evaluation form

Mirela Roznovschi
Reference Librarian for Foreign and International Law
New York University School of Law Library

HOW TO EVALUATE A LEGAL DATABASE ON THE INTERNET
(Evaluation Form for Foreign and International Legal Databases)

. DATABASE NAME:
. DATABASE SUBJECT :
. DATABASE ADDRESS:
. DATE OF EVALUATION:
. NAME OF THE PERSON EVALUATING THE DATABASE:
. NAME OF THE PERSON MONITORING THE DATABASE:
. OFFICIAL CITATION: (see as a model ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law)
. CONTACT PERSON:

CONTENT
- Full text database? Index and abstracts? Index only?
- Language
- Are data in -- vernacular? -- translation? - both?
- Is there an abstract in English? -Is there an abstract in any other language?
-Who is the author/Publisher? -- Is there a statement of authority?
-Government?
-University?
-Legal Institution?
-Private vendor?
-A "Samaritan" provider?
-What is the source of data?
--Is there a guarantee of content authenticity, e.g. electronic signature on imaged pages?
--Does the database indicate the page of the printed document? Is there an imaged version of the official page in pdf format? --Is there an HTML version? -- Both (HTML and PDF)?
-Accuracy
--Is the information current?
--Is the information correct? -- Comprehensiveness? (Fully or partially?)--Is the content as reliable as its printed counterpart? --Does the resource have an organization or expert behind? -- Are there errors or omissions in the documents? --Are there misspellings or grammatical errors? --- Are the links current?
-Currency
--Is the document or the Home Page dated? --When was the last time updated? --Are resources maintained? --How often are they updated? --Does the organization have a commitment to ongoing maintenance and stability of the resource?
-Coverage
--What are the dates covered?
- Quality of Information --
- Access methods--

SEARCH QUALITY
-Is there a link to an external search engine or is there a search engine embedded in the database?
-Is there a built in Thesaurus? --Separate? -- Hidden? -Easy to use?
-Search engine capability:

-Boolean logic?
-Fuzzy logic?
-Natural language processing?
-Concept based searching?
-Any search restrictions (date, court, region, etc.)?
-Effect of misspelling?
-Displaying results (any special software required?)
-False drops?

ARCHIVES
- Will the provider keep data for --unlimited time? -- limited accumulation? -- Archived by another provider?who? -Adequacy -- is the material comprehensive? Are old archives loaded? Are hyperlinks to detailed documentation available ? Are these materials searchable?
-Do agreements allow the library to make/obtain digital copies of content for archiving and use in perpetuity?

SIGNIFICANT ADDED VALUE OVER PRINT EQUIVALENTS
- More current data?
-More extensive content?
-Greater functionality?
-Greater access capability (delivered rapidly, remotely, at any time)?
-Improved resource sharing due to the ubiquity of digital resources?
-Easy to archive, replace, preserve?
-Does the collection contain a sufficient critical mass to evaluate its utility and to justify its selection?
-Is the information eventually provided in multiple formats?(email, fax, pdf or others) and if so, are there possibilities of free downloading software (pdf case)? --Are there different methods to sort and store for the future? -- Is there full contact info in every screen?

LICENSING
- Does the database allow fair use of all information for non-commercial, educational, instructional and research purposes, by authorized users, including unlimited viewing, downloading, printing?
-Is the number of simultaneous users limited?

ARCHIVING
- Agreements should state archival responsibility
- Agreements should allow [the institution name] to make/obtain digital printed copies of content for archiving and for use in perpetuity

COSTS AND PRICING
--What is the cost? - -- Are there any hidden costs?
-How much of the cost is attributable to:
1. licensing the content
2. providing access
-The cost it is not supposed to be more than the printed analog (prefer to maintain one paper copy plus electronic version at no more than current cost).

WORKABILITY OR VIEWING, PRINTING and DOWNLOADING
-User friendliness? -Any special software required? - If yes, can this software be easily acquired, installed, manipulated? -Password? -Network requirements? --Browsability and organization (by subject, format, chronology, etc.)?

RELIABILITY and STABILITY
- Does the database fluctuate during different times of the day?
-Is there a mirror site? (It might be better to use more than one location)

INTERACTIVITY WITH THE USER
- Are there interactive files such as Forms? -Cgi scripts? -Perl programs? -Are they helpful?

SEARCH QUALITY -Is there a link to an external search engine or is there a search engine embedded in the database? -Is there a built in Thesaurus? --Separate? -- Hidden? -Easy to use? -Search engine capability:

-Boolean logic? -Fuzzy logic? -Natural language processing? -Concept based searching? -Any search restrictions (date, court, region, etc.)? -Effect of misspelling? -Displaying results (any special software required?) -False drops?

LICENSING - Does the database allow fair use of all information for non-commercial, educational, instructional and research purposes, by authorized users, including unlimited viewing, downloading, printing? -Is the number of simultaneous users limited?

ARCHIVING - Agreements should state archival responsibility - Agreements should allow [the institution name] to make/obtain digital printed copies of content for archiving and for use in perpetuity

WORKABILITY OR VIEWING, PRINTING and DOWNLOADING -User friendliness? -Any special software required? - If yes, can this software be easily acquired, installed, manipulated? -Password? -Network requirements? --Browsability and organization (by subject, format, chronology, etc.)?

RELIABILITY and STABILITY - Does the database fluctuate during different times of the day? -Is there a mirror site? (It might be better to use more than one location)