Developments in European information issues: Networks and relays – Services – Products, December 1999

What to use?

EU Direct has come to the market at a time when there are a range of other new web developments coming out. These include EU Interactive from Lawtel incorporating the old Spicers Centre for Europe database and, of course, KnowEurope with European Access Plus ... not to mention again those already covered in this article. Indeed we are experiencing a wave of new generation web-based products which may change the face of EU information provision and cause us all to re-evaluate the tools we currently use. Though not all are aimed at precisely the same audience, the scene becomes more and more confusing for potential subscribers. The trend is increasingly to offer not just references or abstracts but the full text of documents, either through the content of the database being searched, through links to free official sources, or through links to related in-house databases. Considerable care needs to be taken to evaluate the available alternatives and to consider not only whether they fit specific requirements and how complementary or overlapping they are but also whether they offer real added value in the links and services they provide.

For further details on any items in this column, please contact Grace Hudson, EDC, J.B. Priestley Library, University of Bradford, Bradford BD7 1DP. Tel: +44-(0)1274-233402. Fax: +44-(0)1274-233398. E-mail: g.l.hudson@bradford.ac.uk

EU Direct

At the end of October Butterworths launched its new EU Direct service. Its brochure makes the bold claim that it includes 'everything you need to know about European Union law'- one not wholly substantiated on closer examination. Part of Butterworths Direct, the EU Direct Gold Service aims to be fairly general but other more focussed services are under consideration. The idea is to provide a research service for the customer, sifting through and selecting from the available material to save the end user's time and effort. It seeks to be a current awareness service rather than a database as such, though it does draw on databases in its different segments. These segments comprise news update, progress of legislation, EU journal, EU briefing, UK implementation, and cases.

It offers a range of information from brief current news items and abstracts to more in-depth articles on issues such as parental leave and notes on key cases. EU journal is updated monthly and contains articles on topical developments. EU briefing updates daily and claims to give comprehensive coverage of all EU developments, plus selected core legislation. In monitoring the Official Journal and current awareness sources, the intention is to have the information available in EU Direct before the printed issue hits the user's desk or appears in the press. A nice feature is the full text links to legislation and press releases which are built in using the Eur-Lex and RAPID databases. These take the user directly to the document itself, not just to the initial screen of the database. Usefully the news update service provides links not just to official press releases but also to other documents available electronically. An example of this is the item on car price differentials. It does identify the press release in RAPID, but also takes the user to the page of the DG for Competition and gives a link to the publication Explanatory brochure: Distribution of motor vehicles in pdf format, as well as the relevant Regulation in Eur-Lex.

The progress of legislation feature offers a search or hierarchical tree view approach and tracks the progress of selected legislation. In effect it brings up the relevant page of the OEIL database. Users are referred to the OEIL database itself if the topic required is not available through the Butterworths service. For the implementation of EU directives in the UK, Butterworths draws on in-house data to provide details of relevant Statutory Instruments and subscribers who have access to one of the other Direct services, Legislation Direct, have the possibility of moving to the full text of the corresponding legislation. Cases are followed from their first stage before the Court of Justice, summaries of the key points are provided and hyperlinks connect to the full text of the judgement on the Court site. The service also offers an enquiry bureau with a dedicated telephone line, fax and e-mail facility allowing access to in-house European information specialists and researchers as well as an e-mail alert service.

The intention is to archive the material on the site with the caveat that all hyperlinks may not remain active. The current archive is however short and users should be aware of this when searching for information on policies with a long history, however topical the data available. Criteria for selection is key when relying on others to sift, digest and summarise and there are gaps also in subject coverage. The service is offered at an annual subscription of £450 and free trials are available. Visit the Butterworths site at http://www.butterworths.co.uk/ to register or contact:

Butterworths
Halsbury House
35 Chancery Lane
London WC2A 1EL
Tel: 0845-608-1188 (UK only)
Fax: +44-(0)171-400-4653