Some attorneys who are not at ease with computers may prefer books. Many younger lawyers, however, who have learned to conduct their research on primary law by using Lexis-Nexis or Westlaw, may want electronic formats. One direction a firm should not take is throwing its library of case reporters and code books away. Despite the wonderful advantages that CD-ROMs and online services have to offer a legal researcher, books are still essential. CD-ROM drives can fail to work, and sometimes technical difficulties keep a firm off the Web.
Books continue to be the leaders in reliability.
To answer this question, first assess your law firm's computer operating system and configuration. If you are still using DOS, you may have a limited selection of research choices. Second, determine whether attorneys at your firm need to conduct research in places other than the firm library. For example, if you often conduct research out of the office, then CD-ROMs and online services are ideal. Almost every computer sold now has a CD-ROM player, allowing its user to slip decades of California case law and codes into a briefcase for the weekend.