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Electronic Publication of Scholarly Information in Law: A View from the United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2019

Richard A. Danner
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Extract

This article examines the potential effects of the developing user-centered, networked information environment on scholarly communication in law. By “user-centered, networked information environment,” I mean the emerging environment for legal research and scholarship, in which most seekers and users of legal information will have ready desktop access to a networked computer and to applications that will allow them to communicate with colleagues around the world and enable them to retrieve increasing amounts of the information they need to be productive directly via the Internet, without needing to rely on locally held print sources.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Legal Information , Volume 28 , Issue 3 , Winter 2000 , pp. 465 - 482
Copyright
Copyright © 2000 by the International Association of Law Libraries 

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References

Notes

1 My own interests in this subject are those of a librarian, but I have also been involved in the Duke Law School's project to publish its student-edited journals on the Law School web site and I have served on an Association of American Law Schools advisory committee charged with examining the future of legal scholarship in this new environment.Google Scholar

2 Harnad, Stevan, “Free at Last: The Future of Peer-Reviewed Journals,” D-Lib Magazine, December 1999. <http://www.dlib.org/dlib/december99/12harnad.html>..>Google Scholar

3 See Peek, Robin P., “Scholarly Publishing, Facing the New Frontiers,” in Scholarly Publishing: The Electronic Frontier 3, 5 (Peek, Robin P. & Newby, Gregory B. eds., 1996).Google Scholar

4 Lyman, Peter, “Digital Documents and the Future of the Academic Community,” in Technology and Scholarly Communication 366, 368 (Ekman, Richard & Quandt, Richard E. eds., 1999)Google Scholar

5 Discussions in the disciplines often involve the evolving definitions of the “digital library,” which take into consideration that both the traditional forms of published knowledge and less formal (and previously inaccessible) forms of information can now be disseminated and preserved in common digital formats. See Danner, Richard A., “Redefining a Profession,” 90 Law Library Journal 315, 346 (1998). <http://www.law.duke.edu/fac/danner/paper1.html>..>Google Scholar

6 Johnson, Richard K., “A Question of Access: SPARC, BioOne, and Society-Driven Electronic Publishing,” D-Lib Magazine, May 2000. <http://www.dlib.org/dlib/may00/johnson/05johnson.html>..>Google Scholar

7 See Lynch, Clifford, “Electrifying the Book,” NetConnect (supp. to Library Journal), Oct. 15, 1999, at 3, 5.Google Scholar

8 For examples in law, see the web sites of: Kluwer Law International (<http://www.kluwerlaw.com/cgi-bin/journal.pl>), which offers some of its journals in both paper and electronic forms; and Oxford University Press (<http://www3.oup.co.uk/jnls/>), which offers full-text on-line versions and e-mail table of contents services.),+which+offers+some+of+its+journals+in+both+paper+and+electronic+forms;+and+Oxford+University+Press+(),+which+offers+full-text+on-line+versions+and+e-mail+table+of+contents+services.>Google Scholar

9 Wiley InterScience (<http://www3.interscience.wiley.com>), the online journals service of John Wiley & Sons offers subscribers pre-publication access to articles for such journals as the Journal of the American Society for Information Science. ),+the+online+journals+service+of+John+Wiley+&+Sons+offers+subscribers+pre-publication+access+to+articles+for+such+journals+as+the+Journal+of+the+American+Society+for+Information+Science.>Google Scholar

10 In April 2000, the Hein, William S. Company announced a JSTOR-like product for law under the name Hein-On-Line. The initial offering is a retrospective collection of mostly pre-1925 U.S. legal journals. See <http://heinonline.org/>..>Google Scholar

11 See Lewis, David W., “What if Libraries Are Artifact-Bound Institutions?,” 18 Info. Tech. & Libr. 191, 195 (1998).Google Scholar

12 The term “e-print” is generally used to refer to any paper published in an electronic archive; “pre-print” usually refers to papers that have not yet been formally published elsewhere in a print or electronic journal; “post-print” refers to electronically archived versions of articles that have been published elsewhere.Google Scholar

13 For introductions to the background and some of the issues posed by electronic preprints, see Youngen, Gregory K., “Citation Patterns to Traditional and Electronic Preprints in the Published Literature,” 59 College & Res. Libr. 448 (1998); Peter R. Boyce, “For Better or Worse: Preprint Servers are Here to Stay,” 61 C&RL News 404 (2000).Google Scholar

14 See Ginsparg, Paul, Winners and Losers in the Global Research Village (1996) (Paper submitted for UNESCO conference in Paris, Feb. 19–23, 1996). <http://arXiv.org/blurb/pg96unesco.html>>Google Scholar

15 See E-BIOMED: A Proposal for Electronic Publications in the Biomedical Sciences (May 5, 1999 and June 20, 1999). <http://www.nih.gov/welcome/director/pubmedcentral/ebiomedarch.htm>>Google Scholar

16 For summaries of reactions to the proposal, see Blumenstyck, Goldie & Kiernan, Vincent, “Idea of On-Line Archives of Papers Sparks Debate on Future of Journals,” Chronicle of Higher Education, July 9, 1999, at A25. <http://www.chronicle.com/weekly/v45/i44/44a02501.htm>; Barbara Quint, The NIH's E-Biomed Initiative, Information Today, September 1999, at 10. (<http://www.infotoday.com/it/sep/quint.htm>).;+Barbara+Quint,+The+NIH's+E-Biomed+Initiative,+Information+Today,+September+1999,+at+10.+().>Google Scholar

17 See Youngen, , supra, note 13 at 449.Google Scholar

18 See PubMed Central: An NIH-Operated Site for Electronic Distribution of Life Sciences Research Reports (August 30, 1999). <http://www.nih.gov/welcome/director/pubmedcentral/pubmedcentral.htm> For discussion see, Marianne Burke, “PubMed Central: Be Careful What You Ask For,” 61 C&RL News 21 (2000).+For+discussion+see,+Marianne+Burke,+“PubMed+Central:+Be+Careful+What+You+Ask+For,”+61+C&RL+News+21+(2000).>Google Scholar

19 See the PubMedCentral home page. <http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/> See also Peek, Robin, “The PubMed Central Repository Launches,” Information Today, April 2000, at 38.+See+also+Peek,+Robin,+“The+PubMed+Central+Repository+Launches,”+Information+Today,+April+2000,+at+38.>Google Scholar

20 Most of Harnad's writings, as well as links to online discussions of the issues he raises, can be found at his web site at the University of Southampton. <http://cogsci.soton.ac.uk/∼harnad/intpub.html>..>Google Scholar

21 See, e.g., Kling, Rob & McKim, Geoffrey, “Scholarly Communication and the Continuum of Electronic Publishing,” 50 Journal of the Am. Society for Information Science 890 (1999) <http://arXiv.org/ftp/cs/papers/9903/9903015.pdf>; Rob Kling & Geoffrey McKim, “Not Just a Matter of Time: Field Differences and the Shaping of Electronic Media in Supporting Scientific Communication (2000)” (accepted for publication in the Journal of the American Society for Information Science). <http://arXiv.org/ftp/cs/papers/9909/9909008.pdf>.;+Rob+Kling+&+Geoffrey+McKim,+“Not+Just+a+Matter+of+Time:+Field+Differences+and+the+Shaping+of+Electronic+Media+in+Supporting+Scientific+Communication+(2000)”+(accepted+for+publication+in+the+Journal+of+the+American+Society+for+Information+Science).+.>Google Scholar

22 Ramsfield, Jill J., “Is ‘Logic’ Culturally Based? A Contrastive, International Approach to the U.S. Law Classroom,” 47 Journal of Legal Education 157 (1997).Google Scholar

23 Brown, John Seely & Duguid, Paul, The Social Life of Information 173–205 (2000).Google Scholar

24 For listings of student-edited, as well as peer review and trade, journals, see Anderson Publishing Company's online directory published at <http://www.andersonpublishing.com/lawschool/directory/>..>Google Scholar

25 Rodell, Fred, “Goodbye to Law Reviews,” 23 Virginia Law Review 38 (1936).Google Scholar

26 Hibbitts, Bernard J., “Last Writes? Reassessing the Law Review in the Age of Cyberspace,” 71 New York University Law Review 615 (1996) <http://www.law.pitt.edu/hibbitts/lastrev.htrn>; Bernard J. Hibbitts, “Yesterday Once More: Skeptics, Scribes and the Demise of Law Reviews,” 30 Akron Law Review 267 (1996) <http://www.law.pitt.edu/hibbitts/akron.htm>. For commentary by a prominent American legal historian, see Lawrence M. Friedman, “Law Reviews and Legal Scholarship: Some Comments,” 75 Denver University Law Review 661 (1998).Google Scholar

27 FindLaw indicates that there are presently about 31 general law school journals publishing some full text on the web. <http://lawschools.findlaw.com/journals/general.html>. The “Legal Journals on the Web” site maintained by the University of Southern California Law Library lists 20. <http://www.usc.edu/dept/law-lib/legal/journals.html> (Both sites checked on July 10, 2000)..+The+“Legal+Journals+on+the+Web”+site+maintained+by+the+University+of+Southern+California+Law+Library+lists+20.++(Both+sites+checked+on+July+10,+2000).>Google Scholar

Perhaps the most substantial commitment to electronic publication has been made by the Duke Law School. Since 1997, articles published in Duke's six student-edited journals have been published on the Law School's world wide web site, as well as in print. See <http://www.law.duke.edu/journals/>..>Google Scholar

28 See, for example, the Cornell Law School working papers site at <http://www4.law.cornell.edu/working-papers/>..>Google Scholar

29 Heretofore, the most significant development in publication of legal scholarship has been the establishment of law review databases on Lexis and Westlaw. Each of those services has developed substantial full text libraries of articles published in standard law reviews dating back for most journals to the early to mid-1990s.Google Scholar

30 Many of the working papers journals (and some of the subject journals) are listed as “forthcoming” on the SSRN web site, and a number of the subject matter journals are subsets of more encompassing journal titles. Some of the “forthcoming” journals do contain papers posted to the web site. (Site checked July 10, 2000.)Google Scholar

31 An up-to-date list of LSN site license holders is posted on the SSRN web site at <http://www.ssrn.com/update/lsn/lsn_site-licenses.html>..>Google Scholar

32 Figures posted on the SSRN web site (July 10, 2000).Google Scholar

33 LSN has circulated materials suggesting that the currently open downloading rights will be restricted within the “near future.”Google Scholar

34 It should be emphasized that LSN does not obtain exclusive rights to the scholarship it publishes, much of which is published also in law reviews; and is available electronically via Lexis and Westlaw, and on law school web sites or those of the authors themselves. LSN thus operates in a competitive market that already includes Lexis and Westlaw, and will probably include new electronic publishing alternatives from the law schools themselves. Yet, as in other Internet businesses, one should not be too quick to underestimate the importance of being first into a developing market. The first provider to develop a critical mass of papers or users could effectively block the efforts of other, perhaps better, providers simply because of the initial traffic it has created. Even if their papers are accessible elsewhere, scholars might want their papers posted on a major commercial service in order to be sure they are read.Google Scholar

35 The most prominent examples in the United States are Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute (<http://www.law.cornell.edu/>) and the Jurist site created by Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law (<http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/>).)+and+the+Jurist+site+created+by+Bernard+Hibbitts+at+the+University+of+Pittsburgh+School+of+Law+().>Google Scholar

36 The documents that make up the Santa Fe convention can be found on the Open Archives initiative web site at <http://www.openarchives.org/sfc/sfc_entry.htm>. For information about archiving software designed to meet Santa Fe Convention standards, see <http://www.eprints.org>..+For+information+about+archiving+software+designed+to+meet+Santa+Fe+Convention+standards,+see+.>Google Scholar