Developments in European information issues: Networks and relays – Services – Products, October 2002

OJ L & C CD-ROM

From August 2002 a new version of the OJ L & C annual archive CD-ROM has been distributed. The old version looked reminiscent of the original EUR-Lex web site and in its Help file still referred to the defunct EUDOR database, so there was scope for updating as well new functionality. Working to a similar pattern, the monthly issues of this service cumulate for up to six months and there will be a final 13th “annual” set to provide the complete archive for the year. Also as before it is produced as a single language version in each of the official languages, but there are now separate disks for the L series and the C series. There is however a hybrid search function. As each disk contains the tables of contents, though not the full text, of the other disk, it is possible to search across both then switch to the relevant one if necessary. When switching disks it is essential to quit the application properly otherwise an error message is generated which is difficult to get rid of without re-booting the PC.

As with the original version, the navigation and contents pages of the Official Journal use HTML, linking to the full text in PDF. There is a graphic toolbar permanently in place on the left of the screen to make it simple to switch functions. In addition there is a secondary toolbar at the bottom of the page which enables users to return to the top, return home, display the copyright and contact pages, or connect to EUR-Lex on the Internet.

A new feature is the Browse function. The chronological list was there before although it has had some cosmetic treatment. However there are also new options: browsing by document classification and OJ number; by document classification and section, or browsing in the directory. The directory browsing feature is based on the chapters of the Directory of Legislation in Force. The numbers in brackets indicate the number of documents in that section; the orange markers show that further levels exist below the main heading. Through this route it is easy to check whether new legislation has been proposed or adopted in a particular subject field - just click on the magnifying glass to search. The practical application of the other two options is less clear. Browsing by document classification is based on a hierarchical tree structure of four levels. You select firstly at Level 1 either the L series or the C series, then the OJ number, the section (e.g. Acts whose publication is obligatory), and finally the author (e.g. Council). Clicking on the document opens a new window to display the text. The alternative document classification route offers the order OJ L or C, then section (e.g. Acts whose publication is not obligatory), then author (e.g. Commission) followed by OJ number. In what circumstances would these latter two options be an efficient access route?

The search function has also had some changes. There are now four options: simple, date, OJ number and advanced. The simple search allows the use of Boolean operators, phrase searching, the asterisk for truncation or the question mark for substitution of a character. Results are displayed in descending order of relevance and searches can be refined at this point by searching within the list. The date search simply adds a date option to the simple search template. In the OJ number search you can combine an issue number (or span of numbers using the hyphen) with either a page number or document number, while the advanced search offers the combination of a full text search together with the OJ number search options. The advanced template offers three elements to the search and it is useful to know that in practice the search engine combines them in the order (1 + 2) + 3. Advanced searches can be saved as profiles from the results list page and rerun later. The system uses cookies to do this so it will only work from the same PC. A maximum of 5 searches can be saved but, as the help guidance explains, this is done on “a first in first out basis”, so if you save a sixth search your first one will be deleted without any warning.

In addition to the above searches, the main toolbar also offers a Keyword search. This is based on the EUROVOC thesaurus and takes you through the different levels of terms. The number of hits at the various levels is shown and you can display the results from this point or link to related terms to extend your search.

The CD-ROM ran successfully without any difficulty but do remember to use the Quit button to exit properly. As with other electronic legal texts, it comes with the health warning that only the paper version is authentic. The annual subscription is 350 euro and it can be purchased through EUR-OP sales agents (http://publications.eu.int/general/en/publications_en.htm ).