Hi all,
First of all, I want to thank all who responded to my query
regarding creation of a brief bank using PC Docs. I received
some very useful information from those who have "been there,
done that" and that, to me, is one of the real strengths of this
list.
I will try to summarize the responses and then give a few
of the quotes.
SUMMARY:
A beginning note: we use a DOS version of PC Docs. It seems that
PC Dosc is only minimally useful as a brief bank; largely due to the
inability to full text search. Perhaps the newer Windows versions
will correct this and perhaps not.
I'm still mulling over the responses and trying to decide whether or not
to use PC Docs. My concern is having to purchase another software
package, learn it, and then teach the attorneys to use it. This has not
worked well for us in the past, so I'd like to use something they are
familiar with already.
QUOTES:
<<We've had PCDocs Classic (DOS version) here for about 5 years and we're migrating to PCDocs
Open (Windows) within the next couple months. I designed two different brief banks for Classic and I'll
import the basic ideas to Open when we get it. Unfortunately, I've found Classic is a very poor system
for use as a brief bank and, regardless of the assurances I've received from the salespeople, what I've
seen of Open doesn't give me much confidence it will be much better.
Randall J. Thompson
Librarian
Locke Reynolds Boyd & Weisell
1000 Capital Center South
201 North Illinois Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
locke@iquest.net
317-237-3945>>
<<We are in the process of setting up our brief/memo bank in PCDOCS and Word Perfect. Call me, I
would love to share experiences. We have so far altered to the "profile" to include a "category" which
is just a broad subject heading. Attorneys are supposed to review his/her documents monthly-quarterly
and edit (or have me or staff edit) the profile for any document tha has future value for information or
form. WE have drafted a prcedure which I have just finished reviewing with the staff. Issues are
getting the attorneys to actually spend time reviewing their document lists, making sure the documents
are secured so future users cannot edit or delete, and finding all the quirks of PCDOCS. Our version of
PCDOCS does not support proximity searching, although it is supposed to, and the security features do
some bizarre things. I personally dislike PCDOCS. It seems like such a dinosaur after using Westlaw
and Lexis and even CD's with Folio. My IS people keep telling me that "the next upgrade will fix all
that" I have heard that too many times.
Wynne Browne
Downs Rachlin & Martin
St. Johnsbury, Vt.
802 748 8324
wbrowne@drm.com>>
<<We, too, use PC DOCS as our document management system. Approximately, 2 years ago we
(librarians) decided we needed to update our brief bank software. We were told to wait for the next
version of PC DOCS, it would be released soon. The release was delayed and when it finally did come
out, it was not advanced enough to meet our needs. Once we pursued the issue again, we were again
told to wait for the next version of PC DOCS. The new release was delayed and when released, did not
meet our needs. Finally, we were able to test our latest PC DOCS version for Brief Bank purposes.
We decided against using PC DOCS as our Brief Bank.
For us, the full-text searching was not advanced enough. We also did not like the searching techniques
that were used. The operators were confusing. Our users are familiar with Premise and Westlaw, and
with PC DOCS, they would have to learn a new and very different (more difficult) searching technique.
We had problems with the system being very slow when searching using full-text. We also had
concerns about the way PC DOCS profiles were going to be filled out by users. <snip>
We obviously decided against PC DOCS. We decided to use West's Premise Publisher to create our
Brief Bank. Users will be able to search our brief bank using Premise, which they are already familiar
with. Westlaw, Premise and the Brief Bank will then all use a standardized method of searching. This
method is a little more work for the librarians, but in our opinion, it is well worth it. We purchased the
software about 1 1/2 years ago for $500. Last month we purchased the upgrade for $99. I do not know
what the current cost of the software is. We had a West representative here for one day of on-site
training for $1500.
This is a brief synopsis of how Publisher will work for us. When a document is filed with the courts, 2
librarians, a secretary and paralegal will be e-mailed with that document's PC DOCS number. Each is
responsible for a different section's work. We will then go into that document and create fields using
macros. We also need to fill out the file information summary field (In Word under File). When that is
complete, the document will be pulled into Premise Publisher and assembled into a book. Only a few
steps need to be done here. Then the will be released to Premise and can be searched using Premise.
Lisa Ostrolenk
Office of the Ohio Public Defender
8 E. Long St., 11th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
614-466-5394
ostrolel@ops.state.oh.us>>
If anyone has any other ideas please let me know and I'll pass them
along to the others who are struggling with this issue.
Virginia L. Smith
Law Librarian
Chaffe, McCall, Phillips, Toler & Sarpy
1100 Poydras St, Suite 2300
New Orleans, LA 70163-2300
Phone: (504)585-7211
FAX: (504)585-7075
Email: smithv%2049698@mcimail.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Nov 14 2007 - 20:49:32 PST