Oregon Legal Research Blog
Some articles speak for themselves:
From: Law – “Finding Accurate Law Text Online Nearly Impossible” (from the Indiana Law Blog):
Excerpt: ‘… It sounded easy. Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s counsel, Denley Chew, slapped down some $2 bills and challenged a room of lawyers and legal researchers with laptops and iPhones to find the authoritative text of the landmark Fugitive Slave Act online.
“Authoritative” was the catch. The money remained untouched.
Panelists declared that finding accurate text of a law—on government websites, LexisNexis, Westlaw—is almost impossible. The recession forced state and federal governments to post laws online rather than print them. But Mary Alice Baish, government relations director for the American Association of Law Libraries, says there is no national or international body that ensures those online postings are accurate or updated with amendments.
“I don’t think the problem will end until someone sues over because the decision was a $10 million case was based on an inaccurate version of a law,” Chew said. “Until that market solution, we’ll be dealing with cracks and fissures.”…’ (read full post)