Thomson Reuters today announced a price increase on content not included in fixed-rate subscriptions for large and medium law firms. The increase, effective January 1, 2017, will not affect fixed-rate contract terms. For details on the rate increase, contact your Thomson Reuters representative or Customer Service.
CRIV/Thomson Reuters Semiannual Call
The first semi-annual call between CRIV and Thomson Reuters was held on December 15, 2015. In attendance were Lori Hedstrom (Thomson Reuters); Jeff McCoy (Thomson Reuters); Kate Hagan (AALL); and Gilda Chiu (CRIV Vendor Liaison).
The conversation started with discussion about any new products or other issues of interest Thomson Reuters wanted AALL members to know about. Thomson Reuters had nothing concrete to report, though they mentioned there might be some developments coming for WestlawNext and Practical Law during the Spring.
Next some member concerns were addressed. The first was the changes in customer service structure, especially in regards to academic account managers being integrated into the government customer team. Thomson Reuters explained that the decision of merging the academic and government customer service teams was made so that they could widen the access to managers for all of their customers by creating a larger team to even out the distribution of managers instead of having academic managers constantly having to travel to meet with customers. Overall Thomson Reuters believes the move will be beneficial for customers and account managers, especially those that were managing too many accounts.
Another concern was a possible change in the labeling of pocket parts. A librarian mentioned noticing that pockets parts, in her case for the Alabama Code, only contained the volume number in which it should be filed in but not the date of the replacement volume (information typically used to make sure the current volume is being updated and not the superseded volume). Thomson Reuters was not aware of any change in the labeling of pocket parts, also pointing out that the required information would still be on the filing instructions. They will get back to CRIV about whether the missing information is indeed a publishing change or just an error.
The best contact for informing Thomson Reuters about problems with the WestlawNext platform and if Thomson Reuters was going to continue to support indexes for its treatises on the same platform were also discussed. Thomson Reuters said the best way to provide feedback on WestlawNext, whether it is to report errors or recommend improvements, is to contact Product Development through a link at the bottom of any page on WestlawNext called “Improve Westlaw.” A librarian can also call any reference attorney through the dedicated 800 number (1-800-733-2889) and mention his or her concerns and the attorney will forward the comments to Product Development. As for the question about the indexes, Thomson Reuters will absolutely continue to support indexes on WestlawNext. The question came up after a librarian expressed having issues with index links not working and wondering if this meant that Thomson Reuters might be looking to phase out indexes on their platform. Thomson Reuters believes that the problems might have arisen from the migration to the new platform. They will inquire with their team and get back to CRIV about what exactly is the issue with the indexing errors.
As soon as the updates to the above concerns are received they will be added to this post.
The next call is set to be scheduled for some time in late Spring/early Summer 2016.
CRIV Advocacy Request Update: Changes to Thomson Reuters web store
CRIV was approached by a member librarian of AALL who had concerns about changes made to the Thomson Reuters web store. CRIV spoke to Lori Hedstrom, National Manger of Librarian Relations for Thomson Reuters about this. Her response is below:
The site has undergone a redesign which was completed in two phases – both of which altered the materials mentioned.
During the first phase, the shipping schedule information, which is part of product details page, was removed. Through [the AALL member]’s feedback, as well as other customers’, we have restored that functionality.
During the second phase of the redesign, the “highlights and filing instructions” link was moved – an effort to improve the user experience by making the link available with the publication itself, eliminating the need to navigate through another tab.
These changes were made as part of an effort to improve the site and its functionality. We know our customers are being tasked to do more with less and our goal through this redesign was to ultimately make your interaction more seamless. I apologize for the inconvenience it caused.
I appreciate you reaching out to us. Please let me know if you have any further questions that I may be able to answer.
Thank you to Lori Hedstrom for her help with this issue.
If you have a similar issue or any issue that CRIV can assist with, please use our Request for Assistance form available at http://aallnet.org/main-menu/Advocacy/vendorrelations/request-assistance.html.
In Case You Missed It: Thomson Reuters First Quarter Results
On April 29th, Thomson Reuters posted their first quarter 2015 financial results. The complete set is available here: http://thomsonreuters.com/en/press-releases/2015/04/thomson-reuters-reports-first-quarter-2015-results.html
Florida Attorney General agreement
The Florida Attorney General’s office has announced a settlement with West Publishing and Thomson Reuters Tax and Accounting over issues related to negative option plans.
See http://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrel.nsf/newsreleases/C84C04C72FEAAF4E85257C750074AC83 for the press release and a link to the agreement.
This is the Attorney General’s Office’s third settlement with a large legal publishing company. Earlier agreements were reached with Matthew Bender and Company, Inc. in April 2009, and CCH in February 2013.
Margie Maes, AALL Vendor Liaison
Request for Assistance: Update to Thomson Reuters Social Security Number Requirement for eSignature
In April, CRIV received a request from a firm librarian asking about the need to require social security numbers to eSign for a business transaction. CRIV would like to thank Anne Ellis for looking further into this issue. Below is Thomson Reuter’s response.
Dear Michelle,
Thank you for your email.
In our online ordering system, the electronic signature did request input of the last four digits of the ordering customer’s Social Security number for verification. This policy was established to protect customers from unauthorized transactions.
Should individuals placing orders prefer not to enter the last four digits of their Social Security number, they are encouraged to create a unique, four-digit personal identification number (PIN) to serve as part of their electronic signature. This PIN will serve as a method of verification for the individual placing an order. Customers can make this change when placing an order.
Our intent through this process is simply to provide confidence and security for our customers. If you have further questions regarding the online ordering process, please let me know.
Sincerely,
Anne Ellis
Senior Director, Librarian Relations
If you have an issue that CRIV can assist with, please use our Request for Assistance form available at: http://aallnet.org/main-menu/Advocacy/vendorrelations/request-assistance.html or email Michelle Cosby, CRIV Chair at mcosby@nccu.edu.
New Article: The Quest for Client Savings in Online Research: WestlawNext v. Westlaw Classic
Law librarian Emily Marcum’s article, The Quest for Client Savings in Online Research: WestlawNext v. Westlaw Classic, has just been published in Legal Reference Services Quarterly, 32 Legal Ref. Serv. Q. 142 (2013). Marcum created an empirical study that examined differences in search results in WestlawNext and Westlaw Classic. She also discusses the implications of West’s new simplified pricing plan.
CRIV Advocacy Request Update: Follow up to Restatements Checklists from July 2012.
CRIV received a request from a Government Library asking if the checklists mentioned in July to help with managing the Restatements were now available. CRIV contacted Anne Ellis and received the following information:
The Restatements Checklist is prepared once a year and distributed as a shipment insert that accompanies the traditional March shipment of annual pocket parts and supplements to full-set subscribers. The Checklist is not sent to those who subscribe to a less-than-full-set topical unit or “slice.”
The Checklist can be found on the Westlaw Store on the full-set Restatements and Principles of the Law site under the Filing and Shelving Instruction section.
See http://store.westlaw.com/restatements-2d-3d-principles-of-law-appendices/557/22026005/productdetail?FindMethod=Rich_Relevance&promcode=600582C43553&promtype=internal and attached two part Checklist.
(Chair’s note, please contact me at mcosby@nccu.edu if you would like to receive the attached checklist).
The checklist is designed to do two things:
- The “narrative” side of the documentation sheet describes and differentiates the various annual components of the set (bound volumes, pocket parts/supplements, and Interim Case Citations pamphlets) and provides an historical overview of units that have most recently evolved as portions of the Restatement 2d have been fully superseded (and been taken out of print) in several cases by the completion of the Restatement 3d series on that subject matter. We explicitly indicate in the first paragraph of this narrative that “Your Pocket Parts and Supplements for Use in may now be discarded.”
- The “grid” side of the sheet indicates all of the volumes in the full set and specifies which volumes receive a pocket part that year, a supplement, or nothing at all. The first footnote addressing the grid indicates that any volumes whose pocket part field is blackened should not have a pocket part.
- Regarding any the confusion that may arise when a new unit is completed and supersedes a previous series on that same subject matter, we advise the customer in the shipment insert accompanying the new unit, as well as in the narrative of the annual Checklist, the following information:
- If these out-of-print volumes are part of an existing set, they should be retained, as they contain material of historical interest and numerous case citations represented in their accompanying appendix volumes. They depict still valid underlying authority for concepts newly articulated in later Restatement volumes.
Thank you to Anne Ellis for her help with this issue.
If you have a similar issue or any issue that CRIV can assist with, please use our Request for Assistance form available at http://aallnet.org/main-menu/Advocacy/vendorrelations/request-assistance.html.
Michelle Cosby, CRIV Chair
CRIV Advocacy Request Update: Duplicate material in the Uniform Commercial Code Reporting Service and Hawkland Uniform Commercial Code Series.
CRIV received a request from a County Law Library asking about the duplication of material in Uniform Commercial Code Reporting Service and Hawkland Uniform Commercial Code Series. CRIV contacted Anne Ellis and received the following information:
Thank you for contacting Thomson Reuters regarding the Uniform Commercial Code Reporting Service and Hawkland Uniform Commercial Code Series Local Code Variations pamphlets. UCC Local Code Variations provides attorneys with an efficient, effective way to research UCC section and subsection provisions as used in every state jurisdiction as differences in terms and language can be critical as well as subtle. Because of the critical importance of local differences and provisions, this material is provided to subscribers of both Uniform Commercial Code Reporting Service and Hawkland Uniform Commercial Code Series.
UCC Reporting Service is a full service title where the annual subscription charge covers numerous updates and reporters. Individual shipments are not priced separately to the customer and components are not available separately.
UCC Reporting Service publishes state code variations in two ways. Twice a year two pamphlet volumes are issued with the latest state code updates. This material is organized by state, with all variations from the UCC organized under each state heading. However attorneys access this information in different ways and so a separate pamphlet is issued each year called Local Code Variations which is organized by UCC section with all state variations listed under each Code section or subsection.
Because this information duplicates the state variations material but has a different organizational structure, the replacement charge for lost or damaged pamphlets is a minimal charge of $99. The Local Code Variations pamphlet is not available as a separate subscription.
Updates to Hawkland’s UCC Series are invoiced individually. The Local Code Variations pamphlet, provided as an integral part of the set, is priced individually.
Anne was also able to provide information to a follow up question “Is Thomson saying that the information is duplicated but the organization of information is different?”
The organization of the Local Code Variations pamphlets is the same for both Hawkland and UCC Reporting Service. The State Variations pamphlets for UCC Reporting Service contain the same basic information as the Local Code Variations pamphlets but are organized by state rather than Code section.
Thank you to Anne for her assistance in this matter.
If you have a similar issue or any issue that CRIV can assist with, please use our Request for Assistance form available at http://aallnet.org/main-menu/Advocacy/vendorrelations/request-assistance.html.
Michelle Cosby, CRIV Chair
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