Now with the publishing of legislation in both print and electronic forms, there is a need for more structured systems for the production and maintenance of legislation data. We believe that this can best be achieved through the use of systems that facilitate computer based processing of legislation. It is intended as a starting point for discussion rather than as a prescriptive set of standards. LISC acknowledges that each jurisdiction has its own set of needs and circumstances and that the process of developing these systems will take time. We also propose a number of options which we believe will be beneficial in the shorter term.
Comments are welcome.
LISC would be happy to work with other interested parties to promote the achievement of these outcomes. The net result is that higher costs are imposed at all stages of publication and that electronic sources of legislation may not be as accurate, complete or as timely as is rightly expected by the user community. A best practice model Use data formats designed for computer based processing of legislation Increasingly, legislation is published in different print and electronic outputs. Legislation data should use a consistent, computer readable markup system to facilitate the use of automated publishing systems. Ideally this mark up would be based on public domain, non proprietary markup standards.