Session 7
12.00 – 12.45 Plenary Session 7
"Keep in Touch but Keep it Legal! Legal Issues in Using Web 2.0 Applications in Providing Legal Services to Clients and Users"
Laurence Bebbington – Nottingham University
Laurence Bebbington is Faculty Team Leader (Social Sciences, Law and Education) and Information Services Copyright Officer at the University of Nottingham. He is a former Vice Chair of UKOLUG/UKeIG. He has presented papers or taken seminars on various aspects of legal issues in information work. He has published various articles and papers and is a joint editor (with C.J. Armstrong) and contributor to the 2nd edition of Staying Legal: A Guide To Issues And Practice Affecting the Library, Information and Publishing Sectors, FACET (2003). In 2008 he gave course on copyright and IP rights for eIFL in Istanbul and Kaduna in Nigeria promoting awareness of copyright for librarians in developing countries.
Outline:
In common with many other information professionals, legal information specialists realise that Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 applications can be integrated into our professional work. Applications or technologies such as wikis, blogs, RSS feeds, social networking sites, virtual reality worlds are all potentially useful ways to communicate with users and clients; to market the legal information service internally and externally; to network with other interested parties; to present or share information and resources; and even to hold meetings and provide innovative ways of internal communication often across different countries.
However, using these applications to manage or deliver services and content potentially raise a plethora of legal issues. These arise in areas such as intellectual property rights; data protection and privacy; liability for information provision; defamation and other torts. In extreme cases criminal liability can arise. Misuse of, or misunderstandings in applying these applications can also lead to serious organisational reputational damage. This session will review some of the ways in which these technologies are currently being used in the legal sector. It will provide an overview of potential legal issues and pitfalls; assess particular areas of risk and suggest possible approaches to managing these risks in a wide range of organisation contexts.
