Law Technology

The Future of E-books and Law School

By Katie Luper

Books are very important to law students. I still remember going into the bookstore before the first day of law school and purchasing my first set of law books. I treated them like golden treasures. As I learned more about how to read cases, I started tabbing important sections. I carried these books everywhere and in the process I just about broke my back.

With the introduction of the Kindle, the Nook, and the new Apple iPad, it seems that many technology manufacturers envision a world where e-books will replace the traditional printed media. I happen to be very conflicted about the two, and I see a place where both forms of media are side by side and work together in concert.

So here goes my personal law school textbook showdown: e-books v. print

In the right corner, weighing in at 42 lbs (I really did weigh my backpack once. It was 42 lbs. That’s quite a bit.) with thousands of physical pages and a long, winning history . . . theeeee printed CASEBOOOK!!!

In the left corner, weighing in at under a pound, taking up the space of a paperback, new to the arena is the KinPadooK (my e-book reader hybrid).

Round 1. Portability

Well, we all know who wins this match-up. I can’t tell you how valuable it would have been to have all of my casebooks tucked away in my handbag in a tiny space. The sheer weight issue is unbelievable. Instead of having to schlep the books from my house, to my car, to my law school locker, to class and then to the library every day I would carry my laptop and my e-book reader. That’s it.

Round 2. Usability

I have to say that I see the casebook winning here. I found the physical interaction with my casebooks to be really helpful to the learning process. I tabbed, highlighted, and wrote in the margins. Those things really helped me to absorb the material. My casebooks never ran out of battery and it was pretty difficult to lose them. If I dropped them, my toes might hurt but I could still use them. I never worried about my casebooks crashing (unless it was them crashing down on top of me and no one finding me for weeks in a corner of the library but that’s a nightmare for another day).

Some reviewers complain about the UI (user interface) of various e-books and how it can be difficult to flip through them or find a specific passage. Others are worried about the glossy display of the iPad and how it might feel on the eyes after hours of reading. I would be concerned because of how popular open casebook exams are in law school and how e-books would work into that equation. Further, there can be a big concern about taking notes and highlighting. The e-books allow for highlighting and taking notes on passages, but it can be painful to browse them, especially if you are under Socratic gunfire from a professor at the time.

Round 3. The Championship

Clearly, there’s no real winner here. It seems the future of e-books in the area of law school casebooks is as a supplement to the traditional textbook. In an ideal world, I image buying my casebook from the bookstore and then going onto West or Lexis and buying the e-book supplement. However, the supplement would be more than just updated cases, it would also contain the entire text and more up to date commentary. Am I dreaming? Yes.

There is no way this is going to happen soon and it would be incredibly cost-prohibitive but hey, a girl can dream.

Related posts:

1. The First Day of Law School: Underway
2. 2010 Guide to Technology: Basic RSS
3. What Creative Commons Means for Future Lawyers

Full post as published by Social Media Law Student on February 08, 2010 (boomark / email).