Knowledge, Information
& Technology Resources for Small Firms

Paul D. Callister, JD MSLIS
Library Director and Associate Professor of Law

Class Problem

What kind of business is law?  What is our principle asset?

• Presentation on Law Firms as Knowledge Organizations
• Proposed Designed Specifications for Knowledge Management at Smith & Jones - A Hypothetical Case

Information Economics

• 80/20 Rule--Twenty percent of your information resources should satisfy 80% of your information needs.

• Inflation of print legal materials

• Market Concentration

Information Partnering

• Expense sharing

• Law Libraries in the Community

Kendall F. Svengalis, Legal Information Buyers Guide and Reference Manual 2007 (Rhode Island Lawpress).  This is the "Bible" for helping law firms build their own libraries.  It comes out annually and is truly independent.  Call number is  KF1.L43 (On Reserve, ask for it at library circulation desk).

Information and Bibliographic Resources

• Resources for Building Your Own Firm Library/Information Center  (Problem for Class)

• WorldCat Beta.  Open access to a version of the world's largest library catalog, with over one billion bibliographic records from over 10,000 libraries around the world. 

  • By entering your zip code, you can see what libraries (including many law firm libraries) hold a particular title. 

  • For interlibrary loan features, you need to access the subscription service from the law library's data base page.  This is available to walk in patrons and UMKC students and faculty.

•   MERLlN and MOBIUS.  Consortium interlibrary catalogs, including UMKC school of law and other Missouri libraries.  

  • MERLIN consists of  the academic libraries of the University of Missouri System, including the law school at the University of Missouri Columbia. 

  • MOBIUS includes about 70 libraries in Missouri, including the law schools at Saint Louis University and Washington University.

• Pay as you go online services

  LexisOne and Lexis Research for Small Firms

  Lexis by Credit Card

  FormsPass

  Westlaw by Credit Card

• Free Web Resources

  UMKC Web Bookmarks

  Findlaw for Legal Professionals

  Legal Information Institute

  LexisOne (Some content is free)

  Federal Agencies Directory

  GPO Access (Government catalog and links to free resources)

  Thomas (Library of Congress - Federal Legislative Materials)

  Google Uncle Sam -  www.google.com/unclesam

Print v. Electronic

• Intermediated v. Disintermediated

• De-contextualization

• Information Technology Stability, Obsolescence, Migration & Preservation

• Generational Issues

• Globalization and Scale Problems

• Problem Typing and Research Tools

• Research Cycle

• Fee Structure and Recouping  Your Costs

• Licensed v. Owned

Licensing Information & Copyright

• LibLicense - Yale University's librarian resource for licensing digital information. Model agreements and sample vendor agreements, initiatives, vocabulary, bibliography, etc.

• AALL Licensing Principles for Electronic Resources - Standard for libraries in reviewing licensing agreements.

• AALL Model Law Firm Copyright Policy  – Currently under revision for electronic materials but provides model language for many firm compliance issues.

• Copyright Clearance Center - "Go-to" site for getting permission.

• Paul D. Callister, Digital Content Licensing, Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science 873 (2003), available at UMKC and with subscription at http://www.dekker.com/sdek/abstract~db=enc~content=a713532012  –  Outlines contractual issues of licensing electronic information.

Law Firm Technology

• ABA Legal Technology Resource Center.  Downloadable reports and information on resources, events, and trends.  See also the ABA Standing Committee on Technology and Information Systems (SCOTIS).

• Law Office Computing.  Bimonthly trade magazine which reviews legal technology.  Subscription includes password to website and searchable index.  UMKC library call no:  K12.A947.  Annual subscription list price is $69.

• Law Technology News.  The favorite of UMKC's Director of Electronic Services.  Sign up for free publication with website.

• Legal Information Alert.   “The leading current awareness publication in the world of legal information” -- Svengalis.  Contains reviews of legal publications and information services.  Annual subscription is $184.  UMKC call no. is KF240.A15 L43 (usually the librarians have the most current issue). 

• TechnoLawyer.  Website and blog service.  Free but registration required.

Work Flow and Office Management

• Lexis Total Practice Solutions - Manage workflow, time, billing, drafting, KM, data backup

• iDocs Technologies - Workflow and document management solutions.  See news story.

• Apple Consultants Network - Workflow from Apple's Prescient Solutions.

• Thomson Elite - Law firm and knowledge management products from Thompson West.

• Tab's III PracticeMaster - Billing and document assembly product.

Record Retention & Disaster Planning

• Access v. Preservation

• Security

• Backup and Disaster Planning

• Resources

American Micro Co.  Located here in Kansas City.  Complete solutions from microfilming, offsite storage, digitization, and litigation support.  Also supply equipment.

EDCO.  Located here in Southwest Missouri.  Complete solutions from microfilming, offsite storage, digitization, and litigation support.  Also supply equipment.

Last updated:  03/13/2008 12:29 PM -0600
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© 2006, Paul D. Callister 
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 License.