Online legal site becomes newest resource at library
Posted on Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Members of the public who want to know more about law now have an added resource at the Fayetteville Public Library.
The Washington County Law Library Board granted the library access to Westlaw, an online legal research database featuring a collection of state and federal statutes, case law materials, public records and other legal resources.
The database has been available at the public library since Aug. 9 and access was approved by the board in May, pending library board approval, said Susan Purtle, chairman of the county law library board. She is also the pro bono manager and senior attorney at Legal Aid of Arkansas, which serves Washington, Madison, Carroll, Benton and 27 other counties in north central and eastern Arkansas.
"We had asked Springdale if they wanted it and they did," Purtle said, and the board then decided to approach the Fayetteville Public Library.
"I think that the people at the Fayetteville Public Library are the type of people that are interested in public laws," she said, adding that there are many activists in the community who are in touch with the political scene.
The law library board "should be commended for their foresight in making this valuable online legal resource available to the community through the public library," said Louise Schaper, executive director of the Fayetteville library.
"Westlaw has long been on our list of resources that would be most valued by the Fayetteville area community," she said.
Purtle described Westlaw as a virtual library in a computer.
"It's searchable by terms and it's quick," she said. "They're not going to have to go to books. If they know the term they are looking for, they can do that. Westlaw's gotten a lot easier for people to use in the last five years. It's a much more user friendly database."
She said the reference librarians have received training on the system and there is a 24-hour phone number patrons may use for assistance.
"This is for the public," she said. "This is for law students, attorneys, anybody that needs a particular item of law."
The law library board entered into a contract with Westlaw to provide access to the library.
"We pay a monthly fee in order for them to have it," Purtle said. "It is the mission of the board to make statutes and the code and law available to the public so they can have access to the same materials that lawyers and judges have.
"This is the best that you can get. It hasn't been available to the public."
She said Westlaw is a great addition to the resources already available at the public library.
Westlaw "is a key acquisition to the development of our digital library services," Schaper said. "We are in the process of building a treasure trove of valuable online resources that we believe will further the economic development and creative intelligence of our community."
The public can also access Westlaw on the fifth floor of the Washington County Courthouse, 280 N. College Ave., and at the Washington County Law Library Office, 70 N. College Ave.
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