At the end of the study, all participants were invited to a seminar at which the draft findings were discussed. The study examined the purposes for and the manner in which lawyers use law reports and electronic information systems, before considering what they would wish to see in an electronic version of The Law Reports . While realising that the development and use of electronic media would necessarily have a significant impact on legal research culture, the users were concerned to ensure that any changes should be a development of existing legal culture and values rather than a radical departure from these. Users favoured evolutionary development rather than radical departure from paper systems, in particular desiring the electronic versions to be similar to paper ones, but with added features, and urged the development of common standards among publishers. There was also a desire for economic and ascertainable subscription systems.
Electronic law reports, legal information retrieval, CD-ROMs.
This is a refereed article published on 30 June 1997.