Elaine Dockens, Library Director for Tressler LLP in Chicago, collected survey information from a small group of law firm librarians regarding their firms’ policies on computer usage. The 27 law librarians that took the survey help give us some insights on what is, and what is not acceptable usage as defined by the law firm IT or computer usage committees.
Listed below are some of Elaine’s results. She will have a more complete survey report later in October. That survey will include a number of comments made by the law librarians that explain some of the reasons for the policies implemented by the firm. We’ll put a link to that final report when it becomes available. I look forward to seeing the full report.
| Question | Yes | No |
| Law Firm attempted to control computer use | 20 | 7 |
| Law Firm had different rules for different groups | 10 | 17 |
| Law Firm had an Acceptable Use Policy | 24 | 3 |
| Law Firm blocked porno and gambling sites | 14 | 13 |
| Law Firm blocked specific URLs | 7 | 20 |
| Law Firm blocks personal email | 6 | 21 |
| Law Firm blocks Social Networks | 8 | 19 |
| Law Firm blocks Streaming Media | 9 | 18 |
| Personal email used for Law Firm business | 5 | 22 |
| Social Networks used for Law Firm business | 13 | 14 |
| Streaming Media used for Law Firm business | 9 | 18 |