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Bar News - December 13, 2002 Casemaker Web Library Lauded by Librarians, Users LAUNCHED ON DECEMBER 2, the New Hampshire Bar Association's Casemaker Web Library was quickly checked out by scores of Bar members eager to road test the newest member service - a free online library of New Hampshire case law and other resources. Casemaker provides access to New Hampshire Supreme Court opinions dating back to 1872 - the most comprehensive coverage of NH case law offered by a non-commercial database - as well as administrative regulations, the 2002 Chaptered version of the RSAs, court rules, and more New Hampshire material to come. A one-hour introduction to Casemaker will be held at the NHBA Midyear Membership Meeting on Fri., Jan. 24 at 4:40 p.m. The session is free to NHBA members and is eligible for NHMCLE credit. Within hours of the distribution of the NH Bar E-Bulletin e-mail newsletter announcing the opening of the NHBA Casemaker library, Bar members were responding by e-mail with favorable comments. "Casemaker is awesome," wrote Benjamin D. Frost, a Bar member and a senior planner in the NH Office of State Planning. "So far, [Casemaker] has flawlessly done everything I've asked. Having other states' databases also available is a pleasant surprise. It makes me happy to see my dues being used in such a tangible and beneficial way (in addition to the terrific service you all provide!). Thanks to the Bar for offering this important and useful service to its members." The Casemaker service is made possible by a consortium of bar associations in which the individual bars finance the posting of materials of their choice for their specific libraries and all share the use of a proven, easy-to-use search engine and other software originally developed for the Ohio State Bar Association. In addition to providing no-cost access to their own state's research materials, the Casemaker concept enables users to access any of the other state libraries in the Casemaker system, as well as federal case law and other materials. New Hampshire Bar members should note that Casemaker's presence is particularly strong in New England. Libraries for Massachusetts and Connecticut are already online, with Vermont and Rhode Island libraries to be offered early in 2003, and Maine's library to be added in the summer of 2003. Currently, the libraries of seven states (including New Hampshire) are online, with another five coming online next year. More than 160,000 lawyers who are members of participating bar associations have access to Casemaker. An influential reviewer of law reference materials recently published a "rave review" of Casemaker, suggesting it has "the greatest potential to fundamentally transform the world of online legal research in the United States." Kendall F. Svengalis, author of the Legal Information Buyer's Guide & Reference Manual 2002, reviewed Casemaker in the latest update of his reference book. Svengalis, the former librarian for the Rhode Island Supreme Court, commented favorably on the content and format of the libraries, as well as on the Casemaker consortium concept. (A more complete excerpt of Svengalis' comments will appear in the December issue of NH Bar Journal.) "Content is selected in consultation with each state bar association and, as such, it reflects the specific needs and desires of the practitioners in those states. The Casemaker search engine employs an intuitive technology that includes both Boolean and natural language protocols, a Thesaurus function, and a case history citator. It is simple to navigate and allows users to conduct searches or browse through the documents in each database, a feature not found in most online services," Svengalis wrote. Svengalis, noting the accelerating number of states joining the Casemaker consortium, said the collaborative nature of the product will enable Casemaker to become more useful as more states join. "... As it develops a national database of primary law, Casemaker will satisfy the needs of most attorneys for a low-cost online legal research service. In fact, Casemaker may very well become the dominant influence in the market for online legal research." According to Casemaker officials, Maine, which joined the consortium in November, became the seventh state to join in 2002. Several other states are also considering joining, officials said. Launched by the Ohio State Bar Association in 1999, Casemaker is a unique online legal research tool with a powerful search engine providing access to a combination of state and federal materials. Casemaker is changing the way many lawyers conduct legal research, and it is leveling the playing field to provide to more attorneys access to reliable and affordable online legal research. Because Casemaker is a member benefit with no additional monthly or hourly charges, it has the potential to drastically reduce law firm overhead expenses for legal research. Future enhancements to Casemaker for New Hampshire will include the addition of past issues of Bar Journal and publications of the NHBA Ethics Committee. Convenient off-line access to Casemaker will also be available through a CD-ROM version, to be updated quarterly. "We believe members wishing to use the CD-ROM version for 'off-line' access will be amazed at the low subscription price," said NHBA Executive Director Jeannine L. McCoy. To introduce Casemaker, the NHBA will be offering brief training sessions to be held at local and county bar meetings or at other gatherings, in addition to the training session to be held at the Midyear Meeting. But Bar members don't need to wait for the training sessions to try out Casemaker - see below for instructions on how to access the service through the NHBA Web site. Give Casemaker a Try THE NHBA CASEMAKER site is easily accessible through the home page of the Bar's Web site. Simply click on the Casemaker logo at the top right of the home page, then enter your username and password. (Contact nhbainfo@nhbar.org for member password information.) If you have not logged in before, you will see a second screen prompting you to change your username and password. If you change your password, please use something easy to remember. Users must review the "End-User License Agreement" for Casemaker and click on the button "Accept Terms" to enter the library itself. Then take Casemaker for a spin!
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