Thanks to everyone who responded - your comments were most helpful. Our firm has decided to subscribe to the print CFR ("the official version") as a standing order and to use the free e-CFR from GPO for the "up to date" header when required, following the practice described in comment
#5 from Mica.
Please note the responses in #10 below. Number 10 is from Mary Alice Baish, AALL's Associate Washington Affairs Representative. Mary Alice kindly shared the query with Richard Davis of the GPO who gave an excellent explanation for the prices I found and answers the questions posed by Jason in response #9. Richard also kindly gave permission for his response to be posted here. Many Thanks to Mary Alice Baish and Richard Davis!!
Below are the answers I received re my question on e-CFR:
(1)From Susan: I was not aware that GPO offered a paid subscription
for the eCFR. I use the free web site occasionally:
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&tpl=%2Findex.tpl
The only thing I don't like about it is that it does
not include the history notes citations. If I need the notes I retrieve from Lexis.
(2) From Abigail: We use Compliance Publishing: unlimited site license for $995 a year.
The search engine isn't as good as a larger vendor (read: Westlaw or
Lexis) but much better than GPO. We just give the password out to the
website and we're all good to go.
http://www.compliancepublishing.com/solutions_cfr.htm
We also subscribe to HeinOnline as a back-up. Hope that helps!
(3) From Kathy: We have the print subscription. We pull from GPO Access when necessary.
We also can pull older items from HeinOnline if there is ever a request.
The electronic prices you printed are astounding!! If you get a chance,
please read the article in the July/August 2007 of Law Firm Inc.:
"Degree of Difficulty: 10." The subheading says "Electronic research
was supposed to replace books, and lower costs. It's done neither. And
librarians aren't happy about it."
(4) From Donna: CFR is part of our basic Westlaw contract, and I have had no complaints
from the attorneys.
(5) From Mica: This may be a dumb question (and don't hesitate to let me know! :-), but
was wondering why you did not include the free eCFR available from the
GPOAccess site. You get the images and tables. What we do is keep our
paper subscription as our "official" version, but we regularly use the
eCFR by printing the highlighted material to PDF (which is nice that GPO
always places the "up-to-date to..." header on all pages) and send it
via e-mail to the attorney. We also use it to update our paper copy. Is
there an issue with that version?
(6) From Jennifer: I think this company (http://www.env-sol.com/gov.html) is the one I used
to buy the CFR on CD-ROM from back in the late 1990's when I was a
corporate librarian. The name Solutions Software rings a bell, and the
description sounds very familiar.
I don't remember much - last time I saw it was 1998, before I went
through a merger and wound up in a completely different setting. What I
do remember was that it was in PDF and had some sort of extended index
to search. I guess customer service was good, I don't remember ever
calling them. I had it on a stand alone PC in the library (this was
before CD drives were standard equipment.) I just remember it was far
cheaper than any other electronic version at the time, and was the exact
duplicate of the print, similar to what the GPO offers online now.
(7) From Anna:
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&tpl=%2Findex.tpl
This is free!
(8) From Chip: We use the CFR on Lexis, and in terms of customer support and search
function, I find it to be quite good.
(9) From Jason: E-MAIL 1:
Is this the e-CFR you are referring to?
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?sid=a3ad523b7fd6764c42c4b0
aef11d4407&c=ecfr&tpl=%2Findex.tpl
E-MAIL 2:
The reason I sent the link is that I was unaware that there was a
fee-based e-CFR from the GPO. I have been teaching my students about
the e-CFR in my administrative law research sessions and I've never been
prompted that I needed to subscribe for this content. Can you show me
where the pricing information you refer to is posted?
E-MAIL 3:
Thanks for sending this. You question got me curious, so I called GPO
Customer Service and asked the representative to explain to me what the
difference is between what they ask $17k a year for and what is freely
available on the Internet. She didn't have a very clear answer for me
(mainly because I don't think she really understood what the CFR is--I
think she was an hourly worker paid to answer the phones--her
description of the product did not vary from what little I could find
from the site you sent to me). Maybe if you were to call you may find
someone who is more enlightened on the differences.
Although I'm not in a law firm (I'm a reference librarian at Florida
Coastal School of Law), I'm not sure buying any of these would be worth
the price, especially since the e-CFR is free (yes, searching is
cumbersome, but I find that the nature of the subject (regulations) has
more to do with that than the tool used to locate them). For currency,
though, the free e-CFR is just as current as what you will find on
Westlaw or Lexis. Also, nothing beats the print CFR anyway. I find I
would rather do regulation research (and statutes for that matter) in
print than online (e-CFR or Wexis or anything else that may be out
there), but that's just me. If your attorneys want electronic, get them
electronic!
I look forward to hearing what other librarians say about this. At
least for $17k/yr, I'd want to see a demo version of the product!
(10) Elaine,
I'm not sure we've ever met, but I work for AALL here in DC and have
close ties to folks at GPO. I forwarded your message to Acting
Superintendent of Documents Ric Davis, and want to share his
response below.
Mary Alice Baish
Associate Washington Affairs Representative
American Association of Law Libraries
-----Original Message-----
From: Davis, Richard G. [mailto:rdavis@gpo.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2007 2:29 PM
To: Mary A. Baish
Cc: Wash, Michael L.
Subject: RE: e-CFR from US GPO
Mary Alice,
These are the prices for the daily electronic data feeds available that
value added providers buy from GPO [read Wexis, for example]. In reality, I think they are very cheap,
since the data is repurposed and sold for about 4 to 7 times the cost.
GPO is pricing these in accordance with Title 44. This is part of GPO's
Sales Program in comparison to the freely available information we
provide for reference purposes through GPO Access. Also, under the new Future Digital System (Fdsys), we will be offering more electronic data feed opportunities.
The e-CFR is available for free as a reference service at ecfr.gpoaccess.gov
GPO is not selling the e-CFR [to the general public], and this link has the actual listing of products we are selling (CFR etc)[to value added providers]. Note: Text in these brackets [ ]was added by Elaine.
http://bookstore.gpo.gov/collections/eproducts.jsp
Ric
END OF RESPONSES. Again, sincere thanks to all who responded.
Elaine Dockens
edockens@tsmp.com
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu [mailto:owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu]On
Behalf Of Elaine B. Dockens
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2007 11:18 AM
To: Law-Lib (E-mail)
Subject: e-CFR from US GPO
Libbers - We are exploring the best electronic format for the CFR (Code of Federal Regulations). The print subscription at $1,389 is a bargain. However, we were surprised by the GPO prices for the e-CFR: (1) $9,430 for ASCII; (2) $8,250 for SGML - text only and (3) $17,325 for SGML text and images. Does anyone have a subscription to any of the 3 formats for the GPO electronic-CFR? If so, please share your opinion of the product?
Also, does anyone have a subscription to an electronic version of the CFR from an non-government vendor? If so, please share your opinion and experiences with the product and the customer service of the vendor.
Will summarize for the list.
Thanks, Elaine
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