This message is directed at those libraries that subscribe (can libraries
subscribe?) to the Ohio Premise cd-rom library, particularly the Ohio
Official Reports. Perhaps this is a well-known fact, but I just found
out about it today.
Today an attorney came to me puzzled as to why he couldn't find an Ohio
Misc. case from 1970 on our Premise cd-rom. He told me how he had
searched and in what "book." I duplicated his efforts and tried a few
of my own, and couldn't find the case although it should have been there
according to the "scope" page which describes which volumes of which
reporter are included in each "book." So I called West and asked what
was up. They asked me what case I was looking for, and when I told them,
without even missing a beat they said: it's not on there. Why, I asked,
is is not on there? It's a federal case and only decisions from state
courts are included on the cd-rom, they said. Is this fact indicated
anywhere in the Premise literature or on the scope page, I asked? No,
they said, although other people have asked the same thing. Perhaps this
is something we ought to know about when we consider purchasing your
products, I suggested. Perhaps you are right, they said, and we will note
your suggestion along with the others. That's as much as we can do.
I may be wrong, and since this is the first instance of this problem in
the two years we've had the Ohio Premise cd-rom I may be overreacting,
but I believe that if a significant number of cases from the Ohio
Official Reports is missing from a product that purports to cover that
reporter series, that fact should be indicated somewhere.
Well, if I'm simply the last one in on the joke, I guess I'll take my
lumps, but if not, I'm seriously disappointed in West. This would border
on misrepresentation, I think, although perhaps this explains the change
in the labelling of the "books" on the newer updates. Is there a similar
situation with the Anderson product?
I'd appreciate anyone else's thoughts on this.
Anne Kirkhope
Law Librarian
Eastman & Smith
Toledo, OH
kiraab@sys1.openohio.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Nov 14 2007 - 20:49:14 PST