Legal Research in a Changing Information Environment

Abstract

Since the advent of the latest constitutional dispensation in South Africa, legal researchers have been presented with new opportunities for research into constitutional issues, development and the relationship between constitutional law and other fields. This article investigates how information technology applications can support the legal research process and what the benefits of technology are likely to be to legal research. Furthermore, it investigates the changes and the impact that electronic resources and the digital information environment might have on legal research. This entails a study of the unique characteristics of digital legal research and of the challenges that legal researchers face in a changing information environment.

Keywords

• Legal research
• research methodology
• online legal research
• digital information
• Internet
• World Wide Web
• legal information systems
• data bases