Clicklaw Wikibooks
description
Transcript of Clicklaw Wikibooks
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October 6, 2011
Clicklaw WikibooksAn experiment in born-digital publishing
Drew Jackson, Courthouse Libraries BC
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In the next 20 slides
• Courthouse Libraries BC context: what we do for the public
• Legal Help for British Columbians: a great guidebook that we wanted to enable more people to access
• Wikibooks: Why we choose to produce the Guide as a wikibook
• Demo: A few snapshots of the wikibook in action
• Next steps: What’s next for Clicklaw wikibooks
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Courthouse Libraries context
We have a four pillar approach to meeting the public side of our mission…
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• A website with plain language legal info
• A search tool to find assistance with legal problems
• Helping public libraries provide current legal information
• Helping the legal community and the public find and use legal information
LawStartBC: How we help the public find and use legal information
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• 240 public libraries in BC
• Community-based, not restricted to “courthouse hours”
• First point of contact for information in their communities
• 35,000-40,000 questions with a legal dimension asked in public libraries every year
• Our LawMatters program recommends books, coordinates grants, provides training
More on our LawMatters program for public libraries
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The plain language guide “Legal Help for British Columbians” was such a nice starting point for 30 common legal problems that we got copies for all public libraries in BC
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Challenges
• Within a year, the Legal Help Guide needed updating
• Without institutional support, it was at risk (the guide was published by a lawyer more or less on his own)
• We put a PDF of the guide online, but it was
not very findable or usable online - at 75 pages, not easily searchable, external links not practical – and this info could be so helpful online!
• Yet the print continued to be highly valued in library settings where computer literacy can be a major issue
But as good as the Legal Help Guide was, there were some challenges
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Core values
At Courthouse Libraries BC, our core values include innovation, collaboration, and knowledge sharing – which contributed to the solution we arrived at…
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Why a Wikibook?
• We wanted a collaborative authoring environment to enable updating by many contributors
• We wanted an affordable tool: Mediawiki is an open source platform
• We wanted it to be easy for users: As it looks & feels like Wikipedia, the end user experience is familiar
• We wanted online and print versions: A wikibook is born-digital but can also produce print from the same source
We decided to turn the Legal Help Guide into a “wikibook”, using the Mediawiki platform that powers Wikipedia
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We used the wiki platform to put the Guide online, opening up access to it
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We recruited a dozen lawyers and other subject matter experts to be contributors & reviewers
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Because we are using the same platform that powers Wikipedia (although our own install of the platform), it offers a familiar experience for end users
Various ways to navigate within the Guide, including searching
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As the guide is now on a wiki, it can include external links to key resources
And we’ve integrated it with our Clicklaw HelpMap, to provide easy access to options for legal assistance
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The wiki can be updated collaboratively over the Internet by multiple contributors
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The wiki’s strong version comparison tools support collaboration, transparency
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The wiki platform’s “book extension” enables us to assemble wiki pages into a single PDF file that can then be printed
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Creative Commons
We’re making the Guide available under a Creative Commons license, which provide a simple, standardized way to give the public permission to share and use your creative work - on conditions of your choice.
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A sign Creative Commons has gone mainstream: It’s an option when you upload a video to YouTube
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Next Steps
• Updating the Legal Help Guide (4th edition, current to Fall 2012), using the wiki platform
• Investigating print-on-demand options
• Supporting People’s Law School in experimenting with the wiki platform
• Working with Vancouver lawyer JP Boyd to migrate his outstanding family law website onto the wiki platform