. 90% of the
legal content is found in the “get the law” tab on the navigation bar and in legal resources. LII’s
U.S. Supreme Court Bulletin and Supreme Court resources are exceptional. They are
authoritative, accurate and complete. The LII bulletin staff are students of Cornell Law School,
so the bulletin functions in much the same way as a law review. The information on Supreme
Court decisions is well maintained and current; the screenshot was pulled on November 25th,
2015, and the November 9th, 2015 decision from Mullinex v. Luna already appeared.
Another impressive feature of LII is “Wex”. Wex is a free legal dictionary and
encyclopedia with a wealth of information on the law and legal practice. It is community-based
and legal experts contribute, but unlike FindLaw, the experts contributing are vetted by LII’s
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 16
editorial staff, as are their contributions. The material and resource provided, therefore, are
authoritative and correct.
Washlaw: Legal Research on the Web--Washburn University School of Law
WashLaw’s mission is to provide “users with links to law-related materials on the
Internet.” The site does a very good job fulfilling this mission, maintaining currency and
presenting links to relevant, authoritative information, so receives and overall rating of “B+”. It
does not receive an “A” only because there is little original content of the digital law library and
no help or resource guides to help navigate the site content.
Usability and Interface
Washlaw staff do an excellent job maintaining the large number of links on this site; with
the exception of one link, all the ones tested were active, relevant to the subject and current. The
main navigation is simple yet effectively broken down into ten categories: add your site, contact
us, about, U.S. law, states, international, subject index, resources for lawyers, law school, law
firms. The law firm link was not active, so content should either be added or it should be
removed from the navigation to avoid confusion. The map feature and links to content are
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 17
innovative and clever, and each link I tried worked well. I clicked on Iowa and went directly to
the state law and government page with a tremendous number of relevant state links that were
well organized and labeled. From the Iowa page, a navigation menu is provided to other states,
as well as to the resources on the Iowa page. This navigation is especially conducive to
browsing. The search feature is simple yet effective, and it appears on each page.
Content
Although not content rich in original resources like LII, Washlaw does a tremendous job
of identifying, summarizing and presenting the enormous number of legal resources on the web.
Although beyond the scope of this analysis, WashLaw covers both national and international
law. Washlaw also hosts 50 some odd list serves to assist legal professionals in networking and
“keeping up,” which is an important feature in an ever-changing profession.
The resources for librarians page is outstanding, and I would suggest including this in any digital
law library site.
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 18
State and Federal Law Libraries
State of Iowa Law Library
The State of Iowa Law Library is part of the State of Iowa digital library system. The
digital library, as a whole, is excellent. Compared to the grandeur of the physical law library
space, however, the digital presence falls short. I would recommend either a heightened presence
on the State Library site, or perhaps a stand-alone web presence more prominently linked to the
main site. The mission and goals of a law library in digital or physical form are significantly
different from the State library as a whole, and the law library is buried within an otherwise
strong digital library. The State of Iowa digital law library receives a rating of “C”.
Usability and Interface
The State Library of Iowa site is divided into three categories: For Libraries, For Iowans,
For Data Center. The major issue for the State Law Library is lack of visibility and accessibility
from the main page. The State Law Library site is accessible only through a link on the bottom
of the page under “contact us”. Once the law library is selected, the user is taken to the contact
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 19
information, which then has a link to the law library website. Entering the term “law library”
from the main page does not bring up the law library site itself, but instead brings up a
photography exhibition at the library. When that link is accessed, one still is not brought nor
referred to the law library site. Navigation, use/reuse and ease of use are all an issue simply to
get to the digital library itself. Once there, the library fares a bit better, but the usability and
interface issues continue. There is a library chat feature which definitely aids in usability, and
unlike many digital law libraries discusses above, the State of Iowa Law Library has a staffed
physical presence (albeit seemingly a librarian staff of one). The primary navigation appears on
the left hand column of the home page and includes the following 15 categories: ask a law
librarian, policy: photography and special events, Iowa Legislature’s digital archive,
constitutional debates of the state of Iowa, #IowaConstitution, executive orders of Iowa
governors, federal law and regulation, Iowa law and regulation, Iowa courts, state and federal tax
forms, state legislative websites, A.J. Small special collections, help finding an attorney, help
resolving disputes without going to court, Westlaw Next available at the law library. The order
and organization of the navigation topics could be reworked for improved usability and ease of
use. Broader categories such as Library Services, to include Westlaw Next, Research Help, etc.
may improve the overall organizational structure. The actual digital collections of the library
could also be grouped together to better highlight the impressive content. For example, the
digitized Constitutional Debates collection could be highlighted more prominently since it is a
truly impressive and important part of the library’s collection. The library could also consider
breaking down this collection into smaller chunks since the files take a very long time to load
and search.
Content
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 20
The mission of the State of Iowa Law Library, as mentioned on their website, is to provide
Iowa lawmakers, government employees, the Iowa legal community and the general public with a highly specialized legal collection of treatises and both state and federal statutory, regulatory and case law. The collection also contains the abstracts and arguments of the Iowa Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, legal periodicals, and materials produced by the Iowa legislature. Research assistance is available.
The digital library, however, does not have any goals or vision beyond those of the physical
space, which are quite different in scope and nature. The collection of constitutional debate
materials is a treasure trove of historical information on the development of Iowa and its
government. The digitization is good, and the user feels as if they were accessing the original
resource. Similarly, the collaboration to digitize the Iowa Legislature’s history is worthy of
greater attention and focus on the law library site itself. This impressive collection of historical
(dating back to 1839) and current legislative material was accomplished through a partnership
with Law Library Microform Consortium (LLMC) and Google Books. The A.J. Small collection
would benefit greatly from further explanation as to the actual content of the collection, and
perhaps could be digitized to add to the collection of the digital law library. As it stands now, its
inclusion in the digital collection is somewhat confusing. The inclusion of tax forms,
information on finding an attorney, and alternative dispute resolution, although helpful, may not
fit in with the overall goals of this digital law library. This content seems more aptly placed in
the “For Iowans” section of the State Library.
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 21
Law Library of Congress
The Rolls Royce of digital law libraries is the Law Library of Congress (LLOC). The
simple navigation structure belies the exceptionally rich content and quick, clear interface. One
can tell that this site was planned very well, and evaluated/updated regularly. LLOC has a
discreet yet obvious feedback form that links to a short survey so that users can provide
comments and concerns with the digital library. As far as evaluative information, LLOC seeks
input content, design, ease of use and overall (usability), which are directly in line with the
criteria selected for this paper.
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 22
Due to its clear organization, exceptional maintenance and rich content that fits its mission (not
too much and not too little), this library gets the highest score of “A+”.
Usability and Interface
From the Library of Congress homepage, the LLOC is easily accessible from the right
hand navigation, under services. While a more prominent location would be ideal, the Library of
Congress seems to have made very intentional selections as to prominence. With so much
content, choices have to be made and the link to LLOC was relatively easy to find if not
prominent. The top navigation bar has three links: ask a librarian, digital collections, and library
catalogs. Although these are not limited to legal resources or collections, it is nice to have access
to the general Library of Congress resources from the LLOC. There is also a search box for the
Library of Congress as a whole on the top navigation. The next horizontal level contains law
library highlights in a non-scrolling format which alleviates some of the distraction seen in other
digital law libraries evaluated in this paper. On the left navigation bar, there is an LLOC search,
as well as eight broad categories for the site: law library home, about the law library, research &
reports, find legal resources, education & research opportunities, visiting the law library, news &
events, contact. All the main navigation categories appear on one screen without scrolling,
which improves ease of use. The main navigation both to the Library of Congress as a whole,
and LLOC, appear on each page, which supports browsing and makes toggling between pages
efficient.
The share/save feature allows the user to share the page on social media, e-mail the page,
or save it to favorites; unfortunately the pop-up box would not close unless the page itself was
closed, but this would be an easy fix. One more minor usability/interface issue that if remedied
might improve overall quality would be to make sure the order of the navigation bars on interior
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 23
pages mimics the order of content on the page. Below is an example from the “Find
Legal Resources” page.
Content
This evaluation will only scratch the surface of what is available on the LLOC site, but I
hope to highlight the features other digital law libraries may wish to emulate. I will focus on the
“Find Legal Resources” link. The first link on this page is for collections, which includes a
description as well as information on finding the approximately 2.9 million volumes in the
LLOC collection. Of special interest is the LLOC’s efforts in digitization, which to date include:
full-text access to laws, bills and resolutions of the first 43 Congresses; full-text access to
Congressional hearings; an archive of over 100 legal blawgs (please note the clever renaming of
blog); and an impressive digitized book collection that includes rare books on Abraham Lincoln,
John Adams and piracy trials. Below is an example from Lincoln the Lawyer, one of the digital
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 24
books in the very impressive an important LLOC digital collection.
The legal blawg archive is another unique and important contribution of the LLOC. The
LLOC explains the collection as a “selective collection of authoritative sites (associated with
American Bar Association approved law schools, research institutes, think tanks, and other
expertise-based organizations) that contain unique, born digital content.” The LLOC staff,
through their careful selection process, ensure authority and accuracy. If users utilize the very
thorough web archiving FAQ provided, the richness of the web archive content becomes readily
available. For those interested in web archiving, the information presented in the FAQ (which is
really more of an instructional guide and tutorial on web archiving combined) is invaluable.
Under the “Research & Reports” section, I would like to highlight two sections: the
“Guide to Law Online” and “Legal Research Guides”. For those searching for additional legal
information, these two areas offer a wealth of resources and information. The Guide to Law
Online, according to the website, “is an annotated guide to sources of information on government
and law available online. It includes selected links to useful and reliable sites for legal
information.” The Library of Congress staff has reviewed, vetted and approved the links for
inclusion in the guide, which provides users with the authority they need in legal content. The
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 25
guide’s scope includes state, federal and international resources, and it has achieved a
completeness unparalleled by other digital law libraries. The Legal Research Guides are also an
excellent resource for those new to legal research, or for those of us that are perhaps long out of
practice. These “how to” guides help the user navigate the library with ease, but also go much
further into explaining the resources and how they fit together to, for example, piece together
legislative history.
Best Practices
Use of Social Media
Many of the digital law libraries examined while researching this paper contain some
usage of social media “to engage their patrons” (ALL-SIS Task Force, 2013, p. 532). These can
include YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, RSS feeds, etc. Although not used as
one of the evaluation criteria, effective use of social media is an integral part of a digital law
library’s overall mission to reach, inform and engage the user. In order to fulfill the user’s
information needs, the digital law library must make its presence known to users and potential
users. Steele & Greenlee (2011) from the University of Pennsylvania Biddle Law Library,
describe the use of social media as one way law librarians can “demonstrate their mastery of an
increasingly complicated universe of information.” (p.113). Social media provides an “informal,
less-institutionalized face for both the library and its parent organization” that allows a library to
“share information quickly, express opinions, get user feedback, and discuss common themes
among diffuse groups.” (Steele & Greenlee, 2011, p. 115).
In order to be effective, social media must compliment the digital law library’s mission
and goals. Social media content must be updated regularly, but not too frequently. Posts should
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 26
“be short, be concise, be witty, and be fun. Listen a lot, market a little, and don’t be too serious.”
((Hofschire & Wanucha, 2014, p. 9). Posts should also provide “substantive and thoughtful
commentary…and not merely link to external information.” (ALL-SIS Task Force, 2013, p. 534)
To be considered successful, a digital library’s social media presence must be followed, accessed
and utilized. Google Analytics is one way to measure access and determine usage. Another way
is to solicit user feedback through a survey or focus group. (Steele & Greenlee, 2011). Like the
digital law library in general, social media plans should be evaluated and adjusted regularly to
ensure they are meeting the library’s overall mission and goals.
Collaboration
One area not evaluated above yet mentioned by Yang in her Holistic DL Model is
collaboration. The most successful and complete digital law libraries are those where costs,
expertise and technology is shared among groups with a common or complimentary mission and
goals. Limiting the number of digital law libraries and enhancing their scope and quality through
effective collaboration would be an excellent area to focus additional research attention and
funding. Palfrey (2010) notes that “there is no end in sight to the shrinking of budgets, staff, and
space in libraries.” (p. 174). Even where budgets remain stable, prices for materials, both print
and digital, continue to rise. “Law Librarians have no choice but to collaborate…[they] need to
work together to envision what we want the information ecosystem in law to look like over
time.” (Palfrey, 2010, p. 174). LII is an excellent model for innovative collaboration that can
defray expenses without compromising quality. Collaboration can be with corporate sponsors,
law firm libraries, other law schools, government entities, etc.—we are limited only by our own
vision and creativity as far as building better, more efficient, more effective and more
comprehensive digital law libraries. By reducing the number of digital law libraries and
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 27
improving their quality, a better ecosystem could be fostered that fits the needs of all users; the
grant application and funding process might be a good opportunity to coordinate efforts and
foster collaboration among like-minded institutions.
Conclusion
The American Association of Law Libraries Ethical Principles states that Law Libraries
should strive “to provide open and effective access to legal and related information.” AAAL
Ethical Principles (1999). Palfrey (2010) adds that “our aim should be to ensure that we take
advantage of the potential of the digital era to improve access to legal information for legal
scholars and practitioners, as well as scholars in other disciplines…and the general public.” (p.
177). 3 Great strides have been made, and continue to be made, in digitizing, organizing, and
making available the hugely diverse universe of “legal and related information” to those that need
it. What has transpired, however, is the emergence of a large number of duplicative digital law
libraries with similar information resources. The quality of these libraries varies greatly. Lack of
resources, both staff and financial, are no doubt a large part of the problem. Another contributing
factor to less than stellar quality among digital law libraries is that lawyers are not technology
experts, and vice versa. These struggles illustrate just how critical collaboration, both financial
and resource collaboration, are to making a better digital law library. It takes a village to raise a
child and to build a successful digital law library. As with children, until digital law libraries
mature, maintenance and care must continue regularly to help them develop and grow. Evaluation
3 Palfrey’s (2010) Six Cornerstones for digital law libraries are: 1) Alignment with the goals of the institutions we are part of, whether schools, firms, or agencies; 2) Establish a system for understanding the changing ways in which users are learning—accessing information, performing research, creating new information, and remixing old information; 3) Coordinate the digitization of legal materials; 4) Put collection policies in writing and share; 5) Making our own systems more efficient using back-office technology improvements; and 6) Developing human resources. Pp. 185-187.
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 28
criteria and measures can provide the tools to foster this growth and cannot be overlooked in the
digital law library process, especially as quickly as technology and the law develop.
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 29
References
Aycock, A. (2013). Chapter 5: The Big Two: Westlaw and LexisNexis. In The Accidental Law
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ALL-SIS Task Force on Library Marketing and Outreach (2013). Marketing and outreach in
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Bates, M. (1989). The design of browsing and berrypicking techniques for the online search
interface. Retrieved from https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/bates/berrypicking.html.
Bowers, S.L. (2011). Free and low-cost online legal resources. Colorado Lawyer, 103(40), pp.
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Breakstone, E.R. (2010). Now how much of your print collection is really online? An analysis of
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Hofschire, L. & Wanucha, M. (2014). Public library websites and social media. Computers in
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Palfrey, J. (2010). Cornerstones of Law Libraries for an Era of Digital-Plus. Law Library
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Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 31
Appendix
WeslawNext is West Publishing’s product for law schools. Below is a brief sample of a search using this digital law library for those who may be unfamiliar with it.
Home page
Cases page with cases scope information pop-up box, which also functions as a disclaimer to accuracy and authority-two critical evaluative content criteria for digital law libraries.
Search on State, New Jersey, New Jersey Law Reviews & Journals, Seton Hall Legislative Journal, Schinagl pulls up an article I wrote in law school.
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 32
The search results show that the article was cited twice, and this is a helpful and convenient feature that fits well with human information behavior research. Citation chasing is an information seeking tool preferred by many. Bates (1989) refers to this as “Citation searching (or "forward chaining"). One begins with a citation, finds out who cites it by looking it up in a citation index, and thus leaps forward.”
It is important to note, however, that a general search in Westlaw under “Schinagl” did not bring up any results. Nor did a narrowed search under states. Once I narrowed the search to New Jersey, however, the article did come up.
Although certain features of WestlawNext are extremely valuable to the legal researcher, I am not sure that it is always worth its high cost given the ever-improving non-fee based digital libraries.
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 33
Ancillary Charges to View Documents on WestlawNext (out of contract) Retrieved from http://www.geeklawblog.com/2010/03/westlawnext-pricing-up-to-3400-per-hour.html on 11/28/2015 Content Category
Content Examples
Per Minute
Per Hour Transactional Document Line
Cases state and federal cases $13.33 $799.80 $13.00 $16.50 $.05
Statutes and Court Rules–State
state statutory compilations $18.33 $1,099.80 $16.00 $16.50 $.05
Statutes and Court Rules–Federal
USCA® $20.00 $1,200.00 $25.00 $16.50 $.05
Regulations–State
state administrative compilations
$15.00 $900.00 $16.00 $16.50 $.05
Regulations–Federal
Code of Federal Regulations $20.00 $1,200.00 $25.00 $16.50 $.05
Administrative Decisions and Guidance–State
state attorney general opinions, state workers’ compensation decisions
$15.00 $900.00 $20.00 $16.50 $.05
Administrative Decisions and Guidance–Federal
decisions of the Board of Veterans’ Affairs,N.L.R.B., and E.E.O.C.
$18.33 $1,099.80 $25.00 $16.50 $.05
Administrative Decisions and Guidance–RIA
RIA’s State and Local Taxes $41.67 $2,500.20 $46.00 $16.50 $.05
Briefs appellate court briefs $55.00 $3,300.00 $85.00 $30.25 $.05
Secondary Sources–Journals and Law Reviews, Practice Guides, andJury Instructions
Law reviews, state jury instructions, practice guides
$33.33 $1,999.80 $30.00 $16.50 $.05
Secondary Sources–Premium State and Specialty
Rutter Group publications, Florida Jurisprudence 2d,
$38.33 $2,299.80 $42.00 $16.50 $.05
Cyberlaw: Building a Better Digital Library 34
Titles Business Transactions Solution
Secondary Sources–Premium National Titles
ALR®, C.J.S.®, American Jurisprudence 2d
$41.67 $2,500.20 $46.00 $16.50 $.05
Secondary Sources–Surveys 50-State Surveys $ 56.67 $3,400.20 $250.00 $30.25 $.05
Jury Verdicts and Settlements
summaries of jury verdicts and settlements
$ 38.33 $2,299.80 $35.00 $16.50 $.05
Pleadings, Motions, and Memoranda
trial court filings $53.33 $3,199.80 $75.00 $16.50 $.05
Trial Court Orders
court orders issued by state trial courts
$53.33 $3,199.80 $75.00 $16.50 $.05
Proposed and Pending Legislation
state session laws, text of current bills $15.00 $900.00 $16.00 $16.50 $.05
Proposed and Pending Regulations
Federal Register, state administrative registers,text of pending regulations
$15.00 $900.00 $16.00 $16.50 $.05
News Sources–Basic
abstracts, archived publications $11.67 $700.20 $10.00 $16.50 $.05
News Sources–General and Specialty Publications
newswires, regional newspapers, trade journals
$26.67 $1,600.20 $32.00 $16.50 $.05
News Sources–Premium
New York Times, Guardian, Euromoney
$30.00 $1,800.00 $36.00 $16.50 $.0