Earlier this year I poked at the efforts in Academic libraries to petition for free PACER. I think it is only fair to update my readers on the developments and analysis that Erika Wayne has done since that last post.
The report, based upon a survey conducted by Ms. Wayne, is available here. I agree that the costs she reports seem high for information that should be “freely available.” However, they are not excessive in my opinion.
I particularly was interested in this quote from the report release:
In the survey that we conducted just last year regarding Westlaw and Lexis preferences among law librarians, when respondents were asked which other online databases that they would like to have taught in law school, eighty percent of the law firm librarians wanted training provided on PACER.
I think that is a significant statement. As a former law firm librarian, I often wanted my incoming associates to know better research methods and not be so dependent upon Westlaw and Lexis. Teaching PACER in law school would be a great advantage. Then again, so would teaching about CCH Wolters Kluwer and BNA based electronic libraries, and I’m not sure how many law schools have taken up that charge.
What I have difficulty understanding is a statement further down in the report release:
If we allowed all of our students full access, our spending could easily surpass our Westlaw and Lexis costs.
Would full access to PACER really surpass Westlaw and Lexis costs? Is that because PACER would be a non-discounted cost? It is my understanding that Westlaw and Lexis offer deep discounts to law schools. Are the discounts truly so deep that a capped usage of $2.40 on the majority of PACER documents would exceed these mega source research tools?
It makes me wonder, exactly what part of PACER is being used by academics. In law firms, the filings and the opinions (which are free) are the heavily used portions of the resource. Rarely are the transcripts (which are not capped) used.
So, it comes down to the need for cost-effective research training. I wholeheartedly embrace the need for law schools to offer access to PACER. I still stand by the fact that the 2008 average costs (as provided by Ms. Wayne) of $656.74 is not outrageous for law schools. If PACER is being used more than the law school libraries feel is affordable, then perhaps, they are finally getting the message that law firm librarians have been preaching for years: cost-effective research must begin in law school training.
I do appreciate the analysis provided by Ms. Wayne and I hope that improvements to the access and cost of PACER move forward in a positive manner but $2.40 or less for the majority of documents in the PACER database is not an excessive cost for the amount of information obtained. Perhaps that is my bias because compared to commercial options, that is a true bargain for a wealth of information.
Constance Ard September 9, 2009
I was always under the impression that Lexis and Westlaw provided totally free access to law students and professors. I know that I got free access in Library School when we covered Lexis for a class. If PACER is charging anything it is going to seem expensive compared to free. Still, $700 can be the cost of one or two hefty science reference books so I’d say there’s not much to complain about.