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ABA TechReport - My favorite survey of the year!

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It is certainly no secret that when it comes to law and technology, I am a total nerd. A nerd among nerds even. Once when speaking to a publishing agent and describing my interest in metadata, he said, "so you're just a complete nerd." Well yes, thanks, I am. And at no time am I a happier nerd than when I have a fresh download of the current ABA TechReport.
Six volumes bustling with demographics, surveys, and reports? All about the legal field's use of technology? The charts! The graphs! Utopia.
But seriously, as a legal educator, staying on top of legal trends is vital. Before my career in academia, I was a firm librarian for many years. My experience in the trenches of practical legal research has always driven my teaching. Now that I teach full time, I rely on the TechReport to keep my perspective fresh. For instance, this year volume 5 of the report (which focuses on Online Research) says when asked which pay online service they prefer, Westlaw, Lexis and LexisAdvance sit on top as expected. But they are followed by Bloomberg, Fastcase, Casemaker, and Practical Law. All before RIA, CCH, or Hein are mentioned. Scholars and students rely so heavily on Hein especially, that this information helps ground me in the realities of practice vs academic work.
Not in academia? Well the TechReport will tell you what other firms are using, and gives information about data security and mobility.
The tech report is expensive, at $1,600 for all volumes for ABA members. Individual volumes can be purchased (the online research volume mentioned above is $300 for ABA members).
See https://www.americanbar.org/groups/law_practice/publications/techreport/2017.html for more information.

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