Cognitive Authority, Credibility and Legal

InformationJames Kalbach, May 2004

2

Comparison Of Two Resources:

1. Robert C Berring, “Legal Information and the Search for Cognitive Authority”, UC Berkeley School of Law, Public Law and Legal Theory, Working Paper No. 99-1, Sept. 1999.http://www.law.berkeley.edu/library/BPL/BPL1Berring.pdfAlso for Shepards: http://www.aallnet.org/products/2000-13.pdf http://www.llrx.com/features/keycite.htm

2. BJ Fogg, Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do. Morgan Kaufmann, 2002.http://credibility.stanford.edu/http://www.webcredibility.org/guidelines/http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030303.html

3

Cognitive Authority - Berring

Berring: Cognitive authority is“the act by which one confers trust upon a source”

He sees a paradigm shift in the legal information world – “Legal information is in the midst of a great change”

Previous Legal Information Scene in U.S.:

- Stable, widespread agreement

- Small set of independent, for-profit enterprises

- Ex: Shepards and National Reporter System

4

Cognitive Authority - Berring

What brought on this shift in the U.S.?

- Increased computer experience and expectations

- Consolidation of publishers

- Internet

Change in use in 21st century (who, how, where, when) changes the institutional cognitive authority of the 20th century

LexisNexis and West, however, were following the old tradition and were not catalysts for this change

5

Ex: Shepards - Berring

First appeared on both LEXIS and WESTLAWBought outright in 1998In 2000 no longer on WESTLAW, which means:- Shepards now a competitive product and a comodity- Cognitive authority of the name gone – has to prove

it is a superior systemBerring - “Reed made what I view as a terrible

blunder”What happens when “shepardizing” becomes

genericized and/or other citation systems appear?

6

Predictions - Berring

What will replace traditional cognitive authority?

1. Large amounts of free or cheap data- LEXIS and WEST won’t only be competing against each other, but also against outsiders (e.g. government, academia, non-profit institutions)

2. Value enhanced Information – Quality is key! Beyond accuracy, comprehensiveness and up-to-date:1. Editorial content and additions2. Linking of information and exposing relationships3. Search engines and algorithms4. Interface, ease of use, and user experience

7

Credibility - Fogg

BJ Fogg – Persuasive Technology

Credibility is a perceived quality that doesn’t reside in an object, a person, or a piece of information

Perceived Trustworthiness (goodness, morality)

+Perceived Expertise (knowledge, skill)

=Perceived Credibility (believability)

8

Credibility - Fogg

Ongoing web credibility studieshttp://credibility.stanford.edu/

Four types of credibility:

• Presumed – General assumption of perceiver

• Surface – Inspection and initial experience

• Reputed – Third-party endorsements

• Earned – Firsthand experience over time

9

Examples of Web Credibility - Fogg

Elements that increase PRESUMED credibility:– Site represents a non-profit organization– The URL ends in .org– The site provides links to its competitors’ sites– Site says it is the official site for a topic

Elements that increase REPUTED credibility:– Displays an award it has won– Inbound links from a credible site– Was recommended by a friend

10

Examples of Web Credibility - Fogg

Elements that increase SURFACE credibility:– Looks professionally designed– Has been updated since your last visit

Elements that decrease SURFACE credibility:– Hard to distinguish ads from content– Pops up with ads– Long time to download– Requires paid subscription to gain access– One or more ads on each page

11

Examples of Web Credibility – Fogg

Elements that increase EARNED credibility:– Quick response to customer service questions– Transactions confirmed by email– Site arranged in a way that makes sense to you– Site recognizes that you have been there before– Selects news stories according to your preferences– Ads match topic you are reading about

Elements that decrease EARNED credibility:– Difficult to navigate

12

Summary

If Berring were to use Fogg’s language, he might make this statement:

We are experiencing a paradigm shift in the credibility of legal information

As presumed and reputed credibility change and weaken, surface credibility and (more importantly) earned credibility become much more significant.

13

?

Paradigm shift in legal information - Assumptions of the past are changing

Quality of content should not be replaced or glossed over by “glitzy” interface design

However, credibility (and cognitive authority) also lies in the product design – more so than before

Given these guidelines, what can we do to increase the credibility of our products?