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I had a great conversation with Bob Hopen from Bloomberg Law and Cameron Austin of BNA yesterday, and we talked about a number of things that are going on at Bloomberg/BNA. However, they failed to mention to me that Bloomberg Law was named by AALL the 2012 New Product of the Year. Congratulations!

We poke a lot of fun at legal publishers (although, we pale in comparison to some of the other blogs out there) and, quite frankly, sometimes the vendors make it too easy for us to point out some of the crazy things they are doing either through new products, organizational reorgs, or pricing schemes. However, most of the time we are glad that the vendors are there to help us access information in a consistent and authoritative way that makes it easier for us to research and practice law. Anytime there is more competition, whether from smaller players like Jones McClure or Fastcase, or from big players like Bloomberg Law, the law librarian community usually shows its support… and if the products are good, competitively priced, and easy to use, they usually will succeed in the legal market.

I, for one, am glad to see the competition and I wish Bob and everyone at Bloomberg the best of luck in being competitive, and congrats again on the award from AALL.

Here’s the press release from Bloomberg:

BLOOMBERG LAW NAMED 2012 NEW PRODUCT OF THE YEAR BY THE AALL
The American Association of Law Libraries Award Recognizes Bloomberg Law’s Innovation in Providing Access to Legal Information
New York – The American Association of Law Libraries, the nation’s oldest organization for law librarians, has selected Bloomberg Law to be the recipient of the 2012 New Product Award.  Bloomberg Law is the innovative new legal research system from the world leader in data and information services.
Bloomberg Law has revolutionized the legal research industry by providing a system that integrates comprehensive legal content, company and market information and proprietary news all in one place. Bloomberg Law’s all-inclusive, transparent and predictable pricing means that every user has the same unrestricted, unlimited access to all the content in its databases.  In July 2011, Bloomberg Law launched the latest evolution of its web platform, making the system even faster and easier to use.
“It is an honor for Bloomberg Law to be recognized by the AALL as the best new product of the year,” said Larry Thompson, Bloomberg Law CEO. “The law librarian community is at the heart and soul of what we do. We are committed to continually improving and expanding our product to support their efforts to deliver the best research services and manage costs.”  
Bloomberg Law’s enhanced platform, introduced in July, provides a redesigned interface for even more intuitive navigation, enriched search capabilities for faster information retrieval, new practice centers offering practice specific resources and enhanced collaboration and workflow features that build on Bloomberg Law’s innovative workspace tools.
The AALL New Product Award recognizes new commercial information products that enhance or improve existing law library services or procedures or innovative products which improve access to legal information, the legal research process, or procedures for technical processing of library materials.  The 2012 New Product Award will be formally presented at the Association’s annual meeting in Boston. 
About Bloomberg Law
Bloomberg Law is the real-time legal research system that integrates innovative search technology, comprehensive legal content, company and market information, and proprietary news all in one place. This collaborative workspace also includes a suite of new tools for more effective legal analysis and more productive client development. For more information, visit BloombergLaw.com.
About AALL
The American Association of Law Libraries was founded in 1906 to promote and enhance the value of law libraries to the legal and public communities, to foster the profession of law librarianship, and to provide leadership in the field of legal information. Today, with over 5,000 members, the Association represents law librarians and related professionals who are affiliated with a wide range of institutions: law firms; law schools; corporate legal departments; courts; and local, state and federal government agencies.
About Bloomberg
Bloomberg, the global business and financial information and news leader, gives influential decision makers a critical edge by connecting them to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas. The company’s strength – delivering data, news and analytics through innovative technology, quickly and accurately – is at the core of the Bloomberg Professional service, which provides real time financial information to more than 310,000 subscribers globally. Bloomberg’s enterprise solutions build on the company’s core strength, leveraging technology to allow customers to access, integrate, distribute and manage data and information across organizations more efficiently and effectively. Through Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg Government, Bloomberg New Energy Finance and Bloomberg BNA, the company provides data, news and analytics to decision makers in industries beyond finance. And Bloomberg News, delivered through the Bloomberg Professional service, television, radio, mobile, the Internet and two magazines, Bloomberg Businessweek and Bloomberg Markets,  covers the world with more than 2,300 news and multimedia professionals at 146 bureaus in 72 countries. Headquartered in New York, Bloomberg employs more than 15,000 people in 192 locations around the world.