A history of efforts to provide digital access to scholarly and legal materials; lessons for the future

…is “the driver for thinking about information.” “[T]here will be no access through time without preservation.” Preserving Legal Materials in Digital Formats (2005)

Authentication Preservation Accessibility Basic Issues for Legal Texts

Legal Research = Search for Authority

“How can I get this stuff?” Little published U.S. case law Reliance on English cases Kirby’s Reports (1789): first “fully developed” volume of state law reports in the U.S.

“Here comes the stuff!” Requirements for written opinions Appointments of official reporters Wheaton v. Peters (1834) Banks v. Manchester (1888) James Kent

“Whoa!! There’s way too much of this stuff!” “multiplicity of reports” Official v. unofficial West Publishing Co.

“The West Century” “It is the work of the National Reporter System to make most available to the legal profession the law as the courts enunciate it, – to collect, arrange in an orderly manner and put into convenient and inexpensive form in the shortest possible time, the material which every judge and lawyer must use.” John B. West, A Symposium of Law Publishers (1889)

Rise of the great law libraries at law schools and bar associations Harvard Law Library Federal Depository Library Program (est. 1813) Unknown Book Lover

“ The materials of our law seem to be marked by an accelerating birth rate, an almost non-existent mortality rate, and a serious resistance to contraception on the part of both judges and legislators…” Morris L. Cohen (1969)

New Questions/ Same Questions “How can I get this stuff?” “There’s (still) way too much of this stuff!” “Where did this stuff come from?” “Where did it go?”

Does anyone care? “While the issue of authenticated legal information appears to be of essential importance, are these really concerns for judges and attorneys? For most attorneys, free seems to be the guiding force, so accuracy and authenticity fall behind the desire for free legal information.” Jason Wilson, “Screw authenticity. I just want it for free.”

Authentication Preservation Accessibility Basic Issues for Legal Texts

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