Based on discussions with owners of some of the older law lists, the first list for substantive law discussions on the Internet was probably INFO-LAW, moderated by Mike Muuss of the Army Ballistics Research Lab, though the exact date of its inception is unknown. Since its existence, subscribers have shared information about grading, course materials, mentoring, curricula, use of computers for taking exams, cheating, etc. The same phenomenon occurred in the law library profession. LAW-LIB was set up in March 1990 for a few colleagues to talk about law library issues that often had to wait until regional meetings or conventions. With the increasing number of law lists on the Internet, it is hard to determine exactly which ones exist, what topics they cover, and how to subscribe to them.
Attempts have been made to verify that the lists included do indeed exist.
Several guides to creating, announcing, and running electronic discussion lists are available in hardcopy and electronic format. Careful planning before starting a list can prevent headaches for listowners later on. But the existence of lists on law-related topics is beneficial to all, subscriber and listowner, as law lists greatly facilitate exchange of information important to legal research, teaching, practice, librarianship, and law work generally. Footnotes 1 .