Designing and Publishing a Law Reference in Digital Format
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Item Inventory of files in the Cornell Archives Containing Successive CD-ROM editions of Martin on Social SecurityMartin, Peter (2019)An inventory of the files in the Cornell Archives that contain editions of Martin on Social Security, including both a 1989 prototype and all CD-ROM editions published as Social Security Plus by Thomson. All “Cornell Archives” references are to the Peter W. Martin papers, Cornell Archives 18-1-4325Item Conceiving, Creating, and Publishing a Legal Reference Work Designed for Electronic Delivery: A Brief History of Martin on Social SecurityMartin, Peter (2018-11-08)For over a decade starting in the late 1980s, I pursued the vision of creating a complete reference for an important area of law practice, designed from the ground up for dissemination on CD-ROM. The field of this dream was Social Security law. The journey to its realization was arduous. This was due, in part, to the rapidly changing technical environment, but even more it was the result of seismic shifts then occurring within law publishing, print and electronic. As I observed in a much later article which drew upon the experience, the project “provided ... a bruising education in the shifting priorities and fortunes and consequent turbulence within the commercial legal information sector.” This account covers that dimension of the experience as well as the project’s technical and conceptual challenges. It leaves for another telling the effect of the lessons learned on the establishment and early history of the Legal Information Institute upon which they had great influence.Item Inventory of Files (Paper and Electronic) That Concern the Conception and Realization of Martin on Social SecurityMartin, Peter (2018)An integrated inventory of the paper files in the Cornell Archives and the digital files in this collection that document the conception, creation, and publication of a comprehensive legal reference work designed for electronic publication. The items are arrayed chronologically. Entries that refer to files held in this electronic archive are linked to them.Item Notes on the impact of expanding scope of reference to include SSI and MedicareMartin, Peter (1995)The file contains notes dealing with Clark Boardman Callaghan's pressure to expand the scope of the disc's coverage to encompass both the Supplemental Security Income program and Medicare.Item Correspondence initiating transfer of primary law data from Mead Data Central to Thomson and paper on hypertextMartin, Peter (1993)The file contains a presentation on hypertext at the 1993 ABA conference on technology and correspondence initiating transfer of primary law data from Mead Data Central to Thomson.Item Correspondence with Mead Data Central, Michie, and Thomson personnel, associated notes, and a presentation to the Georgia BarMartin, Peter (1992)The file contains a presentation to the Georgia Bar on the online version, correspondence with Mead Data Central (MDC) personnel and meeting notes leading up to and then following MDC's termination of the agreement, and the ensuing settlement agreement. It also includes correspondence with Thomson Professional Publishing personnel and meeting notes, covering joint exploration of that company's undertaking publication of the reference on CD-ROM.Item Correspondence Mead Data Central and Michie personnel and associated notesMartin, Peter (1991)The file contains correspondence with Mead Data Central personnel building up to the release of the full online version in June, documentation and presentations about that version, as well as samples drawn from it, documentation of the authorial process and necessary tools for constructing this sort of reference, correspondence concerning the status of MDC/Michie's CD-ROM plans and seeking a contractual adjustment allowing disc publication by another company (e.g., Thomson) or Cornell.Item Correspondence Mead Data Central, Michie, and Thomson personnel and associated notesMartin, Peter (1990)The file contains correspondence with both Mead Data Central and Michie personnel as the former organization shifts responsibility for this project to the latter, notes of meetings with both as well, correspondence with Thomson Professional Publishing that led ultimately to a publishing contract with that company, and notes on coding the primary material against the treatise structure. The subjects include the limitations of Michie's preferred software platform (Folio Views), redirection of the work toward an initial online version, and challenges of working within the online environment.Item Paper outlining the project and correspondence about it with Mead Data Central, Social Security Administration, and Cornell personnel, and associated notesMartin, Peter (1989)The file contains a paper about the project presented at an international conference, working correspondence with Mead Data Central personnel and notes of meetings with them, correspondence seeking information from the Social Security Administration, internal correspondence about hardware, software, and other forms of Cornell support (including the IBM equipment grant flowing through Cornell).Item Correspondence with the National Center for Automated Information Retrieval, Owl International, and Mead Data Central and associated notesMartin, Peter (1988)The file contains correspondence surrounding the grant from the National Center for Automated Information Retrieval that funded the Social Security CD project, correspondence with Owl International concerning the company's hypertext software, correspondence with Mead Data Central about the publication contract, and preliminary notes on scope, design, and work plan.