Legal Information and the Open Web
It was recently stated in these pages that access to legal information is growing and anything but grim. It was further posited that one can now get online and fairly easily find legal information. I do not contend the fact that the amount of legal information found online is growing, or that it can found easily. I would suggest however, that the type, usability and quality of legal information found freely online, and the ease with which one can access such information is something that should be given greater pause for consideration.
Issues related to conducting free web-based research for information have been identified by members of the health and medical professions, and I would suggest that similar conclusions can be drawn when considering a similar type of search for freely available legal information. Such shortcomings when relying on free web-based research would include, (i) the uneven quality of legal information available on the Internet; (ii) difficulties in finding, understanding and using this information; (iii) lack of access for the unconnected population; and (iv) the potential for harm in misapplying information found on the open web. To be able to overcome these shortcomings, it is important that practitioners and professionals be involved in the design, dissemination and evaluation of web-based legal information and resources. Equally important is that the limitations in providing information via this medium be acknowledged, and in turn that alternate methods or modes of access to legal information continue to be supported and explored.
A number of reputable organizations across the country have and continue to make great efforts in creating and offering a variety of web-based content that is useful to individuals who have a legal information need, be it aimed at members of the general public, self represented litigants, legal researchers or members of the legal profession. Such efforts include making court or procedural guides developed by the courts freely available, posting prescribed court forms in a useable format, compiling tip-sheets and FAQ type databases, and making copies of case law and legislation freely available. Even with such efforts as these in place, it has been found that for one group to whom many of these efforts are targeted (self represented litigants), no matter how complete, comprehensive and user friendly they may be, online resources are insufficient to meet SRL needs for face to face orientation, education and other support (see: Final Report: Identifying and Meeting the Need of Self-Represented Litigants, Dr. Julie MacFarlane). Certainly it would be fair to say that the breadth and depth of information found on the open web that is aimed at members of the legal profession, also has its limits.
When considering the type of information that is freely available online, one will soon notice that though things like current case law and legislation are freely available, the tools that explain and help us apply the law are generally not. The web-based tools that provide this type of added value are by and large subscription based, or “fee” rather than “free” based research tools. Undoubtedly the relevancy, accuracy and currency of information are crucial factors when conducting legal research, and unsurprisingly the accuracy and authority of information in these fee-based tools is far easier to qualify than that which can be found on the open web (as a drastic example, consider citing the Wikipediaentry on Constitutional law versus citing Hogg’s Constitutional Law in Canada). Acknowledging this shortage of freely available secondary content, CanLII launched CanLII Connects in April 2014, a website that offers case digests and commentary. This is a commendable addition to legal resources on the open web, yet even though the legal information landscape is changing, the characteristics of effective and efficient legal research will remain the same: One must still be able to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively use information for their issue or problem at hand.
In an open and endless world wide web, finding information and answers is seemingly easy. Again, one must not simply be able to locate information, but rather be able to confidently identify the information found as being accurate and relevant, and to see the interconnectedness of (re)search results. This task is not always easy to do when relying on sources found on the open-web. The gathering of information is but one aspect of legal research, and the additional requirements of effective and efficient research call for the right tools, time and indeed a particular skill set.
Ultimately, the open-web can be a helpful tool with which to conduct legal research. An Internet connection does not equate to “access to justice” however, and posting information online does not make it useful simply by virtue of its existence, nor is there any guarantee that posted information will be found, that it will be identified as relevant, or that it will be understood or applied correctly. Practitioners and professionals should continue to take an active role in improving the legal information landscape of the open-web, yet the limitations in providing information via this medium must be acknowledged, and alternate methods or modes of access to legal information must also continue to be supported and explored.
Dale, a member of the Alberta Law Libraries team, takes a particular interest in considering the Internet - the latest in a series of major information breakthroughs - and the resulting "information hall of mirrors" it has created.