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Case Catalogue: A searchable online database of law reports, serials, statutes and encyclopadias has been created for the 7 partner institutions. This database (Case Catalogue) is accessible from the Case Gateway. [Back to top]
Document delivery pilot : Faced with the increasing cost of legal resources, specifically periodicals and e-journals, alternative means of resource provision have been explored. The Case Project examined sharing existing legal resources regionally through a document delivery pilot. This nine-month document delivery study has calculated and planned the possibility of large-scale resource sharing across the region, especially the cost-effectiveness of running such a service in comparison with existing document delivery services. The pilot has examined specifically what proportion of requests could be satisfied by law collections in project partner libraries. The pilot delivered documents electronically directly to the desktop of the requesting academic, through e-mail attachment (PDF), using scanning technology and Ariel software. [Back to top]
Collection descriptions: A database of collection descriptions/mapping has been created. This online database provides information indicating collection subject areas and highlights access and institution information (expanding existing RIDING information) for the 7 partner institutions primarily. These collection descriptions are searchable through legal subject headings and key words and quantatively indicate collection strengths and weaknesses (based on the database prototype for the FLAG Project). Users have the ability to search by specific subject within the legal field (ie: "trade regulation") and be given an indication of which institutions hold collections in this area. [Back to top]
Inside trial (working with British Library Document Supply Centre - BLDSC): The Project has worked with BLDSC on a trial of the document supply service Inside to consortium institutions, to explore the possible value of this product as a search, retrieve and document delivery tool for legal researchers and to evaluate the possible impact of such a tool on the community. This trial was offered to the region's legal academic researchers for a one-year period and was run from the Case Project's Inside Trial web pages. Investigation into similar document delivery products, including ZETOC, was also conducted. [Back to top]
Consortial purchase and/or online product customisation.
Negotiations with Butterworths were undertaken at the start of the project including discussions on consortial purchase (including cross-sectoral access) and possible customisation of an existing electronic legal product. However these discussions did not result in the creation of a customised product as feedback from academics suggested that such a product was unnecessary, and no progress was possible in negotiating a consortial discount. Subsequent negotiations with Cavendish Publishing resulted in four of the project partners participating in a trial of Cavendish's 'e-library' electronic book service, for which a consortial discount was arranged. The service is currently being trialled in the partner institutions and feedback will be obtained via management information. It is hoped that the project will provide an ongoing forum for increased and effective communication with publishers. [Back to top]Cross-sectoral collaboration: Through attending SINTO's Legal Information Group meetings, valuable contacts with staff from a variety of organisations (which deal with legal information) have been made and feedback on what they feel would be feasible and useful for the project to work on. The SINTO meeting highlighted the specific areas of mutual benefit involved in cross-sectoral collaboration that should impact the project and was an invaluable opportunity to collect the views of the users and providers of these services. Project staff have also begun attending meetings of the Leeds Law Librarians group in order to investigate cross-sectoral collaboration with law firms. A recent visit to a training event at the College of Law in York also provided an opportunity to investigate the possibility of collboration on Information Skills training. [Back to top]
Questionnaire/focus groups: A questionnaire was sent out to the region's academic legal researchers in June 2001 to identify their existing methods of locating research materials and to establish their present and future research needs. Feedback from legal academic researchers will be gathered first and formal information gathering will then be extended to cross-sectoral bodies (librarians (or equivalent) within FE, public libraries, law firms, government libraries, law society, etc). A summary of the findings of the questionnaire is available on the questionnaire web pages. A questionnaire was also used to gain feedback on the Inside trial. Results of the questionnaire indicated strong support for and satisfaction with the service. Finally, focus groups have taken place at several of the partner institutions in order to gain feedback on the project as a whole. [Back to top]
Case home page Project overview Documents & publicity Activities & progress Case Catalogue Document Delivery Inside Trial Case Gateway Site map Last updated: January 05, 2005
by Social Sciences Faculties Team, University of Leeds Library
lib-socsci@leeds.ac.uk
