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Old 10-08-2010, 08:33 PM   #72
balok
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Québec, QC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John1997 View Post
Now, of course, research is all done in computer databases and I carry a small library around in my JBL Lite. I appreciate the efficiency, but I miss the experience of the books. I especially miss the ability to spread a dozen books around on the table all open to some important and related issue. It was so much easier to synthesize all those related thoughts when I could just glance at different books to see how different authors had handled the same issue.
I completely agree. I've found that I'm more efficient in legal research when using real books. In fact, as a young lawyer, I definitely think I have an edge over other lawyers my age who favour electronic tools and neglect printed volumes. Some inexperienced researchers will even miss important cases because their "keywords" in their database query, even when well chosen, were unable to bring forth all relevant results.

I don't see how an ebook reader could be of use to a lawyer, except possibly for reading entire treatises or long cases.
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