I’m wondering if there are any corporate or law libraries using Cloud Computing Services.
This could be your catalog but I’m more interested in more unique and traditionally in-house hosted services. If the poll provided here doesn’t give you enough room to respond in the Other field, feel free to email me directly at answermaven@gmail.com
Constance Ard October 10, 2009
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Information Management | Tagged: Cloud Computing, Information Management, Law Firm Libraries | 
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Posted by answermaven
Thanks to the Law Librarian post that alerted me to the American Lawyer survey article that discusses in depth the effects of heavy budget cuts in law firm libraries.
These numbers lead me to assume that resources are examined first. Cost recovery, judicious usage and possible other sources for the high priced information are being implemented and examined.
I wonder, is now the time for investment in cheaper alternatives, web resources, reliance on blogs and other web created content? Will Fastcase and Loislaw experience an uptick in their big firm customer base because they provide affordable alternatives to case law and primary resources?
Will Westlaw and Lexis be relegated to the premium content that allows attorneys and librarians alike to efficiently search the TP-ALL and all of the news with one well constructed query? How will the decisions be made and what exactly are large law firms willing to sacrifice.
These questions lead me to wonder, how will law librarians justify the retention of the sources they know are most critical to firm success? Will training become even more important so that all attorneys search efficiently? Are the days of allowing non-expert researchers to have all access passes over?
What will be the methods used to contain costs? Will it just be slashing of sacred cows or will it be creative solutions that law librarians have dreamed of for years. Should fall associates and summer associates truly be given free reign to search everything they want?
And how will the information providers respond? More training, will they answer the call to “exclude” access to databases? This has been a wish list item for many firm librarians for years and the answer alternates depending upon the year/time/customer. (Check the law-lib archives for discussions on this topic.)
It’s time for collaboration, creativity and reality checks. In fact it may be past time for these items based upon the numbers quoted above. We all now that at some point, depending upon environmental influences, nothing is sacred. Law librarians are a loyal bunch but when survival is at stake the cows best realize that they can be sacrificed to feed the hungry.
Constance Ard September 6, 2009
Leave a Comment » | legal research | Tagged: Law Firm Libraries, legal research | Permalink
Posted by answermaven
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of spending some time with an old colleague. We discussed how the economic downturn was forcing transformations in law firms. Traditionally law firms are slow to change and usually do so only when circumstances force their hands.
Law firm libraries are a part of the trend of downsizing. This colleague stated that while the library budget had not been cut staff had been cut. The result was that the budget was cut because staff efficiencies were forcing the reduction of personal copies. I find it interesting that the current economic crunch is succeeding in implementing a sea change in collection development and library services within some firms.
Statutes and rule books are popular titles for “personal copies.” Firms that provide “personal copies” generally also have Westlaw and/or Lexis. The information contained within the personal copies is available through various electronic resources and is more current.
Firm librarians know that these “personal copies” are a significant line item in budgets. The material is duplicative and a convenience rather than a necessity. The personal copies require staff time to process.
Cutting “personal copies” reduces costs and forces attorneys to use the electronic resources that are a permanent part of firm services. These electronic resources are another part of the sea change.
Many firms bill back the costs on online research. As clients continue to look for ways to cut their owns costs the push back on billing electronic research costs will continue to grow.
Firms did not bill for print collections and clients know that fact. Some specialty technical reports may have occassionally been billed to clients but standard resources used to support the firm’s work were not. As firms de-duplicate their collections and improve efficiencies by maximizing use of available electronic resources they are, or at least should be, reconsidering the practice of online research bill backs.
Bill backs take staff time and like the personal copies, efficiencies can be improved by changing this tradition. Corporate clients are saavy and expect value added service not line item charges.
Smart firms will embrace this sea change and maximize the value of their professional library staff through project and/or hourly billing. Firms should consider the experience and educational level of their information professionals and set billing rates at a proper reflective rates. Does a one-year associate really research more efficiently than a five year or even first year librarian?
Marketing the value-added efficient service provided by your firm librarians is a must for firms who wish to transform client services. Firms who wish to survive should consider implementing the sea change of using the firm librarians as a major selling point for high quality and efficient service sooner rather than later.
Constance Ard May 7, 2009
Leave a Comment » | Information Management, Legal Issues | Tagged: collection management, Law Firm Libraries, Value-Added Service | Permalink
Posted by answermaven
This Law Librarian Blog post has inspired me to think deeply about the issue of commercial databases within the law firm. I must admit that as an Independent Information Professional, I have looked beyond Westlaw and Lexis for cheaper alternatives that still answer my client questions authoritatively.
Case law and statutes are easy. Law reviews and aggregated legal news isn’t. The consistent fact is that the alternatives often take much longer to explore and locate the needle. Fastcase and Loislaw are great options that lessen the time needed to locate the appropriate case, statute or regulation.
As a past law firm librarian, I reviewed the alternatives to Westlaw and LexisNexis regularly. Loislaw has progressed tremendously since I first tried it back in 1998 and Fastcase has grown their collection rapidly in recent years.
The thing that always disappointed was the depth of coverage, sophistication of search, and the speed. Now, the full disclaimer here, is that I have not taken Loislaw and Fastcase for a full test-drive in a while. My information about them is based upon conversations I have had with product representatives and the information available about them online.
I think that Loislaw’s association with Wolters Kluwer jumps the depth of coverage hurdle especially in the treatise arena. Fastcase has concentrated on the search functionality and has provided options that satisfy this librarian.
So the alternatives that began 10 years or so ago have grown and flourished. They are now at the point where certain firms could benefit by using an alternative to Westlaw or LexisNexis. Will Fastcase or Loislaw replace Westlaw or LexisNexis? Probably not.
The hurdles they have are the depth of archives that both Westlaw and Lexis have beyond case law. The investment of resources required to catch up to the archives and scope of the resources available on Westlaw and LexisNexis would be like me beginning a web search utility that expected to catch up to Google.
The good news is that law schools are teaching beyond Westlaw and LexisNexis so that incoming attorneys won’t necessarily be married to their favorite resource upon entering the workforce. I think that the comfort level that today’s graduates have with technology allows for more flexibility in searching legal resources.
Westlaw and LexisNexis knew that capturing their audience in law school ensured life-long customers. Having these alternative sources also taught in law school is a a postive step for their longevity.
Training is an important part of work in the law firm library because the rate of change in the technology finds long-time users way behind the curve. New attorneys are more comfortable with technology and I suspect these same new attorneys aren’t as loyal to a single provider. Thus the exposure in law school will impact the use in law firms and the more affordable alternatives will remain an attractive choice. (If you add in federated search functionality, the hurdles lessen even more.)
Using these alternatives to Westlaw and LexisNexis will happen. Training will continue to be important just because as the sources grow and the technology develops users will need the opportunity to refresh and update their skills.
The Law Librarian Blog post ends with a survey about print cancellations due to duplication. De-duplication was a huge issue during my tenure at my old firm. Stay tuned for a post about my thoughts on this issue in a post later this week.
Constance Ard April 13, 2009
Leave a Comment » | Search | Tagged: CARL, Fastcase, Law Firm Libraries, LexisNexis, Loislaw, Westlaw | Permalink
Posted by answermaven
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