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Scope of Content is Confounding
by Carole Levitt, J.D., M.L.S. |
After 15 years of anticipation and demonstrations of online databases in beta-test, it has finally happened. The Los Angeles Daily Journal (and indeed all of the Daily Journal Corporation's California Newspapers and most of its other products) is now online at http://www.dailyjournal.com.
Other legal newspapers were online since the 80's: In 1985, after relocating to Los Angeles (from Chicago) to take a position as a law librarian at Pepperdine University School of Law, one of the first online resources that I looked for was the local legal newspaper, the Los Angeles Daily Journal (DJ). In Chicago, I was used to accessing the city's daily legal newspaper online via Lexis. However, I soon learned that the Los Angeles legal newspaper was not available via Lexis. Instead, the DJ had a plan in place to create a searchable database of its own.
So I waited for the online DJ. Some years later, I saw a demonstration of the Daily Journal's proposed dial-in service (pre-Internet). So I waited. Then, in late 1999 I was invited to a demonstration of a web-based Los Angeles Daily Journal that was supposed to be available to the legal community in Spring 2000. So, I waited. Then it was postponed until summer 2000. So, I waited.
Then it was coming in fall 2000. In fact, while I was at the Daily Journal/Glasser Legal Works Conference in October 2000, I saw a demonstration of the DJ's online site, now known as the perennially “coming soon” service. I even knew librarians who were actually using it in San Diego (where it had been in beta test). So I waited.
On Monday, December 4, I knew the waiting was finally over. Near the bottom of the DJ's front page, I noticed a small article under the inauspicious headline “Website goes online." With so many web sites being added to the web on a daily basis, I nearly skipped over the story, thinking it was just another web site and not THE web site that the Los Angeles legal community has been waiting for. If I had not been anticipating the launch of the Daily Journal's web site, I might have missed the story altogether. This was the announcement that the DJ had officially entered the digital age? The next day, when I recovered from the shock, I tested out the site in order to write this review.
But, first you need to register: The DJ sent letters to all print subscribers of the newspaper to inform them of the site's existence and the need to obtain passwords. (See the “Note to Readers” below) Passwords were then mailed to each subscriber who took the time to register via postal mail, and then a brief online registration procedure was required. One password is issued for each subscription to the DJ newspaper. Subscribers to the print version of the DJ's Court Rules can also receive passwords, but only for access to the Court Rules section of the site.
Free or Freely Accessible? While the online site has been touted as “free” to those who pay for a subscription to the print newspaper, it would be more accurate to say that it is freely accessible to print subscribers. Because there is no option for an online-only subscription, the print subscription charge may be considered by some as payment for access to the online site. And, print subscribers do not have a total free ride once they've gained access—certain sections of the site are fee-based. There has been much confusion over this. For example, one has free access to the online Court Rules if one subscribes to the print Rules. On the other hand, there is no free access to the online “Judicial Profiles” even for print Judicial Profile subscribers. Even those (users and potential users with whom I spoke) who understand the need to charge still thought that the DJ's $15 per Profile was very high. Finally, subscribers to the print newspaper can search and view only selective current news articles free. To view a story from the archives the fee is $2. The charge did not seem too high to many librarians I spoke to, though they would have preferred free, or at least a pricing structure more in line with the Los Angeles Times' archives where any story up to 14 days old can be viewed and printed free (even by non-subscribers). Based on the confusion I encoutered in my conversations with researchers over these pricing and access structures, it is clear that the Daily Journal needs to do a better job of explaining its access and pricing policies.
Warning: Charges Apply: In the fee-based sections, such as the “Verdicts & Settlements” section, a message to “Click on case name to view case report” also includes a warning that “Charges apply when case report is viewed”. But, the warning is at the bottom of the screen, and could easily be missed by someone who clicks to view a story at the top of the page. To avoid sticker shock when the invoice arrives, the warning should be prominent at the top of the page, in addition to the bottom.
