Spending, Vendor Management, and Challenges in Law Firm Libraries

In the Legal, Tax & Regulatory information space, an important center of content purchasing is the law firm library. As part of our ongoing tracking of library markets (one of three key money flows in the information industry), this year Outsell gathered data from law firm libraries to complement our extensive data on academic, public, and other specialized libraries. The results reveal a market that is increasingly under pressure. Budgets are flat, reporting relationships are complex and evolving, and firm economics and politics are putting strains on traditional ways of doing business. The report is based on data compiled in Spring 2009, supplemented by interviews with law firm librarians, leaders of law library associations, and library relations managers at leading vendors. The report’s data and analysis are valuable for vendors who are navigating their way through a rapidly changing law firm market. The report contains:

- Key findings and data about scope of responsibilities, budgets, print to electronic ratios, and spending;
- Analysis of the pain points between law firms and their content vendors, including data on content-evaluation processes and criteria;
- Data on new technologies and applications used by those surveyed;
- Law firm libraries’ top challenges;
- Essential actions for vendors in this segment.