Rivers of knowledge

9th Specials, Health and Law Libraries Conference

Providing a pathway to legal literacy

C L Hammer
Editor - Hot Topics, Legal Information Access Centre, State Library of New South Wales, Sydney

Meaning

What do we mean by 'legal literacy'? A definition, based on the Macquarie Dictionary definition of the words is 'the possession of an education connected with the law ... a development or training connected with the law'.

A pathway requires 'building materials' and is directed towards a destination, covering changing ground. The definition of education mentions development and training, in terms of how taste can be developed, or the ear can be trained - if we think of this in terms of legal education, it translates to developing a 'taste' for the flavour of the subject, by becoming attuned to hearing and understanding legal words and concepts that often present a barrier to understanding. It also requires an acquaintance with how legal material is presented and an understanding of what that means. To provide this for someone without previous knowledge of the law, and with maybe some misconceptions about what it means, it is vital to begin with basic concepts in plain, unambiguous language and a breaking down of information into simple elements before building up to greater complexity.

Hot Topics

This is really a statement of the aims of the publication Hot Topics. It attempts to present issues in the law in a way that will be readily understood by a reader who is interested in being informed. By paring information back to essentials, and then building a framework of understanding it is hoped that a reader will be able to use the knowledge gained as a starting point for understanding not only the particular issue the Hot Topic focuses on, but for understanding general legal concepts as well.

Hot Topics aims to demystify the law by removing the barriers often found in legal materials, such as legal jargon and heavy academic-style writing. The style and presentation of Hot Topics have a lot to do with how it sets out to achieve its aims. The most important aspect of the publication's style is the emphasis on plain language - it is really the key to accessibility for a student and general public readership. This doesn't mean using patronising or inaccurately simplified language - it requires defining legal terms so that they can be used meaningfully, and highlighting important concepts. It requires avoiding convoluted sentence structures (common in legal writing) and ambiguity - but it does not mean using a style that is bland and colourless. We aim at text that is lively and engaging - and this is helped by the presentation.

[use example of legalese contrasted to hot tip showing definitions]

Presentation

Presentation really does make a difference to understanding - this has been informed by market research focus groups which indicated that the presentation required some alteration to 'alleviate the burden of reading' (as stated by a lawyer responding to a market survey in 1998). The use of devices such as Hot Tips to highlight important areas, marking out case studies in boxes, using bullet point lists, tables, flowcharts, timelines, shading, and a well-spaced layout incorporating photographic images breaks up the 'heavy text' look and reinforces learning. Breaking text into digestible chunks, and using sections and subheadings means that a reader can 'dip in' depending on their level of interest.

By providing a section in each issue for Further Reading and Contacts which are readily accessible, Hot Topics provides for readers who want to follow a debate, or proceed to studying an issue in greater depth. So, Hot Topics also provides a 'springboard' to the next level of legal resource.

[visual of design elements eg timeline or UN Diagram]

Evolution

Hot Topics has also evolved since the first issue in 1994 - both in look and content. It began as a folder containing loose sheets. It included legislation and commentary adapted from previously published material. From there, it moved to the stapled version, researched and written by the previous editor. Later, it underwent a complete redesign, which incorporated photographic images and used the collage style cover. We now describe it as a magazine, and see it as having a limited life span (approx 2-3 years).

[visual of change in look]

Hot Topics is now purpose-written, either by a specialist in the area of law, or by a practitioner or academic with an interest in the area of law, in this case, it is then vetted for legal accuracy by an expert. The feedback from all sectors has been very positive.

The current approach gives a flexibility from issue to issue. Striking the balance between readability and legal complexity shifts slightly depending on the demands of each topic. For example, Native Title was our first experience of using multiple authors (two barristers and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission) and consulting with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commission - there were difficulties in presenting a legally complex situation in simple terms, and so closer reference to the legislation was required to satisfy the need for accuracy. By contrast, Health and the Law, where the area is governed by many different laws, aimed at a much broader overview. It gives more practical information on dealing with legal issues in the health context, such as complaint mechanisms and what to expect from the system.

Although this may look like a division between two markets, Native Title, while looking more academic, has been an example of an issue where cheques arrived from all around Australia for an individual issue - clearly there was a desire to understand the issue. Health and the Law identifies issues relevant to young people negotiating the health system and has been of interest to the community sector.

The Legal Information Access Centre (LIAC) and Hot Topics

The Legal Information Access Centre (LIAC) creates effective access to legal information through four interdependent operational areas:

• legal information resources.
• legal information networks.
• legal information services.
• legal information education and training programs.

The area of Legal Information Resources has two functions:

1. Managing legal information - which briefly, it does by selecting resources for the LIAC collection, other State Library of NSW and public library legal collections; and by providing advice to public libraries on the selection of legal resources and collection development.
2. Publishing legal information resources - Hot Topics, as well as LIAC's website, the LIAC Newsletter and guides to accessing legal information to assist teachers, students and the general public.

So, Hot Topics is firmly placed within LIAC's stated mission 'To provide equitable access to quality legal information for the community across NSW' and the organisation's beliefs that access to legal information 'supports the development of a legally literate society' and 'builds social capital by increasing understanding of the legal system'.

[visual of LIAC mission statements etc]

The commitment to equitable access to legal information for the community can be demonstrated through the free distribution of Hot Topics to every public library in New South Wales, as well as to many Community Legal Centres and Legal Aid Offices (approximately 400 copies).

The marketing of Hot Topics to the education sector is aimed at recovering the costs of publication. LIAC is funded jointly by the State Library of NSW and the Public Purpose Fund. The subscription rate in the education sector has risen from 88 in 1997 to 245 in 2000.

Hot Topics was originally conceived to fill a gap in the level of information for the general public. Inquiries to the Legal Information Access Centre are often in the nature of needing practical help in addressing a personal issue regarding the law, which are usually answerable from LIAC's Legal Toolkit, a collection of plain language legal resources focused on practical issues. However, there was also a need for information dealing with change in the law. Hot Topics is often used within LIAC to answer inquiries, and the issue on A Republic? was used as the basis for answering questions received by a telephone hotline. It has also been used by other sectors; for example, a country law firm used a Hot Topic on Consumer Credit as support material for seminars - it provided 'a ready-made package of information for clients to take away'. In another instance, the issue on Juvenile Justice was used in police training at the Goulburn Police Academy.

[visual of ad for lawyers using HT]

Hot Topics therefore operates to promote LIAC in the marketplace, and in turn LIAC's increasing profile as evidenced by the recent Victorian Parliamentary Report on the delivery of legal information to rural and regional Victoria) provides Hot Topics with all-important credibility.

[visual of LIAC centre]

Challenges for me

The range of areas covered by Hot Topics means that each issue provides new challenges. I see it as a very dynamic publication, able to adjust to the different demands of each subject. My background, working first as a legal editor on tax reports; and then for an educational publisher in the secondary school market seemed a little 'bipolar'- before a friend handed me a newspaper cutting and said 'this position description was written for you' - that was a little over a year ago. The demand of five issues per year requires careful planning to allow for occasional mishaps, such as authors or vetters not meeting deadlines, or photo images being difficult to obtain on a limited budget.

Future

While our research indicates that schools still want paper (not all teachers have easy access to the internet), LIAC is monitoring demands for the provision of material electronically. In collaboration with AustLII - Australasian Legal Information Institute, who many of you would know as one of the largest providers of free public legal information on the internet, we are working towards providing all Hot Topics on AustLII's site. Some issues of Hot Topics are available currently available on AustLII's site with links provided to cases and legislation. We are currently working on streamlining the process of providing Hot Topics to AustLII to consolidate the relationship. AustLII sees Hot Topics as providing a necessary interface with the primary legal materials, and sees it as contributing to their stated aims of improving access to justice through access to information, which of course is close to LIAC's stated objectives.

According to AustLII's Executive Director, Philip Chung:

'Hot Topics makes the law more accessible by combining the use of plain English explanation of legal concepts and relating them to appropriate primary legal materials such as cases and legislation. This means that people not familiar with those legal concepts can have a chance of understanding the issues involved and then be able to locate the sources of law through the cases and legislation. The integration [of Hot Topics] with what AustLII provides in terms of the hypertext links to relevant cases and legislative provisions highlights the effectiveness of this model of preparing secondary legal materials especially for an online environment'

[visual: Hot Topic page on AustLII demonstrate hypertext links]

LIAC is also planning to provide full texts of Hot Topics on our website, coinciding with a complete redesign of the site.

The development of Hot Topics will be an ongoing process, but the emphasis on its unique position as a plain language publication, positioned between a simplistic guide and an academic text will remain. We are now able to capitalise on the reputation Hot Topics has gained, by tapping into networks to provide consistently high standards of writing and vetting. The Australian Law Reform Commission collaborated with LIAC to produce the Hot Topic on Children and Families. LIAC approached the head of the Research Service in the New South Wales Parliamentary Library to discuss avenues for co-operation. As a result, we identified Electoral Misconduct as an area that they had researched. They were able to suggest contacting Dr Rodney Smith, an academic from Sydney University who is an expert in the area of politics. He is currently writing a Hot Topic for us on Elections and Voting, to be released before the next Federal Election.

Increasingly, many of our Hot Topics have application for the whole of Australia, and our focus will be towards broadening our market for topics such as Human rights, E-Law, International Law, Reconciliation and Elections and Voting. There are also opportunities with these sorts of issues to market to key tertiary institutions, as a starting point for study in a particular area, as an example, International Law would be well-suited to this application, as it is almost a 'mini-text'.

[covers from these issues]

Pathway

To return to the original concept of providing a pathway - Hot Topics as a publication will continue to develop. With an increasing subscriber base, opportunities to reach further into the market via the internet, and opportunities to look at marketing in tertiary areas and also nationally, the pathway is widening and reaching further; firmly based on a strong foundation of good plain-language writing, legal accuracy and a format that makes it reader-friendly and accessible.

Two-way process

Education is ideally a two-way process, and as I have stressed, the development of Hot Topics has been informed through feedback from LIAC Forums with Public Libraries and Market Research Focus Groups. We are always keen to receive comments on how the publication is or isn't working to achieve our goals and how the publication could be improved. We are also interested in contacts for writing and vetting, and for suggestions for areas to cover in future issues.

Please take the promotional material we have here (brochures, fridge magnets) - I would like to thank you for your attention, and now welcome any questions you wish to ask. Phillipa Scarf, who is a senior librarian with LIAC, is also with me, if you have questions about the LIAC service.