Clicklaw Wikibooks
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This document discusses Courthouse Libraries BC's experiment in using a wiki platform to publish the "Legal Help for British Columbians" guidebook. It highlights the benefits of using a wiki, including enabling collaborative updating by multiple contributors, affordable costs, familiar user experience similar to Wikipedia, and producing both online and print versions from the same digital source. Next steps include updating the guide to the 4th edition on the wiki platform, investigating print-on-demand options, supporting other organizations to use wikis, and migrating an existing family law website onto the wiki.
Clicklaw Wikibooks
- 1. Clicklaw Wikibooks An experiment in born-digital publishing Drew Jackson, Courthouse Libraries BC October 6, 2011
- 2. 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
- 3. Courthouse Libraries context We have a four pillar approach to meeting the public side of our mission…
- 4. LawStartBC: How we help the public find and use legal information • 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
- 5. More on our LawMatters program for public libraries • 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
- 6. 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
- 7. Challenges But as good as the Legal Help Guide was, there were some 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
- 8. Core values At Courthouse Libraries BC, our core values include innovation, collaboration, and knowledge sharing – which contributed to the solution we arrived at…
- 9. Why a Wikibook? We decided to turn the Legal Help Guide into a “wikibook”, • We wanted a collaborative authoring using the Mediawiki environment to enable updating by platform that powers many contributors Wikipedia • 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
- 10. We used the wiki platform to put the Guide online, opening up access to it
- 11. We recruited a dozen lawyers and other subject matter experts to be contributors & reviewers
- 12. 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
- 13. 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
- 14. The wiki can be updated collaboratively over the Internet by multiple contributors
- 15. The wiki’s strong version comparison tools support collaboration, transparency
- 16. The wiki platform’s “book extension” enables us to assemble wiki pages into a single PDF file that can then be printed
- 17. 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.
- 18. A sign Creative Commons has gone mainstream: It’s an option when you upload a video to YouTube
- 19. 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