When law firms must make the difficult decision to cancel a research platform and transition to a new one, there is bound to be some resistance. When cancelling or choosing not to renew a legal information agreement, law firm administration and law library management should keep these best practices in mind:
- Audit frequently used resources. Determine which resources on your current research platform are used most frequently by attorneys and paralegals to perform their jobs, especially power users. Once you have compiled a complete list, cross-check the new research platform to see if any of the same content or alternative resources are available. If certain must-have resources aren’t available with your new research vendor, determine whether you can purchase stand-alone digital access or if the resource is included within another online database.
- Training and Support. Set up a wide variety of vendor training sessions. In an ideal world, these would be in-person sessions, but in a COVID world, plan on remote. Attorneys and paralegals are busy people and might not have time for a thirty minute or hour-long training session. Be flexible in arranging customized, one-on-one training sessions to walk attorneys through the resources they will need to meet their research needs. Be sure they are comfortable in navigating the new platform and provide them with information on seeking both technical and search assistance, including research hotline telephone numbers, live chat support, and links to training videos.
- Have a transition period. Negotiate a period, ideally a few months, in which your current product and the new research platform overlap. Do not cancel your current platform before switching entirely to the new one. During this period, encourage users to use the new platform to conduct research. This will help to identify any information gaps as they incorporate the new research platform into their workflow.
Communication and training are key to making the transition as smooth as possible and ensuring that attorneys, paralegals, and support staff have access to the resources that they need to perform their jobs and not disrupt their workflows.
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