The world of law is a world of information. Rules, judgments, decisions, interpretations, and agreements all involve using and communicating information. Today, we are experiencing a significant transition, from letters fixed on paper to information stored electronically. The digital era, where information is created, stored, and communicated electronically, is quickly approaching, if not already here. The future of law will no longer be found in impressive buildings and leather-bound books, but in small pieces of silicon, in streams of light, and in millions of miles of wires and cable. It will be a world of new relationships and greater possibilities for individual and group communication, an environment where the value of information increases as it is shared. In Law in a Digital world, M. Ethan Katsh explores how these new technologies will alter one of our most central institutions. He considers the different ways in which people will not only electronically read and write, but also interact with our vast storehouses of legal knowledge and information. He envisions how sounds and pictures will play into the largely imageless print world of law, and looks at the future importance of graphic and nontextual communication. He explores how the flexible, personalized organization of data will transform the way we gather information, and whether information can or cannot be contained, raising questions of copyright and privacy. What happens to the law when information is more plentiful and accessible? What happens to those people who suddenly have access to information never before available? Does the use of information in a new form change the institution, the user, and those who come in contact with the user? And, what role does the lawyer play in all of this? For citizens, for lawyers, for all those who will be part of the digital world rushing toward us, Katsh answers these questions while considering the implications of this new era.

Libraries are currently confronted by the challenges of managing increasing amounts of electronic information. Print vs. Digital: The Future of Coexistence presents the expert perspectives of eight of America’s leading library administrators on ways to effectively manage digital flow and offers strategies to provide a level of coexistence between digital and print information. This excellent overview explores how to best balance print and electronic resources, and explores important issues such as the selection of electronic resources, improving access to digital information for a larger user base, and effective management of a library’s fiscal and personnel resources. Print vs. Digital: The Future of Coexistence discusses the various challenges libraries now face from the massive influx of digital resources, including the ways that information-seeking behaviors have changed, the search for synergies between print and digital, economics of news preservation, and whether or not the end of print journals is at hand. New ideas and technological advances are explored, including the diverse ways these improvements will impact the future. This well-referenced resource includes useful tables, figures, and photographs. Topics in Print vs. Digital: The Future of Coexistence include: cooperative collection development balance of print and electronic resources evolvement of digital resources in libraries change in research libraries factors influencing the selection of electronic resources disseminating information about scholarly collections impact of digital resources on research behavior and techniques design of digital libraries JSTOR effects of digital information on reference collections transition of print journals to digital formats Print vs. Digital: The Future of Coexistence is a thought provoking, insightful resource on the future of libraries, invaluable for acquisitions, reference, and collection development librarians; and senior and mid-level administrators such as deans, directors, and department heads for public, special, and academic libraries.

The processes and forms of electronic publishing have been changing since the advent of the Web. In recent years, the open access movement has been a major driver of scholarly communication, and change is also evident in other fields such as e-government and e-learning. Whilst many changes are driven by technological advances, an altered social reality is also pushing the boundaries of digital publishing. With 23 articles and 10 posters, Elpub 2012 focuses on the social shaping of digital publishing and explores the interplay between culture and technology. This book contains the proceedings of the conference, consisting of 11 accepted full articles and 12 articles accepted as extended abstracts. The articles are presented in groups, and cover the topics: digital scholarship and publishing; special archives; libraries and repositories; digital texts and readings; and future solutions and innovations. Offering an overview of the current situation and exploring the trends of the future, this book will be of interest to all those whose work involves digital publishing.

This book, first published in 1999, analyses the convergence of financial, technical, and public policy considerations that turned what seemed like science fiction twenty years ago into a library fact of life today. It shows that while electronic publication greatly speeds issuance of important scientific results of enduring value, it also has the potential to lower the economic threshold at which crank papers and marginal publications can gain a wide, if sadly misled audience, in the short run. It demonstrates that while scientists invented the web, they no longer control it, and that even the very largest research organizations, libraries, publishers, and journal aggregators, will, to a substantial degree, be at the technological and economic mercy of commercial users of the web.