whatislegalinformationconferencepaperfinalWord文件下载.docx
- 文档编号:6811202
- 上传时间:2023-05-07
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:10
- 大小:21.02KB
whatislegalinformationconferencepaperfinalWord文件下载.docx
《whatislegalinformationconferencepaperfinalWord文件下载.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《whatislegalinformationconferencepaperfinalWord文件下载.docx(10页珍藏版)》请在冰点文库上搜索。
byRobRichards
Abstract
Thispaperoffersanew,formaldefinitionof“legalinformation,”intendedtoexhibitninecharacteristicsidentifiedasbeingdesirable.Motivesfordevisinganewdefinitionof“legalinformation”includeenablingautomateddiscoveryandorganizationoflaw-relatedinformation,fosteringinterdisciplinaryresearchrespectingsuchinformation,andenablinglawlibrarianstospecifythebasisoftheirprofessionalexpertiseandtolimitthescopeoftheircollectionsandservices.Threepreviouslydevised,formaldefinitionsof“legalinformation”areevaluatedandtheirshortcomingsidentified.Anewdefinitionof“legalinformation”isthensetout,withexamples.Next,thepaperdiscussesapotentialcontroversyrespectingasubcategoryoflaw-relatedinformation:
ostensiblynon-law-relatedinformationthatacquireslegalsignificancebyvirtueofbeingusedtosupportastatementaboutlaw.Apotentialapproachtothatcontroversyissuggested,involvingtheuseoftheeconomicconceptofcomparativeadvantage.
I.Introduction
Asurprisingfeatureoflibraryandinformationscienceliteraturerespecting“legalinformation”isthescarcityofformaldefinitionsofthatterm.Inanattempttopartiallyremedythisgapintheliterature,thispaperproposesanew,formaldefinitionof“legalinformation.”InpartII,severalreasonsfordevisingaformaldefinitionof“legalinformation”arediscussed.PartIIIproposesninecharacteristicsofausefuldefinitionoftheterm.PartIVidentifiestheshortcomingsofthreepreviouslydeviseddefinitionsof“legalinformation.”InPartV,anewdefinitionofthetermissetout,withexamples.PartVIidentifiesapotentiallycontroversialsubcategoryoflaw-relatedinformation,andproposesamethod,utilizingtheeconomicconceptofcomparativeadvantage,fordealingwiththatcontroversy.
II.WhyDefine“LegalInformation”?
Whydeviseaprecisedefinitionof“legalinformation”?
Onereasonistoenableautomatedsearchandretrieval.Aneffectivedefinitioncouldbebuiltintosoftwareprogramsthatdiscoverandorganizelaw-relatedinformation.
Asecondreasonfordefining“legalinformation”istofosterinterdisciplinaryscholarlyresearch.Totheextentthatadefinitionof“legalinformation”accordswiththedefinitionof“information”usedinotherdisciplines,thedefinitionof“legalinformation”candelimitafieldofinquiryandprovideacommonlyrecognizedmoniker.Thedefinitioncantherebyenableresearch,andcommunicationaboutsuchresearch,respectinglaw-relatedinformation,byandamongscholarsinlawandotherdisciplines.
Athirdreasonfordefining“legalinformation”liesintheeconomicsoflawlibrarianship.Lawlibrarians’mostimportanteconomicasset—thefactorthatdistinguishesusfromotherworkers—is,arguably,ourexpertiseinprovidinglegalinformationservices.Ineconomicterms,legal-informationexpertisejustifiesournicheinthedivisionoflaborandconstitutesour“comparativeadvantage.”Comparativeadvantageteachesthatgiventwoworkerswithdifferentlevelsofabilityrespectingtwodifferenttasks,thedecisionbyeachworkertospecializeinthetaskwhichheorshecanaccomplishatrelativelylowercostcomparedtotheotherworker,willresultingreatercombinedoutput,thanifeachworkerhadspentequaltimeonbothtasks.Ifexpertiseinlegalinformationservicesconstitutesthebasisoflawlibrarians’comparativeeconomicadvantage,thenlawlibrariansshouldprioritizethemaintenanceofthatexpertise,andpublicizethatexpertisesothatthenatureoflawlibrarians’contributionisknowntoourparentorganizations.Inorderforlawlibrarianstomaintainexpertknowledgeinthefieldoflaw-relatedinformation,andcrediblyassertsuchknowledge,wemustbeablewithsomeprecisiontodelimittheboundariesofthatfield.Aprecisedefinitionof“legalinformation”delimitsthoseboundaries.
Afourthreasonfordevisinganewdefinitionof“legalinformation”istofurnishindividuallawlibrarieswithatoolforlimitingthescopeoftheircollectionsandservices.Afifthreasonfordevelopingsuchadefinitionisthatthefewdefinitionsdevisedsofarappeartolackoneormoreofthetraitsofausefuldefinitionof“legalinformation”discussedbelow.
III.CharacteristicsofaUsefulDefinitionof“LegalInformation”
Whattraitsshouldadefinitionof“legalinformation”have?
First,thedefinitionarguablyshouldbeconsistentwithinformationscientists’andcomputerscientists’definitionof“information,”inordertofosterinterdisciplinaryresearch.Suchadefinitioncouldenableresearch,andcommunicationaboutsuchresearch,respectinglaw-relatedinformation,byandamongthoseinlaw,informationscience,computerscience,andotherdisciplinesthatshareacommonunderstandingof“information.”Thoughtherearemanyscholarlydefinitionsofinformation,anumberofsuchdefinitions,andinparticularthosestatedintwoleadinginformationsciencereferenceworks,define“information”asdatathathasbeenprocessed,andthemorerecentoftheseworksaddsthattheprocessingmustbesuchastorenderthedatameaningfultohumansormachines.Accordingly,ourdefinitionof“legalinformation”willincludeadefinitionof“information”as“datathathasbeenprocessedintoameaningfulform.”
Second,thedefinitionof“legalinformation”shouldincludeaformaldefinitionof“law,”becausearelationshipto“law”isanessentialcharacteristicofsuchinformation,and“law”isacomplextopicwhich,absentadefinition,islikelytobemisunderstoodbynon-lawresearchersandmachines.Third,thejurisdiction(s)andlegaltraditionstowhichthedefinitionappliesshouldbestated.Thereasonisthattheconceptoflaw,andthecategories,genres,andcontextsoflaw-relatedinformation,maydifferconsiderablyamongjurisdictionsandtraditions.Thenewdefinitionproposedherewillinitiallyapplyonlytocommonlawjurisdictions.
Fourth,thedefinitionarguablyshouldencompassallofthekindsofinformationthatpersonsengagedinlaw-relatedactivities—suchaslawyers,judges,lawprofessors,etc.—commonlyuseinthoseactivities,orthatareavailablefortheiruse.Apreliminaryreviewoftheprofessionalliteratureonlaw-relatedinformationuse,andoflegalbibliographies,publishinghistories,andlegalpublishers’cataloguesforcommonlawjurisdictions,suggeststhatpersonsengagedinlaw-relatedactivitycommonlyhaveused,orhavehadavailabletothem,informationthat(a)expresseslaw,(b)expressessomethingaboutlaw,(c)expressessomethingaboutlaw-relatedindividuals—suchaslawyers,judges,lawprofessors,etc.—ororganizationsorinstitutions—amongthemcourts,lawfirms,lawschools,associationsoflegalprofessionals,etc.,or(d)enablesthefindingofinformationincategories(a),(b),or(c).Thatis,adefinitionof“legalinformation”shouldincludethetraditionalcategoriesofprimaryandsecondarylegalresourcesandfindingaidsforthem,aswellasresourcesaboutlaw-relatedpeopleandcorporatebodiesandfindingaidsforthem.
Ournewdefinitionrequiresanadjustmenttothetraditional“findingaids”category,totheextentthatthiscategoryoverlapswithcategory(b),“informationthatexpressessomethingaboutlaw.”“Metadata”referringtoprimarylegalresources—thatis,descriptiveinformationaboutlaw,suchascasecitationsorheadnotes—areboth“findingaids”and“informationthatstatessomethingaboutlaw.”Toeliminatethisoverlap,inourdefinitionthemeaningofcategory(d)willbechangedto“informationthatexpressessomethingaboutinformationincategories(b)or(c).”
Fifth,thedefinitionof“legalinformation”shouldembracealloftheformsandcontextsofcommunicationinwhichsuchinformationiscreatedorused.Amongthesecontextsarethe“parts”orstagesoftraditionalrhetoric,ofwhichlawlibrariansaremostactivelyinvolvedin“[i]nvention,”orthe“discoveryofvalid...argumentstorenderone’scauseplausible.”Thedefinitionshouldalsoembraceformal,semiformal,andinformalcommunicationgenres,fromthetraditionalpublishedresourcesidentifiedincategories(a)through(d)above,throughunpublishedandsemipublishedgenressuchasinternalofficefiles,litigationdocuments,preprints,datasets,andmanuscripts.
Sixth,thedefinitionarguablyshouldaccountforallofthelevelsoftheinformationhierarchyrespectingwhichtheresourcesdescribedaboveareused.Thatis,thedefinitionshouldinclude
(1)aggregationsofindividualresources(referredtohereinafterasthe“collectionlevel”),suchasamonographicsetorseriesliketheU.S.SerialSetorWest’sNutshellSeries,oracollectionofpersonalpapers;
(2)individualresources(the“documentlevel”),suchasaslipopinionorajournalarticle;
and(3)componentsofindividualresources(the“subdocumentlevel”),suchastheholdingofacourtopinion,theseverabilityclauseofastatute,orasectionofatreatise.Accommodatingthesubdocumentlevelisespeciallyimportantbecauseofthefrequencyofuseoflaw-relatedinformationatthatlevel,andbecausedigitalinformationstructuresenablediscoveryandretrievalofinformationatthatlevel.
Seventh,thedefinitionof“legalinformation”arguablyshouldbeformatneutral.Thereasonsaretoensuretheutilityofthedefinitiongiventhevarietyofformatsoflaw-relatedinformationandtherapiddevelopmentofnewmedia,andtoensurethecompatibilityofthedefinitionwithotherformat-neutralinformationtools,suchastheFunctionalRequirementsforBibliographicRecords.
Eighth,adefinitionof“legalinformation”arguablyshouldno
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- whatislegalinformationconferencepaperfinal
链接地址:https://www.bingdoc.com/p-6811202.html