The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction

Journal of Law School Computing: Diogenes' Quest: IT Decision Making ... [Robin P. Simonds]

Journal of Law School Computing
Volume 1, Issue 1
1999

 

 

5 STEPS TOWARD IMPROVING THE USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE LAW SCHOOL

 

Elmer R. Masters(*)

 

Introduction

 

Information comes at us from every direction. Technology to manage that information is everywhere. Some of it is costly or complex. Some is simple or inexpensive. Like all other organizations, law schools need to deal with the flood of information and the technology to handle it. Like other organizations, law schools exist along a continuum in dealing with information technology, some handling it very well, others not handling it at all. With this continuum in mind, this article outline five steps that any law school can take to improve the use of information technology in the organization. The steps are:

 

  1.  Recognize the importance of information to your law school
  2.  Create an information technology structure that encourages the free flow of information.
  3.  Require a base level of computer literacy in administrative and faculty support staff.
  4.  Provide adequate training and learning opportunities.
  5.  Reward use of information technology amongst faculty and staff.

 

Implementing the suggestions contained in these steps will help the law school to create an environment that recognizes the importance of information, adequately supports the technology necessary to handle the information, and leads to a faculty and staff that are enthusiastic about information technology.


 

1. Recognize the Importance of Information to Your Law School.

 

Information is the life blood of an organization. This is especially true for law schools. Law schools depend upon large amounts of information of all kinds for their existence. Everyone relies on email and the ability to share documents electronically, but this is only the beginning.

 

Administratively, law schools track potential, current, and past students. Starting with an initial inquiry for information gathered by telephone, mail, email, or from the web by the admissions office, databases are built. Information is gathered about admitted students through their years of study in the form of data on classes completed, credit requirements, and student activities. Upon graduation, alumni are tracked for annual giving campaigns, reunions, and other activities. Human resource and finance offices share forms and rely on employee databases. Administrative departments gather and disseminate information via email and the world wide web, including information on things such as law school events and room assignments.

 

Academically, faculty and students share information and collaborate via email, discussion groups, chat forums, and the web. Faculty collaborate via email, FTP, and the web with colleagues on projects ranging from basic research to casebook authorship. They rely on information resources such as Westlaw and Lexis for current legal data. Access to diverse library collections is accomplished electronically. Law libraries strive to make more and more of the information held in their collections accessible electronically.

 

Law schools use and store large amounts of information, but much of it stored in departmental databases and files. A high level of coordination is needed among departments to insure that the information can flow most effectively. A lack of coordination can result in a disruption of the flow of information. Such a disruption may be manifested as a down network, the inability of users to get the information they need when they need it, or even the inability of one group to adequately communicate with an other.

 

To avoid these types of situation, it is important for the organization to publically recognize the importance of information and the free flow of information. For law schools, this recognition may take place in form of a mission statement or list of goals that emphasize the importance of information to the law school. It should include a strategic plan for information technology. These things will help focus the organization on the importance of information to its faculty, staff, and students and help avoid the situation where information is taken for granted.

 

2. Create an Information Technology Structure that Encourages the Free Flow of Information.

 

Once a law school has recognized the importance of information to the organization, it next needs to create a structure to support the free flow of information. It does this by creating and fostering a technical infrastructure of wires and machines and a support infrastructure of professional technologists. With these infrastructures in place a law school can best leverage the information that it is managing.

 

Large amounts of capital have been recently or are currently being spent to upgrade the technical infrastructure of many law schools. This means new network wiring, increased numbers of access points for students, new PCs for faculty and staff, upgraded network servers, and new software. For many law schools, especially those that are affiliated with large universities, control of part or all of the technical infrastructure is handled by the parent institution so expansion or upgrade requires a considerable amount of effort. As a result of this spending, many law schools are able to provide ubiquitous access to staff and students. In many places the creation of the technical infrastructure is complete.

 

To foster and maintain this expensive and necessary technical infrastructure, law schools need a support infrastructure that reflects the organization's commitment to information. Law schools need large, stable, professional information technology staffs, properly organized to provide optimum support for the free flow of information. The ideal information technology department would report directly to the dean of the law school. It should remain as de-politicized as is possible. The department should be headed by a skilled technologist and administrator holding the rank of assistant or associate dean. This person should be the chief information and technology officer for the law school, responsible for strategic planning in the information and technology arenas and heading the IT department. Information technology should be the sole responsibility of this person.

 

The rest of the IT department should be staffed with specialists, professionals with a needed area of expertise. The staff should be divided into two groups, operations and user services, each headed by an associate director responsible for the day-to-day management of the groups. Operations would be headed by a dedicated network administrator to handle operation of the network, a network technician to handle physical maintenance of the network, a number of database programmer/analysts to handle any custom database work, and a webmaster to administer the law school's web efforts. User services should include a highly skilled support person with a solid knowledge of the law school's operating environment and applications and the ability to convey that knowledge in a training environment. More support people should be included to provide basic everyday support. The user services group should include an educational/instructional technologist to work directly with faculty on projects that use technology, either in basic research or in the classroom. A professional trainer should also be considered for the user services group, especially in environments for technological change is likely to be rapid.

 

With these infrastructures in place, it will be easy to foster the free flow of information. The key is to provide useful technology and quality support for that technology. This will create an atmosphere in which information and the technology necessary to access it are accepted by the organization. This will result in the an increase in the flow of information and more successful organization.


 

3. Require a Base Level of Computer Literacy in Administrative and Faculty Support Staff.

 

When filling support level and some mid-level supervisory positions, many academic institutions still require the completion of a typing test as part of qualifying for the position. Few require a test of basic computer literacy, things like how to navigate in a windowed environment, how to create files, how to logon to a network, and how to send a file to the printer. Yet in the information rich law school environment these are necessary skills. By requiring a basic level of computer literacy, law schools can be sure that those who are handling the information that is the blood of the institution know what they are doing with it.

 

A simple test designed to ascertain an individuals computer skills can be put together by the IT department. The test should be offered as a component of the interview. For example, all things being equal, it would be better to hire an administrative assistant who knows Windows 95 keyboard shortcuts than who does not. Current employees should be offered the test as a means of doing a skills inventory. Training for existing employees should follow the exam, based upon the needs of the individual. By requiring a base level of computer literacy in faculty and administrative support staff, the law school also creates a first level of support for faculty and administrators. Getting immediate help at this level will help increase the comfort level of using information technology and will allow for a better flow of information.


 

4. Provide Adequate Training and Learning Opportunities.

 

Faced with a never ending cycle of software upgrades and new product introductions, it is difficult for law school staff and faculty to stay current. Add in the regular introduction of new faculty and staff, and the job of training and educating the law school staff becomes a major issue. A law school that has recognized the importance of information to the organization will also recognize the importance of training and education in the use of information and technology.

 

Law schools should have a coherent program of training and education for new faculty and employees in order to familiarize these new arrivals with the applications, systems, and policies of the law school. This program can include in-house training on things such as use of the network, printing, and how the support system works. More in-depth training in specific applications or environments should be handled by professional trainers. If the law school has a trainer on staff, training new faculty and staff should be a key component of that person's duties. Otherwise the law school should look to outside sources for training. These include training classes at parent institutions and use of certified training centers.

 

Law schools should also have an ongoing training and education program geared to current faculty and staff. This program should include regular refresher courses in basic applications, advanced topics for those involved in more complex use of standard applications, and specialized courses for those using special tools for specific projects. This training can be handled in-house if the resources are available or arranged through a parent institution or training center. The introduction of any new application or technology should be accompanied by a required round of professional training for those who will be using the application or technology.

 

Law schools should allow staff and faculty a certain amount of time per month for ongoing training and education in information technology areas. Four hours per month would not be unreasonable since most computer based training sessions run about fours in length and a typical live training session can run two to three hours plus travel time. This will help the faculty and staff stay current. It will prepare them for dealing with the information rich environment of the law school and help to encourage the use of technology.


 

5. Reward Use of Information Technology Amongst Faculty and Staff.

 

Once a law school has recognized the importance of information, put the necessary infrastructures in place to support use of the information, and brought the staff and faculty up to a comfortable level of use of the information, steps should be taken to reward the use of information technology by the faculty and staff. A program that rewards the use of IT in innovative and creative ways that further the goals of the law school will foster the use of IT throughout the organization. A committee consisting of the head of IT and one administrative and one academic dean would administer the program. Recognition would go to users who demonstrate the ability to adopt and use IT in improving things such as workflow or the use of IT in the classroom.

 

Generally incentives such as first access to new technologies, extra release time for training, and public recognition can be used for both staff and faculty. For faculty, additional incentives such as increased research funds or course development time can be used to foster the use of information technology in research and in the classroom. For staff, additional incentives such as the opportunity to work on special projects or extra time off can be used to help create an environment where IT is used to increase productivity of the workplace.

 

Conclusion


 

These steps outline a program that will strengthen the law school as an organization, giving it the resources necessary to handle the flood of information that continually confronts its members. Putting this program into place can be both financially and politically challenging, but addressing these issues is beyond the article's scope. Implementing the suggestions contained in these steps will help the law school to create an environment that recognizes the importance of information, adequately supports the technology necessary to handle the information, and leads to a faculty and staff that are enthusiastic about information technology.

 

 

*. The author is Director of Information Technologies at Cornell Law School and holds a JD drom Syracuse University.