Journal of Law, Information and Science
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Journal of Law, Information and Science |
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By Irene Nemes and Graeme Coss
(Sydney: Butterworths, 1998)
The academic year has begun, and, as in past years, hundreds of law students are taking library tours as part of their legal training. In the early 1990s, these tours were relatively simple. The focus was on books: where to find them and how to use them. Students entering the Law Library already knew how to read a book and use an index or a table of contents, and adapting their existing skills to legal research was not difficult. At the end of the decade, however, things are more complicated. Students must not only familiarise themselves with the paper resources held in the library, they must also develop skills of a different kind altogether and learn new ways of unpicking legal research problems. These skills are needed for making the most effective use of the massive amounts of information now available in a bewilderingly diverse number of electronic formats.
Students learning the law, who have never used computers before, face a double challenge: not only must they master the intricacies of the law itself and the general techniques of legal research, they must also learn to use the most rewarding, yet sometimes the most frustrating, legal research tool—the computer. This intersection of the legal and the technological spheres—each with its own distinctive methodology, language, and concepts—can make learning to research the law far more taxing, and it is not only students who face this challenge. Practitioners, judges and academics who wish to keep up to date must also learn how to use both the new legal research software packages and the computers that allow access to the information they contain. Fortunately, there are many helpful books appearing which make this task much more manageable,[1] and Effective Legal Research is one of the very best.
Effective Legal Research has five main parts, supplemented with an introduction (chapter 1( and a brief section devoted to the internet (chapter 5). The five areas covered in detail are citation, searching strategies, secondary sources, case law and legislation. All of these parts cover both paper and electronic resources available to researchers interested in finding information on Australian law, and are described below.
This chapter contains an interesting and at times provocative approach to the issue of legal citation. It includes discussions on ethics, plagiarism, the challenges of citing electronic sources [the contents of which may change from one day to the next] and extends to suggestions for reform.
Chapters 3 and 4 suggest ways to organise and document a research plan, and include valuable tips on how to start (and when to stop) hunting for information. These chapters, which also contain a handy troubleshooting guide, provide an excellent coverage of basic searching techniques, and further, the authors continue to provide helpful tips and guidance on search strategies throughout all chapters of the book. This layering technique helps to reinforce and build up the skills of the user.
The chapter on electronic searching shows the student new to computer-assisted legal research how to exploit their computer’s ability to conduct high-speed keyword searches. Lateral thinking is emphasised and the student is encouraged to learn to ‘think’ like a computer when using Boolean logic and devising their search strings. This is one of the most important of the new skills needed for modern legal research, as it requires the researcher to move beyond the concept which interests them to consider the specific combination of words which will lead them to the cases, legislation or commentary they need. The worked practical examples provided in later parts of the book demonstrate the thinking process which is outlined in these chapters, and combine to give the reader a sound introduction to electronic searching.
Chapter 6 covers the use of library catalogues [OPAC systems] and the indexes and services which provide information, commentary and discussion of the law and associated legal topics in the form of textbooks, articles, dictionaries, law reform publications, legal encyclopaedias and current awareness services.
This chapter begins with sections on the different approaches to locating cases (by subject, legislative reference, or words and phrases.) It contains many examples showing how to find unreported judgments, casenotes, citations, and the latest case developments using online services and full-text databases. This chapter concludes with a useful table showing the location and coverage of paper and electronic resources available for each Australian state and federal jurisdiction.
The chapter on legislation is not restricted to simply finding and updating legislation, but also includes ways to find bills, second reading speeches and delegated legislation, as well as cases, journal articles and annotation services dealing with statutory provisions.
Nemes and Coss use a lively, direct and engaging style, and avoid any trace of a stuffy impersonal tone that could have made for tedium in a solid work of this kind. Nor do they confuse the reader with too much technical jargon. Where they do use technical terms, they provide clear explanations. The authors’ attitude to the modern electronic resources is refreshingly realistic and critical. They frankly acknowledge the shortcomings of both print and electronic-based materials, and suggest constructive ways of anticipating and dealing with these difficulties. Not only do Nemes and Coss display honesty about their subject matter; they also treat their readers with respect. Where they have made significant decisions about the style and coverage of the book or included pointed criticisms of traditional methods and recent developments, they provide reasoned arguments supporting their positions, and so enable readers to make up their own minds on the issues. In a technical manual like this such openness and care to avoid dogmatic pronouncements is very welcome.
Effective Legal Research emphasises flexibility, versatility and self-reliance. The writers are aware that different circumstances call for different strategies and the use of different resources. They frequently remind readers that there are usually many ways to find a given piece of information and they provide advice on diagnosing the best way to approach a research task. The fact that this book is well laid out also aids in this process. The use of flowcharts, graphics and icons as well as the special boxed features containing Warnings, Advice, Illustrations, Rules, Hints, and Problems help the reader to make the best use of the material. As is now becoming standard in works like this, Nemes and Coss use screen shots to show the reader what to expect from electronic materials and to help beginners to visualise the steps involved in a search.
One of the best features of this book is the use of worked exercises. This teaching technique does not merely tell students what to do, but shows them how a search works. The exercises focus attention on problems, and make the tasks and attendant difficulties real rather than potential or imaginary. The steps in each search, as well as the results they yield, are provided in these examples, so that it is possible to check that you are doing the steps correctly. I have tested several of these searches on databases that I am not familiar with, and can attest to their usefulness. With the worked examples as a guide, learners need never lose their step in the searching process or feel uncertain of their location in an unfamiliar database, and this security gives the confidence to try independent searches. The support to independent searching which this book provides is its greatest strength, because, as the authors correctly point out, legal research is essentially a self-learning process where success can be achieved only by practice.
Nemes and Coss have made two wise decisions: they have limited their scope to Australian law, and they cover both paper and electronic resources. This means that they have not had to sacrifice depth or completeness. Neither have the authors restricted themselves to writing a simple technical or generalised ‘how to’ guide: they take a critical, forward looking, and contextual approach. As experienced legal researchers themselves these writers have provided a manual which anticipates the pitfalls and, more importantly, identifies solutions to the most commonly occurring problems for real-world users faced with deadlines and other constraints of time, cost and lack of experience. Whether or not Effective Legal Research will spark a ‘new kind of debate amongst Australian scholars’ as the authors hope, the critical, practical, problem-solving approach to legal research contained in it will mark their book out as one of the most enduringly useful.
Julia Davis[∗]
[1] For example, S Dayal LDC Online 1997: Laying Down the Law Computer Assisted Research (Butterworths, Sydney 1997). Reviewed (1997) 8 JLIS 165.
[∗]Associate Lecturer, University of Tasmania Law School.
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