Primary Research Group releases a new study of Law Library Management Practices: CREATING THE DIGITAL LAW LIBRARY (ISBN #1-57440-062-2).

This report looks closely at how nine law libraries -- six from major or medium sized law firms, two university law school law libraries and a public law library -- are grappling with the issue of the digitization of legal information services. The purpose of the report is not to expound an ideology in favor of or against digitization, but to explore and, if possible, find common themes in the approaches taken by nine law libraries in North America.

(PRWEB) October 31, 2003 --This report looks closely at how nine law libraries -- six from major or medium sized law firms, two university law school law libraries and a public law library -- are grappling with the issue of the digitization of legal information services. The purpose of the report is not to expound an ideology in favor of or against digitization, but to explore and, if possible, find common themes in the approaches taken by nine law libraries in North America.

Although no single approach dominated, several common themes emerged from the interviews, which are summarized below:

1) Although there is no pressing need for law libraries to move towards virtual reference services it is quite useful to use software that tracks who uses library reference services, for what purpose and for what length of time.

2) Young lawyers tend to be more proficient searchers than older ones but virtually all lawyers share an aversion to the specialized training on legal databases that they unquestionably need, especially since the advent of net technology has led many lawyers to do their own searching rather than relying on librarians to do it for them. A culture change seems unquestionably necessary here but in the absence of such a change librarians interviewed suggest luring patrons with food, politicking with higher authorities and grabbing new hires before their work load reaches normal levels -- in order to squeeze in as much training as possible. Information proficient lawyers may also reduce the basic search load for the library staff liberating their time for the most sophisticated searches.

3) Coordinate purchases among the various law firm offices, eliminate duplication when possible and license firm wide when feasible. Centralize purchasing authority as much as possible in order to enhance economies of scale in product purchases.

4) Reach out to other libraries to seek partnerships. Use consortium connections, reference services and sites, listservs and web sites to combine resources with other librarians to lower costs.

5) Aggregate buying power with other libraries when possible in related academic libraries or the law libraries of other firms.

6) There was no real consensus on the gradual elimination of print resources. However, in general, it can be said that law librarians contemplating the elimination of print reporters should carefully think out the implications for archival access.

7) Unquestionably, the trend is towards less floor space, less paper and more use of digital resources. The debate is over the speed and degree of digitization, not about the basic trend.

8) Digitization does not necessarily free up librarian staff time. Indeed, the negotiation of digital licenses and the acquisition of digital resources generally takes far more time than the equivalent effort for print materials. Print purchasing terms are more standardized and are updated.

9) The percentage of online services fees billed back to clients ranged very widely, from 20% to more than 80% of total charges.
10) Virtually every library interviewed has recently completed, is undergoing, or plans a major redevelopment of its web site.
11) Ebook vendors have made significant headway into the legal market and products offered by publishers, aggregators and distributors are apt to take a growing share of the law library book market in coming years. The legal market for such materials has grown faster than many other markets.

12) Use of CD-ROM, though in definite decline, is still at higher levels in the legal market than in many other library markets.
13) Although law librarians have generally adjusted well to less physical space and reduced, stagnant or slow growing print budgets, they have generally not adjusted well to staff reductions. The idea that digitization reduces demand for library services is not accepted and appears to be unwarranted.

14) Although librarians make most procurement decisions, partners appear to have more influence over materials acquisition decision-making than do their counterparts in academia, business and medicine.

The study complements Primary Research Group's LAW LIBRARY BENCHMARKS, 2003 Edition, which was released earlier this year. LAW LIBRARY BENCHMARKS presents data from a sample of 80 law libraries. Some major conclusions from that study (available for $110.00) are reproduced below:

46.5% of the libraries in the sample experienced a decrease in the number of visitors to the physical location of the library in the past year and 14.1% experienced an increase
Spending on print books by the libraries in the sample fell by 2.17% in 2002.
14.3% of the libraries in the sample changed online cataloging vendors within the past three years.
The average number of visitors per day to the library was thirty five
Mean per partner spending on CD-ROM databases in 2002 for the law firm libraries in the sample was $85.01.
Mean per partner spending on law books by the law firm libraries in the sample was $1770.04.
Mean per partner spending on legal journals for the law firm libraries in the sample was $779.20
More than 25% of library staff time is spent on loose leaf filings and other pocket part replacement
More than 14% of library staff time is spent on helping patrons not in the library to use databases and other resources from a remote location
The librarians in the sample answered a mean of 10.79 email reference queries per day
The mean number of database subscriptions examined on a free trial basis in the past year was six.
Lexis-Nexis and Westlaw together account for more than 84% of the commercial online services spending by the libraries in the sample
Findlaw.Com was frequently used by 88% of the law libraries in the sample and was one of the most commonly used law-related web sites.
Only 22% of the libraries in the sample did not subsidize document delivery services for their patron

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CREATING THE DIGITAL LAW LIBRARY or LAW LIBRARY BENCHMARKS CONTACT PHIL WONG OR JAMES MOSES AT 212-736-2316.
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