Corporate Governance

Faculty Blogs and Influence: Increasing Influence (Part 5)

By J. Robert Brown

We have been discussing the growing influence of law faculty blogs, a topic examined in my paper, Of Empires, Independents, and Captives : Law Blogging, Law Scholarship, and Law School Rankings. We have already examined the growing number of blog citations in law review articles and in court opinions.

So how does one increase "influence" for a blog with high quality posts and analysis?  That question can be answered in a myriad of ways.  Nonetheless, we focus on one in particular.  Posting on the Internt can be like laboring in the vinyards.  The quality of the posts may be high and may have the capacity to influence but can't be found.  Those most likely to be influenced by, or rely on, them cannot locate them.  This raises the problem of the deplorable state of search technology with respect to blogs.

Internet searchs for legal authority are difficult and frustrating, often unlikely to produce the required results.  For lawyers, a better way to have the posts become known would be to include them in the legal data bases, particularly Lexis-Nexis and Westlaw.  To the extent appearing in the law review file, those searching for legal authority or background on a legal topic would be more likely to find them.  In general, however, the two legal data bases have been unwilling to include blogs (although the Harvard and Yale online journal has apparently been included).  Nor does this look like it will change anytime soon.

There is, however, a second best solution. Newstex allows blogs to register with the service and circulates the posts, charging customers a fee for the service. Newstex has an arrangement with Lexis-Nexis and appears in its data base, although not in the law review file but the file for newspapers and current periodicals. It may be a coincidence, but of the blogs listed in Newtex, five of them are listed within the top 20 of blogs most cited in law reviews and two of them have been cited by courts. These incldue Lessig Blog, the Volokh Conspiracy, Concurring Opinions, The Conglomerate, and Patently O. 

It is, however, a second best solution because most people looking for legal authority do not turn to the newspaper data base.  Only when blogs can be included in the law review data bases will posts with significant legal content be easy to locate and easy to cite.

Full post as published by The Race to the Bottom on February 26, 2008 (boomark / email).