Effective Technology Solutions - FreePint for Legal Information Professionals
Jinfo Blog

By James Mullan

Abstract

James Mullan looks at existing and new technologies and technological developments in areas from intranets to the Internet of Things and highlights some of the latest articles published by FreePint which illustrate these developments.

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Technology will be important within any organisation, but especially within a law firm where there are normally multiple data sources with potentially millions of items being indexed. As a result law firms need effective solutions that are easily managed and are well supported.

There have been several new technologies discussed recently, which may have some impact on how law firms operate. Whilst there are many useful articles available on the FreePint site, the following are recent resources that will be of interest to knowledge and information professionals working within law firms:

Articles

• LinkedIn...Making it Even Easier to "Follow" People
• LinkedIn - Game Changer, But It's Not Alone
• Introducing Delve - Improving Interaction with Office 365
• The Internet of Things (IoT) in the Enterprise
• The Internet of Things - Protect Your Wearable Technology
• Are Companies Making the Most of SharePoint?

Technology Developments

On the subject of technology, whilst we've all been glued to the announcements from Apple about their latest products, we might not have noticed that several companies have made some subtle but significant changes to their products.

LinkedIn, in particular, has been making their product more useful by incorporating new functionality. Some of this functionality is discussed in LinkedIn...Making it Even Easier to "Follow" People which looks at some of the key new features of LinkedIn, including the ability to "follow" someone you're not connected to.

If you're not a fan of LinkedIn then fear not, as there are some competitors to LinkedIn (albeit less well known) which Tim Buckley-Owen writes about in his article LinkedIn - Game Changer, But It's Not Alone.

Another company that is always striving to improve its products is Microsoft and its latest development called Delve looks to be very significant. Delve is an information discovery tool that supports the use of Office 365. I take a more detailed look at Delve in an article called Introducing Delve - Improving Interaction with Office 365. I would recommend anyone who is currently using Office 365 to take a look at Delve to see whether it could improve the way they find information.

The Internet of Things

Another significant technological development has been the concept of the Internet of Things. The Internet of Things isn't a subject that has been widely discussed by FreePint, but two articles provide a good introduction to this concept. The first of these an article by Sophie Alexander called The Internet of Things (IoT) in the Enterprise; this article looks at some of the obstacles that will need to be overcome before the concept behind the Internet of Things is adopted by businesses.

The second, more recent, article by Tim Buckley Owen looks at the issues surrounding the Internet of Things and wearable technology (another relatively new technology). Whilst I don't expect lawyers and other individuals within law firms to be using wearable technology as a business tool anytime soon, I do expect the Internet of Things to have some impact on the activities which law firms undertake.

Don't Forget Established Technologies

Whilst there have been some significant technological developments over the last few months, many companies are still using or are thinking about using Microsoft SharePoint.

The problem is that many companies are only using a small part of SharePoint, which begs the question "Are Companies Making the Most of SharePoint?".

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