| Author (Person) | Hudson, Grace |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Chadwyck-Healey Ltd |
| Series Title | Developments in European Information Issues |
| Publication Date | December 1999 |
| ISSN | 0264-7362 |
| Content Type | Overview |
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OJ CD on the Web and EU Aware ILI (http://www.ili.co.uk) has for some time distributed its version of the CELEX database, Eurolaw, on the web as well as on CD-ROM. More recently it has renamed its EU Infodisk (based on SCAD data) to EU Infobase to take into account the fact that is now available in both formats. Context ... as outlined above - has just launched its web development. The third of the key players in this competitive market is Ellis of the Netherlands and they too have just announced a web version of their product OJ CD as well as a new web current awareness service called EU Aware. Further information will be given in later columns but to register for a trial as soon as the new resources are available, visit the company's web site at http://www.epms/nl/ellis, e-mail sales@epms.nl or contact: Ellis Publications JUSTIS.com At the beginning of October Context officially launched its new JUSTIS on the web service called JUSTIS.com. Two of the titles now available on the Internet are from its European range of databases, JUSTIS CELEX and the Official Journal C series. This additional access route allows users to choose between online, CD-ROM and the Internet. Context has helpfully mounted a sample data set of approximately five percent of the full databases to enable potential users to try it out for themselves. To search the sample file, simply go to the JUSTIS.com web page at http://www.justis.com and click on 'Sample' on the menu you bar. You will be asked to register by submitting some details via an on-screen form then you are free to access the sample set as and when you wish. There are no plans at this stage to offer European References or European Commentaries on the web. Nor is the Spearhead database, available on the CELEX CD-ROM, going to be made available initially on the Internet. On the initial screen searchers choose the database or databases they want to use through a check box system. Clicking on a group name will expand the category group, eg European law, to show the component databases and more than one can be selected at a time. It is worth noting however that if more than one database is selected resulting in a combination of databases with different fields which are not compatible, then the search screen will not offer the possibility of searching particular fields but will only allow free text searching. The search form allows users to search by document number, using unique CELEX numbers, or to enter terms in one or more appropriate fields. To the left of the field is the Boolean operator which defaults to an AND search when combining fields. The button can however be toggled between AND, OR and NOT. To the right of the field is a Word Index button. Selecting a term from the index moves it directly into the search form and if more than one term is selected in a field the Boolean OR operator is automatically inserted between the terms. The standard search form fields are free text, crossref (picking up related documents), date, docnum (unique CELEX number), form, pubref (published reference) and title, but these can be changed by clicking on the fields button at the bottom of the page and selecting the alternatives required. The results of a search are displayed using frames, with the left hand column showing the document number and the right side of the screen giving the reference details and title which act as a hyperlink to display the full text of the document. The full document display also uses scrollable frames. On the left of the screen, displayed as white on black, are the different sections of the document. Clicking on a heading such as 'date of entry into force' or 'legislative base' enables you to move directly to that section. Alternatively you can scroll through the full document, displayed (black on white with the search term highlighted in blue) on the right side of the screen. At the bottom of the screen clicking on the arrow next to 'Hit' or 'Term' allows you to move forward or backwards through the results or identify the next occurrence of the search term. Icons on the top toolbar let you navigate back a screen, or return to the database selection option, the search form or the results list, as well as logoff or ask for contextual help. The pop-up help boxes give clear explanations with good examples of relevant screens. When documents have been viewed an additional icon called 'Trail' appears. This feature tracks all documents consulted during a session and at the click of the mouse it will display a list which means that you can return to them at any stage. You can right-click your mouse to select print or export from the pop-up menu or use keyboard shortcuts such as Ctrl+C to copy and Ctrl+V to paste. Hyperlinks are to be made available to other documents. However even where the link does not exist, it may still possible to try to find the item you are interested in by highlighting the reference with your mouse then using Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V to paste it into the search screen. The software will try to find and display the document even if it is in a database that you have not selected. New developments expected for the web product but not available at time of writing are clickable links to cited documents and the introduction of improved pagination so that each document will look similar to the format of the Official Journal. Images and tables are not offered at present on the web but will be introduced. The paginated display is currently being brought in on the JUSTIS CELEX CD-ROM. Its introduction to Context's UK legal databases has enabled them to be cited as authoritative sources in UK Courts. It will be interesting to see if a similar acceptance can be reached for the European databases. The ability to link between databases in web or CD-ROM format - assuming you have subscribed to the necessary ones - in order to access, for example, the full text of implementing Statutory Instruments or a case report published in an alternative series, is a valuable attraction. Another innovative feature on the JUSTIS CELEX CD-ROM is the new graphical J-view display which simplifies the tracing of legislation which modifies or is modified by other documents. Like JUSTIS 5 Online, the CELEX database on JUSTIS.com is updated weekly, providing more current data than the quarterly CD-ROM version. The Official Journal C Series database, which contains the full text of proposed legislation and other items from the C Series from 1990 and is also available as a quarterly CD-ROM, is updated monthly on the web. Annual costs for a single concurrent web user, excluding VAT, are £950 for CELEX and £650 for the Official Journal C Series. For more information or a chance to try the sample set visit the JUSTIS.com web site at http://www.justis.com/. See also Context's own web site at http://www.context.co.uk/ or contact them at: Context Ltd |
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| Subject Categories | Culture, Education and Research |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
