Vol. 34, No. 5, 62. Information Connection.

• Author: by Kristen M. Karr, JD, MLIS Electronic Services Law Librarian Wyoming State Law Library

Wyoming Bar Journal

2011.

Vol. 34, No. 5, 62.

Information Connection

Wyoming LawyerIssue: October, 2011Information Connectionby Kristen M. Karr, JD, MLIS Electronic Services Law Librarian Wyoming State Law LibraryE-Books and Their Future

I'm sure you've heard that Amazon's best selhng product last year was its Kindle e-book reader. Apple gave us the iPad. The Motorola Zoom tablet is capturing the eye of mobile technology experts. Maybe you've even purchased one of these mobile devices already.

Yes, I know you're attached to those margin scribblings, highlighted passages and sticky notes. But let's face it, those reference books are not getting any lighter. If you could transfer your whole bookshelf to an electronic device and have it with you at all times, then why wouldn't you? This is exactly the type of thinking on which legal publishers are now betting.

What Legal Publishers are Doing Now

Legal publishers are making more of their law books available as e-books every day. LexisNexis, West, even the ABA, have all jumped into the game. Just this August, Apple and the American Bar Association launched the first title in the ABA's new series of e-Books- iPad in One Hour for Lawyers-one of their bestselling titles of the year.

At this year's annual conference for the American Association of Law Libraries, representatives from both LexisNexis (Lexis) and Thompson Reuters (West) provided their company's perspectives on the future of e-books. Lexis aims to be "device agnostic" by using standard e-book formats like ePUB and MOBI (discussed below) that would make its books available for a variety of e-readers, such as the Kindle, and provide a seamless transition between print and electronic content. And Lexis is moving forward quickly-it expects to have 75% of its legal titles in e-book format by the end of next year.

West is taking a different approach. West's first publications will be app-based and focused on desk-reference titles like Black's Law Dictionary and court rules. Its titles are available on the iPad for now, soon to be followed by applications for other tablet devices as these devices gain a larger market share. West's approach reflects its belief that the current e-book standards are not satisfactory for professional content and features like footnotes, tabs and periodic updating. Casebooks are likely next on West's...