PROGRESS IN DOCUMENTATION:: COMPUTERS AND THE SEARCHING OF LAW TEXTS IN ENGLAND AND NORTH AMERICA: A REVIEW OF THE STATE OF THE ART

The objective of this review is to discuss the state of the art at a difficult stage in the development of a subject‐field—when attempts are being made to translate the results of research into operational services of value to practitioners. Judged by the criterion of practical relevance, the application of computers in the law is a subject which, over the past fifteen years, has promised much, but fulfilled little. This is a sweeping generalization—but, as a generalization, it has some justification.