SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS
A. LAW SCHOOL LIBRARIANS (4 Law Schools)
Results of Yes/No responses – see Comments in PDF attachment for details.
Attempts to Control/Rules/Acceptable Use Policy – Only one law school out of four stated that there is an attempt to control computer use, although three out of the four stated that they had an Acceptable Use Policy. One law school noted that members of the public or non-affiliated library patrons were subject to different rules. The Comments state either no access for the non-affiliated or just a standard “can’t access some things” for members of the public working on their own cases.
Blocking Sites – All four do not block personal email, social networks or streaming media.
Business Uses of Email, Social Networks and Streaming Media – Two out of the four stated having business uses for both social networks and streaming media.
B. COUNTY/STATE LAW LIBRARIANS
(5 County Law Libraries; 1 State Law Library)
Results of Yes/No responses – see Comments in PDF attachment for details.
Attempts to Control/Rules/Acceptable Use Policy – Of the six libraries reporting, four report an attempt to control computer use. Three of the six report that there are different rules for different groups. In the Comments, three report different rules for the library/librarians that impact negatively on service.
Blocking Sites – Three of the six libraries report no blocking of personal e-mail; three report no blocking of social networking sites. Two of the six report no blocking of streaming media.
Business Uses of Email, Social Networks and Streaming Media – One of the 6 libraries reports a business use for personal e-mail, three report a business use for social networks and two report a business use for streaming media.
C. LAW FIRM LIBRARIANS (45 Law Firms – ranging in size from 10 attorneys to over 1100 attorneys)
Results of Yes/No responses – see Comments in PDF attachment for details.
Attempts to Control/Rules/Acceptable Use Policy
Firms attempting to control computer use: 44 Y/N responses – 70% attempt control, 30% do not.
Different rules/different groups: 34 Y/N responses – 38% have different rules/different groups, 62% do not
Acceptable Use Policy: 42 Y/N responses – 95% have an Acceptable Use Policy, 5% do not.
Blocking Sites
Law firms blocking porno/gambling sites: 33 Y/N responses – 70% block porno/gambling sites; 30% do not block.
Law firms blocking specific URLs: 26 Y/N responses – 38% block specific sites, 62% do not block.
Law firms blocking personal e-mail: 43 Y/N responses – 14% block personal e-mail, 86% do not block.
Law firms blocking social networks: 41 Y/N responses – 17% block social networks, 83% do not block.
Law firms blocking streaming media: 41 Y/N responses – 20% block streaming media, 80% do not block.
Business Uses of Email, Social Networks and Streaming Media
Law firms using personal e-mail for business purposes: 30 Y/N responses – 30% use personal e-mail accounts for business, 70% do not.
Law firms using social networks for business purposes: 34 Y/N responses – 74% use social networks for business, 26% do not.
Law firms using streaming media for business purposes: 32 Y/N responses – 50% use streaming media for business purposes, 50% do not.
END OF SURVEY RESULTS
Read the Full Article – [PDF]
At the end of the Law Firm Comments Section is a copy of the original survey.