Organizational usability of digital libraries in the courts

Digital libraries (DLs) are the focus of professional movements in the medical, legal, and scholarly communities. DLs are being used increasingly nationwide in the legal profession for research; computer-integrated court reporting; and for trial presentations of multimedia documents and evidence photos. We present results of a study which contributes to DL research by examining some new DL design concepts within the legal domain. Two key forms of DL usability-interface and organizational-are discussed. While the human-computer-interaction (HCI) research community has made progress in improving interface usability, organizational usability is less well understood. We introduce the concept of organizational usability which refers to the mix between a computer system's design and an organization's characteristics such that the system can be effectively integrated into the work practices of members of the organization and is socially accepted by them. We explore the technical and sociotechnical dimensions of organizational usability by applying them to DLs used in the California Superior Courts.