Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/87421
The Challenges of E-Books in Law Firm Libraries LexisNexis Lexis determined early on that they were in the content business and partnered with Overdrive — the largest aggregator in the e-book market — to create an additional solution to provide access to their legal titles. Before they signed the agreement with Overdrive, Lexis' e-books were available through the online Lexis store only, which is still an option. They're also available using the library management through Overdrive. We were given the opportunity to test the desk book "New York Civil Practice Law and Rules" (NY CPLR), popularly known as the "Redbook" (see sidebar for more information). But talk about complicated! These are the steps necessary to obtain a single copy. • The end user must register on the Lexis website. • When logged on to the website, they must then search for a title. • Select the appropriate format (EPUB, Mobi or PDF). You have to know which to select for your device, and not all lawyers — very few, in fact — are technically savvy. • The user must have an e-reader installed on their device. • Download the file to a folder where it can be found at a later time. • In order to read the e-book on a device, the user must sync the device with their computer. • If the user is subscribed to updates, they will receive email messages instructing them when and how to download updates. • The user can read the book using the iBook application, and the e-book appears in the user's iBooks library. No busy lawyer is interested in doing anything that requires that many steps! In addition, since this was an iPilot trial and the users were only able to sync with their personal computers, they would have the additional challenge of doing all of this from home. The process did not bode well as an introduction to e-books at our firm. What's a Desk Book? The NY CPLR is an example of a desk book. These are generally paperback titles that are issued annually or semi-annually and made available to lawyers as copies to keep in their offices. These books tend to be heavily used titles such as court rules or certain annotated codes like the Collier's bankruptcy set, or "New York Laws Governing Business Entities." Our firm provides 25 different titles of desk books from six different vendors. All other titles in the library have one or two copies and are checked out in the usual way. AALL/ILTA White Paper 69