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Why Authentication Procedures Matter for US and UK Public Legal Resources on the Web

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2008

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Abstract

Online legal resources are increasingly the sole official source. Authentication – the means to demonstrate that materials are what they purport to be – is inseparably interrelated with the official status of sources on the web. This article by Richard J. Matthews examines key features of the UK Statute Law Database, the US Government Printing Office future digital system (FDsys), and the Ohio Supreme Court database of judicial decisions that are relevant to assessing appropriate authentication procedures for those resources. Archival and computational authentication methods are reviewed. Overall findings of AALL's State-by-State Report on Authentication of Online Legal Resources and its recent national summit on authentic legal information on the web are analysed.

Keywords

online servicesauthenticationlegislationdigital signatures
Type
Articles
Information
Legal Information Management , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , March 2008 , pp. 35 - 42
Copyright
Copyright © The British and Irish Association of Law Librarians 2008

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