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.
Highlights
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa1 provides legal researchers with the ideal moment in South African history to, among other things, develop and enrich its common law.2 This is demonstrated in, for example, the Carmichele case series3 that provides insight into how the Constitution can modernise South African private law
Printed materials typically exist in controlled space and normally are read in a linear manner, whereas electronic content usually is made up of hypertext that is not limited by spatial constraints and allows legal researchers to search in a non-linear fashion
A legal researcher can be assured in the print information environment that the content of a specific page will be the same content that another person will read if it is the same page of the same publication
Summary
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa provides legal researchers with the ideal moment in South African history to, among other things, develop and enrich its common law. This is demonstrated in, for example, the Carmichele case series that provides insight into how the Constitution can modernise South African private law. Since the advent of the constitutional dispensation in South Africa, legal researchers have been presented with new opportunities for research into constitutional issues, constitutional development and the relationship between constitutional law and other fields.. Since the advent of the constitutional dispensation in South Africa, legal researchers have been presented with new opportunities for research into constitutional issues, constitutional development and the relationship between constitutional law and other fields.4 This imperative is not restricted to public lawyers, but extends to all. Many modern legal researchers have adjusted their research methodology by including electronic or digital legal research tools and resources. This requires skills and techniques typically associated with digital research tools and related online technologies. It is not suggested that legal research without consulting electronic resources is incomplete, but that the rapid progress in the ICT applications of the past few years requires the inclusion of electronic resources and tools in legal research.
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